Élise de la Serre

This article is a stub. You can help Assassin's Creed Wiki by expanding it.

This article is about the Templar. You may be looking for the French smuggler.

Élise de la Serre (1768 – 1794) was a French noblewoman and Templar, as well as the adoptive sister and lover of the Assassin Arno Dorian.

Biography

Early life

Élise was born the daughter of François de la Serre, the Grand Master of the French Templars, and Julie de la Serre in 1768. Due to their Templar connections, the family possessed a lot of influence, leading Élise to have a very privileged childhood. However, her adventurous nature kept her from being idle, with the young girl preferring the company of servants to attending a ball.

As a small child, Élise was oblivious to her family's Order and never wondered why she learned history, not etiquette, manners, and poise unlike the other noble children. She did not question her parents why they were different from other families. Her mother told her not to be like the other women at court who only knew of looks and status. This intrigued Élise, who started spying on other women behind her mother's skirts.

At age five, she entered the convent, in which the mother superior who hated her happiness and laughter. The old lady caned Élise's palms, the scars from which Julie had taken notice of and threatened the mother superior. Since then, her parents hired tutors to teach her schoolwork. The incident left questions in young Élise's mind, who knew that other ladies did not behave the way her mother did.

A year later, the de la Serre family attended their neighbor's birthday party. Élise found other girls her age stupid by playing dolls and tea parties; instead, she joined the boys who were playing toy soldiers. Her behavior shocked the majority of the crowd, and her nursemaid, Ruth, dragged her away and told her to play with dolls, which she pretended to enjoy. As she watched other ladies gossip and her mother alone, Élise realized that she wanted to be like Julie and not the self-centered women of court.

Élise met her combat mentor and a British Templar, Frederick Weatherall, in February 1774. Her mother led her across their château's grounds with their Irish wolfhound Scratch. Unaware of their company, Julie taught her to study and observe her surroundings to find Weatherall. She failed to do so, and Weatherall eventually showed himself and gave them an exaggerated bow. The young girl admired the man and immediately took a liking to him.

At first, Élise was confused and questioned her mother about her father and Weatherall, but Julie convinced her that he was a confidant and protector and that her father would be busy. A growl from Scratch interrupted their conversation and Élise witnessed her mother and Weatherall arm themselves against a wolf. Julie convinced Weatherall to let the wolf go and the pair hid their weapons as if nothing had happened. This made Élise wonder how different her family was to other nobles. Her meeting with Weatherall and her sword lessons became Élise and Julie's vérité cachée, secrets.

By the spring of 1774, the Carrolls, an English family of Templars, visited their household. Élise and her mother entertained Mrs. Carroll and her daughter, May, with a walk across their gardens. May mocked her occasionally on their walk and kept reminding Élise that she was only six, while May was ten. Irritated, Élise decided to listen on the ladies' conversation about the Templar Order and caught snippets of it, which added more to her confusion. May asked her if she knew about her "destiny", to which Élise replied that she did not. Pretending to be shocked, May told Élise that she would soon learn when she turned ten, like May herself had.

When Élise turned eight, she and her mother visited Christian's shoe shop in Paris. After arranging their payment and delivery, they found no sign of their carriage and coachman. Élise saw Julie stiffen and watched the street around them. Julie assured Christian and Élise that their coachman was merely negligent but he warned her about the people and that it was getting dark. Julie led her scared daughter towards the square where carriages could be hired and warned her that someone was following them. Telling her to be calm, they passed another shop window and discovered that their stalker disappeared.

The pair took an alley lit only by lanterns at each end. They found themselves blocked by their stalker and a lamplighter who doused the lanterns' flames. Their attackers were armed with blades, but Julie took her advantage and attacked the stalker, who happened to be an Assassin, much to Élise's amazement. As the lamplighter grabbed Élise and threatened to kill her, he was killed himself by by Julie's footblade. The Assassin fled and the pair arrived home, composed but bloodied. Élise discovered that her mother told different stories, even to her father and his Templar associates, who the young girl called Crows.

