APPLICATION ► ASGARD EVENTIDE

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OOC Information; Name; Gidget Personal Journal; gidge@dreamwidth Contact; officiousgidget@gmail • shakendownlove@aim • barbequed@plurk Other Characters; n/a Activity proof; n/a IC Information; Character Name; Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli Canon; Assassin's Creed 2, Brotherhood (Niccolò Machiavelli @ the AC wikia) Canon Point; 1507, after Cesare's death Age; 37 House; Hel (Cynical? Dark? Assassin surrounded by death? Bingo.) Power; body control Personality; So, Niccolò Machiavelli: The Real Dude, is only involved in this as far as his actual writings and opinions line up with what's shown in the game. I mean, if we're already ignoring the fact that the real Machiavelli hung out with the game's main villain for about a year, some of this alignment will be wonky where it doesn't fit with Assassin Creed-canon, and generally the real stuff is used as supplementary information to support inferences from canon. There's also Machiavellianism, because apparently when you get famous enough for writing about shady politics you get to be the namesake for one of a 'dark triad' in psychology. Generally, Machiavellian personalities are signified by the tendency of a person to deceive and manipulate for their own personal gain. Which kind of applies! Niccolò, throughout the game, is duplicitous and cynical and more than once people question whether he's on their side or not because of his willingness to work not only with the enemy, but alone and in secret. When he jokes, it's sarcasm and thinly veiled mocking (usually at Ezio's expense). Above all, he's a politician and he's adept at playing the situations presented to him to whatever benefit is necessary, which is mainly the benefit of the Order and the people of Italy. It involves any measure of amoral shenanigans, from buying off Borgia guards to, you know, killing people since he's an Assassin. Morality, in so far as he sees it, is situational: he 'works in the dark to serve the light,' and if his (relatively few, compared to what the Borgia and Templars are up to at any given moment) immoral actions produce results to the benefit of the people then they aren't really that immoral after all. The ends not only justify the means, they make those means righteous. This also involves having allies, which he understands the necessity of but has a really horrible time keeping for such a good politician. La Volpe and the thieves guild thought he was a traitor to the Order until Ezio was able to concretely prove otherwise; he openly distrusts mercenaries despite counting on Bartolomeo's forces; before Claudia took over Rosa in Fiore he and Madonna Solari didn't get along because he was pretty contemptuous about her own personal behavior, which put parties and enjoyment above the needs of the Order; even the citizens of Italy are, for Machiavelli, too ignorant of the situation and fearful to be relied on in any major capacity. Though he may be adept at navigating politics, he is not suited to the leadership roles within them on his own and recognizes that, preferring the ability to observe and manipulate than to lead. It's why he very willingly hands the Order over to Ezio, someone that has not only shown him the capacity to lead but the qualities of a leader he personally admires despite their differences of opinion. Most of these troubles with the Order come from his honestly kind of ridiculous propensity to keep secrets, even when keeping them puts him at a disadvantage. This is what happens when you have to lie to everyone, believably and consistently, in a public life while killing folks behind the scenes, I guess. Blew up a tower to help Ezio in his mission to rescue Caterina Sforza, even though he disagreed with getting her out instead of killing Rodrigo and Cesare? Don't mention it until years later, even after La Volpe tries to kill him for being a traitor! Because that was apparently not a wake-up call about his need to be more transparent and open about the shady things he does for his shady friends who are understandably a little paranoid. Speaking of helping and never saying anything! Niccolò is, as mentioned above, an Assassin. We first see him in the game when he's 19, already a member of the Order with a rank high enough that he inducts Ezio and after Mario's death at the beginning of Brotherhood leaves him with control of the Italian branch of Assassins. When we do see him fight (which is rare) he does so with a broadsword and is capable of many of the same kill moves Ezio has mastered. Most of the time, however, he wins through strategy. Helping pull the people of Florence together to overturn Savonarola's rule rather than killing him directly, creating distractions, sending additional forces at just the right time, etc. I can only assume this is also the case during the fight at Cesare's arrest, where he just completely disappears, conveniently right before Fabio Orsini shows up to arrest Cesare under the orders of the new pope. Fighting as an individual can help, but he prefers doing the small things that will lead to a larger influence on the battle overall rather than the fight with a single opponent. To conclude on a relatively minor footnote: Machiavelli is actually a married man! Shock, horror, etc., and this is never really addressed in the game but it's pretty important when it comes to actually playing him. He married Marietta Corsini in 1502 and I'm assuming that by this canon point they'd have at least one of their children already. There isn't a lot written about their marriage, but there is a lot about how many affairs Machiavelli had. It seems situational morality also applies to marriage vows, and despite his many, many infidelities (seriously he wrote more in letters to friends about the women he fell in love with outside his marriage than he did his wife), he and Marietta remained on good terms. His marriage was an obligation and more of a political relationship than a passionate one, which it should be said was par for the course in Renaissance Italy. Samples; Network Sample; [ well, this certainly reeked of the involvement of templars or, at the very least, the malfunction of the apple or some other piece of eden. surely there were other explanations available, but niccolò will prefer the one he understands until a better one is presented to him. and, as such, he will be cautious. after a bit of fiddling, his bracelet begins broadcasting. ] Ah, mi scusi. Such technology is foreign to me. [ for all his apologies, he still looks very serious, almost dour. ] While this is on, however, perhaps you may be so kind as to sate my curiosity. I am only just arrived, and the maid is informative only to a certain, frustrating, point. [ a pause before he barrels on. ] How many of us have found ourselves here, apart from those that were here before us? And to what ends are we to accomplish the task which we were brought here for? 'To bring life,' yes, but that is too vague an instruction to be very useful, sì? Also... Is there any certainty about what goes on in our homes while we are in residence here? It is concerning to me that they imply it will be affected by our time in Asgard, yet give us no explanation as to how. [ machiavelli appreciates specifics, though he's... very obviously leaving all of his own specifics out by the time he's done with his questions. ] Log Sample; He checks the fires again while they gather outside; it wouldn't do if the iron was too cold to brand, not when he was inducting Ezio's sister of all people. And not when he was handing the Order over to him, officially. The process may have taken years longer than it should have, and it may be done already in everything but name as the room was brimming with Ezio's own recruits, but the ritual is important. And as much as it may wound his pride, Machiavelli knew he was no leader. His time at the head of the Order was only an interim, while Ezio was the one who managed to unite the people and strengthen the Brotherhood in ways Niccolò had never thought to try. Even his attempts to take action had been rash and destined to fail while others couldn't even trust him. No, his place was elsewhere, in Firenze, to observe and support the leadership of one more capable than himself. For the sake of the future of the Order, and of Italia, he would trust even a fool like Ezio more than himself. When the iron began to glow he motioned for them to come in, Ezio and Claudia at the forefront. It would be Auditores leading the way as usual, so stubborn they would stop only when Death himself came to escort them down, and even then their ability to cooperate would be debatable.