Claudia Auditore da Firenze

Ezio: "My sister knows how to wield a knife."

Claudia: "And I am ready to do it again."

—Ezio and Claudia after a Borgia attack

Claudia Auditore da Firenze (1461 - unknown) was a Florentine noblewoman during the Renaissance, and a member of the Assassin Order. She was the sister of Ezio, who became the Mentor of the Italian Assassins.

In 1476, Claudia became the financial accountant of the town of Monteriggioni, which was under the leadership of her uncle Mario Auditore. The town flourished with Claudia's organization and the money made from Monteriggioni's shops and organizations, which had opened again.

In January 1500, Monteriggioni was besieged and largely destroyed by the Borgia army, under command of Cesare Borgia, and the Auditore were left homeless. Against her brother's desire for Claudia and her mother Maria to go to their hometown of Florence, Claudia and Maria followed Ezio to Rome, where Claudia became the madame of the Rosa in Fiore, the city's most popular brothel.

Eventually, after proving herself to be a worthy fighter to her brother, Ezio inducted Claudia into the Order of Assassins. The following year, Claudia was captured by Borgia die-hards, and subsequently saved by Ezio and Niccolò Machiavelli. She stepped down as madame of the Rosa in Fiore, and stayed in Florence with her friend Paola to recover until 1507.

Claudia was given temporary control of the Italian Assassins in 1510, when her brother left on a journey to the Middle East to find the library of the legendary Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, which was said to be in Masyaf. She held this position until her brother returned in late 1512, after which Ezio resigned from the Order and assigned a successor.

Biography

Early life

"Ezio! Where have you been?! They wouldn't let us leave. And mother... Uch! She hasn't spoken a single word since we left the house. Father will need to sort things out..."

―Claudia to Ezio when he returns from the execution

Claudia was born on the 2nd of January, 1461 in the city of Florence, as the daughter of the Florentine banker Giovanni Auditore da Firenze, and his wife Maria. She had two elder brothers, Federico and Ezio, and a younger brother named Petruccio.

As of 1476, Claudia was betrothed to Duccio de Luca, a member of another noble family in Florence. Eventually, Claudia heard rumors of Duccio's adulterous actions, and her brother Ezio noticed her sadness over this. On Claudia's behalf, Ezio went to see Duccio, confirming the rumors and beating him up in a fight. After this, the relationship between Claudia and Duccio ended.

A few days later, their home - the Palazzo Auditore - was attacked by Pazzi guards. The guards arrested Giovanni, Federico and Petruccio, and left Maria in shock. Claudia and the Auditore housemaid Annetta took Maria and hid themselves in the Palazzo, until Ezio arrived to find their home ransacked. Annetta took Claudia and Maria to her sister Paola's home, while Ezio went to the Palazzo della Signoria to find their father and brothers.

Despite Ezio's efforts, Giovanni, Federico and Petruccio were executed on false accusations of treason by the Florentine Gonfaloniere Uberto Alberti, working for Rodrigo Borgia - the Grand Master of the Templar Order. Claudia and Maria resided safely in Paola's home, which turned out to be a brothel, while Ezio exacted revenge on Uberto Alberti - which became the stepping stone to his eventual induction into the Assassin Order, of which their father was secretly a member.

Living in Monteriggioni

"Since SOMEONE decided we're going to stay here, Zio Mario suggested we try and find the money to repair the villa."

―Claudia, about Mario making her run Monteriggioni's finances.

Claudia telling Ezio about her dislike for Monteriggioni.

After Ezio was successful in his objective, he took Claudia and Maria to travel to Monteriggioni with him, where their uncle Mario Auditore owned a villa.

Successfully fleeing the city, they traveled through the Tuscan countryside, until they were ambushed by Ezio's rival, Vieri de' Pazzi, near Monteriggioni. Ezio, trying to fend off Vieri's men, was eventually joined by their uncle Mario and his mercenaries, who rescued them and led them into the town. Showing them around the city, Ezio made clear to Claudia that they were only staying there temporarily, and Ezio planned to travel further west to Spain.

Ezio was eventually persuaded by his uncle Mario to finish his father's work in the Assassin Order, and he decided to stay in the Villa Auditore, to Claudia's displeasure. Some time later, Mario told Claudia to keep track off Monteriggioni's finances in a record book, which infuriated Claudia, who was used to a luxurious lifestyle. Over time, Claudia got used to her new job, but missed Ezio while he was journeying around Italy to take down the Templars.

During Ezio's journey, he occasionally returned to Monteriggioni with finances for rebuilding the town, and with Claudia's organization skills, the town sprung back to life again and became more populated. Claudia also married Mario's captain, and in 1488 she was pregnant with his child.

Claudia about to welcome her brother after his journey.

On 1 January 1500, Claudia's brother and uncle returned from their journey to Rome to kill Rodrigo Borgia, who had become Pope Alexander VI. Upon reuniting with Ezio, Claudia asked him if the Spaniard, Rodrigo Borgia, was finally dead, though he declined to answer straight away.

That day, the town was already preparing for Claudia's birthday the next day, though Claudia wished to keep the party a secret from her brother, in order to surprise him. Later the same day, Claudia joined Ezio, Maria, Mario, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Caterina Sforza in Mario's study, where Ezio told about his choice to spare Rodrigo's life and his discovery in the vault underneath the Vatican - a projection of Minerva, a member of the First Civilization.