Training for Grand Master

Due to the incident, Élise's parents were forced to tell the eight year-old child her "destiny" to become the French Grand Master and the ongoing Assassin-Templar war. Relieved that her questions were finally answered, Élise found the idea of leading the country to order and peace a principled idea. Since then, the young girl spent her time with Julie and Weatherall, training in combat and tactics, and with her father and governor, learning the Templar principles and beliefs.

Later that year, her father adopted Arno Dorian and raised him after the boy's biological father died under suspicious circumstances. As a result, she and Arno grew up together, with the energetic Élise often getting her adoptive brother into trouble; she once convinced him to jump a fence into an orchard, which happened to be patrolled by guard dogs. They became great friends, and Élise took her role as older sister with enjoyment. The two children often played skipping, hopscotch, shuttlecock and sword fighting in which they were evenly matched, with the exception of sword fighting where Élise always won. She spent her mornings tutored as a responsible adult-in-waiting and her afternoons with Arno as a child.

Soon after, Élise was called by her parents who revealed Arno's descent as an Assassin, but the boy was oblivious to it. François asked her to guide him to their Order, an idea against Élise and her mother's beliefs. They managed to convince her father to delay his indoctrination, for which the young girl was grateful.

Following her mother's illness, Élise no longer spent her afternoons with Arno, but rather at her mother's bedside. She found François levitating towards Arno which left her sad and grief-stricken. Élise also discovered Weatherall's love for her mother when she spied on him visiting and sobbing for Julie. Before dying, her mother told her to stay strong to lead his father and the Order and that she loved them very much. Julie's death brought emptiness in the young girl's life as her routines continued as always. Weatherall gave her a box from Julie that contained a short sword with an inscription in the hilt with the Templar motto, but Élise felt nothing. Later that day, she was summoned by her father to his study, where Élise finally let her grief and sadness go.

Élise was sent to the Maison Royale de Saint-Louis school at Saint-Cyr to complete her education as a proper lady and Templar knight, during which she was separated from Arno. She loathed the school and referred to it as Le Palais de la Misére in her letters, her personality being unsuited for the school. She detested the restrictions and regime of Maison Royale, even her subjects such as embroidery and music. Élise often delivered trouble in school with her fights against the head pupil, Valerie, in which she was punished by Madame Levene, the headmistress. She would respond with insolence and would make matters worse. The emptiness in her heart caused by Julie's death became the root of her rebellion, which also gave way to her scorn in other pupils and teachers.

Due to Élise's occasional disturbance, François was called to Madame Levene's office on 8 September 1787, where the latter complained about his daughter's acts of rebellion. By then, the nobles had defied the King, and there was unrest in Paris, to which François notified his daughter. After scolding her, he also reminded Élise of their agreement regarding Arno's induction into the Order. Aware of the headmistress' presence, Élise reluctantly agreed, but never did perform.

Until January 1788, Élise neglected their agreement and worsened her behavior in Maison Royale. She was on the risk of expulsion and other threats to her education and yet, she never heeded attention. Her father was called once again, but instead, found Weatherall in Madame Levene's office. Weatherall told Élise that he had been intercepting Levene's letters to her father and the pair faked punishment just in case the headmistress was spying on their conversation.

Weatherall had been searching for her mother's would-be killer, Bernard Ruddock, and found him hiding in London. Élise pleaded to join him in his hunt by forging a letter, but Weatherall scolded her instead, telling her she had been reckless and unresponsible with her schooling. Nevertheless, Élise plotted a scheme to blackmail Madame Levene.

On the night of 23 January 1788, Élise spied on her headmistress after learning a rumor from her fellow classmate, Judith, that Madame Levene had a lover. She followed the headmistress through the woods and found her meeting with a younger Jacques, the groundskeeper. Élise's actions were followed by her theft of a horseshoe from the dormitory door.

