Shay Cormac

"History may brand me traitor, rebel, or renegade. But in the end, it doesn't matter how history remembers me. What matters, is that I followed my own creed."

- Shay Cormac, describing his transition from Assassin to Templar and the stigma it carried.

Shay Patrick Cormac (c. 1731 – unknown) was a member of the Templar Order, operating around the Atlantic Ocean during the Seven Years' War.

Formerly a member of the Colonial branch of the Assassin Brotherhood, Shay devoted his Templar career to hunting down his prior associates. Aboard his ship, the Morrigan, Shay's travels brought him to New York and the, among other locations.

Early life
Shay Cormac was born sometime in 1731 in New York City, to a family of Irish immigrants. His mother died in childbirth, and as his father was a merchant marine, and thus often absent from their home, Shay was raised by his aunt. Living in a rougher part of the city, Shay had a knack for getting himself into trouble, and was constantly protected by his closest friend, Liam O'Brien.

Eventually, Shay joined his father at sea, and although he missed the company of his friend, he eagerly began training in marksmanship and swordsmanship, even going as far to face down and shoot an attacking pirate captain, saving his father's ship. However, tragedy struck in 1747, when a fierce storm claimed the lives of Shay's father and several crew members.

Shattered and desolate, Shay wandered New York's streets, picking fights in taverns, until he was helped once again by Liam, who managed to get his friend back on his feet. Later that year, Liam introduced Shay to his Mentor, Achilles Davenport, and Shay joined the Brotherhood not long after. Over the next four years, Shay devoted himself to the Order and the Creed, serving dutifully. However, he still pondered the ambiguous areas between the motives of the Assassins and those of the Templars, their sworn enemies. Over time, he voiced these doubts, questioning Liam about the morality of the Assassins' actions and Creed and the increasingly tight control their Mentor was placing on them.

In 1752, while on a mission in the North Atlantic, Shay and Liam met with their comrade Louis-Joseph Gaultier, Chevalier de La Vérendrye, who was supposed to meet with smugglers carrying valuable cargo. When the smugglers were intercepted and captured by the British, Shay infiltrated the smugglers' camp, eliminated the British guards, and commandeered the ship the soldiers had come on, a sloop-of-war named the Morrigan.

Tracking the artifacts
Soon after, Shay and Liam returned to the Davenport Homestead, headquarters of the Colonial Assassins, and witnessed the arrival of the legendary Assassin Adéwalé. While the former pirate met with Achilles, Shay furthered his training under the guidance of Liam, Hope Jensen, and Kesegowaase, before meeting with Achilles to recieve his mission: to track and acquire two mysterious First Civilization artifacts, known as the Precursor Box and the Manuscript.

After meeting with La Vérendrye and his informant Le Chasseur, Shay first traveled to Mount Vernon, home of Lawrence and George Washington, to intercept a package arriving for Lawrence. After infiltrating the grounds of the manor, and stealing a custom-made air rifle in the process, Shay witnessed a meeting between Lawrence and three other men: Samuel Smith, James Wardrop, and Jack Weeks. Lawrence assigned Smith and Wardrop to guard the Box and Manuscript, respectively, before dismissing them. As Lawrence walked the grounds of his home in the midst of a garden party, Shay managed to kill him and escape.

A few months later, Shay tracked down Samuel Smith at sea, who attempted to escape with the Box in his possession. Although Smith's schooner led the Morrigan into a skirmish and even dropped flaming oil onto the waves, Shay gave chase and eventually assassinated Smith on the island of Terra Nova, claiming the Box for the Assassins.

Two years later, in 1754, as tensions between the French and British escalated to the brink of war, Shay traveled to Albany, New York, to eliminate James Wardrop. After observing William Johnson and Benjamin Franklin at the Albany Congress, Shay went on to find and assassinate Wardrop and retrieve the Manuscript, disregarding Wardrop's claims that he was endangering the world.

With both artifacts in his possession, Shay and Hope enlisted the aid of Franklin to activate the devices. After helping Franklin set up a lighting-to-battery assembly, Shay watched as the electricity in Franklin's machine powered the Box. A projection of the world appeared, with a shimmering light over the site of a First Civilization temple in Lisbon, Portugal. Relaying this information back to Achilles, Shay was tasked with the mission to travel to Lisbon, investigate the temple, and bring back whatever Piece of Eden he could find inside.

