Iltani

Iltani ( 4th century BCE) was a legendary Babylonian founder of the Assassins. A member of a secret order later known to history as the Babylonian Brotherhood, her fame owes to her assassination of Alexander the Great through poison she had procured from an Achaemenid alchemist.
==Biography==
During Iltani's lifetime, Persia was conquered by the under Alexander the Great, and she watched as the ambitious, young king swept through her homeland with a Staff of Eden provided to him by the Order of the Ancients.Assassin's Creed EncyclopediaAssassin's Creed II – Floating conversations: Unlocking Monteriggioni's Secrets
Determined to put an end to Alexander's path of conquest, Iltani tracked him to Herat in modern-day Afghanistan, where he was holed up in a mighty citadel.Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India – Database: Iltani's Story 1 Despite its high walls, she managed to infiltrate the citadel but remained apprehensive that she would be able to eliminate him through force.Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India – Database: Iltani's Story 2 Sure enough, she became aware that through cunning, Alexander had somehow divined her presence within the fortress. Realizing that the risks were too great, she aborted her mission and withdrew from Herat.Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India – Database: Iltani's Story 3
Her failure did not disrupt her resolve, and she quickly devised an alternative plan, one that involved meeting with a renowned Achaemenid alchemist who was then being hunted by the Greeks. After a perilous journey,Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India – Database: Iltani's Story 4 she arrived in Babylon, where she found the alchemist and acquired the secret formula for a deadly poison. While the poison was not as fast-acting as she had hoped, it was virulent enough to guarantee death.Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India – Database: Iltani's Story 5
Throughout her mission to kill Alexander, she had left messages across the lands she travelled, including India and Herat. These messages chronicled her quest and could only be deciphered through Eagle Vision. In the event that her assassination were to fail, she even left behind the recipe of the poison on her last message, hoping it would serve her order.
This proved unnecessary, as in 323 BCE, Iltani successfully poisoned Alexander the Great after infiltrating the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II. True to the slow nature of her poison, Alexander withered away over several days until he finally perished.Assassin's Creed: Initiates – TimelineAssassin's Creed II
==Legacy==
More than a thousand years later, Iltani's feats were still remembered among the Hidden Ones. Although she lived long before their founding in Egypt in 47 BCE,Assassin's Creed: Origins – The AftermathAssassin's Creed: Origins – Last of the Medjay by the 9th century, the Hidden Ones of Alamut had come to regard her as one of the earliest founders of their order.Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Taking Flight In 862, the Rafiq Tabid Al-Nubi was trying to recreate Iltani's concoction that she had used to poison Alexander the Great.
By the time of the Italian Renaissance, Iltani had been memorialized as an Assassin of the Babylonian Brotherhood,Assassin's Creed: The Essential Guide and statues of her and six other individuals similarly held in high esteem had been erected in the Sanctuary below the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni. Additionally, the of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence had been converted into a tomb dedicated to Iltani, which contained a sarcophagus with a hidden seal. The Italian Assassin Ezio Auditore later explored the tomb and retrieved its seal, which allowed him to obtain the Armor of Altaïr locked away in the Sanctuary.Assassin's Creed II – Il Duomo's Secret
In 1841, the Indian Assassin Arbaaz Mir came across Iltani's scrolls during his missions across the Sikh Empire and Afghanistan. He was able to use his Eagle Vision to decipher the scrolls' text and learn fragments of her history. Iltani continued to be honoured by the Assassins into the 21st century, for in the year 2000, a statue of her stood in the Mentor's office in Dubai.Assassin's Creed: The Fall – Issue #3
==Behind the scenes==
Iltani is a character first mentioned in the 2009 video game Assassin's Creed II as one of seven legendary Assassins with a dedicated statue in the Sanctuary of Villa Auditore. Outside of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, each of these Assassins have a unique accomplishment in history pertaining to the assassination of a historical figure. In Iltani's case, it is the assassination of Alexander the Great using poison. Each also have a corresponding tomb hidden throughout the game's world, with an Assassin Seal as the treasure. The six Assassin Seals serve as keys to the Armor of Altaïr, the best armour in the game, that is initially locked in the Sanctuary. Iltani's tomb is located within the Santa Maria del Fiore.
Details of Iltani's story were later expanded upon in the Assassin's Creed: Initiates platform and in the 2016 game Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India via five collectible scrolls that can be found throughout the game.
Despite the introduced by Assassin's Creed: Origins (2017) that the Assassins were founded as the Hidden Ones in 47 BCE—centuries after Iltani's time—she is referred to as a Hidden One founder in Assassin's Creed: Mirage (2023) by one of the supporting characters, Tabid Al-Nubi.
==Gallery==
Il Duomo's Secret 10.png|Iltani's statue and sarcophagus
Iltani seal.png|The Seal of Iltani
Il Duomo's Secret 11.png|Iltani's insignia
Iltani ACoP.png|Statue in the Sanctuary
==Appearances==
*Assassin's Creed II 
*Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood 
*Assassin's Creed: Initiates 
*Assassin's Creed: The Fall 
*Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India 
*Assassin's Creed: Mirage 
==References==
pl:Iltani
zh:伊尔塔尼
Category:4th century BCE births
Category:Individuals
Category:Babylonians
Category:Assassins
Category:Regicides
Category:Individuals who held Pieces of Eden