Soon enough, Élise was called to the headmistress' office and the young lady confidently returned the horseshoe to her, ready to set her plan into action. Yet, the headmistress had taken a hold of Élise's journal and had already intercepted her scheme. Madame Levene assured her student that she was merely concerned for her and made an agreement: Élise would stay quiet about what she saw while she would send the wanted letter to her father. Before Élise took leave, the headmistress added that Jacques was her son, not her lover, making the young lady ashamed of herself.

Meeting Jennifer Scott

Élise arrived at the docks of Calais on 7 February 1788. Ignoring the coachman's warning, she entered the tavern to locate the captain of the ship heading for London. Confident that she could defend herself, she questioned the Middle Man, paying no heed to the drunkards watching her. Élise finally realized that the Middle Man was just playing with her and decided to leave; however, she was stopped by his men and lost a sword fight because of her rusty skills. The men tried to kidnap her with another girl, Hélène, but was stopped by a drunkard and ship captain Byron Jackson. Élise saved Hélène in time and joined Byron's journey to England.

After bidding Byron farewell at Dover beach, Élise and Hélène rode a carriage to the Carrolls' house in Mayfair. Their arrival shocked the Carrolls and Weatherall who had been inquiring for their assistance. The mentor and his student pretended that her arrival was planned and managed to convince the Carrolls to help them find Ruddock, in exchange for Élise and Hélène's help in infiltrating Jennifer Scott's home, posing as Yvonne Albertine and a maidservant.

Tasked with finding Haytham Kenway's letters to his sister, Élise maintained contact with Weatherall through light signals inside Jennifer's home in Queen Anne's Square. In an attempt to converse with her mentor, she was caught and questioned by the butler, Smith, which she answered quite well. By April 1788, Élise managed to hear the story of the Kenway family through her and Jennifer's visit to Hyde Park.

As the pair returned to the games room, Élise was blocked by Jennifer's footmen and she herself. Jennifer had investigated and learnt of Élise true identity and told her that there was no "Yvonne Albertine" and the family she claimed to have originated from had been killed by the Templars. Nevertheless, Jennifer saw goodness in her heart, and gave the letters to her, on two conditions: that the Templars would leave her alone and Élise would try to unite the warring Orders. She also gave Élise a Templar cross necklace as she departed.

Before arriving at the Carrolls, Élise found the family armed with Weatherall. Using their owl signal, Élise learned from her mentor that they had found Ruddock; she told Helene to leave immediately as she followed the Carrolls to the Boars Head Inn. Élise succesfully managed to warn Ruddock to escape and confronted the Carrolls in the process. Élise gave them Arno's letters after telling them that she was aware of what they had done with the Albertines, but the English Templars burned them, believing them to be Haytham's letters.

Their actions caused conflict and Élise was forced to kill May and one of their soldiers. With the help of Weatherall, they narrowly escaped the infuriated Carrolls, but Weatherall was shot in the leg. The pair returned to France with Hélène where Madame Levene welcomed them and called a doctor for Weatherall. Élise continued her education while her mentor and handmaiden temporarily stayed with Jacques.

She continued her hunt for Ruddock in January 1789, after obtaining information from the Butchered Cow tavern. Élise found him in a tiny village outside Rouen, where Ruddock was about to be hanged. Cutting the rope in the last second and saving him from the townspeople, she was forced to torture him for information which he could not provide. Ruddock promised that he would find the man who hired him after six months and Élise let him go, hoping that the man would find purpose and direction in life.

Return to Versailles

In May 1789, Élise returned to the de la Serre estate in Versailles and attended the 1614-strong meeting of the Estates-General held at the [[Hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs[[ with her father on 5 May. Later in the palace, Élise was inducted as a Templar initiate and François gave her a pin symbolizing their Order. A private party was held to honor her arrival and induction at the Palace of Versailles, where she was reunited with Arno.

