Tommy Greyling

Thomas "Tommy" Greyling was a policeman-turned-Pinkerton detective active during the late 19th century. He was also an ancestor of the 21st-century teenager Sean Molloy.

Biography

Early life

Thomas Greyling was born in Brooklyn, his grandparents having immigrated to the United States from Germany shortly after they were married.

New York draft riots

In July 1863, Tommy worked as a policeman in the Broadway Squad of the New York City Police Department when the draft riots broke out. During the riots, he saved the life of several women, including the opera singer Adelina Patti, with whom he became close after spending a couple of days together, hiding from the rioters. He also made the acquaintance of the Assassins Varius and Eliza, the former of whom he helped bring to the hospital after he was injured in a fight against the Templar Cudgel Cormac.

Tommy himself sustained several injuries during the riots and, while recuperating in the hospital, met Horace Greeley, the founder and editor of the New-York Tribune. Horace was impressed by Tommy's actions, so he wrote an elogious article about him, which made him a hero. As a result, Tommy was later invited to join the Pinkerton Agency, which he accepted. He and Horace also became good friends in the process.

Visiting Horace Greeley

Tommy visiting Horace

In 1872, Tommy visited Horace at his home in Pleasantville, New York, where the latter was on his deathbed. As the two reminisced of their first encounter years prior, Horace informed Tommy that someone in President Ulysses S. Grant's inner circle had poisoned him. He also told him that Grant was in possession of a Precursor artifact, which he had used to influence the elections.

During the conversation, Horace fell asleep, so Tommy allowed him to rest. He let a nurse attend to him before leaving the room, though he quickly sensed something to be amiss and re-entered the room, preventing the nurse from suffocating Horace to death. The nurse was soon revealed to be a Templar agent and, before Tommy was able to fire his gun at her, she threw a knife at him and escaped through the window.

Tracking the Templar agent

Despite surviving the incident, Horace later succumbed to the poison and Tommy was tasked with investigating his death. Believing the agent to have fled to England, Tommy boarded a ship headed there and, during the journey, met Mark Twain, a fellow American and author. The two talked about Horace, who had also been a friend of Twain, and the author agreed to help Tommy after hearing about the Pieces of Eden, which he had first learned about during his travels.

Tommy confronting the Templar

Tommy and Twain tracked the Templar agent to London, confronting her above the rooftops of the British Museum. Before he could arrest her, the agent attacked Tommy, attached a rope onto him, and jumped off the building, pulling Tommy down with her and escaping in the process. Before losing his grip, Tommy was saved by the timely arrival of the British Assassins Henry Green and Evie Frye, who had been sent by Inspector Frederick Abberline to assist Tommy.

The next morning, the group met in the Scotland Yard morgue, where Abberline informed them that the Templar agent had acted as bait to lure them away from the museum while her accomplices searched it. They studied the mud prints of Constable Niall Hobday, a museum guard killed by the Templars, and tracked their findings to a slaughterhouse. There, they found an unconscious Edward Feather, the Head Clerk of Acquisitions at the museum, and were confronted by the Templar agent and her Blighter henchmen. A firefight ensued which ended with the group victorious, though Tommy was almost killed in the process.

The agent, however, had managed to obtain the information she sought from Feather and fled to the museum. The group followed her there, discovering the dead watchmen left in her tracks. They proceeded to the Acquisition Department, where they found the agent and the Blighters rummaging through the cabinets, triggering another firefight.

Tommy and Evie confronting the agent

The Templar soon found the documents she wanted and attempted to flee, but Tommy and Evie confronted her. Faking surrender, the agent threw a smoke bomb, allowing her to escape again. Evie stayed behind to prevent the fire caused by the bomb from spreading while Tommy chased after the agent on a carriage.

Following a pursuit through the streets of London, Tommy was unsuccessful in capturing the agent, who managed to escape his grasp. Suspecting the agent would attempt to return to the United States, Tommy boarded one of the ships at the harbor in a final attempt to apprehend her. His suspicion proved correct, and he soon confronted the agent on the vessel's deck.

Revealing her name to be Alice, the agent offered Tommy a chance to join the Templars, but he refused. Alice then threw the documents she had stolen into the ocean to prevent the Assassins from obtaining them, and warned Tommy that his actions would not go unnoticed by her fellow Templars. With these final words, Alice committed suicide by jumping into the Atlantic.

Legacy

In 2016, Tommy's genetic memories were relived by his descendant Sean Molloy, who had been recruited alongside other teenagers by the mysterious Sebastian Monroe in order to find a prong of the Trident of Eden present during the New York draft riots. Sean and some of the teenagers were later captured by Abstergo Industries and brought to the Aerie, whose director, Isaiah, convinced Sean to help the Templars in their own search for the Trident prongs.

Believing the Voynich manuscript could help them better understand the Trident's powers, Isaiah had Sean explore Tommy's memories in London to discover the whereabouts of the manuscript pages stolen from the British Museum. However, Sean's extended sessions in the Animus proved to have severe consequences for his health, especially when Tommy had a near-death experience that resulted in a violent desynchronization. Nevertheless, the teenager continued reliving his ancestor's memories, though they ultimately proved to be a dead end due to the manuscript pages' destruction.

Personality and traits

Owing to his recruitment into the NYPD's Broadway Squad, Tommy passed the minimum height requirement of being at least six-foot tall.

Behind the scenes

Tommy Greyling is a character introduced in the 2016 novel Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants, written by Matthew J. Kirby as the first in the series of the same name.

Etymology

Tommy is a nickname derived from Thomas, a common English masculine given name. The name traces its roots to Aramaic, specifically the Imperial Aramaic תאמא Tawmɑʔ means "twin". The surname Greyling is believed to have Dutch and German origins. In Dutch, it likely comes from grijling, meaning "grayling," a type of fish; indicating either a fishing occupation, or living near the water.

Gallery

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  Tommy Greyling
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  Tommy protecting Adelina Patti during the riots
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  Tommy being interviewed by Horace Greeley

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Locus
• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan (mentioned only)