Adéwalé

"With this skin and this voice, where can I go in the world and feel at ease?"

- Adéwalé to Edward Kenway, 1717.

Adéwalé (1692 – 1758) was a former slave-turned-pirate from Trinidad, and later a member of the Assassin Order. He is the father of Babtunde Josèphe, grandfather of the Haitian Assassin Eseosa, and an ancestor to Milton Jones.

During the early 18th century, Adéwalé served as Edward Kenway's quartermaster aboard the Jackdaw before eventually assuming the captaincy of his own vessel, the Victoire, and later the Experto Crede in 1735. That year, he briefly set aside his duties as an Assassin in order to aid the Maroon rebellion in Saint Domingue.

Early life and meeting Edward Kenway
"I was born in Trinidad, a slave from my first breath."

- Adéwalé to Edward Kenway, on his early life, 1717

Born into slavery on Trinidad, Adéwalé recognized the oppression visited upon those who worked the sugar plantations, and frequently dwelt on means of achieving his freedom. However, the life of a fugitive slave was difficult and perilous, and Adéwalé was anxious about committing to such an existence.

However, a unique opportunity for escape presented itself in 1708, when pirates arrived at the plantation where Adéwalé worked and raided the storehouse. Killing his master and grabbing a crate of sugar, Adéwalé joined the pirates in their pillaging; while initially surprised at his presence, the pirates were nonetheless pleased to have his help, and welcomed him among their number. For several years Adéwalé continued to sail with this crew, learning the skills of a proper pirate and seafarer. However, in 1715, the ship ran aground off the coast of Havana and he was captured by Spanish authorities.

His captors eventually decided to send him to Spain to be an interpreter, and had him imprisoned aboard a ship in the Spanish Treasure Fleet for passage. Adéwalé found himself chained alongside the pirate Edward Kenway, who was also destined for Spain. Together, the two broke free of their bonds and, after incapacitating a number of guards, procured themselves a ship, in the process freeing a number of likewise captured pirates.

Adéwalé chose a relatively small brig named El Dorado to make their escape, which was made all the more difficult by a sudden, powerful storm that struck the fleet. Ultimately, they managed to escape, while the remaining eleven ships in the fleet sank to the bottom of the sea.

Life of piracy
With a ship in their possession, which Edward renamed the Jackdaw, the two pirates decided to head to Nassau, a town that played host to a large number of their kind. Upon the pair's arrival, Adéwalé met with the pirates Benjamin Hornigold, Edward Thatch and James Kidd, before returning to the ship in order to organize the crew his captain recruited.

During his time on the Jackdaw, Adéwalé served Edward diligently, ensuring the ship was in a seaworthy condition, keeping the crew organized and, wherever possible, pointing out locations and ships of interest. However, he became disillusioned with his captain's behavior over time, as Edward was more interested in the pursuit of spoils than in the democratic ideals of the Pirate Republic. Adéwalé was also distrustful of Bartholomew Roberts, whom Edward began interacting with regularly in his search for the legendary Observatory.

In 1719, after four years as the Jackdaw's quartermaster, Adéwalé accompanied Edward on a voyage to Long Bay, Jamaica led by Roberts, who claimed it was the location of the Observatory. While Edward and Roberts took to land, Roberts' crew attacked the Jackdaw and attempted to overtake her. Adéwalé took control of the ship and sailed her to safety, regretful for abandoning his captain, but believing he made the right choice.

Joining the Assassins
Adéwalé had first encountered the Assassins in 1716, when Edward visited the Assassin headquarters in Tulum on the request of James Kidd. He saw in them a kind who fought for something greater than themselves, which he greatly respected.

It was only in 1719 that Adéwalé returned to Tulum and requested a meeting with the Mentor of the Caribbean Assassins, Ah Tabai. After speaking with the Mentor about the nature of the Assassin Order, Adéwalé began to believe it to be a calling that suited him. He then joined the Assassins, becoming a student to Ah Tabai, and began searching for the whereabouts of his old captain.

Several months later, word reached Tulum that Edward had been imprisoned in Port Royal, along with Mary Read and Anne Bonny. Adéwalé helped Ah Tabai to plot their rescue; while Mary died inside the prison, Ah Tabai was able to rescue both Edward and Anne. Adéwalé then traveled to Kingston to hand control of the Jackdaw back to Edward, and push his former captain onto a new path. From there, Adéwalé returned to Tulum.

Not long after his arrival, he was once again joined by Edward, who had elected to entertain the possibility that he could better himself as a member of the Assassins. Together, the two pirates fought alongside Ah Tabai and his Assassins to repel the latest Templar attack.

Two years later, Adéwalé traveled with Ah Tabai to the Observatory, where Edward had journeyed in order to eliminate the Templar Grand Master, Laureano de Torres y Ayala. Upon their arrival, they found Laureano dead, and Edward standing before the Observatory's armillary sphere, with the Crystal Skull that powered the device in hand.

Sometime later, Adéwalé, Ah Tabai, Anne, and Edward met once again on Great Inagua. There, Adéwalé informed Edward that one of his previous targets, Woodes Rogers, had survived the attempt on his life and returned to England. Before his own departure to England, Edward granted the Assassins full access to the manor on the island, as compensation for exposing the location of the Assassin camp in Tulum to the Templars.

Crash on Saint-Domingue
Thirteen years later, in 1735, Adéwalé was captain of the brig Victoire. He was tasked with eliminating a French admiral and Templar, whose ship was passing by Saint-Domingue. The Victoire engaged the French galleon and disabled it, possibly even sinking it, and from the wreckage Adéwalé obtained a parcel meant for Bastienne Josèphe. Shortly thereafter, the Victoire was surrounded by a French fleet and forced to flee through an approaching storm in order to escape.

