Pierrette Arnaud

Pierrette Arnaud
Biographical information
Born	c. 1833 Kingdom of France
Species	Human
Political information
Affiliations	Aurora Equestrian Troupe Assassins British Brotherhood Egyptian Brotherhood

Pierrette Arnaud (born c. 1833) was an French acrobat and a member of the British Brotherhood of Assassins. Originally from Paris, she lost her parents during the June Days uprising in 1848 but was adopted by former Swedish cavalry officer Major Leo Wallin and joined his Aurora Equestrian Troupe.

Biography

Early life

Pierrette was born around 1833 to Parisian musicians: her father being a trumpet player and her mother, Marie Arnaud, a violinist who, according to her father, was talented enough that she could bring Vivaldi to life with her skills. Pierrette's parents were passed over for positions at the Paris Opera for reasons they never knew, and thus often played in the orchestra at the Paris Hippodrome to make ends meet.

In 1848, France was hit by a period of civil unrest with the abdication of King Louis Philippe in February and later on, the workers' uprising in June. In the latter event, Pierrette's parents participated in the riots, leaving her in the care of Swedish Major Wallin, who was then in Paris along with his travelling troupe, the Aurora Equestrian Troupe, and his daughter Tillie. Before departing to the barricades, her parents requested Wallin to look after their daughter should anything happen to them, barring her from taking part in the riots.

Sure enough, Pierrette's parents were killed by the National Guard at the Rue Soufflot, and were buried in an unmarked grave. Pierrette, heeding her late parent's advice, joined Major Wallin and his troupe in order to survive and avoid starving to death.

Encountering Ada Lovelace

In 1851, Pierrette performed at the Great Exhibition with her troupe and performed the male lead of Mazeppa. However, near the end of her performance, she ended up rescuing mathematician Ada Lovelace from a gang of thugs. Once the pair were safe, she accompanied and guarded the countess home away from her assailants. Arriving at Ada's home, Arnaud and Lady Lovelace began to build a friendship. Pierrette soon attended Ada's social gatherings with scholars and artists, such as Elizabeth Siddal and John Ruskin. However, once Ada revealed she was deathly ill, Pierrette was asked and sent on a journey to find Ada's friend Simeon Price and to work with him to stop a weapon she had developed, known as the "Engine of History", from being used.

Searching for Simeon Price

Looking around England for Price, Pierrette found no trace of him and convinced Wallin to move the troupe from London, especially due to war declaration from Emperor Napoleon III. With haste, they traveled around Europe as Arnaud performed her new "Flying Flame" act and put Price's name in her act. Soon, she and the troupe arrived in Vienna as she continued her act. One night, Arnaud saw that Price broke into her troupe's area but vouched for him after Wallin caught him. Together, they discussed Ada's last wishes and her notes, which Pierrette gave to Price for his friend to decipher.

The next day came as Pierrette awaited Price at the Elizabeth Bridge above the Wien River. However, she was told by Price that he could not decipher the notes and was asked to break off contact. Dismayed, she immediately took back the notes and escaped from Price's chase. When she arrived back home, she saw her room ransacked. Realizing she was being tracked, she took Ada's notes and sew them inside her corset.

Searching for the Magus

By 1854, moving with her troupe, Pierrette searched around Europe for the Magus and talked with all inventors and gunsmiths she found. However, while in Prague, she and her troupe noticed the Wallin and Tillie became sick. Although Tillie recovered, she and the troupe saw Wallin worsen. From the doctor's orders, Pierrette and the troupe were told to retire Wallin and find a permanent base. In Frankfurt, Pierrette convinced her troupe to relocate in Birmingham as she found an answer for finding the Magus, due to the city's industrial aspects.

