Tessa Varzi
- "Tessa has a disturbing love for venom. She is so precise in her work that she can paralyze a man, put him to sleep, cause him to go mad, fake his death, or, of course, kill him in various horrible ways."
- ―Francesco Vecellio, regarding Tessa Varzi.[src]
Tessa Varzi (? - 1503) was a member of the Assassin Order during the Italian Renaissance. She was a part of a team that included Francesco Vecellio and Cipriano Enu, with whom she completed various missions throughout Italy.
An expert pickpocket, Tessa first met the later head of her Assassin team by defeating him in a pickpocketing challenge, set by their mentor, Ezio Auditore. Also a master with poisons, she was often called upon for a number of missions that required victims to be paralyzed, put to sleep, or killed silently.
Tessa was notably responsible for the death of Doge Agostino Barbarigo, after he had betrayed the Assassins by serving the Borgia. She had sent him various poisoned, threatening letters, after which he fell ill and died.
Another notable mission of hers involved freeing a group of prisoners that Cesare Borgia planned to shoot at with his crossbow, purely for his own amusement. The Assassins decided to replace the prisoners with the guards who were serving Cesare, thus Tessa was tasked with making a poisonous powder to be used to paralyze the guards. After the powder was successfully administered, and the guards' tongues cut, they were sent into the courtyard in the prisoners' place, and subsequently killed by their own master.
Tessa was ultimately killed during an ambush set by the French Templar Charles de la Motte. After she and her team were hunted down and forced to take refuge in an inn, their enemies promptly set it ablaze. As the Assassins attempted to escape to the roof, Tessa and several of her teammates fell through the weakened floorboards and met their deaths in the blaze.
Source
Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy - Chapter 3 - Francesco Vecellio