Pierrette Arnaud

Pierrette Arnaud (born c. 1833) was an French acrobat and a member of the British Brotherhood of Assassins. Originally from Paris, she lost her parents during the June Days uprising in 1848 but was adopted by former Swedish cavalry officer Major Wallin and joined his Aurora Equestrian Troupe.

Biography

Early life

Pierrette was born around 1833 to Parisian musicians: her father being a trumpet player and her mother, Marie Arnaud, a violinist who, according to her father, was talented enough that she could bring Vivaldi to life with her skills. Pierrette's parents were passed over for positions at the Paris Opera for reasons they never knew, and thus often played in the orchestra at the Paris Hippodrome to make ends meet.

In 1848, France was hit by a period of civil unrest with the abdication of King Louis Philippe in February and later on, the workers' uprising in June. In the latter event, Pierrette's parents participated in the riots, leaving her in the care of Swedish Major Wallin, who was then in Paris along with his travelling troupe, the Aurora Equestrian Troupe, and his daughter Tillie. Before departing to the barricades, her parents requested Wallin to look after their daughter should anything happen to them, barring her from taking part in the riots.

Sure enough, Pierrette's parents were killed by the National Guard at the Rue Soufflot, and were buried in an unmarked grave. Pierrette, heeding her late parent's advice, joined Major Wallin and his troupe in order to survive and avoid starving to death.

Encountering Ada Lovelace

In 1851, Pierrette performed at the Great Exhibition with her troupe and performed the male lead of Mazeppa. However, near the end of her performance, she ended up rescuing mathematician Ada Lovelace from a gang of thugs. Once the pair were safe, she accompanied and guarded the countess home away from her assailants. Arriving at Ada's home, Arnaud and Lady Lovelace began to build a friendship. Pierrette soon attended Ada's social gatherings with scholars and artists, such as Elizabeth Siddal and John Ruskin. However, once Ada revealed she was deathly ill, Pierrette was asked and sent on a journey to find Ada's friend Simeon Price and to work with him to stop a weapon she had developed, known as the "Engine of History", from being used.

Searching for Simeon Price

Looking around England for Price, Pierrette found no trace of him and convinced Wallin to move the troupe from London, especially due to war declaration from Emperor Napoleon III. With haste, they traveled around Europe as Arnaud performed her new "Flying Flame" act and put Price's name in her act. Soon, she and the troupe arrived in Vienna as she continued her act. One night, Arnaud saw that Price broke into her troupe's area but vouched for him after Wallin caught him. Together, they discussed Ada's last wishes and her notes, which Pierrette gave to Price for his friend to decipher.

The next day came as Pierrette awaited Price at the Elizabeth Bridge above the Wien River. However, she was told by Price that he could not decipher the notes and was asked to break off contact. Dismayed, she immediately took back the notes and escaped from Price's chase. When she arrived back home, she saw her room ransacked. Realizing she was being tracked, she took Ada's notes and sew them inside her corset.

Searching for the Magus

By 1854, moving with her troupe, Pierrette searched around Europe for the Magus and talked with all inventors and gunsmiths she found. However, while in Prague, she and her troupe noticed the Wallin and Tillie became sick. Although Tillie recovered, she and the troupe saw Wallin worsen. From the doctor's orders, Pierrette and the troupe were told to retire Wallin and find a permanent base. In Frankfurt, Pierrette convinced her troupe to relocate in Birmingham as she found an answer for finding the Magus, due to the city's industrial aspects.

In three years, Arnaud found herself searching for clues about the Magus as the troupe founded their permanent base. However, she came across a workers' line and saw casings that matched Ada's drawings in her notes. Eavesdropping on the conversation from atop a walkway, she was soon spotted as the walkway collapsed due to imbalance. She quickly took a casing and escaped their chase. Scared, she left the troupe to follow the clue of the casings' delivery to Paris. Arnaud followed her lead to Paris and saw a man with a suitcase take the casings, bring them to the theater opera of Rue le Peletier, and saw a bombing occur. Pierrette intervened before one of the bombers activated the second one but was knocked out. Luckily, she was saved by her old acquaintance, Assassin Simeon Price.

At the base underneath Gare de l'Est, Pierrette awoke to Price, who interrogated her on her presence. After they talked about their clues, she was reluctantly offered to be trained by Price, to which she accepted. Meanwhile, they continued to debate on who was the man behind the Magus. Their debates turned hostile until the intervening of the Assassins Michel Moulin and Amira Benyamina. Talking with each other, she theorized, due to Kane's presence, that he may be Magus after all. Despite some pushback, Arnaud remembered that her target recalled Kane's presence during the bombings, before the search for the Eye. There, all the Assassins concluded on the Magus being Oscar Kane after all.

After searching through Vienna, Arnaud and Price found no trace of Kane's whereabouts. However, Arnaud found a clue from Elizabeth Siddal during a social gathering as Kane was last seen in London. With her mentor feeling uneased, Arnaud was ordered to stay in Paris. However, she was allowed to join after a moment of persuasion.

