Diego Vázquez

"Futile murder... beautiful death. She... will make you suffer."

―Vázquez's last words, 1776.

Diego Vázquez (died 1776) was a member of the Louisiana Rite of the Templar Order active in 18th-century New Orleans.

Working for Madeleine de L'Isle, otherwise known as the "Company Man", Vázquez was sent to the city to take control of the Louisiana Bayou. To this end, he gathered a large number of men, winning their loyalty through bribery.

However, Vázquez's operations were discovered and sabotaged by the Louisiana Assassins, in particular Aveline de Grandpré, who ultimately ended the Templar's life in 1776.

Biography

Early activities

Little of Vázquez's past is known, but by the 1750s he had joined the Templar Order, and his activities had become known to the Colonial Assassins. In 1756, his name and picture, alongside those of other high-ranking Templars, were included on a board of assassination targets in the Davenport Homestead's manor.

Bribing the Spanish

"Twice, recruiters have approached me, claiming to offer me promotion if I'll serve in his secret unit. But I don't trust it, no Señor!"

―A guard on Vázquez's recruiters, 1776.

During the 1770s, Vázquez came to New Orleans to seize control of the nearby bayou, which was a valuable trading route. To achieve this, he sent out several men to bribe Spanish soldiers into serving the Templar cause. These practices eventually caught the attention of the local Assassin guild, causing it to send one of their members, Aveline de Grandpré, to investigate.

Tracking down and eliminating one of Vázquez's recruiters, Aveline learned of the Templar's plans and subsequently went to warn her Mentor, Agaté, who was based in the bayou. On his instruction, she made a patrol believe they had become the victim of a voodoo curse, which temporarily set back Vázquez's progress.

Around the same time, Vázquez made plans to retake the work site of Chichen Itza, which had been freed from the Templars' control following the death of Rafael Joaquín de Ferrer. To achieve this, he assigned a group of his men to divert a supply ship and use it to travel to Mexico. However, this scheme too was sabotaged by Aveline, who disabled the lighthouse on Lake Pontchartrain to make Vázquez's vessel run aground. Working together with the smugglers Élise Lafleur and Roussillon, she then plundered the ship's goods, finding documents aboard that led her to discover the Templar's plans for Chichen Itza.

Disrupting the smugglers' trade

"We did meet one man who didn't seem so keen on the arrangement. Contrary fellow. Vázquez, I think was his name."

―The Patriot Hopton on Vázquez, 1776.

With Aveline journeying to Chichen Itza to ascertain its continued safety, Vázquez's troops had an opportunity to recover and soon grew in number once more. In 1776, the Spanish Governor of Louisiana decided to support the American Patriots by having the smugglers send them supplies, an arrangement that Vázquez opposed. He subsequently ordered his men to steal the wares from the smugglers at the nearest opportunity, but in this too he failed, with Aveline once more obstructing his schemes.

Vázquez dancing with Aveline

That same year, Vázquez, having managed to evade detection by the Assassins for roughly five years, attended a prestigious ball at a plantation in New Orleans. Unbeknownst to him, Aveline was also present at the ball, having come to track down and assassinate the Templar. After mingling with the guests, she managed to locate Vázquez and approached him.

Charmed by her noble appearance, the Templar danced with Aveline and then allowed her to lead him to a quiet balcony, where she stabbed him with her Hidden Blade. With his dying breath, Vázquez revealed that he was not the Company Man, as Aveline believed, and that it was actually a woman, but died before he could reveal her identity.

Behind the scenes

Diego Vázquez is a character introduced in Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, where he was voiced by the Canadian actor Conrad Pla. Unlike the other assassination targets in the game, he does not have an in-game database entry, nor did he receive one in the Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia.

Etymology

Diego is the Spanish equivalent of James, a name of Hebrew origin meaning "he who supplants". Vázquez is a Spanish surname of Basque origins that means "son of Vasco", with Vasco being derived from the pre-Roman latinized "Velascus" – a name of uncertain origin and meaning.

Gallery

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  Concept art of Vázquez
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  Vázquez being located by Aveline
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  Vázquez's final moments

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
• Assassin's Creed: Rogue (picture only)