Tessa Kenway

He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow. This article contains spoilers, meaning it has information and facts concerning Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple. If you do not want to know about these events, it is recommended to read on with caution, or not at all. This template should be removed from the article 30 April 2024.

Tessa Kenway (née Stephenson-Oakley; died 1747) was the second wife of Edward Kenway, the mother of Haytham and the step-mother of Jennifer Scott. She was also the paternal grandmother of Ratonhnhaké:ton and an ancestor of William and Desmond Miles and Victor Flores Castillo.

Biography

Meeting Edward Kenway

Born into the noble Stephenson-Oakley family in England, Tessa was the daughter of a wealthy landowner. In 1723, she met Edward Kenway when the former pirate retired to London and was introduced to Tessa's family by Robert Walpole. Edward rented out one of Tessa's father's houses, but Tessa later decided to help him buy his own home and to find the necessary servants. Tessa and Edward eventually fell in love and, by 1725, were married and expecting a child. Tessa's family disapproved of the union, leading to them becoming estranged.

In 1725, Edward left London and travelled to Southeast Asia in pursuit of an Isu artifact. The Assassin decided not to bring Tessa along for his journey due to the popular myth that women aboard a ship were ill omen, and so Tessa remained in London with Jennifer, Edward's teenage daughter from his first marriage.

Losing her family

With the brith of their son Haytham on 4 December 1725, Tessa and Edward became a family and lived alongside Haytham and Jennifer in a manor on Queen Anne's Square. There, Tessa treated Haytham with unequivocal affection, until the night before his tenth birthday in 1735. On that fateful night, five mercenaries broke into the house to steal a journal in Edward's possession. During the attack, Tessa was almost murdered by one of the mercenaries but was saved by Haytham, who killed her assailant.

Despite escaping with her life, Tessa lost both her husband and her home in the attack, as the mercenaries murdered Edward and set the manor ablaze. Jennifer was also kidnapped during the attack, leaving Tessa alone with Haytham. Now seeing her son as a killer as opposed to the inncocent boy he had been prior to the assault, Tessa agreed to leave him in the care of Reginald Birch, one of Edward's senior property managers and a friend of the family, unaware that Birch was the Grand Master of the British Templars and the one responsible for the attack.

Later life and death

While Haytham travelled with Birch across Europe, allegedly to search for Jennifer, Tessa remained in London to oversee reconstruction of the manor. She would pass away twelve years later in 1747 after suffering a fall, a fact which Haytham was made aware of during a meeting with Birch in Prague.

Gallery

• 
  Initiates art of Tessa

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Forsaken
• Assassin's Creed: Black Flag (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Initiates (mentioned in Database entry only)
• Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple (indirect mention only)