The Monger

The Monger (died c. 430 BCE), also known as The Monger of Korinthia,Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Fate of Atlantis: Torment of Hades – The Fallen: The Monger of Korinthia was a member of the Peloponnesian League branch of the Cult of Kosmos active in Korinth, Greece during the 5th century BCE.
==Biography==
===Terrorizing Korinth===
At some point, the Monger learned of the Cult of Kosmos and joined their ranks, finding their ideas and influence useful and appealing, especially since his taste for sadism was approved of.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
During the mid-440s BCE, the Monger had begun to take over Korinth, but he was firmly opposed by Myrrine, a Spartan woman who had come to the city, befriended the local hetaera Anthousa, and resisted his power plays. The Monger confronted Myrrine on the docks and when she swore he would never rule Korinth, he threatened to kill her and send her head to the Cult as proof. When Myrrine left Korinth a while later, The Monger's operation went ahead, with his men crushing out all opposition.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Monger Down
By the time of the Peloponnesian War the Monger had almost completely taken over the city of Korinth. The city and the region that was once the richest and most prosperous port in Greece was swallowed by corruption,Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Target menu: "The Monger: Bio" enough for people to whisper about Korinthia being the "Land of Beautiful Corruption".
In 431 BCE, the Cult of Kosmos met at long last in their shrine beneath the Sanctuary of Delphi in Phokis. The Monger was also there, and drew aside Brison, a member of the Delian League branch of the Cult. The Monger tortured Brison for failing to kill the Athenian sculptor Phidias,Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Serpent's Lair and this torture eventually led to Brison's death in the Monger's hands.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey novel – Chapter 6
===Encounter with Kassandra and death===
When the Spartan misthios Kassandra came to Korinth, she swiftly learned of the Monger's influence. His men were an army who mugged and shook people down in the streets of Korinth, and he targeted the hetaerae of the city for their access to a wealth of information as well as money. Due to this, the hetaerae fled with their leader Anthousa to the hill of Akrokorinth.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – To Find a Girl
The Stalker, one of the Monger's men, maintained the Abron House north of the Temple of Apollo. It was a house where the Monger would give his victims his 'special treatment', involving chains, oils, and whipping until his victims bled. His latest target was Damalis, one of Anthousa's hetaerae, pressuring one of her clients to lead her to the Abron House. Over the course of her investigation, Kassandra realized she's met the Monger before, in Phokis, as she recognized his handiwork. She ultimately managed to help Damalis avoid the fate the Monger had planned for her with the help of Phoibe.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – To Help a Girl
Around the same time as Kassandra, a letter from the Sage of the Peloponnesian League branch of the Cult reached the Monger, telling him that a Spartan soldier by the name of Brasidas had been sent to Korinth. The Sage considered Brasidas to have been a problem long enough, and tasked the Monger to kill him.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Sage Letter to the Monger
The Monger was also known to smuggle weapons into the port of Korinth and store them in his warehouse in the Port of Lechaion where they would eventually be sold to soldiers participating in the war.
With the help of Brasidas, the Monger's warehouse was later destroyed,Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Port of Lawlessness with the thug himself killed in it by both Spartans with the aid of Roxana and Erinna. After his death, the Monger's remains were then displayed publicly by Kassandra and Anthousa at the theater against Brasidas' wishes.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey novel – Chapter 9
===Simulation===
In a simulation created by the Isu Aletheia, the Monger's soul was held in the Underworld for the crimes he committed in his past life. After the death of the underworld guardian Cerberos at the hands of Kassandra, the Monger was one of those who escaped his imprisonment through rifts in the underworld. In an attempt to continue the Cult's work, the Monger began recruiting the prisoners, launching numerous attacks onto Hades' properties throughout his realm. He also came into conflict with Elpenor, a former fellow Cultist who was now reformed and worked with Hades to undermine his attacks.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Fate of Atlantis: Torment of Hades – A New Lease on Death Elpenor allied with their former-enemy Kassandra launched an attack on the Lost Temple of Nyx, the Monger's last known location. Finding him there they engaged him in combat and defeated him.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Fate of Atlantis: Torment of Hades – The Snake Sheds His Skin
==Legacy==
Sometime later during her adventures Kassandra happened to see a notice posted looking for her. When she talked to the hetaera in question, Kassandra learned that the Monger had, according to the hetaera, promised to marry her, but his untimely death had dashed her dreams. Despite Kassandra's disbelief, the hetaera was in mourning for the Monger, and wanted to see the mercenary who had killed him slain. Kassandra lied to her about her involvement in the Monger's death, and the hetaera tasked Kassandra to kill the mercenary at fault.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Grieving Widow To Be
In 2018 when Layla Hassan relived the memories of Kassandra via a degraded genetic sample found on the Spear of Leonidas using her Animus HR-8.5, it simulated an alternate version of events. The Monger still tortured Brison, but due to being interrupted by Kassandra, Brison survived. His death is also portrayed differently, with Kassandra given the option of killing him in public in the Korinth theater (the heterae can also kill him) as Anthousa wished, or killing him in the Sacred Cave as Brasidas wished.
==Personality and traits==
The Monger was described by Podarkes, a member of the Delian League branch of the Cult of Kosmos as "brutish Redblood" in a letter he sent to Brison, his colleague. The Monger might not have been the brightest, being referred to as a "thug with a small mind", but he had a firm grip and was a tool with its own use in the Cult's designs.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Letter to Brison
===Skills and equipment===
In battle the Monger wielded the Kolossos Mace.
==Behind the scenes==
If the Monger, a character in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, was slain in the Sacred Cave, Lagos provided decisive evidence on the Sage of the Peloponnesian League. However, if the Monger was killed at the theater, Lagos is hostile and suspicious, providing no evidence and dies fighting Kassandra. The alternate clue is a letter the Sage sent to Stentor, Nikolaos' adopted son and the Spartan polemarch in Boeotia.
Usually, the player would hunt other members of the Cultist's branch to get a hint that directs them to where the clue that unveils the Cultist can be found, which is indicated by a masked icon in the Cultists menu. However, the Monger's masked icon is revealed by killing Brison, a member of the Delian League branch. If the Monger was unveiled in Korinth before killing Brison, the "Letter to Brison" cannot be read in the Monger's submenu.
==Gallery==
ACOd-SerpentsLair-sidechamberR.jpg|Brison kneeling in front of the Monger in the Sanctuary of Kosmos
ACOD Monger Down 06.png|A young Monger threatening Myrrine
ACOd-MongerDown-Mongerdead.jpg|The Monger beaten at the Sacred Cave
ACOD TFoA Monger.png|Simulant The Monger of Korinthia
==Appearances==
*Assassin's Creed: Odyssey 
**The Fate of Atlantis: Torment of Hades 
*Assassin's Creed: Odyssey novel
==References==
Category:430 BCE deaths
Category:Individuals
Category:Greeks
Category:Ethnic Greeks
Category:Korinthians
Category:Bandits
Category:Cult of Kosmos
Category:Peloponnesian League cultists
Category:The Fallen