Locating Kane

In 1861, Arnaud and her mentor first resided with Siddal and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, before meeting with English Assassins Ethan Frye and "The Ghost." However, they received no information from them. Luckily, a mention of an "artifact" was read in the news and its location to be at the British Museum. Pierrette was told to stay with the Rossetti's and visit the new Crystal Palace as he confronted his former mentor. Alone, she went and saw Charles Blondin and coincidentally met with Tillie again after several years.

Realizing the troupe disbanded, Wallin dead, and everyone else found new careers, Pierrette and Tillie talked as they walked back to the Rossetti's residence. Yet, both found her room broken into once again. With the police investigating, she overheard that Simeon had been found and arrested. Wondering what to do, she thought of a prison break but knew she had no equipment. With Tillie, she headed to the Robinson's new store and met with Nell Robinson again. Together, she, Nell, Hugh Robinson, and Tillie sat down for tea and talked. Immediately, she apologized for leaving them and how it all ended. Despite harsh feelings, she was forgiven and reminded that they are here to help.

With weapons and equipment given by the Robinson's, Arnaud headed home until she noticed that she was being followed. Confronting her stalker, she was introduced to Corporal Sawyer Halford, who gave her a note from her imprisoned mentor. Back at the Rossetti's, Arnaud introduced Halford to her hosts as she prepared for a party. At the social gathering, she began to meet with fellow artists and found herself meeting Ada's children, Anne and Byron. However, she found that she was being spied on by a woman at the party.

Captured by the Templars

Pierrette was met by Countess Konstanze von Visler, who remained coy about Kane and offered to talk at the Brown's Hotel. The next day, Pierrette stood atop an adjacent building and climbed down. However, she was grabbed and knocked out from a window. She soon awoke to the Countess and her henchman, Hennighan. Talking with the countess, Pierrette realized she had been captured by the Templars. Before long, Pierrette was tortured and slashed by the countess, who later saw the hidden notes within her corset.

Held for days, Pierrette was underfed, beaten, and tortured by Hennighan and von Visler. She started to lie about the information of Ada's coded notes until she could not hold out. She revealed about a possible artifact located in Bath as the countess began to heat up the room with firewood. With the fireplace, Pierrette used a necklace from the Robinson's and blew fire from her mouth. Setting the countess' arm on fire, Pierrette escaped her confines and fought off Hennighan. Taking back the notes, Pierrette escaped while the countess continued to shoot at her.

Hunting Kane

After finding sleep by a chimney, she met with the Rossetti's being bloodied, thin, and bruised. After resting and recuperating, she met her recently-released mentor outside Red Lion and they conferred their recent events. Both figured out that Kane was traveling to Bath to find the Eye and thought of allies that may help them.

In early 1862, Pierrette, Simeon, and their allies convened in an alley near Bath Abbey. Pierrette was met by Hugh, Tillie, and Ariel Fine, her troupe family, while Sawyer and Byron came for Simeon. Everyone waited above while Price entered a bunker alone to find Kane. Within moments, gunfire was heard as a fight broke above between Pierrette and her allies versus Kane's men. Fortunately, the alley fight moved down towards the bunker's room. Pierrette entered in and saw a man pointing a gun towards a trapped Price. She shoots the man, saves her mentor's life, and helps him escape from a hole in the ground.

Pierrette and her allies soon took down all of Kane's men as she declared it's over and lied about burning Ada's notes. Surrounded, while Kane was distracted by his unloaded gun, she came from behind and stabbed him. However, she was soon overpowered and held hostage by Kane atop a walkway. Although Hugh and Ariel freed her by lassoing Kane, Pierrette saw Kane released due to a surviving henchman. In a second, she tied Kane up again and threw themselves over the walkway, which became broken. Slightly injured, she saw Kane motionless and barely breathing as the room was crashing down. She left with her allies as Price stayed to finally end Kane.

The Magus' Aftermath

After the successful mission, Arnaud and Price recuperated and arrived home, only to find and hear about Lizzie Siddal's death. At her wake, Arnaud paid her respects while overhearing Price talk harshly to a woman. Seeing the woman to be Konstanze von Visler, Arnaud hid the notes beneath Lizzie's head as she confronted the countess with a gun behind her. While the countess asked to see if the notes were gone, both Pierrette and Simeon remained silent. Once the countess paid her respects and left, she told Price that she wanted to stay in London for both her troupe and the Brotherhood.

However, Arnaud was told by Price that he needed to leave due to his face being publicized and needing to work incognito. As she understood, she offered to work one more night with Simeon, who agreed.

Behind the scenes

Pierrette Arnaud is a character introduced in the first novel of the Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History series, The Magus Conspiracy, written by Kate Heartfield and released in August 2022.

Arnaud is also one of the few LGBT characters in the book as she described her love life and her numerous romances across Europe during her troupe days.

Etymology

The given name Pierrette is French in origin and means "rock", it is also the feminine form of Pierre. The surname Arnaud is the French form of the given name Arnold, derived from the Ancient Germanic arn "eagle" and wald "power, violence" or alternatively "forest".

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Magus Conspiracy (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Resurrection Plot