Disaster in Lisbon
Arriving in Europe in 1755, Shay set out for the Feast of the Saints Cathedral in the heart of Lisbon. As the preist conducted Mass inside, Shay climbed around the cieling of the structure and was able to reveal the entrance to the temple below.

Shay approached the Piece of Eden within - a shining, star-shaped artifact suspended above a pedestal - and removed it from its place. However, the removal of the Piece triggered a massive earthquake throughout the city. As Shay emerged from the temple, he climbed and ran his way through the collapsing city as civilians died and buildings fell around him. Moving quickly, Shay was able to make his escape and jump into the sea. He then swam to his ship and sailed for the Colonies.

Arriving back at the Homestead, Shay stormed into the manor and accused Achilles of sending him on the mission while knowing the danger that taking the Piece could cause. Although Achilles insisted he knew nothing about the possibility of triggering an earthquake, Shay maintained that the same thing had happened in Port-au-Prince three years ago, and that he had slaughtered hundreds of innocents on Achilles' command.

Refusing to serve under a man who could tolerate the massive destruction and loss of life, Shay resolved to steal the Manuscript to prevent other cities from meeting the same fate. Sneaking into the manor that night, Shay took the artifact and was about to make his escape before he was confronted by Achilles. When the Mentor tried to stop his student, the two struggled, and Shay leapt through a broken window. With the Assassins hunting him across the Homestead, Shay made his way to a cliff overlooking the bay before he was stopped by the rest of the Brotherhood. As he attempted to leap into the water below, Liam fired and shot his friend in the shoulder. Shay fell to the rocks below, and the Assassins believed him, and the Manuscript, lost to the sea.

Meeting the Templars
Some weeks later, Shay awoke in a manor in New York City, where he was being cared for by Barry and Cassidy Finnegan. When the Finnegan's home was attacked by members of a local gang, Shay came to their rescue and drove the bandits out. Before he went to finish off the gang, Cassidy handed him the robes that once belonged to their son, while Barry returned Shay's weapons to him. Armed once more, Shay caught one of the gang's members and learned the location of their hideout.

Infiltrating the compound, Shay cut down their flag and killed their leader, driving them out of the neighborhood and giving control back to the British. He was then approached by George Monro, a Colonel in the British Army who was friends with the Finnegan family. Walking the streets with the officer, Shay caught a brief glimpse into Templar philosophy through Monro's words. The two met up once more at the Finnegan home and discussed their next move to eliminate the gang from the area. Monro directed Shay to stop the execution of Christopher Gist, one of Monro's allies that the gang had captured and planned to hang shortly. Shay managed to halt the execution and kill the gang members present, saving Gist's life.

When he noticed the ship being used by the gang, Shay was stunned to realize that it was none other than the Morrigan. Gist suggested taking it back, and showed Shay how to eliminate the last gang members in the area. Gist then gathered his allies in the neighborhood to crew the Morrigan and asked to be Shay's first mate, an offer the young man readily accepted. The two then set sail, headed for Albany to complete another task for Monro.

Meeting the Colonel at Albany's docks, Shay learned that a nearby French fort was causing significant trouble for the Colonel's operations in the area, as well as posing a potential threat to the region's safety. After raiding a nearby warehouse to gain the items needed to make the Morrigan stronger, Shay attacked and subdued the fort. Fighting his way through the compound, Shay burst into the war room and found his old informant Le Chasseur, armed and waiting for him. The two dueled, with Shay emerging victorious, and Le Chasseur revealed that a group of criminals in New York was creating a deadly poison gas they planned to use on the British Army. Determined to stop the criminals, Shay headed back into the city.

Finding Monro once more, Shay was told that an "intimidating woman" had directed a group of thugs to brew huge batches of poison gas within the city, and that this potion would be used on civilians as well as the army. Monro then directed Shay to meet Benjamin Franklin, and Shay soon arrived at the inventor's home, all the while fearing that his former friend Hope had been the woman Monro spoke of. Although Franklin was suprised to see his old ally - as Hope had told him that Shay had simply "gone away" - he nonetheless handed the young man a prototypical grenade launcher that Hope had requested he make. Using the new weapon, Shay went on to locate the poison brewery, destroy the gas tanks, and halt the production of the poison.

After finishing the task, Shay met with Monro and Gist on a nearby rooftop, where they agreed Shay's actions had saved countless lives. While they viewed the destroyed poison works, they were joined by Jack Weeks and William Johnson, who also congratulated Shay on his work, before the group went to a nearby tavern to celebrate their small success.

