Francis

Francis (died 824) was an ally to the Martyrs of Agaunum, who presented himself as a Christian prophet. In 824, he was hired by the Hidden Ones' Master Assassin Fuladh Al Haami to be part of a group of mercenaries tasked to steal a case from the Martyrs, but secretly sabotaged the group's mission along the way.

Biography

Spying on Fuladh's group

By 824, Francis secretly worked for the cult, the Martyrs of Agaunum, due to his fascination with their "miraculous" powers they acquired from the late Theban Legion. At some point, he was picked to join a group of mercenaries, set up by the Hidden One Fuladh Al Haami, to acquire a valuable case from the cult itself. While traveling with his group across the Sinai, he kept a close eye on his fellow members, especially on Wei, a Chinese bombmaker. Positioning himself, he was given the duty to signal Wei to drop the bomb while the rest prepared to fight. However, he derided the ambush by signaling too early.

From the early explosion, the ambush went awry as Fuladh's group failed to obtain the case and even lost one of their mercenaries, Mared. Planning again, the group, directed by the young thief Roshan, climbed and descended a mountain range to get ahead of the Martyrs. However, while Francis climbed alongside the Samoan warrior Nafanua and the Roman pirate Dias, they later witnessed Wei lose his footing and ultimately fall to his death. They fortunately survived their descent and made their way to steal a dhow to go sail across the Red Sea to Karachi.

Upon arrival, they all followed Dias, who found an inn for them to recuperate. While Roshan left to find new maps, Francis was soon left alone with just Dias and Nafanua, while the twin Northmen mercenaries Geir and Gud went to search for Roshan and then the Persian mercenary Azadeh and her wolf companion Onyx following afterwards. With no one watching, Francis poisoned Nafanua's water, before Roshan, Azadeh, and Onyx returned to the inn. With Roshan's new information about the Martyrs, they all prepared to find the cult, with Onyx leading by tracking their scents. Francis promised to find horses for them, but also informed the Martyrs about the group's plans. When he returned with the horses, Francis traveled with his group, while an ambush was set up for the remaining mercenaries.

Francis watched as the ambush occurred, with arrows being loosed and the mercenaries except Nafanua finding cover. Fortunately, Onyx managed to kill two of their attackers while Dias, Azadeh, and Roshan joined in to kill the rest. Immediately, Francis was cornered by Dias, who held a sword to his face as Azadeh tried to stop Dias. However, Roshan found out that Nafanua had been poisoned and saw Azadeh almost drinking from Nafanua's water. She soon accused Francis and even surmised his background of being from the Holy Roman Empire and how he must know of the Theban Legion. Slowly, Francis dropped his act and shrieked his allegiance to the Martyrs. Before Dias could kill him, Francis attacked Dias and Roshan and fled back to his masters. Unknown to him, this allowed Onyx to trace his scent to their next location, Baghdad.

Death

Entering Baghdad, Francis joined the Martyrs at the House of Wisdom, where the Martyrs gifted the case to the customer, a member of the Order of the Ancients. However, while the Martyrs were in mid-prayer, the customer opened the case, only to hiss at them. Instantly, they all heard a whistle echoed around them. Francis was immediately attacked and killed Onyx, who went for his jugular. Like Francis, the rest of the Martyrs also fell to the mercenaries, while the customer met his end at Fuladh's blade.

Personality and traits

Francis was a young man with a high-pitched voice and bright blond hair from the Holy Roman Empire.

Behind the scenes

Francis is a fictional character from Maria Lewis' 2023 novel Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Daughter of No One that was written as a tie-in to the video game Assassin's Creed: Mirage.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Daughter of No One