In three years, Arnaud found herself searching for clues about the Magus as the troupe founded their permanent base. However, she came across a workers' line and saw casings that matched Ada's drawings in her notes. Eavesdropping on the conversation from atop a walkway, she was soon spotted as the walkway collapsed due to imbalance. She quickly took a casing and escaped their chase. Scared, she left the troupe to follow the clue of the casings' delivery to Paris. Arnaud followed her lead to Paris and saw a man with a suitcase take the casings, bring them to the theater opera of Rue le Peletier, and saw a bombing occur. Pierrette intervened before one of the bombers activated the second one but was knocked out. Luckily, she was saved by her old acquaintance, Assassin Simeon Price.

At the base underneath Gare de l'Est, Pierrette awoke to Price, who interrogated her on her presence. After they talked about their clues, she was reluctantly offered to be trained by Price, to which she accepted. Meanwhile, they continued to debate on who was the man behind the Magus. Their debates turned hostile until the intervening of the Assassins Michel Moulin and Amira Benyamina. Talking with each other, she theorized, due to Kane's presence, that he may be Magus after all. Despite some pushback, Arnaud remembered that her target recalled Kane's presence during the bombings, before the search for the Eye. There, all the Assassins concluded on the Magus being Oscar Kane after all.

After searching through Vienna, Arnaud and Price found no trace of Kane's whereabouts. However, Arnaud found a clue from Elizabeth Siddal during a social gathering as Kane was last seen in London. With her mentor feeling uneased, Arnaud was ordered to stay in Paris. However, she was allowed to join after a moment of persuasion.

Locating Kane

In 1861, Arnaud and her mentor first resided with Siddal and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, before meeting with English Assassins Ethan Frye and "The Ghost." However, they received no information from them. Luckily, a mention of an "artifact" was read in the news and its location to be at the British Museum. Pierrette was told to stay with the Rossetti's and visit the new Crystal Palace as he confronted his former mentor. Alone, she went and saw Charles Blondin and coincidentally met with Tillie again after several years.

Realizing the troupe disbanded, Wallin dead, and everyone else found new careers, Pierrette and Tillie talked as they walked back to the Rossetti's residence. Yet, both found her room broken into once again. With the police investigating, she overheard that Simeon had been found and arrested. Wondering what to do, she thought of a prison break but knew she had no equipment. With Tillie, she headed to the Robinson's new store and met with Nell Robinson again. Together, she, Nell, Hugh Robinson, and Tillie sat down for tea and talked. Immediately, she apologized for leaving them and how it all ended. Despite harsh feelings, she was forgiven and reminded that they are here to help.

With weapons and equipment given by the Robinson's, Arnaud headed home until she noticed that she was being followed. Confronting her stalker, she was introduced to Corporal Sawyer Halford, who gave her a note from her imprisoned mentor. Back at the Rossetti's, Arnaud introduced Halford to her hosts as she prepared for a party. At the social gathering, she began to meet with fellow artists and found herself meeting Ada's children, Anne and Byron. However, she found that she was being spied on by a woman at the party.

Captured by the Templars

Pierrette was met by Countess Konstanze von Visler, who remained coy about Kane and offered to talk at the Brown's Hotel. The next day, Pierrette stood atop an adjacent building and climbed down. However, she was grabbed and knocked out from a window. She soon awoke to the Countess and her henchman, Hennighan. Talking with the countess, Pierrette realized she had been captured by the Templars. Before long, Pierrette was tortured and slashed by the countess, who later saw the hidden notes within her corset.

Held for days, Pierrette was underfed, beaten, and tortured by Hennighan and von Visler. She started to lie about the information of Ada's coded notes until she could not hold out. She revealed about a possible artifact located in Bath as the countess began to heat up the room with firewood. With the fireplace, Pierrette used a necklace from the Robinson's and blew fire from her mouth. Setting the countess' arm on fire, Pierrette escaped her confines and fought off Hennighan. Taking back the notes, Pierrette escaped while the countess continued to shoot at her.

Hunting Kane

After finding sleep by a chimney, she met with the Rossetti's being bloodied, thin, and bruised. After resting and recuperating, she met her recently-released mentor outside Red Lion and they conferred their recent events. Both figured out that Kane was traveling to Bath to find the Eye and thought of allies that may help them.

