Edward Congdon

"Pirates are able men, brave for the most part, but they will never understand the true ways of the world. Commerce is what brings men together, what truly binds them in peace and prolonged submission to authority."

―Edward Congdon in a letter to his mother.

Edward Congdon (died 1718), also known under his modern misattributed alias Christopher Condent, was an English pirate affiliated with the Pirate Republic of Nassau. He was also secretly a member of the British Templars.

Biography

Leader of the Pirate Republic

"With Hornigold away, a new figure has emerged from the crowd of restless pirates. A young, clean-shaven, and surprisingly eloquent man named Christopher Condent."

―An intelligence report on Condent.

At some point in his life, Congdon joined the Templars before eventually ending up in Nassau's burgeoning Pirate Republic. With Benjamin Hornigold's absence, Congdon soon took a leading role in the Republic's administration. This caught the attention of several other pirates, who noticed his sophisticated bearing and appearance.

Under Congdon's leadership, the Republic soon became more focused on the careful accumulation of riches than the ideals of freedom and democracy. During this time, he also extorted plunder from other members of the pirate community, covertly earning money for the Templars. At the same time, he worked with the Templars to find the Fragment of Eden.

In May 1717, he welcomed the pirates Alonzo Batilla and Olivier Levasseur to Nassau, introducing himself under his Condent alias. After telling them of the Republic's food shortage, the pirates volunteered to attack a merchant convoy to acquire supplies. Once Batilla returned with supplies, Congdon tasked him with recovering rum from a nearby shipwreck. Batilla delivered the alcohol only for Congdon to relay that the pirate Charles Vane had drunkenly attacked two ships, threatening to bring complete chaos to the Republic. Having rescued Vane, Batilla returned a final time, but Congdon told him that Levasseur had disappeared, leaving behind only a map.

Templar business

In December 1717, Congdon met with his fellow Templars Hornigold and John Barnes. While Hornigold berated Barnes for his failure in retrieving the Fragment in Levasseur's possession, Congdon interrupted them and shot Barnes for his failure, as well as a means of tying up loose ends. Batilla had tailed them, however, and attacked them, after which Congdon and Hornigold escaped.

The next August, Congdon found Batilla and Levasseur in Caicos Islands, where the latter had buried the Fragment. After the two pirates retrieved the artifact from a nearby cave, Congdon ambushed Batilla. Although Congdon's Man O' War was vastly superior to Batilla's schooner Wanderer, the young pirate used the Fragment of Eden to boost the weapons and the speed of his ship. Overwhelmed by the unexpected counterattack, Congdon could not respond in turn and died when Batilla sank his vessel.

Legacy

In 2015, the Templar Isabelle Ardant included his alias on a list of known British Templars. This list was later unveiled by the Assassins Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings when they infiltrated Ardant's office to plant a bug.

Gallery

• 
  Congdon's Man O' War blocking Alonzo
• 
  Congdon's alias on a list of British Templars

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Pirates (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (name only)