Jan van der Graff
Jan van der Graff was a Flemish agent of the French Emperor Napoleon I active during the early 19th century. He later became a Black Cross of the Templar Order after being trained by Tavis Olier. He was also the great-great-grandfather of André Bolden.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Early life[edit | edit source]
During the Napoleonic Wars, Jan changed sides and left the Belgian army, only to discover that his wife and children had been killed during the bombardment of his city by the French troops. He soon became an agent of Emperor Napoleon I.[1]
Agent of Bonaparte[edit | edit source]
In 1805, Jan was sent to Libya on a mission, officially to acquire textiles. While they were both sailing toward Libya on the Painted Lady, Jan met Solomon "Solo" Bolden, the Black Cross of the Templar Order, who was at the time posing as a slaver. Despite finding him annoying, Bolden nevertheless accepted to protect Jan during his mission for Napoleon after the Flemish helped him fend off pirates sent by Sultan Selim III to kill him. To secure Bolden's help, Jan also promised to help the Templar enter the Sultan's palace.[2]
Once in the port city of Derna, the two men took camels and traveled to Tripoli, where they eventually met with Jan's contacts in a local tavern. There, Edmund, a deserter of the marines, and Ahkbar, a shady local, revealed to them the existence of a secret underground tunnel used by the Sultan to discreetly smuggle precious cargo into the palace. Following the departure of their companions, Bolden and Jan bonded over several drinks, during which the Black Cross tried to learn what "the diamond" mentioned by Edmund was. However, their conversation was interrupted by Edmund being shot dead by guards in the street.[3]
Later, the pair entered the tunnel after Jan picked the gate's lock, but were confronted by several men waiting for them. During the brawl, Ahkbar, who was in fact an agent of the Sultan, revealed himself and stabbed Bolden in the back. Before dying, Bolden asked Jan to find the Black Cross, much to the latter's confusion.[3]
Subsequently, the Flemish was seized and tortured by the Sultan's men, since Selim believed Jan to be another Templar agent sent to steal his "treasure". Although his guards and Ahkbar told him that Jan knew nothing of the Templars or the true power of "the diamond", Selim was unconvinced and ordered that the Flemish be imprisoned in the palace's dungeon. Inside his cell, Jan met his fellow inmate, Tavis Olier, Bolden's predecessor in the position of Black Cross.[4]
Becoming a Templar[edit | edit source]
During the three years they were imprisoned together, Olier trained Jan while teaching him about the Templars' ideals and the Black Cross' purpose, and eventually inducted him into the Order. On 29 July 1808, Olier heard that the Assassins were coming to buy the artifact held by the Sultan. In order to escape, the two Templars assaulted the guards bringing them food, but Olier had to sacrifice himself to allow Jan to accomplish their mission.[1]
After dispatching several guards, the Templar reached Selim's apartment, where he discovered that Ahkbar, who was an Assassin, had already poisoned the monarch and had taken possession of his prize, the fabled Koh-i-Noor. After revealing that he intended to betray the Brotherhood and keep the artifact for himself, Ahkbar tried to use the Koh-i-Noor and its power to create illusions against Jan, but the latter saw through the apparitions and killed Ahkbar.[1]
A group of Assassins quickly surrounded Jan, but having heard Ahkbar's speech and after the Flemish told them that he wanted no part in their secret war against the Templars, they spared him and left with the box containing the Koh-i-Noor. However, Jan had lied about his commitment to the Order and had in fact removed the diamond from its box before giving it to the Assassins.[1]
Later life and legacy[edit | edit source]
Shortly afterwards, Jan left the Barbary Coast and sailed to the United States with the Koh-i-Noor, which he swore to protect. Seeking out Bolden's widow, he informed her of her late husband's exploits. The pair grew close and, after a night of passion, Jan fathered a child with her, who carried on the Bolden name.[1]
This unanticipated coupling threatened to derail the Templars' pursuit of the Koh-i-Nor in 2016, when they were researching the Bolden bloodline to track down the artifact.[1] Because the family had counted many Black Crosses among their number, the Templars believed that exploring the Bolden lineage could lead them to the Piece of Eden, but struggled to identify the correct ancestor who had been in possession of the Koh-i-Noor during the early 19th century.[2]
Fortunately, Juhani Otso Berg, with the help of Jan's great-great-grandson André Bolden, was able to correctly identify Jan as the ancestor they needed, and subsequently had André relive his genetic memories in the Animus.[2] Although Jan's memories proved to be a dead end in determining in the Koh-i-Noor's whereabouts, they helped André deal with his Vietnam War PTSD and inspired him to reconnect with his estranged daughter.[1]
Personality and traits[edit | edit source]
At first glance, Jan van der Graff was an overtly friendly individual who spoke in a theatrical manner and always had a joke at the ready to lighten the mood. He also tended to act in a very boisterous and dramatic way, such as loudly announcing places he had never been to before. This caused Solomon Bolden to initially dismiss Jan as a "fool", though he quickly deduced that there was more to the Flemish than he let on. Indeed, all of Jan's theatrics were just an act to conceal his true intentions and personality.[3]
Having been deeply traumatized by the deaths of his wife and children,[1] Jan felt lost and like he no longer had a purpose, causing him to seek thrills in everything he did.[3] An intelligent man, he was always two steps ahead of both his allies and enemies by maintaining his façade of a friendly merchant with a self-proclaimed distaste for violence so he would appear vulnerable.[2] After witnessing the death of his supposed long-time friend Edmund, Jan quickly brushed it aside, much to Bolden's suspicion. In response, the Flemish, in a rare moment of sincerity, told him that his experiences had left him with "no more tears to grieve old friends".[3]
During his training with Tavis Olier, Jan came to learn and embrace the Templar ideals, finding a new purpose in being the Black Cross and upholding the Templars' principles. He also finally dropped his friendly façade and began to take situations more seriously, allowing him to easily kill Ahkbar using the lessons learned during his training. However, as his descendant André put it, Jan did not completely lose the "Bolden charm", which eventually won over Solomon's widow and led to them falling in love.[1]
Skills and equipment[edit | edit source]
Jan was a trained soldier and a capable swordsman, besting pirates as well as palace guards.[2] He was also a skilled lockpicker and multilingual, being fluent in Arabic.[3]
After being trained by Tavis Olier for over three years, Jan became far more skilled, mastering stealth and unarmed combat. He was capable of throwing a sword directly into an enemy's chest. He also seemed to have enhanced his senses enough to best the illusions created by Ahkbar with the Koh-i-Noor and sense the arrival of the Assassins. During his encounter with the Assassins, Jan displayed his skills in deception by successfully convincing his assailants that he had no loyalty to the Templars.[1]
Gallery[edit | edit source]
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Render of Jan as the Black Cross -
Jan fighting illusions of Ahkbar -
Jan surrounded by Assassins
Appearances[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
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