In early 1862, Pierrette, Simeon, and their allies convened in an alley near Bath Abbey. Pierrette was met by Hugh, Tillie, and Ariel Fine, her troupe family, while Sawyer and Byron came for Simeon. Everyone waited above while Price entered a bunker alone to find Kane. Within moments, gunfire was heard as a fight broke above between Pierrette and her allies versus Kane's men. Fortunately, the alley fight moved down towards the bunker's room. Pierrette entered in and saw a man pointing a gun towards a trapped Price. She shoots the man, saves her mentor's life, and helps him escape from a hole in the ground.

Pierrette and her allies soon took down all of Kane's men as she declared it's over and lied about burning Ada's notes. Surrounded, while Kane was distracted by his unloaded gun, she came from behind and stabbed him. However, she was soon overpowered and held hostage by Kane atop a walkway. Although Hugh and Ariel freed her by lassoing Kane, Pierrette saw Kane released due to a surviving henchman. In a second, she tied Kane up again and threw themselves over the walkway, which became broken. Slightly injured, she saw Kane motionless and barely breathing as the room was crashing down. She left with her allies as Price stayed to finally end Kane.

The Magus' Aftermath

After the successful mission, Arnaud and Price recuperated and arrived home, only to find and hear about Lizzie Siddal's death. At her wake, Arnaud paid her respects while overhearing Price talk harshly to a woman. Seeing the woman to be Konstanze von Visler, Arnaud hid the notes beneath Lizzie's head as she confronted the countess with a gun behind her. While the countess asked to see if the notes were gone, both Pierrette and Simeon remained silent. Once the countess paid her respects and left, she told Price that she wanted to stay in London for both her troupe and the Brotherhood.

However, Arnaud was told by Price that he needed to leave due to his face being publicized and needing to work incognito. As she understood, she offered to work one more night with Simeon, who agreed.

Working with the Egyptian Assassins

For the next five years, Pierrette stayed in London and managed to learn under the London Assassins. Despite spending time with Evie Frye and her family, she never agreed with the London Brotherhood's tactics. Recommended by fellow Assassin George Westhouse to venture to Cairo to understand the Assassins' origins, she left for Cairo and found herself working under Master Assassin Amira Benyamina, former French Assassin and a member of Cairo's Assassin Council.

In 1869, Pierrette and her fellow Assassins Safiya El-Nadi and Gamal Sabry were sent to infiltrate the special event at Khedivial Opera House, where Pierrette was tasked to find and assassinate Albert Hawkins, an American Templar stationed in Cairo. Fortunately being invited by Khedive Ismail Pasha, Pierrette entered the opera house and found guests Empress Eugénie de Montijo of France and Hawkins. After a brief conversation with Pasha and his guests, she followed Hawkins, found him near the khedive's box and killed him. Investigating the box, she found his cane, which contained a explosive device. Hiding the body, she took the cane and discarded safely into a river.

After saving the day, Pierrette, Sabry and El-Nadi were tasked to follow Hawkins' railroad line. Following the railroad line to the end, they made camp but were met by an unknown figure. Luckily, it was Simeon, whom Pierrette hugged instantly. Talking together, the Assassins learned that close to them was a cave excavation led by Templar Armen Kazan and twelve more Templars and how Kazan may hold the Ankh. Venturing into the cave in another entrance, the Assassins came across statues of Egyptian gods Horus, Isis, Osiris, and Set. However, within Gamal's story about the gods, Pierrette became irritated as she felt herself as Set. Moving away from her friends, Pierrette ran away from them and ventured the cave on her own.

Finding the Templar excavation, Pierrette took out some of the guards before noticing both Kazan addressing his group and the Ankh placed onto a slab. Readying herself, Pierrette fired her gun and killed Kazan and a fellow Templar. With a smoke bomb, she took down most of the Templars but became injured. Pinned down, Pierrette noticed one of her attackers to be Art Hennighan. Restrained, she began to witness the Ankh powering up and emitting a light to one of the pictures. Fortunately, she saw her allies come and attack the Templars. While woozy, she witnessed the Ankh resurrect a dead horse from one of the paintings as it jumped over her. However, she lost consciousness and was aided by Safiya, who brought her back to Cairo to rest and heal.

