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Description

Name: Aguila María de las Rapaces
Born: September 12, 1792; Mexico City, New Spain
Died: May 19, 1876; Mexico City, Mexico (age 83)
Allegiance: Assassins

Bio: Aguila was born in 1792 on a plantation owned by her father, a rich Spanish Creole farmer. But unfortunately for her, she did not get to reap the luxuries that her white half-sisters did. Aguila was the result of her father forcing himself onto one of his black slaves one night, and Aguila was treated as just another slave for her entire adolescence. As such, she grew bitter and vengeful as she was forced to toil away in the fields with her constantly-ill mother, who died of exhaustion and blood-loss after a whipping when Aguila was 16. This pushed her over the edge, driving her to murder her father with a gardening hoe and fleeing the plantation under the cover of night. She never went anywhere near the plantation again.

Over the next two years, she went underground in the small town of Dolores, where she held what few jobs would take her under this bigoted Spanish colonial regime. She felt down on her luck and stuck in this state of poverty, but a new calling would soon embrace her. In September 1810, a priest named Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla delivered a powerful speech that would be known to history as the “Cry of Dolores”, calling for oppressed peoples of all walks of life to join him in a rebellion against the Spanish king. Aguila was one of these new inspired revolutionaries, and met with Hidalgo personally to sign up for his cause. It was through him that she learned of the Assassin Brotherhood and their fight to end the oppression weighing down on Mexico under the thumb of the Templars that dominated the Spanish rulers. Aguila, not wanting anyone to feel the way she did under the thumb of her father, joined the Brotherhood and followed Hidalgo and his revolutionaries into battle as the Mexican War of Independence began.

Things seemed to go well at first. The rebel forces defeated the royalist army that was led by Templar Grand Master, Agustín de Iturbide, at the Battle of Monte de las Cruces, in October 1810. However, the royalist army soon heavily cracked down on the untrained rebels, defeating them at the Battle of Calderón Bridge in January 1811. Hidalgo himself was captured and executed in July, and the rebels lost the city of Cuaulta after 72 days of Spanish siege in 1812. The revolution lived on, however. Even though Hidalgo’s replacement, Father José María Morelos, was executed in 1815, he still pushed for the Mexican government to declare independence from Spain two years prior. Aguila, now mostly on her own with a few scattered Assassins across Mexico, continued to operate against Iturbide’s Templars from the shadows over the next 5 years.

However, things severely backfired in the cause of independence when in 1820 King Ferdinand VII was forced by a coup to reinstitute a liberal constitution for Spain. The Mexican elites and the Templars that backed them saw this as a threat to their power and way of life. And so, they made an uneasy truce with the rebels for the cause of independence. This caused a massive schism between Aguila and the newest rebel leader, Vicente Guerrero. She wanted independence from anyone and everyone, Spanish or Templar alike. Guerrero could only see the cause of liberating Mexico from Spanish hands only. Despite her efforts to change his mind, Guerrero and Iturbide joined their armies together and used their combined might to secure Mexican independence in 1821. The new nation started out as a democracy, but in 1822, just as Aguila had feared, the Templars used this opportunity to overthrow the new Congress and instate Iturbide as the first Emperor of Mexico, giving the Templars supreme power over the new nation. Seeking to rescue her nation, Aguila teamed up with General Antonio Lopéz de Santa Anna to overthrow Iturbide and restore Congress in 1823. Iturbide fled into exile, returning a year later, only to be killed by Aguila in the town of Padilla.

Her greatest nemesis gone for good, Aguila thought this would mean a new dawn for Mexico. Slavery was even abolished in 1825 by President Guerrero, re-earning Aguila’s trust in him. Aguila later spent a few months helping the Native Apache peoples fight for their rights within Mexico. At one point she hooked up with an Apache warrior and had a daughter with him, but she realized that their paths went in too different directions, and so she allowed him to keep and raise their daughter while she returned to fighting for the Brotherhood across Mexico.

