Bastienne Josèphe

Bastienne Josèphe (born 1690s) was the madam of La Dame en Rose, a brothel in Port-au-Prince, during the 1730s, and a supporter of Augustin Dieufort's Maroon rebellion. Through her relationship with the Assassin Adéwalé, she became the mother of Babatunde Josèphe, grandmother of Eseosa, and an ancestor to Milton Jones.

Biography

Early life

Born to a prostitute at La Dame en Rose, Bastienne grew up in the brothel she would later own. When she was young, she allowed outside children to spy on the brothel's illicit activities for a price. Entering her teens, her training in reading, writing, and financial management made her an indispensable assistant to the brothel's madam. During this time, she came to understand that the business could be used for great political gain, as deal-making, scandals, and exchanges of information were common at the brothel.

Though Bastienne was at one point engaged, she ultimately forewent marriage to inherit La Dame en Rose when the previous madam passed. Her skill with finances allowed her to double the business' profits, a portion of which she used to buy the freedom of slaves in Port-au-Prince. She then began acting as an informant for the Maroon rebellion, using her courtesans to gather information on their politically powerful clients.

At some point during her time as madame, Bastienne became acquainted with the Templar Order, working for them as a courier of sorts and using the money they gave her to free slaves. She also became an informant for the Maroon rebellion led by Augustin Dieufort, and maintained a friendship with Pierre, Marquis de Fayet, the French governor of Saint-Domingue, which was just a ruse to acquire more information to further the Maroon cause.

Working with Adéwalé

Adéwalé: "I fear worse things now. No Templar plot can equal your wrath."

Bastienne: "You try to make light, at a time like this?"

Adéwalé: "Only to lighten my sorrow at leaving."

—Bastienne and Adéwalé shortly before the latter's departure, 1737.

In 1735, Bastienne met Adéwalé, an Assassin who had been shipwrecked on Saint-Domingue after the loss of his brig, the Victoire. Adéwalé had intercepted a Templar parcel being delivered to her and refused to hand it over until Bastienne proved she was trustworthy. Bastienne soon convinced the Assassin to aid the growing Maroon resistance and, though their relationship was initially rocky, the two grew closer over the following months.

Bastienne and Adéwalé in La Dame en Rose

When de Fayet became inexplicably strict in his enforcement of the Code Noir, Bastienne tasked Adéwalé to infiltrate the governor's mansion by posing as a slave in order to spy on him. Adéwalé initially opposed the plan due to the risks of being discovered and captured, but nonetheless followed Bastienne's intructions. Through his investigation, he learned that de Fayet was sponsoring an expedition headed by the scientist Louis Godin, which concerned Bastienne, as none of her spies had told her of such an expedition.

After further investigations, Adéwalé discovered that the expedition's intended goal was to map the circumference of the Earth, so as to provide the French with accurate geographical knowledge far surpassing that of its national rivals. While this intrigued the Assassin, who believed that the knowledge gained from the expedition would greatly benefit his Order, Bastienne was not impressed by how little Adéwalé had uncovered and dismissed him.

Eventually, Bastienne's anger subsided and, in order to help the Maroons and fulfill her promise to Augustin, she came up with a plan to replace the expedition's illiterate slaves with literate ones that could then pass the information to the Maroons. She gave Adéwalé a forged manifest listing the literate slaves' names, which the Assassin proceeded to swap with the real one, ensuring the right people joined the expedition.

Augustin consoling Bastienne

By 1737, the French had grown concerned over the increasingly strong Maroon resistance and the number of slaves being liberated by Adéwalé and the rebels. In response, they began to impose stricter curfews, as well as harsher and more frequent punishments for slaves. Bastienne, concerned about the slaves' well-being, tried to dissuade Adéwalé from continuing his attacks against the French, but the Assassin angrily dismissed her.

However, they both soon witnessed de Fayet's cruelty when a French vessel, acting under the governor's orders, opened fire on a slave ship which had been disabled by Adéwalé, to prevent the slaves onboard from escaping. Although Adéwalé managed to rescue some of the slaves, most drowned and were subsequently buried by Bastienne, Adéwalé, Augustin, and the Maroons. While Bastienne mourned their loss and was appalled by the extent of de Fayet's heartlessness, Adéwalé set out to assassinate the governor, claiming that his Creed demanded it.

Bastienne and Adéwalé bidding each other goodbye

After Adéwalé killed de Fayet, he was forced to leave Port-au-Prince, since his continued presence would call both his and the Maroons' safety into question. Before his departure, he visited Bastienne one last time to say his goodbyes and give her the contents of the Templar parcel: a Precursor box. As Bastienne had no one left to sell it to anymore, she elected to keep the box as a memento.

Later life

"If the child is destined to be raised by lunatics, then there are lunatics aplenty here in Saint-Domingue."

―Bastienne, on her son's potential future with the Assassins.

At some point after de Fayet's death in 1737, Bastienne and Adéwalé shared a night of passion; seeing it as a mistake, they agreed to never speak of it again and went their separate ways. However, the encounter unknowingly left Bastienne pregnant and, nine months later, she gave birth to a boy, naming him Babatunde.

Not wanting to make Adéwalé choose between his Brotherhood and a new commitment, Bastienne concealed their son's existence from him, and likewise did not inform Babatunde of his father's identity. As her son grew into a restless and wild teenager, however, she began telling him about Adéwalé, the Assassins, and their Creed, hoping to keep him in line and out of trouble.

In 1751, Bastienne was reunited with Adéwalé when the latter returned to Port-au-Prince to offer aid after the great earthquake, and introduced him to Babatunde, who was subsequently trained by Adéwalé to become an Assassin. Bastienne was initially opposed to this decision, believing the Brotherhood was not a suitable environment to raise a child, but eventually accepted it after seeing that Babatunde's meeting with Adéwalé had changed the former's life for the better.

By this time, Bastienne had renounced her Precursor box, giving it to François Mackandal, a Maroon leader and the Mentor of the Saint-Domingue Assassins. Bastienne later became a grandmother when Babatunde fathered a son, Eseosa, in 1757. While her grandson was growing up, Bastienne would tell him stories about Babatunde's childhood and his recruitment to the Assassins, until her death sometime prior to 1776.

Behind the scenes

Bastienne Josèphe is a character introduced in Freedom Cry, a downloadable expansion for the 2013 video game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, where she was voiced by Canadian actress Mariah Inger. Bastienne's character is based on a real historical figure from the 18th century, a free businesswoman of color who ran a brothel in French-occupied Saint-Domingue.

Gallery

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  Bastienne meeting Adéwalé
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  Bastienne giving Adéwalé a letter for Augustin Dieufort
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  Bastienne giving Adéwalé a slave outfit
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  Bastienne and Adéwalé waiting for the slave transport
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  Bastienne giving Adéwalé the list of literate slaves
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  Bastienne arguing with Adéwalé
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  Augustin, Bastienne, and Adéwalé at the slaves' graves
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  Adéwalé giving the Precursor box to Bastienne

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Freedom Cry (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Initiates (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Rogue (mentioned in Database entry only)