Jeanne
- "My dear, tenacious daughter, I want nothing more than to be close to you again. But this colony is my place now. The people here need me. Nouvelle Orleans (New Orleans) will always be haunted."
- ―Jeanne to Aveline.[src]
Jeanne (c. 1725 – unknown) was the first, even if not legally recognized, wife of a wealthy French merchant, Philippe Olivier de Grandpré, the mother of the Assassin Aveline de Grandpré, and is an ancestor to "Subject 1" of the Animus Project.
At the age of five, she was taken as a slave and sent to America, eventually being sold to Philippe as his placée bride. In 1757, Jeanne was transported by the Templars to a slave worksite in Mexico to excavate Mayan ruins, believed to hold artifacts from the time of the First Civilization.
Biography
Early life
- "Did Agaté kill? For what freedom? Now I wonder. What will Mackandal ask of me in return for book and lessons?"
- ―Jeanne, reflecting in her diary on the Assassin Brotherhood.[src]
When she was five years old, Jeanne was taken as a slave from her homeland on the West Coast of Africa and transported to Saint-Domingue, a colony situated on the island of Hispaniola.[1]
Upon arriving there, she met Agaté, Baptiste and the Assassin François Mackandal. The latest was kind to Jeanne and taught her to read and write, although she grew frightened of his violent ways. Unknown to everyone, Jeanne stole an object from Mackandal – a fragment of a First Civilization artifact she called the "Heart of the Brotherhood". In 1738, after Agaté and Baptiste joined the Assassin Brotherhood, they escaped the colony with Mackandal. However, Jeanne refused to follow them, and as a result the three cut all ties with her.[2]
Marriage to Philippe
- "Your father made me free but I could never be free in Nouvelle Orleans (New Orleans). Not with the Assassins watching."
- ―Jeanne to Aveline, on her fears that the Assassins would hunt down the artifact she stole from Mackandal.[src]
In 1744, Jeanne was purchased by Philippe Olivier de Grandpré, who took her as his placée bride and brought her to New Orleans. Philippe treated Jeanne with kindness and affection, which eventually led to the two becoming rather intimate. This resulted in the conception of a daughter in 1747, Aveline de Grandpré, who would later go on to become an Assassin.[2]
Upon Aveline's birth, Philippe was full of emotion, ashamed to have kept Jeanne enslaved and vowed to grant her and Aveline their freedom. In 1752, Philippe married Madeleine de L'Isle, who became Aveline's stepmother. Although this marriage put a strain on the relationship between Jeanne and Philippe, she and her daughter were allowed to stay at the de Grandpré's mansion.[2]
In 1757, Jeanne grew worried that the Assassins would travel to New Orleans to seek out the Heart, the artifact she had stolen from Mackandal. To escape her fears, she accepted Madeleine's offer to be transported south to Mexico. Jeanne did not mention this to Aveline or anyone else, leaving her daughter in the care of her stepmother Madeleine. It was later revealed that Jeanne had given the Heart to Aveline, hidden inside a handcrafted locket. Following this, Jeanne mysteriously disappeared after Aveline had let go of her hand to catch an escaped chicken whilst the two were traveling through the city.[2]
Chichen Itza
- Aveline: "Are you free here?"
- Jeanne: "No. I traded one enemy for another. And they will not rest until they have what they seek."
- —Jeanne, explaining her place at Chichen Itza and the Templars' pursuit of the Prophecy Disk.[src]
Many years later, Aveline ascertained her mother's location to Chichen Itza, where Jeanne resided in a freed slaves' settlement near the Mayan temple of Kukulkan. Aveline encountered her mother after she had escaped through mines that led to a chamber constructed by the First Civilization. There, she had acquired a fragment of an artifact known as the Prophecy Disk, before meeting Jeanne.[2]
On witnessing Aveline, and the Hidden Blade she possessed, Jeanne refused to disclose any information to her daughter; she recognized it to be a symbol of the Assassins, which she had cut all ties to. She feared that Agaté had sent Aveline to kill her and fled, though not before warning her that the Prophecy Disk should never reach Agaté.[2]
Jeanne encountered her daughter again when Aveline returned to Chichen Itza to retrieve the second half of the Prophecy Disk. There, Jeanne did not run from Aveline, having accepted her daughter for who she was as opposed to her allegiances, and made mention of a canoe that Aveline could use to help her find what she sought. After she returned, Aveline offered to take Jeanne back to New Orleans. Jeanne refused, as she felt that the city would never be safe for her, and that the community in which she resided needed her more.[2]
Trivia
- Three men were known to have had romantic feelings for Jeanne: Philippe, Agaté, and François Mackandal.
- Jeanne kept two diaries throughout her life, in which she chronicled her thoughts. These were later collected and compiled together by Aveline.[2]
- Jeanne is a French female name ultimately derived from Hebrew name יוֹחָנָן (Yochanan), meaning "Yahweh is gracious".
Gallery
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Concept art of Jeanne
References
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