Hope Jensen

"God, Hope... What are you doing with these felons? Turning the city against itself? What have you become?"

―Shay Cormac, 1756.^[src]^-[m]

Hope Jensen (1732 – 1759) was a member of the Colonial Brotherhood of Assassins operating in North America during the Seven Years' War. Mentored by Achilles Davenport, she controlled much of New York's organized crime, providing the Assassins with an effective information network.

Biography[edit | edit source]

Early life[edit | edit source]

Born in New York to a modest family, Hope was placed in an orphanage after the death of her parents. She was subsequently adopted by a German couple, who hoped to build a new life for themselves in the colonies. They symbolized this desire by naming their newly-adopted daughter Hope.^[1]

Although it took several years, the Jensens eventually grew wealthy, the business endeavors of Hope's father turning great profits, and began to mix with New York's finer circles. However, despite their best efforts to fit in, they were never truly accepted by the city's elite.^[1]

Growing up, Hope was taught by private tutors and gradually realized the injustice rampant in the world. In 1742, her father disappeared under mysterious circumstances and was never found again, following which her father's former business partners took control of the family business. Left with nothing, Hope and her mother were forced to live on the streets.^[1]

Eventually, Hope's mother fell ill, her health slowly deteriorating, despite her daughter's best efforts at stealing food and medicines to help her. With the passing of her mother, Hope hardened, vowing never to depend on anyone again.^[1]

Assassin training[edit | edit source]

"Remember what I taught you. Be patient. Be silent. Never let them see you coming."

―Hope offering advice to Shay after one of her lessons, 1752.^[src]^-[m]

In 1746, Hope met Achilles Davenport, who was impressed by her survival instincts, pickpocketing skills, and strength of will. She was officially inducted into the Assassin Brotherhood a year later. Tasked with setting up a network in New York, Hope soon controlled most of the city's organized crime, with her gangs taking control of each district.^[1] At some point, she also acquired a mansion, using it as her base of operations and installing various traps to deter intruders.^[2]

Due to her experience, Hope served as one of the instructors of Shay Cormac, who was a new recruit to the Brotherhood. She tutored him in various assassination and stealth techniques, but found him to be a troublesome student,^[1] largely due to Shay's frequent tardiness and lack of discipline; traits which prevented him from achieving his full potential in Hope's eyes.^[3]

Search for Precursor sites[edit | edit source]

Procuring the artifacts[edit | edit source]

Hope: "Make yourself scarce, Shay. The militia will be here any minute. I'm sure they will have questions."

Shay: "What about you?"

Hope: "I'm a devoted housekeeper."

—Hope and Shay after Franklin's experiment, 1754.^[src]^-[m]

In March 1752, news reached the Colonial Brotherhood that the Templars had stolen two valuable Pieces of Eden during an earthquake in Haiti. Like her compatriots, Hope focused her efforts on locating these lost relics.^[3] While she discovered that the Templars had consulted many learned people in New York, in an attempt to understand the purpose of the First Civilization artifacts, she was unable to find out where they were.^[4]

Nonetheless, Hope's spies uncovered information regarding Lawrence Washington, a high-ranking Templar believed to be in possession of the Pieces of Eden. Meeting with her fellow Assassins at Two Bends, she reported that Washington was expecting a package soon. By tailing the ship delivering the package, Shay and Liam O'Brien found Washington at his Mount Vernon estate, where the former assassinated the Templar. However, the artifacts had already been entrusted to Samuel Smith and James Wardrop, two of Washington's Templar brothers.^[4]

Over the next two years, Hope and the others turned their attention to tracking down Smith and Wardrop in order to recover the Precursor box and the Voynich manuscript. Following Smith's assassination in May 1754,^[5] Hope met with Shay and Liam in Albany, where she informed them that Wardrop was located somewhere in the city, observing the ongoing congress. While Hope and Liam went to secure the perimter and make sure Wardrop could not flee Albany, Shay tracked down and assassinated the Templar.^[6]

With both artifacts recovered, Hope and Shay sought to secure Benjamin Franklin's assistance, hoping that he could activate the Precursor box. Pretending to be associates of the Templar William Johnson, the pair learned that Franklin was unable to carry out his experiment, as his lightning rods had been confiscated. While Shay retrieved the rods, Hope stayed with Franklin to help prepare the experiment.^[7]

Following Shay's return, Franklin conducted his experiment, using the lightning rods to direct electricity into the Precursor box. Upon a third lightning strike, the artifact activated, briefly projecting a map that revealed the locations of several Precursor sites. Shay recognized one of the places shown, but before he and Hope could discuss it further, they were forced to part ways due to the arrival of several guards. While Shay fled the area, Hope masqueraded as Franklin's housekeeper to avoid suspicion.^[7]

In 1755, Hope and Shay reunited at the Assassin bureau in Two Bends to discuss the information learned with Achilles. Due to his knowledge of the site, which was located in Lisbon, Shay was tasked with the retrieval of the Piece of Eden supposedly held within. As the Morrigan was unfit for crossing the Atlantic Ocean, Hope offered to keep Shay's ship safe in New York while the latter was away.^[8]

Lisbon earthquake fallout[edit | edit source]

Hope: "Shay, a person cannot start an earthquake."

Shay: "A person meddling with these Precursor machines could. You saw the Box, Hope. The Temple was filled to bursting with that kind of power."

