Adéwalé

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Edward: "Shall we set sail for- You're leaving?"

Adéwalé: "Aye, Edward. For I've another calling elsewhere. [...] When your heart and your head are ready, visit the Assassins. I think you'll understand then..."

—Edward Kenway and Adéwalé, discussing the latter's life change, 1720.

Adéwalé (1692 – unknown) was a former slave-turned-pirate from Trinidad, and later a member of the Assassin Order.

During the early 18th century, he served as Edward Kenway's quartermaster aboard the Jackdaw, before eventually assuming the captaincy of his own vessel, the Victoire, and later the Experto Crede, in 1735. That year, he briefly set aside his duties as an Assassin in order to aid the Maroon rebellion on Saint Domingue.

He was the grandfather of the Assassin Eseosa, and is an ancestor to Milton Jones.

Biography

Early years and meeting Edward Kenway

Born into slavery on Trinidad, Adéwalé recognized the inequality, discrimination and oppression visited down upon those who worked the sugar plantations. When he was able, he broke free of his captivity, killing his guard in the process, and fled. Eventually, after many years on the run, Adéwalé was captured by the Spanish and locked aboard a Spanish galleon destined for Spain.

He found himself chained alongside the pirate Edward Kenway, who was also destined for Spain. Together, the two broke free of their bonds and, after incapacitating a number of guards, proceeded to procure themselves a ship – in the process freeing a number of likewise captured pirates.

Adéwalé chose a relatively small brig named El Dorado to make their escape, which was made all the more difficult by a sudden, powerful storm that struck the Spanish Treasure Fleet. Ultimately, they managed to escape, while the remaining eleven ships in the fleet sank to the bottom of the sea.

Life of piracy

Edward: "It's true, most of these men wouldn't accept you as a captain. So what fair role would complement such unfairness?"

Adéwalé: "I'll be your quartermaster. Nothing less."

—Edward Kenway and Adéwalé assume their roles aboard Jackdaw, 1715.

Adéwalé and other pirates in Nassau

With a ship in their possession, which Edward renamed the Jackdaw, the two pirates decided to head to Nassau, a town that played host to a large number of pirates. Upon their arrival, Adéwalé met with the pirates Benjamin Hornigold, Edward Thatch and James Kidd, before returning to the ship in order to organize the crew his captain recruited.

During his time on the Jackdaw, Adéwalé served Edward diligently, ensuring the ship was in a seaworthy condition, keeping the crew organized and, wherever possible, pointing out locations and ships of interest. However, he became disillusioned with his captain's behavior over time, as Edward was more interested in the pursuit of spoils than in the democratic ideals of the Pirate Republic. Adéwalé was also distrustful of Bartholomew Roberts, whom Edward began interacting with regularly in his search for the legendary Observatory.

In 1720, after five years as the Jackdaw's quartermaster, Adéwalé accompanied Edward on a voyage to Long Bay, Jamaica led by Roberts, who claimed it was the location of the Observatory. While Edward and Roberts took to land, Roberts' crew attacked the Jackdaw and attempted to overtake her. Adéwalé took control of the ship and sailed her to safety, regretful for abandoning his captain, but believing he made the right choice.

Joining the Assassins

Adéwalé had first encountered the Assassins in 1717, when Edward visited the Assassin headquarters in Tulum on the request of James Kidd. He saw in them people who fought for something greater than themselves, which he greatly respected.

It was only in 1720 that Adéwalé returned to Tulum and requested a meeting with the Mentor of the Caribbean Assassins, Ah Tabai. After speaking with the Mentor about the nature of the Assassin Order, Adéwalé began to believe it to be a calling that suited him. He then joined the Assassins, becoming a student to Ah Tabai, and began searching for the whereabouts of his old captain.

Several months later, word reached Tulum that Edward had been imprisoned in Port Royal, along with Mary Read and Anne Bonny. Adéwalé helped Ah Tabai to plot their rescue; while Mary died inside the prison, Ah Tabai was able to rescue both Edward and Anne. Adéwalé then traveled to Kingston to hand control of the Jackdaw back to Edward, and push his former captain onto a new path. From there, Adéwalé returned to Tulum to assist in repelling Templar attacks.

Not long after his arrival, he was once again joined by Edward, who had elected to entertain the possibility that he could better himself as a member of the Assassins. Together, the two pirates fought alongside Ah Tabai and his Assassins to stave off the latest Templar attack.

Two years later, Adéwalé traveled with Ah Tabai to the Observatory, where Edward had journeyed in order eliminate the Templar Grand Master, Laureano de Torres y Ayala. Upon their arrival, they found Laureano dead, and Edward standing before the Observatory's armillary sphere, with the Crystal Skull that powered the device in hand.

Sometime later, Adéwalé, Ah Tabai, Anne, and Edward met once again on Great Inagua. There, Adéwalé informed Edward that one of his previous targets, Woodes Rogers, had survived the attempt on his life and returned to England. Before his own departure to England, Edward granted the Assassins full access to the manor on the island, as compensation for the fact that the location of the Assassin camp in Tulum was known to the Templars.

Crash on Saint-Domingue

Thirteen years later, in 1735, Adéwalé was captain of the brig Victoire. He was tasked with eliminating a French admiral and Templar, whose ship was passing by Saint-Domingue. The Victoire engaged the French galleon and disabled it, possibly even sinking it, and from the wreckage obtained a parcel meant for Bastienne Josèphe. Shortly thereafter, the Victoire was surrounded by a French fleet and forced to flee through an approaching storm in order to escape.

