Burning the Firebrand

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Burning the Firebrand
Technical information
Description	Eivor Varinsdottir heads to the archives hoping to find some answers on the Red Hand's thefts of Christian texts.
Appearance	Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
Memory type	Main (The City of Greed)
Historical information
Source	Eivor Varinsdottir
Location	Jorvik, Kingdom of Northumbria
Date	c. 874

Burning the Firebrand was a virtual representation of one of Eivor Varinsdottir's genetic memories, relived by Layla Hassan through the Portable Animus HR-8.5.

Description

While in Jorvik, Eivor sought out the Order member known as The Firebrand, hoping to put a stop to the thefts of Christian texts. Eivor was first told to search Jorvik's Archives for any clues.

Dialogue

After talking with Ljufvina Bjarmarsdottir and Hjorr Halfsson about her targets, Eivor was led to search the Jorvik's Archives, as they were the next target of the Red Hand. As she arrived at the archives, she began her investigation.

• Eivor: The Archives. This must be where Audun shuffles the council papers. He is not here. Hmm...

As she read over a set of scrolls on the table to the left of the room.

• Eivor: Wreaths, timber, food, wine... an expensive list of items to procure for a feast. I should look around.

Eivor inspected a nearby shield and spears.

• Eivor: Weapons and supplies, but not enough to arm and feed even the smallest army.

As she looked at the scrolls on the main table.

• Eivor: A pile of official scrolls, stamped with a seal.

As she approached to read a note on the table to far northwest of the room, Eivor looked around but was caught off-guard from Audun and Ingeborg walking into the premises.

• Ingeborg: Thank you, Audun. I will leave with these at once.
• Audun: Of course.

Eivor talking to both Audun and Ingeborg about the Red Hand

Shocked, Audun stared at Eivor. Eivor then walked towards the both of them.

• Audun: Eivor, isn't it? What brings you to our archives?
• Eivor: I have come to ask about these Christian texts. Ljufvina tells me the Red Hand is stealing them.
• Audun: Hmm... And destroying them. I fear they will attack these archives next. The abbess here has offered to bring the texts somewhere safe. She's been working diligently on this matter.
• Ingeborg: You flatter me, lord. I only wish to help.
• Audun: Abbess Ingeborg, this is Eivor, our honored guests from the south. Eivor has offered to help rid Jorvik of the Red Hand.
• Ingeborg: How can I help?

• How did you get involved?
• Why are you keeping the texts?
• What do you know about the Red Hand?

• Eivor: An abbess does not strike me as a suitable choice against a gang of ruthless bandits.

Ingeborg walked a bit away and then stated her case.

• Ingeborg: It is my duty to protect the role of Christianity in our lives. Texts like the gospel of Matthew were created for more than just perusing. They are a gift. They spread the word of God, and it is that which must be preserved, whatsoever the cost.

Eivor: You say you are keeping the texts safe. Where?

Ingeborg: Forgive me, Eivor, but as an outsider, I do not understand your stake in this. For that, I am reluctant to trust you. The texts are safest with me. I will do what I must to guard them from the Red Hand.

Eivor: The Red Hand seems to know where to look for these texts. It may be someone is guiding them. What can you tell me? You know something else. That much is clear.

As Eivor replied, Ingeborg and Audun looked at each other very distressingly, mid-response.

• Eivor: I admire your resolve, but unless the Red Hand is dismantled, they will continue to harm those in possession of these texts. The Red Hand seems to know where to look for these texts. It may be someone is guiding them. What can you tell me? You know something else. That much is clear.
• Audun: The abbess has her suspicions.
• Ingeborg: As much as it pains me to say, I suspect something foul at the rectory. I have heard whispering, collusion. And the bishop... he has been sneaking around the rectory, often visiting the priest in the cover of night.
• Eivor: Time I pay these men of faith a visit.

After the conversation, Eivor headed to the rectory as Audun and Ingeborg continued on their day.

• Eivor: The rectory is on the road to the minster. I should look for the bishop there.

After travelling to the rectory, Eivor arrived at one of its entrances.

• Eivor: Here is the rectory. The abbess said she suspected secrecy among the priests and bishops. Seems quiet. Where is everyone?

As looking at some houses, Eivor noticed a locked-in house with a weak roof.

• Eivor: Someone is hiding in there. Doubt he will come out. I will have to find a way in.

As she looked around the house, Eivor found her way at the top of the house and then found a priest.

• Anglo-Saxon Man 1: No! Stay away from me! Stay back! Agh!
• Eivor: Musky. Been here long, priest.
• Anglo-Saxon Man 1: Just who do you think you are, trespassing like this! This is my property you've destroyed!

• Why do you hide?
• I will destroy you.
• Tell me where the bishop is.