—Shay arguing with Hope upon his return from Lisbon, 1756.^[src]^-[m]

Shay's mission to acquire the Piece of Eden from Lisbon went awry, as the Assassin ended up triggering a massive earthquake that leveled nearly the entire city, causing thousands of people to lose their lives.^[8] Guilt-ridden and blaming Achilles, he lashed out at his Mentor, with whom Hope sided, upon his return. She defended her Mentor against Shay's accusations and, together with Liam, forced him out of the room. Their refusal to hear him out only fueled Shay's belief that the Assassins could not find any more Precursor sites, leading him to steal the Voynich manuscript.^[9]

Achilles discovered Shay and ordered his Assassins, Hope among them, to catch the deserter and retrieve the stolen artifact. She subsequently attempted to halt Shay's escape by throwing smoke bombs in his path, all the while questioning his reasoning, but did not succeed in deterring him. Hope and her fellow Assassins eventually cornered Shay at a cliff overlooking the bay, where she once more tried to convince her former student to return the manuscript.^[9]

However, Shay refused to listen, claiming he could not allow such a disaster again, and prepared to walk off the edge. Chevalier de la Vérendrye then shot Shay in an attempt to stop him, but failed, with Shay plunging into the bay and subsequently being carried out by the tide; the Assassins assumed him dead and the manuscript destroyed.^[9]

Weapons production[edit | edit source]

"The ruffians we have arrested refer to an intimidating woman. I believe she is behind these nefarious plans."

―George Monro on Hope's activities, 1756.^[src]^-[m]

Following the events at the Davenport Homestead, Hope continued her work with Benjamin Franklin alone. She had him produce equipment for her that could be used in conjunction with the Assassins' poisonous gas reserves,^[10] which were supplied by Le Chasseur.^[11] Among the weaponry commissioned was the prototype of a grenade launcher, though this particular weapon ended up in the hands of the Templars when Franklin handed it over to Shay, unaware of the latter's switch in allegiance.^[10]

Believing Hope would use the poisonous gas on the innocent populace of New York, the Templars sent Shay to destroy a factory that housed a large supply of it, further sabotaging the Assassin's activities.^[10] Over the next few years, as Shay became affiliated with the Templars, he worked to weaken the presence of Hope's gangs throughout the colonies.^[12]

Death[edit | edit source]

Shay: "Hope, I didn't want to do this."

Hope: "I trained you to do this. I expected nothing less."

—Hope to Shay in her final moments, 1759.^[src]^-[m]

In November 1757, Liam managed to steal back the lost Voynich manuscript from the Templar George Monro, allowing the Assassins to continue their search for the Precursor temples.^[13] For a long time, however, they were unable to replicate Franklin's original experiment, preventing them from determining an exact location and organizing an expedition.^[14]

By October 1759, Hope had figured out a way to activate the Precursor box once more and find the location of another Precursor temple. While she set up the experiment inside her warehouse, the British Army, having been manipulated by the Templars,^[14] launched an attack on her mansion with the intent of eradicating the gangs' influence. Unfazed, Hope managed to activate the artifact and give Liam the location of a temple in the Arctic, before sending him on his way.^[15]

Immediately afterwards, she shot out the skylight, causing Shay, who had been spying on her, to fall down into the warehouse. Hope then took his gas mask, drank an antidote, and activated a mechanism, causing the chamber to slowly fill with toxic gases. Leaving Shay to die inside, she was surprised when soon after, he appeared on the warehouse's balcony.^[15]

Complimenting him on his endurance, Hope flung a poison dart at the Templar, before departing once again, though Shay nevertheless continued to pursue her. She attempted to deter him by using various smoke bombs, hoping the poison would run its course before he could catch up to her. However, after a lengthy chase across New York, Shay managed to stab Hope in the abdomen, mortally wounding her.^[15]

Having taken her antidote, Shay cured himself of Hope's poison, before expressing remorse at having to kill her. Hope dismissed these words and revealed she had merely been buying time for the Assassins' expedition. She lamented Shay's wasted potential, before succumbing to her wounds.^[15] Hope's body would later be found by Liam, who realized Shay was to blame for her death and swore revenge.^[16]

Personality and traits[edit | edit source]

Hope: "It's about time you showed up."

Shay: "Far be it from me to keep a lady waiting."

Hope: "I'm no lady here, don't you forget it! I'm your teacher... and your better."

Shay: "Well some of that is true, at least."

—Hope and Shay bantering with each other before training, 1752.^[src]^-[m]

Hope appeared to be responsible and extremely powerful for her young age. Despite her high-ranking position within the Brotherhood, she was friendly towards her pupils. However, while she was fond of Shay Cormac and believed he "had potential", she hated that he never put his talents to full use. Some of her interactions with Shay could also hint at a romantic interest.^[12]

Hope could also be cunning, shrewd, and calculating, able to formulate an efficient plan in a brief period of time and apply it with efficiency. Her tactical intellect was reflected in her ability to always be one step ahead of her enemies, installing various contraptions in her mansion to trap or kill intruders. She was also able to deceive the Templars by acting as a decoy to buy her fellow Assassins enough time to launch their expedition.^[12]

Skills and equipment[edit | edit source]

From an early age, Hope lived on the streets and was forced to pickpocket. She was so good that she impressed Achilles with her skill. Hope proved to be a skilled Assassin, and later on she began to tutor recruits in stealth and swordsmanship. She was also a skilled freerunner and capable of performing the Leap of Faith.^[12]

In terms of equipment, Hope was armed with at least one Hidden Blade, smoke bombs, a sword, and a pair of flintlock pistols. As well as this, she possessed knowledge of poisons, carrying at least one poison dart on her person and manufacturing toxic gases for her gangs to use.^[12]