Despite her crew escaping in time, the Victoire was wrecked and Adéwalé found himself washed ashore near the town of Port-au-Prince. It was here that he found himself confronted once again with the realities of the slave trade, which was increasingly prevalent in the French colony.

Within moments of waking, Adéwalé was forced to save a fleeing slave from her overzealous overseer, cutting him down with a machete he found on the beach. Saved, the woman told Adéwalé where he could find Bastienne, the Madame of a local brothel. Upon locating her, Adéwalé was reluctant to hand over the Templar parcel, and so she directed him to find Augustin Dieufort, who could be found by speaking with Bastienne's contact on a nearby plantation.

Locating the contact, Adéwalé was directed to the headquarters of the Maroon rebellion; upon his arrival, he found the resistance fighters being cut down by a contingent of overseers who had managed to locate them. Adéwalé killed the overseers, and managed to prevent any from escaping with knowledge of the hideout's location. He then went to speak with Dieufort, who offered the Assassin new equipment and upgrades in exchange for helping liberate any slaves he could, before returning to the Brotherhood.

Supporting the Maroon rebellion

With the aid of a number of recently freed slaves, Dieufort convinced Adéwalé to capture a docked slave ship, the Experto Crede in order to free en-masse the slaves held beneath its deck. Following this, Adéwalé claimed the Crede as his own, and agreed to train Dieufort, his new Quartermaster, in the ways of navigation and sailing, so that he might take the ship following Adéwalé's departure.

Returning to Bastienne, Adéwalé was tasked with infiltrating Governor Pierre de Fayet's mansion, in order find out why the governor had recently become so strict in his enforcement of the Code Noir.

Infiltrating the manor's grounds disguised as a slave, Adéwalé discovered that the governor had hired a scientist named Louis Godin to map the circumference of the Earth, so as to provide the French with an accuracy of knowledge far surpassing that of its national rivals. Adéwalé became intrigued; as a sailor the knowledge of navigation fascinated him, and he knew well that if the Assassins possessed such information, they would hold a significant advantage over their Templar rivals. Bastienne, however, was disgruntled with what little Adéwalé had learned about the expedition, and dismissed him.

Eventually, Bastienne's anger subsided; in order to help the Maroon and fulfill her promise to Augustin, she supplied a forged manifest listing the names of three literate slaves, which the expedition needed to take notes. Adéwalé swapped the manifest, and saw the French merchant ship off from port. He quickly noticed the waiting pirate fleet however, and was forced to defend the Vautour from them.

Pursuit of the slave ship

Two years after Adéwalé's arrival, the French were in a panic over the increasingly strong resistance, and the number of slaves being liberated by them. In response to this, the French had begun to impose stricter curfews, harsher and more frequent punishments. Adéwalé considered this a small price to pay, however, for the ultimate goal of Maroon independence. Angry, he left Bastienne where she stood and set to sea in order to liberate yet another slave ship. This time however, the ship's French escort opened fire on her, disabling the ship and forcing her into a slow sink.

Adéwalé went aboard the severely damaged the slave ship and rescued as many slaves as he could; eventually it sank with Adéwalé still below deck, and he was forced to swim and then climb his way through the now vertical ship in order to escape.

On nearby Cumberland Bay, Adéwalé joined Augustin and Bastienne in burying those slaves that had not escaped the vessel's sinking. Adéwalé vowed to kill De Fayet, claiming his Creed demanded it, and that it would give an entire generation of warriors hope.

Assassination of de Fayet

In 1737, Adéwalé located the French governor in the grounds of his manor, torturing slaves in order to locate the Maroon hideout, and the man freeing the slaves - Adéwalé. As he approached, Adéwalé was spotted and the governor fled through town. Despite an overwhelming number of French soldiers and overseers, Adéwalé eventually caught up with the governor and killed him with the very branding iron he had previously used to torture his slaves with.

With de Fayet dead, Adéwalé was forced to leave Port-au-Prince, since it was no longer safe for him, nor for the Maroons if Adéwalé remained. Before leaving, he said goodbye to Bastienne and finally gave her the package. He decided he must devote his energy to those who struggle for freedom using his conviction in his Creed to defend them along with anyone who helped him.

Later life

Some time later, Adéwalé returned to Port-au-Prince, where he shared a night of passion with Bastienne; she became pregnant and eventually bore a son. Adéwalé's son in turn had a child, Eseosa, who became an Assassin in his own right, and a participant in the Haitian Revolution.

Trivia

• Adéwalé is a variant of the Yoruba name Adebowale, suggested to mean "crown has come home".
• Adéwalé is the second playable character to not be related to Desmond Miles, the first being Aveline de Grandpré.

Gallery

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  Concept art of Adéwalé
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  Adéwalé as he appears in Freedom Cry
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  Adéwalé and Edward in shackles
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  Adéwalé introducing himself to Edward
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  Adéwalé and Edward aboard the Jackdaw
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  Edward introducing Adéwalé to Hornigold and Thatch
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  Edward and Adéwalé interrogating Laureano de Torres y Ayala
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  Edward and Adéwalé arguing in Kingston