The following morning, on Claudia's birthday, Monteriggioni was besieged by the Borgia, under the command of Rodrigo's son Cesare, Captain General of the Papal army. Claudia secured her mother and several other villagers in the sanctuary underneath her villa, but was found and attacked by Borgia soldiers upon leaving the villa. She was saved by her heavily-wounded brother, who led the survivors through a secret passage underneath Monteriggioni. Upon arriving outside safewly, Ezio informed Claudia and Maria that Cesare killed Mario, and told them to go to Florence. However, they both wished to aid Ezio, and they secretly followed him to Rome, the heart of Borgia and Templar power.

Leading the Roman courtesans

Ezio: "You do this, Claudia, and you are on your own."

Claudia: "I've been on my own for twenty years."

—Ezio and Claudia, about Claudia's offer to lead the Roman courtesans.

Claudia, Maria and Ezio inside the brothel.

Claudia and Maria made their way to the Assassin headquarters on Tiber Island in Rome, where they met with Niccolò. Niccolò suspected Ezio to be visiting the courtesans at the Rosa in Fiore, and redirected the women to the brothel.

Conversing with the courtesans, Claudia and Maria were joined by Ezio, who had just come back from a failed attempt to save the brothel's owner, Madonna Solari, from slave traders. Without anyone to lead the courtesans, Claudia offered to take over the ownership of the brothel, much to Ezio's dissatisfaction.

On Maria's request, Ezio agreed, and Claudia and her courtesans started retrieving intelligence for the Assassin Order from the Borgia, beginning to attain information on the location of Caterina Sforza. Meeting with Ezio and the other guild leaders at the Assassin hideout with the necessary information, the Assassins decided that their next step was to assassinate Rodrigo and Cesare Borgia.

Claudia continued to lead the courtesans for the coming years, and in 1503 she joined the Assassins at the hideout again, where she revealed that a senator named Egidio Troche was closely related with Cesare's "Banker". Claudia pointed Ezio in the senator's direction, and set her courtesans to follow Ezio when he went to assassinate the Banker, taking his money with them to the Rosa in Fiore.

However, these courtesans were followed by Borgia guards, and they infiltrated the brothel. Claudia armed herself with a knife, and single-handedly took out all the guards, right before Ezio entered the brothel in hopes of saving her. Ezio was amazed by Claudia's efforts, and in August 1503, he called Claudia to the hideout again.

Entering the ceremony hall, Ezio inducted Claudia into the Assassin Order in the presence of the other Assassins, while Ezio himself was promoted to Mentor and leader of the Italian Assassins. Claudia proceeded to perform a Leap of Faith into the Tiber from the top of the hideout.

Claudia initiated into the Assassin Order.

Ezio infiltrated the Castel Sant'Angelo soon afterwards, aiming to kill Rodrigo and Cesare. To his astonishment, Ezio witnessed Cesare kill Rodrigo with a poisoned apple, and without his father's power in the Church, Cesare saw his control over Rome weakening immensely. Claudia informed Ezio that a French cardinal, Georges d'Amboise, revealed that he was to meet with Cesare soon, and Ezio left to interrupt the meeting. Claudia joined Ezio, Niccolò, La Volpe and Bartolomeo d'Alviano in defeating the last of Cesare's supporters, and witnessed his arrest at the hands of Fabio Orsini and the Papal Guard.

The next year, Maria grew weak and started talking of Giovanni, Federico and Petruccio again. Some time later, Maria died due to illness. Claudia was left in sole control of the courtesans, but was captured by a group of Borgia remnants, led by a Templar spy named Bruno, the same year.

Bruno pretended to work for Niccolò, and directed both him and Ezio to where Claudia was being held captive, saying it was a secret Templar hideout. Claudia, held by ropes, saw her clothes get ripped off by one of the Templars, until Ezio and Niccolò joined them. Niccolò and Ezio were able to overcome the Borgia fanatics and rescue Claudia, but she eventually chose to resign as the madame of the Rosa in Fiore. Claudia left for Florence, where she stayed with Paola to recover from the ferocious Templar attack. La Volpe arranged for Rosa, a Venetian thief, to replace her as madame.

Serving the Assassins

servering the penises

Later life

Claudia eventually married again, and stayed with her new husband in Rome. Despite being angry at Ezio at first, Claudia came to enjoy her visits to Ezio and Sofia's villa in the Tuscan countryside, and grew to love her new niece and nephew, Flavia and Marcello.

Despite being 15 years older than Sofia, Claudia didn't take up a motherly role to her sister-in-law and they became very close, with Sofia occasionally taking her children to visit Claudia in Rome.

penis

Trivia

Assassin's Creed II

• Claudia, as with most characters, appears not to age over the course of the game, and remains at the same desk in the Villa Auditore for 23 years. After she complains about being put to work, her only interaction with Ezio is asking if he is there to look at the book of finances.
• When Ezio starts earning income from Monteriggioni, Claudia states that she will keep any money past the chest's maximum capacity, with no explanation of what she intends to do with all the money.
• Although she is always sitting in the Villa Auditore through most of the game, Claudia appears in the "vision" Ezio has at his home during the Bonfire of the Vanities.
• There is a glitch where, if you manage to bump into Claudia and knock her down, she will be given the voice of one of the guards (since knocking her down is normally not supposed to be possible).

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

• Claudia still appears quite young, despite her being 38 years old at the beginning of the game. Her skin appears to be paler than it was before as well.
• When Claudia is inducted into the Assassin Order, her outfit is similar to that of Maria Thorpe in Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines and Assassin's Creed II.
• Like her brother, Claudia wields a knife with an Icepick Grip, as shown in the memory "Paper Trail."

Gallery

Claudia's database picture. Claudia's database picture. Claudia speaking about her trouble with Duccio. Claudia speaking about her trouble with Duccio. Claudia during her induction ceremony.

References

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