After sharing an affectionate kiss, Élise helped Arno escape the guards by distracting them and asking them to lead her to the billiard room. Halfway though her destination, she heard the cries of the crowd and later learned that François had been assassinated and her lover was the culprit. By July 1789, the French revolution was starting but she was too overwhelmed by grief to do anything and developed scorn for Arno whom she discovered had failed to deliver a warning letter to her father.

Weatherall visited her and advised the grief-stricken girl to act, not only for herself and Arno but also for the Order now that she was Grand Master, a similar counsel that came from Jennifer Scott's letter. On 14 July 1789, Élise joined the uproar towards the Bastille, where Arno was imprisoned, and witnessed the blood lust of the people for freedom. She also saw Arno performing a Leap of Faith with the Assassin Pierre Bellec.

Desperate to reach the de la Serre estate in time, Élise ran amongst the chaos and found her house ransacked by looters. She told the remaining servants and butlers to go someplace safe while she checked her important belongings. Élise found two men named Hook and Harvey who were hired by the Carrolls to eliminate her, but managed to kill them with a distraction from Ruddock. Ruddock told her that he had found the man who hired him, who was known as the King of Beggars.

Élise spent her days drunk and anxious; on 25 July 1789, Arno arrived in the estate and explained that he was not the killer of François. In response, Élise showed the letter that Arno had failed to deliver and told him to go. Weatherall and the Templar initiate Jean Burnel arrived on 20 August 1789 and helped Élise recover her bearings. She managed to learn from her mentor that the King of Beggars was also responsible for her father's death.

Adamant to regain leadership to her Order, she called a meeting to the Hôtel de Lauzun in October 1789. Accompanied by Burnel, she discovered that some of her Templar associates had been murdered in a purge through their ally, the Marquis de Pimôdan. The Marquis also revealed that there were killers waiting for her downstairs and Élise tried to outwit them. Her efforts failed however, resulting in Burnel being killed by ligature. Élise tried to escape by jumping into the River Seine, hitting a hull and breaking her rib.

She was nursed back to health by Hélène and Jacques, where she learned that all her allies had abandoned her. Nevertheless, she trained her combat skills more as she waited for a chance for redemption. On 1 April 1791, she decided to meet Chrétien Lafrenière who sent a letter to Élise. However, it was a trap ensnared by the men who had plotted against her father. Arno quickly told her that Lafrenière was dead and grabbed her as they dodged a volley of snipers from above and escaped their attackers.

Personality and characteristics

A free spirit, Élise was rarely idle and would often go to seek out trouble in her youth. She was very similar to her mother, as she was never keen on joining any of the other noble womens' daughters, instead taking an interest in more masculine activities - such as playing war with the boys. Growing up, she developed a set of values which she loyally lived by and was willing to go to any lengths to see her goals fulfilled. Due to extensive training throughout her life, she was both well-educated and physically fit; her skill at wielding a sword outclassed even Arno. In battle she would rely on strategy, planning counters for her opponent's moves ahead of time.

Although they were technically family, Élise and Arno saw each other not as siblings, but as friends during their youth. Growing up, their feelings developed and the pair eventually fell in love.

Trivia

• The name Élise is a diminutive form of the French name Élisabeth, meaning "God's promise". Meanwhile, Élise's family name comes from the French Serre, meaning "talon" or "greenhouse", while de la, "from the", indicates nobility.
• The pendant that Élise wears in the theatrical trailer originally belonged to Jennifer Scott, who received it from her brother, Haytham Kenway.
• In Unity's ending cutscene, Arno is shown visiting Élise's grave in the Cimetière des Innocents; when visiting said location in-game however, Élise's grave is not there, with her instead having been buried next to her parents in the garden of de la Serre's residence in Versailles.

Gallery

• 
  Concept art of Élise
• 
  Promotional art of Élise and Arno