Despite her crew escaping in time, the Victoire was wrecked and Adéwalé found himself washed ashore near the town of Port-au-Prince. It was here that he found himself confronted once again with the realities of the slave trade, which was increasingly prevalent in the French colony.

Within moments of waking, Adéwalé was forced to save a fleeing slave from her pursuing overseer, cutting him down with a machete found on the beach. Saved, the woman told Adéwalé where he could find Bastienne, the Madame of a local brothel, the La Dame en Rose. Upon locating her, Adéwalé was reluctant to hand over the Templar parcel, and so she directed him to find Augustin Dieufort, who could be found by speaking with her contact on a nearby plantation.

Locating the contact, Adéwalé was directed to the headquarters of the Maroon rebellion; upon his arrival, he found the resistance fighters being cut down by a contingent of overseers who had managed to locate them. Adéwalé killed the overseers and managed to prevent any from escaping with knowledge of the hideout's location. Dieufort then offered the Assassin new equipment and upgrades in exchange for helping liberate any slaves he could before returning to the Brotherhood.

Supporting the Maroon rebellion
With the aid of a number of recently freed slaves, Dieufort convinced Adéwalé to capture a docked slave ship, the Experto Crede, in order to free the slaves held beneath its deck en-masse. After completing the task, Adéwalé claimed the ship as his own, after which he agreed to train Dieufort, his new quartermaster, in the ways of navigation and sailing so that he might captain the ship following Adéwalé's departure.

Returning to Bastienne, Adéwalé was tasked with infiltrating Governor Pierre de Fayet's mansion, in order find out why the governor had recently become so strict in his enforcement of the Code Noir. Infiltrating the manor's grounds disguised as a slave, Adéwalé discovered that the governor had hired a scientist named Louis Godin to map the circumference of the Earth, so as to provide the French with accurate geographical knowledge far surpassing that of its national rivals.

Adéwalé was intrigued; as a sailor, the knowledge of navigation fascinated him, and he knew well that if the Assassins possessed such information, they would hold a significant advantage over their Templar rivals. Bastienne, however, was disgruntled with what little Adéwalé had learned about the expedition, and dismissed him.

Eventually, Bastienne's anger subsided. In order to help the Maroon and fulfill her promise to Augustin, she supplied a forged manifest listing the names of three literate slaves, with which the expedition needed to take notes. Adéwalé swapped the manifest and saw the French merchant ship, the Vautour, off from port. He quickly noticed the waiting pirate fleet however, and was forced to defend the expedition ship from them.

Pursuit of the slave ship
Two years after Adéwalé's arrival, the French were in a panic over the increasingly strong Maroon resistance, and the number of slaves being liberated by them. The French began to impose stricter curfews, as well as harsher and more frequent punishments. Adéwalé considered this a small price to pay, however, for the ultimate goal of Maroon independence. Angry, he left Port-au-Prince and set to sea in order to liberate another slave ship. This time however, the ship's French escort opened fire on her, disabling the ship and forcing her into a slow sink.

Adéwalé went aboard the severely damaged ship and rescued as many slaves as he could. Eventually, the ship sank with Adéwalé still below deck, and he was forced to swim and climb his way through the vertical ship in order to escape.

On nearby Cumberland Bay, Adéwalé joined Augustin and Bastienne in burying those slaves that had not escaped the vessel's sinking. Adéwalé vowed to kill de Fayet, claiming his Creed demanded it, and that it would give an entire generation of warriors hope.

Assassination of de Fayet
In 1737, Adéwalé located the French governor on the grounds of his manor, torturing slaves in order to locate the Maroon hideout and the man freeing the slaves - Adéwalé. As he approached, Adéwalé was spotted and the governor fled through town.

Despite the overwhelming number of French soldiers and overseers in pursuit, Adéwalé eventually caught up with the governor and killed him with the very branding iron he had previously used to torture his slaves.

With de Fayet dead, Adéwalé was forced to leave Port-au-Prince, since remaining would call both his own safety and the safety of the Maroons into question. Before leaving, he said goodbye to Bastienne and finally gave her the package. He decided he must devote his energy to those who struggle for freedom, using his conviction in his Creed to defend them along with anyone who helped him.

Later life
"I feel a tide changing within me. I am no longer young. I must devote my energy to those who struggle for freedom. I will use my conviction in my Creed to defend them, alongside anyone who will help me."

- Adéwalé to Bastienne, 1737.

Some time later, Adéwalé returned to Port-au-Prince, where he shared a night of passion with Bastienne; she became pregnant and eventually bore a son. Adéwalé returned to the city to offer aid following the in 1751. There he met his son, Babtunde, and thereafter took him to join the Brotherhood. Adéwalé himself was murdered in 1758.

Babtunde had a child in 1757, Eseosa, who also went on to join the Assassins, and was an influential participant in the Haitian Revolution.

Legacy
Through his grandson, Eseosa, Adéwalé is an ancestor of Milton Jones, an Abstergo Industries employee and donor of genetic material for Abstergo Entertainment.

Trivia

 * Adéwalé is a variant of the Yoruba name Adebowale, suggested to mean "crown has come home".
 * Adéwalé is the second playable character to not be related to Desmond Miles, the first being Aveline de Grandpré.
 * Adéwalé was multilingual, fluent in English, French, and Spanish.
 * Adéwalé can still be heard exclaiming at the size of captured harpooning targets as they are lifted from the sea by the ship's crane, even after his departure from the Jackdaw.
 * Adéwalé was originally scripted as having been born in Martinique, but this was changed to honor voice actor Tristan D. Lalla's Trinidadian heritage.