At Safiya and Gamal's house, Pierrette began to recuperate while Simeon and Gamal informed her, Amira, and Safiya that Hennighan took the horse and the Ankh and escaped. Wanting to stay in Cairo, she was ordered to track down Hennighan and recover the Ankh. Understanding, she received a letter from Gamal as the letter came from England. She fell ill while she read that Siddal was being exhumed and thus Ada's notebook.

Investigating Siddal's exhumation

Arriving in London, Pierrette was met by Evie at Waterloo station as they discussed about meeting the widow Dante Gabriel Rossetti at his Chelsea residence. Meeting Rossetti, she saw his house in ruins while asking him about Siddal's exhumation carefully and sympathetically. She learned that Charles Augustus Howell convinced him to dig up Elizabeth to recover his own book of poems. Understanding, Pierrette left him in his sorrow. She later met with Ada's daughter and her friend Anne Blunt, who offered to help introduce her to Howell in a game of whist. Along with Pierrette, Anne and Evie came to the game night and began to hustle Howell out of his money. While Evie held a hostile Howell at gunpoint, Pierrette interrogated him and he revealed that he told his old friend John Elliotson about it and that the other book aside from Dante's was stolen by a female apparition. Threatening him to stay quiet, Pierrette realized the Templars may have stolen Ada's notebook.

By 1870, looking for Countess von Visler, Pierrette interrogated Templar associate Tom Shallow about her whereabouts but to no avail. Meanwhile, she spent time with her troupe family and was elated to see the Aurora Troupe back in business. Visiting her old friends, Pierrette talked with Tillie, who recently became a mother to Harald "Spider" Wallin and how she kept her family legacy going. Walking back to her home, she was attacked by Shallow's thugs but easily countered them and threatened them to stop his business. At home, she received a letter about the Assassins excavating the paintings in Egypt and another letter inviting her to the Aurora Troupe's performance. Meeting with Tillie and Spider, she watched the performance while keeping an eye for any assailants. However, she witnessed Tillie fall mid-performance and died on impact while she kept Spider from seeing the incident.

Aiding the French Brotherhood

In the summer of 1870, Pierrette visited Simeon while he aided the Parisians and the Brotherhood in their fight during the war. Realizing he was escorting Empress Eugenie, Pierrette informed him of Tillie's death while Simeon consoled her. While escorting the empress, Pierrette was informed of how Templars feld to Tours and vowed to go there.

While keeping watch over Tours, Pierrette saw an incoming but injured Simeon wait at an café. However, she also noticed a sniper set on him and pivoted the gunman's attention on her. Suddenly, she realized it was Hennighan and began a cat-and-mouse chase with him. While he was not looking, she grabbed his rifle and swung it at him. Although he managed to overpower her, she used her blade and fatally stabbed him. With her handkerchief, she took his blood while she noticed Simeon behind her. While they discussed about the French Templars manipulating the Government of National Defense and how he was traveling to Brussels to confront Konstanze. Hesistant, she followed his orders and vouched to kill her if he did not succeed.

After the war ended in Prussian victory, the citizens of Paris rebelled against the new Third French Republic and as a result, the French Brotherhood, including Pierrette, supported the Parisians for their independence and their new Paris Commune. Despite fighting alongside the Communards, Pierrette saw the Commune fell and the Third French Republic succeed as successor. Meanwhile, she received confirmation from Simeon that Ada's notebook had been destroyed by him.

Working back in London

Fed up with France's new government, Pierrette accepted a contract by Amira to investigate a business near the Suez Canal about a Templar illegal art ring. After inspecting the office and interrogating a young Templar, she retrieved a list of businesses in England affiliated with the Templars. Venturing back to England, she meets up with Ariel, who has taken in Spider as their ward along with their lover Jim. After catching up with both Ariel and Spider, she later met George Westhouse in a pub in Crawley. After sharing information with each other, they turned their investigation to Drake Line business while the other businesses have gone under due to Vienna market crash. She later received a letter from Price of how he faked his death to conceal his death from the Templars, much to her relief.