Over the course of the next year, Shay assisted the Colonel, and by extension the Templars, in a variety of ways, proving himself a worthy candidate to recruit into the Order.

Siege of Fort William Henry
Roughy a year after his escape from the Assassins, Shay entered the cabin of the Morrigan and discovered a strange letter and package. Opening it, he found the Manuscript inside. Shay then read the letter, written by Colonel Monro, and discovered the officer's full involvement in his rescue and recuperation. It had been Monro's men who had found Shay after his fall into the ocean, and then taken him to the Finnegans' home to heal.

Reading on, Shay learned of Monro's assignment to Fort William Henry and the dire conditions the Colonel faced in Albany. A French-native alliance threatened the safety of the fort, and William Johnson's reinforcements had never arrived to assist Monro's troops. Suspecting the Assassin Kesegowaase to be involved in the alliance, set sail for Monro's position. Instead, he found Jack Weeks, who had been waiting for Johnson's reinforcements at the shore. Weeks then pointed Shay in the direction of Monro's division, patrolling in the wilderness.

Fighting off French troops and Assassin stalkers, Shay met the Colonel and escorted him to the safety of the Morrigan. As the ship cast off, Kesegowaase appeared on shore, enraged that Shay had survived and allied himself with the Templars. Before the Assassin could leap onto the Morrigan 's deck, the crew threw a barrel of gunpowder onto the dock, where it exploded and scarred Kesegowaase's face.

Having saved Monro, Shay turned his attention to their allies - Johnson's regiment, beset by French forces; and the Oneida tribe, whose village had been attacked and captured by Assassin thugs. Wasting little time, Shay quickly managed to assist both parties, strengthening Monro's army. With his numbers bolstered, the Colonel traveled to Albany and returned to Fort William Henry, anticipating the coming French-Indian attack.

Some time later, Shay sailed to Albany, finding the city in the midst of a French seige. With French troops and Assassin soldiers burning and raiding buildings around him, Shay reached the fort as Monro fought off a wave of attackers. Seeing Kesegowaase among the warriors, Shay chased and dueled his former Brother, eventually cutting him down with a mounted Puckle gun.

As Kesegowaase died, he scorned Shay's newfound place with the Templars, commenting that they would fail in time, and that Monro was already as good as dead. When Shay demanded answers, Kesegowaase merely uttered "Liam", before collapsing.

Fearing the worst, Shay sprinted across town to the docks, finding a house nearby engulfed in flames. After Monro's soldiers told Shay that their commander was inside, Shay ran into the burning building and carried Monro outside. However, he was too late: Monro had been mortally wounded by Liam, and the Manuscript, which Shay had given to him shortly beforehand, had been stolen. In his final moments, he removed his Templar ring and entrusted it to Shay before succumbing to his wounds.

Later, Shay was indoctrinated into the Colonial Rite of the Templar Order before Grand Master Haytham Kenway and other Templars, including Gist and Charles Lee.

Personality and Characteristics
Shay was originally a brash young man. He did not take his role as an Assassin seriously, instead being frivolous; not because he did not believe in the cause, but because he was young and unwise. However, after the disaster at Lisbon, Shay became a somber, dedicated character. He rethought his whole philosophy and his allegiance to the Assassins, realizing that the Templars' goals and methods were more in line with his own beliefs; this fervor caused him to pursue his former comrades for something he believed was the better path.

Equipment and skills
Shay appeared to be a skilled captain, adept at navigating the Morrigan through the icy waters of the North Atlantic, and like other Assassins before him, he was a capable freerunner. Shay was also shown to be a skilled swordsman, dual-wielding weapons with great efficiency.

Among his arsenal of weapons, Shay counted his Hidden Blades, a sword and parrying dagger, two flintlock pistols, rope darts and an air rifle. To protect himself from smoke bombs and various gases, Shay usually carried a gas mask.

Trivia

 * Shay's name is the anglicized form of the Gaelic Séaghdha, which means "hawk". His middle name comes from the Latin Patricius, meaning "nobleman". His family name is a conjoined term; mac is Gaelic for "son of", while cor has been interpreted as either "charioteer" or "raven".
 * Shay's Templar attire bore similarities to the armor obtained by Edward Kenway, during the latter's time in the West Indies.
 * Shay's Templar outfit is adorned with several symbols, including s,, , and the Templar insignia.
 * Shay was the fifth known Templar to perform the Leap of Faith, the others being Francesco de' Pazzi, Vali cel Tradat, Haytham Kenway and Daniel Cross.