Samuel Parris

"Our Order is not built on blood."

―Samuel Parris arguing with William Stoughton, 1692.

Samuel Parris

William Stoughton (1653 – 27 February 1720) was a Puritan minister in Salem and a member of the British Rite of the Templar Order. He played an important part in the witch trials in the town from 1692 to 1693 as an accuser of witches.

Biography

Originally a plantation owner in Barbados, Stoughton joined the Templar Order at some point and accepted the position of village minister in Salem. Though they did not see eye to eye, Stoughton worked closely with fellow Templar Samuel Parris in their hunt for Pieces of Eden. Having discovered that the Assassins Tom Stoddard and Jennifer Querry had come to Salem to hunt for the precursor artifact, Stoughton objected to Parris's idea to use Salem townsfolk and the Assassins' deaths for their cause.

He aided Parris's hunt for the Assassins and they eventually captured them as Parris tortured them for information. However, after Parris revealed that he was going to experiment on the captured women to replicate the precursor oracle Dorothy Osborne, the oracle killed herself, much to Parris's dismay. The Templar threatened to kill Stoddard when Stoughton interfered and shot Paris in both shoulders. He then turned his pistol on Stoddard, declaring that he'll leave no witnesses to this horror. However, the Assassin was able to convince him to stand down by quoting a line from Dante's Inferno and asked that he honor Osborne's death. Stoughton then gave Stoddard the keys to the cells so he would take the accused women and the mute boy named David to freedom, and reminded that not all Templars should be judged the same.

Gallery

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  Stoughton close-up