Hilda

"My Order is the only way forward. It can quench our thirst for knowledge, if only Aelfred's slave-faith is defeated."

―Hilda during her final moments, 877.

Hilda (died 877), also known as The Quill, was an Anglo-Saxon member of the Wardens of Faith sect of the Order of the Ancients. Holding the rank of Preost, she worked and hid in the underground sewers of the city of Wincestre.

Biography

Early life

"Few have the wit that you and I possess. Most see the world in simpler terms, where we are the weaker sex."

―Hilda to Aelwyn, 877.

Being told that a woman of intellect has no place in the Church, Hilda fought against this principle in her youth. An orphan by the age of six, Hilda found an abode at a monastery. However, instead of learning like the boys did, Hilda was shoved into doing menial chores in the kitchen.

As a sneak, she listened at the creaks of doors and in the shadows and found out secrets from the men of the cloth. Extorting them with their secrets, Hilda wanted only to learn reading, writing, and Latin from these men. Her knowledge was seen as a burden in the Church, but a welcome advantage in the Order, leading to her being recruited by one of their members, Bishop Ealhferth.

Hilda soon built an expansive underworld in Wincestre, having numerous children act as her spies and thieves, not too different from what she used to do in her youth. Through her network, she became aware of the various happenings in the city, and in this capacity, she served the Order as an important information gatherer.

Discovery and death

Eivor: "Coward. Using children to spy and steal for your Order."

Hilda: "To educate them! Give me a child until he is seven, and I will give you the man... or woman. But what use are letters when a child can only write his name in pig shit? Or wisdom in a woman when she cannot wield it beyond her hearth? I taught little Aelwyn so much more, saved her from a life less worthy. She will find enlightenment in The Order, just as I did. If I could save them all, I would."

Eivor: "But you can't. You've corrupted too many to save too few."

—Hilda and Eivor in the Memory Corridor, 877.

Hilda with Aelwyn

Around 877, Hilda and two fellow Order members in Wincestre, Selwyn and Ealhferth, known in Order communications as The Gallows and The Seax respectively, were assigned by the Maegester Fulke to kill King Aelfred due to his collaboration with the “Poor Fellow-Soldier of Christ", an informant who sought to undermine the Order in England. While the others went about their own operations, Hilda attempted to undermine the king's rule by ridiculing and dismissing his education reforms.

Learning about the Order's plot against him, Aelfred summoned the Viking shieldmaiden Eivor Varinsdottir to Wincestre and enlisted her help to flush out the three Ancients operating in the city. To aid her investigation, Aelfred provided the Viking with a letter from the Poor Fellow-Soldier of Christ, which mentioned The Quill's, The Gallows', and The Seax's cryptonyms.

After Eivor assassinated Selwyn, the Viking was informed by Aelfred and the reeve Goodwin that The Quill was using the children of Wincestre for her slander postings around the city. Noticing that a girl had eavesdropped on their conversation, Eivor decided to follow her in the hopes she would lead her to The Quill. She eventually met the girl, Aelwyn, and her brother Wigbert, who at first stated they were not working for The Quill, but Eivor soon managed to gain their favor after dealing with thugs sent by the Ancient.

Hilda in the Memory Corridor after being assassinated by Eivor

Aelwyn gave Eivor a key to The Quill's hideout, but upon entering, the Viking fell into a trap set by the Ancient. Hilda then revealed herself, accompanied by Aelwyn, and after a brief exchange of words, she called in reinforcements while shooting at Eivor with a crossbow from above. Despite the onslaught, Hilda's guards were eliminated, and soon the Ancient fell to Eivor's blade, ending her exploitation of the children of Wincestre.

Trivia

• Like other Order members, Hilda's cutscene in the Memory Corridor differs. Her confession consists of her being surrounded by the shadows of all the children she 'saved', only for those spirits to immediately vanish after Eivor explains the error of taking away such innocence. In response, Hilda slits her own throat with a quill and vanishes, dropping her Order medallion.
  • Hilda's last words are "Non requiescet in pace" (They shall not rest in peace), in response to how the children she took under her wing have been robbed of their innocence. This is likely a reference to Ezio Auditore da Firenze and the words spoken whenever he took a target's life.
  • Her final act is also similar to Amunet's last act, in the Memory Corridor, towards Lucius Septimius in Assassin's Creed: Origins, when she slit his throat with a feather.
• Hilda's actions of indoctrinating children to the Order are reminiscent of the actions of the Cult of Kosmos member Chrysis, who raised children, through her painful perspective of the world, for the Cult.
• Hilda shares many similarities with Talal from the 2007 video game Assassin's Creed. Both are leaders of criminal enterprises within their respective cities, and in their final moments, they express disappointment at their killers for failing to see the "benefits" they were giving to their victims. Furthermore, they are both marksmen, with Talal wielding a bow and Hilda a crossbow, and they both lured the protagonist into a trap at their hideout.

Gallery

• 
  Eivor assassinating Hilda
• 
  Hilda surrounded by the "shadows" of children

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (first appearance)
• The World of Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Journey to the North – Logs and Files of a Hidden One (mentioned only)