• Eivor: I hear you priests have been hiding ever since some Christian texts went missing. What are you hiding from?
• Anglo-Saxon Man 1: The Red Hand, who else? They muscle their way to and fro. No one has a done a thing about it.
• Eivor: I am looking for the bishop. Where is he?

Eivor: First your property, next your arm, and if you think I will stop there, you are mistaken.

Anglo-Saxon Man 1: Wh-What do you want from me?

Eivor: I am looking for the bishop. Where is he?

Eivor: I am looking for the bishop. Where is he?

The priest directing Eivor to the bishop's quarters

• Anglo-Saxon Man 1: Gone to his quarters. Said he would return once he finished tending to a private matter. But that was some time ago.
• Eivor: Show me there.
• Anglo-Saxon Man 1: Wh-what do you mean to do with him?
• Eivor: Now.
• Anglo-Saxon Man 1: Lord forgive me...

The priest then led Eivor to the bishop's quarters.

• Anglo-Saxon Man 1: The bishop's quarters. What is that burning smell? Ahhh... I knew I should have left with the others.

Going inside, Eivor, with the priest, investigated the burned quarters. Eivor then saw some burnt texts on the floor.

• Eivor: Several Christian texts. The abbess was right to cast suspicions the bishop's way.

Eivor then came across blood on the side of the premises.

• Eivor: Blood ... there was a struggle here.

Farther down its hall, Eivor came across the burnt bishop on his chair.

• Anglo-Saxon Man 1: Lord above! Th-The bishop! N-no, I can't look. O, dear Lord...
• Eivor: Oof ... the stench. He looks like Surtr's shit.

Eivor then carried his body off the chair to find a charred note underneath the body. Eivor: A charred letter beneath the body. He must have tried to hide it before he died.

Eivor reading the letter she found

Eivor read the letter.

Charred Letter
Fellow brothers of the light, it is with a heavy heart that I will be resigning from my duties at the Minister. The texts we kept there have been compromised, and I can no longer tolerate the abbess's methods. God forgive me for desecrating these sacred texts. My brothers, listen carefully. The church is no longer safe, holy grounds. As I write this letter, I fear there may be an attempt on my life. Remember this name—the Firebrand. She is—

(The rest of the note has been burned away.)

Eivor considered the clues she had found.

• Eivor: Someone knew the bishop was conflicted and killed him before he could say a word. It's a confession. The bishop played his part in destroying these texts against his own will. The rest of the letter is burnt, but makes mention of the minster and the abbess. Is that where she has been keeping these texts?

Inside, Eivor heard an order from outside.

• Female Anglo-Saxon Soldier 1: Look around! Search every room! They are around here somewhere.

Inside, the priest panicked over the Red Hand's presence and spoke to Eivor.

• Anglo-Saxon Man 1: It's them! It's the Red Hand. O Lord have mercy!
• Eivor: Quiet. The Red Hand. I need to leave.
• Female Anglo-Saxon Soldier 1: Find that pagan! We will burn that sinner, just like the others.

Eivor then escaped the quarters and headed towards the Minster.

• Eivor: The target sent the Red Hand after me. I must be closing in. It's time I head to the minster. The abbess knows more than she is letting on.

As she found a way inside from an opened glass window above, Eivor climbed down the stairs as she heard a commotion.

• Anglo-Saxon Man 2: What ... just what do you think you're doing!
• Female Anglo-Saxon Soldier 2: This is no place for you, priest. Go. Now.
• Anglo-Saxon Man 2: Blasphemy! Stop this at once!
• Ingeborg Something troubling you, Father?

Eivor lurked from above as she made her way into the minster's hall. The priest showed Abbess Ingeborg that Christian texts were being burned, but the abbess ignored it and walked past him.

• Anglo-Saxon Man 2: Abbess! Look! They are burning all of these passages. Why are you not stopping this?
• Ingeborg: Because I ordered them to.
• Anglo-Saxon Man 2: What... ?
• Ingeborg: The vellum that burn before you are covered in lies. So long as they exist, you cannot hope to see the world the way it truly is.

The priest came face-to-face with the abbess.

• Anglo-Saxon Man 2: Lies? Abbess, what has happened to you? We are God's children, all! Do not renounce Him like this, please, I beg of you. You can still repent. God will forgive you. You know He will.
• Ingeborg: Your mind has been poisoned, but worry not, we have the antidote. We will set a new example to which all may aspire.
• Anglo-Saxon Man 2: Y-you ... you're mad! You won't get away with this. I won't let you!

Ingeborg choking the priest

The abbess then started to choke the priest as Eivor looked on.

• Ingeborg: There is no one to tell. No one who will hear your cries. If you cannot bear to watch them burn, then you should burn with them.

The abbess tossed the priest into the fire and the priest, shouting, was burned alive.