For the next five years, Pierrette watched over Spider while keeping in contact with Simeon, who fell in love with Konstanze and traveled together to learn under the Zurich Assassins. After the troupe headed out for their summer tour, she caught up with Anne, who recently admitted in her new business of horse breeding. However, after learning about her "Pegasi" breed being the fastest new breed out of Egypt, she deduced that Hennighan's revival of the horse from the cave had led to this new faster mode of transportation for the Templars and informed both Amira and Paris' Assassin leader Master Assassin Michel Moulin. Although wanting to inform Simeon, she did not want to worsen his attitude since Konstanze's betrayal to the Assassins.

With Spider becoming more restless, Pierrette offered to house him along with Anne at her farm. However, despite making him work and keeping him occupied, she was tasked by George to stop a possible assassination attempt on Queen Victoria. Reluctant, she was convinced to go. At Windsor Royal Station, she waited for the queen to arrive but noticed Spider with one of Anne's horses. Before she could act, she witnessed a shooter attack but Spider's horse knocked the gunman out. She then led the queen away to safety. When she returned to the station, she saw Spider gone. Back at the farm, she reprimanded Spider, who left the farm in anger. Searching for Spider for four months, she was visited and consoled by her friends Safiya and Gamal.

Stopping Konstanze's Engine of History

In 1889, Pierrette, along with Hugh, Nell, and Jim, paid their respects to Ariel, who passed away at sixty. While at their grave, she noticed an adult Spider and hugged him. Promising to have him to do what he wanted but by her side, Pierrette and Spider walk to their friends but were stopped by Angelica, an Assassin, who delivered an urgent letter from Simeon from Paris about Konstanze. Needing to leave, Spider promised to help her on her mission in Paris.

Arriving in Paris, Pierrette and Spider met with Simeon, who revealed that Konstanze made a copy of Ada's notebook. Vowing to stop her, both Assassins led Spider to meet Michel and his Assassins. Concocting a plan to blow up the Eiffel Tower to stop the Templars' plans, everyone followed their own task while Pierrette spoke with Simeon about ending Konstanze's life. After giving Simeon a handkerchief with Konstanze's initials, she checked on Spider sleeping while calling Anne about Ada's notes being out there. From Mary Fitzpatrick's decoding of a Templar message, she asked about an invention or method with three lines. While Anne could not recollect, Pierrette ended their call but only to remember about a method of calculating predictions Ada used to bet on horse races.

At that moment, Pierrette deduced that since Konstanze studied the Assassins's method and ideology in Zürich, she used her knowledge to create the Engine of History to predict and frame the Assassins into exploding the tower. Realizing the other Assassins left already, she woke up Spider, told him of what the Templars planned, and raced to tell their friends the truth. Immediately, she grabbed a bike and started to ride to the tower. Suddenly, she was shot by Konstanze, who waited in an alley for her and revealed she tapped their phone lines. Before being killed, Pierrette was saved by Spider, who shot at Konstanze, but the countess ran away. In pain, she ordered Spider to warn their friends while she waited for the police.

Although she was saved, she was admitted into a hospital for a shattered hip. Visited by Moulin, Pierrette heard that her findings were able to make it to Simeon and the Assassins, who stopped their explosion plans. However, she was told to rest for weeks for her hip to recover.

Behind the scenes

Pierrette Arnaud is a character introduced in the first novel of the Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History series, The Magus Conspiracy, written by Kate Heartfield and released in August 2022.

Arnaud is also one of the few LGBT characters in the book as she described her love life and her numerous romances across Europe during her troupe days.

Etymology

The given name Pierrette is French in origin and means "rock", it is also the feminine form of Pierre. The surname Arnaud is the French form of the given name Arnold, derived from the Ancient Germanic arn "eagle" and wald "power, violence" or alternatively "forest".

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Magus Conspiracy (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Resurrection Plot