- "The people know that he is rich and that he is dangerous, but they never get a moment to question why."
- ―Achilles Davenport describing John de la Tour.[src]
John de la Tour (died 1745) was a French-Canadian Assassin who was tasked by the council of the French Brotherhood to establish a network in New France from his home in Acadia. It was in this capacity that he assisted Achilles Davenport, playing a pivotal role in the Caribbean Assassin's foundation of the Colonial Brotherhood.
Biography[]
The first Assassin of the colonies[]
Hailing from a wealthy and influential family, John de la Tour was a resident of the French colony of Acadia by 1740, by which point he was also under the direct orders of the French Assassin Council to develop an intelligence network for the French Brotherhood in the region. Their primary goal was to ensure that potential threats to the colonies could be readily identified. As his work progressed, however, de la Tour began to suspect that the Americas contained invaluable Isu artifacts and sites. Correctly predicting that should even a fragment of these relics be discovered by the Templars, they would "descend upon the colonies like thunder", de la Tour made it his priority to find them first and protect them from Templar hands.[1]
Working with Achilles[]
In 1740, he became acquainted with Achilles Davenport, who had been sent to the British colonies to the south by the Mentor of the Caribbean Brotherhood, Ah Tabai, in order to establish a new branch. Achilles did not hold de la Tour in high regard, initially believing him to be arrogant and reckless, but over time, the two would come to cooperate well.[1][2]
In 1744, John accompanied Achilles to Quebec in order to locate Mathieu Léveillé, a slave from Martinique who had been purchased by the French government to serve as an executioner and who was believed to possess knowledge regarding the First Civilization. However, due to the weather conditions, the two were delayed on their journey, and by the time of their arrival, Mathieu had passed away from an illness related to the severe cold in September 1743.[2]
Fortunately for the Assassins, they discovered that the government had purchased a woman, Angélique-Denise, to be Léveillé's wife. Because of his untimely death, the ceremony had to be cancelled, and Angélique-Denise was put back up for sale at a slave auction. Acting on his instincts, de la Tour bought her, and just as he expected, the woman had already learned of Léveillé's most trusted secrets. Witnessing this act finally improved Achilles' view of John, a fact helped by Achilles' affections for Angélique-Denise, who adopted the name Abigail on his advice as a symbol of her newfound freedom.[2]
Final mission in Louisbourg[]
In 1745, de la Tour journeyed to Louisbourg, with Achilles and Abigail posing as his slaves, in search of a safe house owned by Nicolas Court, a Hermeticist who studied the mythology of the indigenous people of the Americas. De la Tour believed that Court held valuable information that would lead them to finding Precursor sites. Although Achilles found the disguises grossly humiliating, the illusion of status that they afforded de la Tour made it vastly easier for him to connect with the people they encountered. As a result, they were able to avoid resorting to violence throughout much of their mission.[3]
This changed as the War of the Austrian Succession reached the American colonies. Despite de la Tour's pleas to the French government, the French declined to send troops to reinforce Louisbourg, calculating that they would be able to win it back in treaty negotiations. This thereby left the city vulnerable when British forces invaded. De la Tour and Achilles helped prepare the Louisbourg fortress for the impending British attack while Abigail searched the city for the safe house.[3]
When the siege was finally at hand, the situation for the defenders became increasingly desperate. At last, de la Tour resolved to risk his life to buy time for Achilles and Abigail to escape, recognizing that they must survive to establish the Colonial Brotherhood. With his parting words, de la Tour presented Achilles with his Assassin robes, warned him that the Templars were certainly on the way if they had not already arrived, asserted that this made forming a new branch an immediate necessity, and finally referred to him as the Mentor of the Colonial Brotherhood. These words having been spoken, de la Tour left to ward off the British soldiers against insurmountable odds, allowing Achilles and Abigail time to complete their mission and ultimately sacrificing himself in the process.[3]
Legacy[]
Thanks to John de la Tour's sacrifice at Louisbourg, Achilles survived the battle and one year later officially founded the Colonial Brotherhood of Assassins, based at the Davenport Homestead in Massachusetts, becoming its first Mentor.[4][5]
Three pieces of equipment owned by de la Tour eventually passed down to Ratonhnhaké:ton: the outfit he had given to Achilles,[6] the Colonial Assassin outfit, and the Assassin Tomahawk.
Personality and traits[]
- "John de la Tour is brash, he draws too much attention to himself, I thought he would surely compromise the Brotherhood. But I was wrong. He misdirects with charm, he hides in plain sight behind a smile."
- ―Achilles Davenport[src]
When Achilles Davenport first began working alongside John de la Tour, he was of the opinion that the French Canadian was reckless and cocky to the point that he feared he would compromise the Assassin Brotherhood at any moment. Within their first year together, Achilles came to revise this judgment to an extent, coming to recognize that de la Tour was in fact a master at deception through his natural charisma.[1]
As a scion from an established upper-class family, de la Tour was well acquainted with the social arts, allowing him to fulfill the Assassin mantra of "hiding in plain sight" with ease. Likewise, his stratagems favoured blending in through disguise rather than brute force. To an extent, his impulsiveness owed to his reliance on his intuition, which proved correct when he swiftly bought the slave Angélique-Denise even though it was thought that her brief exposure with her ex-fiancé made the possibility that she knew his secrets slim at best.[1][2]
Even so, his skill was not enough to fully dissolve Achilles' distrust of him, and the Caribbean Assassin continued to frequently describe him as arrogant four years into their partnership. It was only when de la Tour freed the slave Angélique-Denise with whom Achilles would quickly fall in love that Achilles would finally grow fond of de la Tour and respect him.[2]
In their final mission together, de la Tour demonstrated his selflessness and dedication to his duty by sacrificing his life to entrust Achilles with the founding of the Colonial Brotherhood. Not a man after power, he saw the discovery of Isu relics as a vital goal of the Assassins but only so that they may be definitively guarded against their abuse by the Templars.[2]
Trivia[]
- The French surname de la Tour means "of the Tower".
- Achilles referred to de la Tour as "the first Assassin to come to the colonies".[6]
- In Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, stores with the name "De La Tour" can be found.
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
- Assassin's Creed III (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Rogue (mentioned only)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Assassin's Creed: Rogue – War Letters: "The First Colonial Assassin"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Assassin's Creed: Rogue – War Letters: "Death of the Executioner"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Assassin's Creed: Rogue – War Letters: "The Siege of Louisbourg"
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III – Database: Achilles Davenport
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Rogue – Database: Achilles
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Assassin's Creed III – Manor Mysteries, Part 1