• Ingeborg: I want it all destroyed. Every text, every passage, every scribbled piece of paper. Everything. It is time to end this.
• Female Anglo-Saxon Soldier 2: Yes, Firebrand.

As the abbess walked out with her guards, Eivor watched as she determined the truth.

• Eivor: The abbess is The Firebrand. She'll kill whoever stands in her way. Time I get between her and her next victim.

When she assassinated The Firebrand, Eivor realized she killed one of her decoy guards after reading a note among her effects.

Note of Reprimand
If the Firebrand doesn't get her axe repaired before the next sundown, I will personally see to it that you be purified along with the texts.

• Eivor: Not The Firebrand.

Eivor then assassinated another one of the decoys.

• Eivor: Still not The Firebrand, but I have you now.

Ingeborg in the Memory Corridor

After killing the decoys, Eivor located and then assassinated Ingeborg. In the Memory Corridor, Eivor and a ghostly Odin walked towards a flaming pyre of scrolls, while Ingeborg came from behind it.

• Ingeborg: This fire that burns inside ... I've always had it. A longing to do something grand and important. But that door was always shut to me. My methods deemed too severe. I was cast out, shunned, scorned ... But the Order, they took notice of me. Saw that it was courage that drove me. Courage to change the world for the better. They reopened that door.
• Eivor: And you used your chance to destroy a way of life, you did not support.

Ingeborg explaining her actions

• Ingeborg: We have seen time and time again what happens when people are left to interpret for themselves. Knowledge must be controlled. Only then can the message be widely understood. The day where there is but one truth draws nearer. One truth, that is what the Order offers.
• Odin: This ones sought to spark a new flame, but did so with a heavy hand, not a teacher's tongue.
• Eivor: This cleansing of yours ends here.
• Ingeborg: My work is incomplete, but not inconsequential. There are others who carry on, for one of the four is us.
• Eivor: Why did you say that? What does it mean?
• Ingeborg: Now I go, a flame that grows bright, and burns evermore, ever light.

Ingeborg walked backward towards the pyre, lighting herself on fire while Eivor and Odin were shocked. Her Order medallion fell as Eivor went to pick it up.

• Eivor: To Helheim, where colder and crueler fires await.

The pyre's fire turned blue as Ingeborg was caught off-guard. Immobilized, Ingeborg struggled and then her spirit immediately vanished. Eivor and Odin then walked away. After the Memory Corridor, Eivor headed Ljufvina to report her findings.

• Eivor: I should return to Ljufvina. She will want to know about Abbess Ingeborg's involvement.

Eivor reporting her findings to Ljufvina

When returning to Ljufvina at the Royal Hall, Eivor reported the events to her.

• Ljufvina: What news do you bring?
• Eivor: The Firebrand's name burns no longer. It was Jorvik's Abbess Ingeborg.
• Ljufvina: Gods, I would never have suspected. Does The Order's reach know no bounds?
• Eivor: None. And it is often those we least expect who carry out their ambitions. The abbess, she sought to destroy all Christian texts in the city. Rid Jorvik of their ideals. She did utter a phrase that perked my ears — "One of the four is ours."
• Lfujvina: Four? But there are only three targets in Jorvik. Could there be something we're missing?

Just then, Faravid walked in and voiced his frustration to King Ricsige.

• Faravid: Damn Picts! Not only do they hold the North, but those lawless shits have free-roam in our lands as well!
• Ljufvina: Hjorr said our spies are on the ground—

Faravid voicing his frustrations while staring at Lfujvina

• Faravid: Under the ground! Only one of them has returned, bone-beaten and bloodied! The howling mother take them.

As Faravid walked off, Ricsige asked for Lfujvina's consul.

• Ricsige: Ljufvina, a moment of your time? And Hjorr if he is about.
• Lfujvina: I will be with you shortly.

Ricsige walked off as Lfujvina looked to Eivor.

• Eivor: Two more left to hunt.
• Lfujvina: The disputes coming out of the docks lately have been deafening. Head there and dig around. Something is bound to turn up.

Outcome

Eivor found and assassinated The Firebrand, thus putting a stop to all the destruction of the Christian texts in Jorvik. Eivor is then told to head to the docks for the disputes happening there.

Behind the scenes

This memory shares many similarities with the memory "Assassination (Jubair al Hakim)" from the 2007 video game Assassin's Creed. Both Ingeborg and Jubair al Hakim were scholarly heads of their religion—Christianity and Islam, respectively—and were so fanatically devoted to ensuring their religion's purity that they burned texts considered heretical, proclaiming that the works "are covered in lies. So long as they exist, [the public] cannot hope to see the world the way it truly is", before shoving a priest who denounced their actions into the pyre.

Gallery

Eivor investigating the archives

Audun conversing with Ingeborg

The charred letter

The priest thrown onto a pile of burning scrolls

The priestess disappeared in the blue flame in the memory corridor

References

• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla