The Davenport Homestead was a small but thriving community based on the grounds of Davenport Manor, near Rockport, Massachusetts.[1] During the 18th century, it served as the main base of operations for the Colonial Brotherhood of Assassins. The manor and lands were originally owned by the Mentor Achilles Davenport, and were passed onto his apprentice Ratonhnhaké:ton after Achilles' death.
History[]
Early expansion[]
By 1746, as Achilles Davenport rose to the rank of Mentor of the Colonial Brotherhood, the Homestead served as a home for Achilles' wife Abigail and their young son Connor.[2]
As Achilles' Brotherhood was established, he recruited numerous colonists into the Order, overall expanding the Assassins' presence within the colonies. The Davenport Homestead acted as the main headquarters of the Colonial Brotherhood, from where they oversaw all Assassin operations in the region.[3] Additionally, Achilles had his own personal study where he kept contact with various other Brotherhoods and guilds across the globe, and maintained information on various high-profile Templars like Reginald Birch and Rafael Joaquín de Ferrer.[4]
Achilles welcoming Adéwalé
In March 1752, Achilles received a visitor at the Homestead: the West Indies Assassin Adéwalé, who had come to inform the Mentor of a devastating earthquake in Saint-Domingue that had allowed the Templars to steal a Precursor box and pages of the Voynich manuscript in the Assassins' possession. While Achilles and Adéwalé talked, the Assassin recruit Shay Cormac briefly listened in on their conversation before heading to his scheduled training sessions with Liam O'Brien, Hope Jensen and Kesegowaase.[3]
After Shay completed his training for the day, he went to speak with Achilles, just as the latter was parting ways with Adéwalé, who left to return to Saint-Domingue. Informing Shay about the Precursor box and the Voynich manuscript stolen by the Templars, Achilles tasked him to recover the two artifacts. Shay subsequently departed the Homestead aboard his personal ship, the Morrigan, to begin his mission.[3]
Shay breaking into the manor
In early 1756, Shay returned to the Homestead after his mission to recover an Isu artifact from Lisbon went awry and resulted in an earthquake that destroyed the city. Believing that Achilles knew this would happen, Shay angrily confronted the Mentor in his study but was kicked out by Liam and Hope. Realizing that more innocent lives would be put at risk if the Assassins were allowed to continue their search for Isu sites, Shay resolved to take matters into his own hands and broke into the manor at night to steal the Voynich manuscript.[4]
Achilles caught Shay in the middle of his attempted theft and accused him of betraying the Brotherhood. After a quick brawl, Shay managed to escape through the window of Achilles' study with the manuscript while the Mentor called upon his Assassins to capture the traitor. Shay evaded his former brothers and sisters, as well as the mortrar fire from the Gerfaut, the ship of Louis-Joseph Gaultier, Chevalier de la Vérendrye, but was eventually cornered atop a cliff.[4]
Shay cornered by the Assassins
As Hope and Liam tried to reason with Shay, stating that Achilles would eventually forgive his transgression if he returned to the Homestead, the former Assassin claimed that he could not allow what had happened in Saint-Domingue and Lisbon to occur again. He was then shot by the Chevalier de la Vérendrye and plummeted into the ocean below, the manuscript still in his pocket.[4]
The Templars' purge[]
Shay ultimately survived his fall and went on to join the Colonial Templars, helping them hunt down most of his former Assassin brothers and sisters over the following years. This brought an end to the Colonial Assassins' period of prosperity and the Brotherhood was left in shambles, with only a few select members surviving the Templars' purge.[5] Although Shay left for Europe in 1760,[6] the Templars continued their hunt of the Assassins until 1763, when they launched their final attack on the Homestead, killing every remaining Assassin save for Achilles and Robert Faulkner.[7]
Faced with the complete extermination of his Brotherhood, as well as with the death of his wife and son, both of whom had died of typhoid fever in 1755, Achilles lost his will to fight the Templars. He remained in isolation at the Homestead for the next six years, letting it fall into disrepair.[8]
Ratonhnhaké:ton's arrival[]
Achilles yelling at Ratonhnhaké:ton to leave
In 1769, the young Ratonhnhaké:ton of the Kanien'kehá:ka Nation was instructed by Juno through a Crystal Ball to seek the Assassins, so he traveled to the Davenport Homestead.[9] A depressed Achilles angrily refused multiple times, but relented and took Ratonhnhaké:ton on as his apprentice after seeing him fight off a group of mercenaries who had come to rob the manor.[8] Achilles spent the next few years teaching Ratonhnhaké:ton the ways of the Assassin Order, and gave him the name of "Connor" to honor his own son's memory and to let Ratonhnhaké:ton blend in with the colonists.[10]
During the American Revolutionary War, Connor and Achilles worked together to improve the Homestead by inviting craftsman, farmers, and merchants to live on the lands near the manor and encourage trade. In time, the Homestead expanded and evolved into a small, tight-knit community.[11]
The Homestead residents gathering to fight off Quincent's attack on Ellen's home
At its peak, the Homestead included a mill, a carpenter, farmers, hunters, miners, tailors, a doctor, a blacksmith, a church, and an inn. The Homestead also held a small dock for the Assassins' ship, the Aquila, which was overseen by Connor's first mate Robert Faulkner.[11]
For the residents, the Homestead was seen as a chance at a new life, as many had lost their homes and professions due to attacks from mercenaries or the British Army.[11] During some instances, the Homestead came under attack when these groups sought retribution, but Connor always made sure his friends were safe.[12][13]
Later history[]
The Homestead residents attending Achilles' funeral
In 1781, Achilles' health began to decline, and he passed away peacefully inside the manor. In a final letter to Connor, the Mentor left him the Homestead and expressed his hope that Connor would understand that the Homestead had blossomed into a thriving community that could serve as an example of what a united America could become. Connor then buried Achilles next to his wife and son on the hilltop nearby, which overlooked the sea, as fellow Homestead residents paid their respects.[14]
Later in 1783, Connor was tasked by Juno with hiding an amulet he had retrieved from the Templar Charles Lee.[15] He returned to the graves of the Davenport family and buried the amulet in Connor Davenport's resting place, thinking it would be one of the most obscure locations that anyone would think to look for it.[16] The next year, the Louisiana Assassin Aveline de Grandpré brought an escaped slave she had rescued, Patience Gibbs, to the Homestead so that she could join Connor's Brotherhood.[17]
Eseosa arriving at the Homestead
Two decades later, after the end of the Haitian Revolution in 1804, the Haitian Assassin Eseosa received an invitation from Connor to come to the Homestead and receive additional training, giving him the skills he would need to return to Haiti and liberate the young country from Jean-Jacques Dessalines, its brutal tyrant.[18]
Modern times[]
According to the Assassin and historian Shaun Hastings, the Homested mysteriously vanished from all historical records in the early 19th century.[7] In December 2012, the Assassin Desmond Miles, a descendant of Connor who had relived his memories in the Animus, arrived at the Homestead's remains and dug up the amulet from Connor Davenport's grave, before using it to access the inner chambers of the Grand Temple.[19]
Layout[]
Ratonhnhaké:ton overlooking the Davenport Homestead
The Homestead referred to a large forested area on the east coast of Massachusetts, north of Boston. Two rivers cut through the land, one near the northern part of the property, and one through the middle of the region.[11]
As more people began to move on the Homestead, the land became more settled. Parts of the forest were cleared to make way for new homes and shops, and more roads were established to connect the manor, port, and residents together.[11]
A primary pathway linked together Ellen, David, Oliver, Lance, Lyle, and Godfrey and Terry's businesses with Timothy's church, the Davenport Manor, and the Aquila's docking port. Warren's farm, Norris' mine, and Myriam's hunting cabin were located on the outskirts of the Homestead.[11]
Several animals could also be hunted at the Homestead, including fox, elk, deer, beavers, raccoon, wolves, and hares.[11]
Manor[]
The manor's secret room
The Homestead's central hub was the Davenport Manor, where Achilles and Connor resided. The manor overlooked a small cove where ships could dock and it also had stables nearby.[11]
The first floor contained a kitchen, dining room, a reading room, and Achilles' bedroom. The second floor hosted Connor's bedroom; a gallery room of paintings, trophies, and a copy of Thomas Paine's Common Sense; another room storing books and letters; and a fourth room[11] that served as Achilles' intelligence center prior to the Seven Years War. In it, he kept research on Apples of Eden and or Crystal Balls, a blood vial, and a crystal skull. When the Voynich manuscript was recovered, it was kept in this room.[5]
On one of the walls in a spare room, Achilles had collected intelligence on a number of prominent international Templars, including Diego Vázquez and Rafael Joaquín de Ferrer of the Louisianan Rite, Reginald Birch and Lawrence Washington of the British Rite, Samuel Smith and Haytham Kenway of the Colonial Rite, and François de la Serre and Chrétien Lafrenière of the Parisian Rite.[5] By the time of the American Revolution, he had emptied the wall of his notes and relocated the intelligence to a much smaller display in the basement.[11]
Later when Ratonhnhaké:ton moved in, the room was converted into a display room for the inventions that had been crafted for Connor after he had found their recipes in Benjamin Franklin's almanac pages.[11]
The basement, which could be accessed by pulling a candelabra behind the staircase, stored a practice dummy, Assassin outfits, a board of information on the stronger Colonial Templars, and an armory storing muskets with bayonets, as well as all of Connor's weapons.[11]
Below the portraits of the Templars there was a table where Ratonhnhaké:ton kept mementos from the Templars’ deaths. The mementos included William Johnson's beadwork, John Pitcairn's gorget, Thomas Hickey's sash, Nicholas Biddle's spyglass, Benjamin Church's watch, Haytham Kenway's Hidden Blade, and the Grand Temple Key which served as Charles Lee's memento.[11]
Trivia[]
- Shay could attempt to access the basement of the manor in Assassin's Creed: Rogue; however, the secret door remained jammed.
- After the memory "Legacy", Achilles' position at the Fanorona table in the Homestead would be replaced by Father Timothy.
- In the manor there is a box with epaulettes and a Badge of Military Merit. Historically, it is impossible for Achilles to have the badge as it was first awarded in 1782, yet it could be in the manor as early as 1752.
- A copy of Thomas Paine's Common Sense can be found in the manor in 1752, despite the book not being finished until 1776.
- During the memory "Lessons and Revelations", in the room that would later become Connor’s trophy room, a trunk can be found with Yggdrasil carved on it.
- The painting The Death of General Wolfe can be found in the manor. It famously features William Johnson as the man in the green uniform on the left, although he was never present at the scene depicted.
- A painting of Etow Oh Koam can be found in the manor.
- One of William Russell Birch's prints, South East Corner of Third and Market Streets, from his book Birch's Views of Philadelphia can be found in the manor.
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
- Assassin's Creed III (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Forsaken (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Aveline (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Initiates
- Assassin's Creed: Rogue
References[]
- ↑ "Whisperdeer3" (8 July 2015). Where is the Davenport Homestead in real life?. Reddit. Retrieved on 26 January 2020.
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III – Achilles' Painting
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Assassin's Creed: Rogue – Lessons and Revelations
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Assassin's Creed: Rogue – Freewill
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Assassin's Creed: Rogue
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Rogue – Non Nobis Domine
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Assassin's Creed III – Database: Davenport Homestead
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Assassin's Creed III – A Boorish Man
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III – Something to Remember
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III – A Trip to Boston
- ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 11.12 Assassin's Creed III
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III – The Comeback
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III – The Final Straw
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III – Legacy
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III – Chasing Lee
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III – Davenport Homestead
- ↑ Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Aveline – The Tower
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Initiates – Eseosa's Codex
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III – Modern day
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||