The whole of the country soon fell into dozens of in-fighting and civil wars, most in response to the military leadership of General Santa Anna, who was practically king in all but name. He had a complex relationship with both the Assassins and Templars, never giving in to the whims of either, even when he once met the American Templar President, Andrew Jackson, in 1837 and was attempted to be recruited. The now-scattered Templars tried to use this insurgent chaos to their advantage. Their most successful venture to reclaim power was when they influenced the American immigrants in Texas to revolt and call for independence since they were irritated at the outlawing of slavery. Knowing the Templars would reinstitute slavery if they were able to win, Aguila rushed to Texas to try and stop it. She killed dozens of Texans at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, but this unfortunately only served to martyr the lost lives and drive the Templar Texans to fight until they won their independence later that year. The Republic of Texas was created, and slavery bloomed there, much to Aguila’s dismay.

The chaos would only get worse as the years went on. The Pastry War between Mexico and France in 1838 and 1839 severely hurt the nation's economy and their relations with Europe. And less than a decade later, war would break out with the United States in 1846, when the States wanted to gain the territories of New Mexico and California in addition to Texas, which joined the Union in 1845. The War waged until 1848, when the Americans won victory and took control of the new states, allowing Templar influences to spread there as well. Tired of all the strife, Aguila set out to end the reign of Santa Anna in hopes of restoring order to Mexico. She assisted rebels in the Revolution of Ayulta in 1855, which resulted in Santa Anna getting overthrown and exiled. This gave the leaders in government the chance to start perusing new reforms that would make the nation a more equal and stable place. The Templars tried to fight against this in the Reform War of 1857-1861, but they were put down by the Assassins and their allies.

Realizing that working from the inside was no longer working, the Templars turned to foreign powers for help. They influenced the governments of France, Spain, and England, to push Mexico on their unpayed debts in order to weaken the nation. Diplomatic meetings convinced Spain and England to cut Mexico some slack, but France would not budge. And Emperor Napoleon III sent troops to Mexico to claim the debts by force. In hopes of supporting the French efforts, Mexican elites elected to have the Republic dissolved and replaced by a new monarch, the Templar agent who was crowned Maximilian I in 1864. However, with the help of Aguila and the Assassins, the Mexicans pushed the French troops out of their country by 1866, and Aguila herself hunted down the emperor Maximilian and assassinated him in 1867, freeing Mexico and restoring the Republic once and for all. Aguila was finally satisfied with her work, and slipped peacefully into old age. She passed away in her sleep in 1876, leaving the fate of Mexico in the hands of future Assassins whom she had mentored over the years. Her own grandson, Artie, son of her Apache daughter, would go on to join the Assassins that year and combat the Templars in the American Old West.

Aguila is an ancestor of Ava Arlie.

Description

Name: Aguila María de las Rapaces
Born: September 12, 1792; Mexico City, New Spain
Died: May 19, 1876; Mexico City, Mexico (age 83)
Allegiance: Assassins

Bio: Aguila was born in 1792 on a plantation owned by her father, a rich Spanish Creole farmer. But unfortunately for her, she did not get to reap the luxuries that her white half-sisters did. Aguila was the result of her father forcing himself onto one of his black slaves one night, and Aguila was treated as just another slave for her entire adolescence. As such, she grew bitter and vengeful as she was forced to toil away in the fields with her constantly-ill mother, who died of exhaustion and blood-loss after a whipping when Aguila was 16. This pushed her over the edge, driving her to murder her father with a gardening hoe and fleeing the plantation under the cover of night. She never went anywhere near the plantation again.

Over the next two years, she went underground in the small town of Dolores, where she held what few jobs would take her under this bigoted Spanish colonial regime. She felt down on her luck and stuck in this state of poverty, but a new calling would soon embrace her. In September 1810, a priest named Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla delivered a powerful speech that would be known to history as the “Cry of Dolores”, calling for oppressed peoples of all walks of life to join him in a rebellion against the Spanish king. Aguila was one of these new inspired revolutionaries, and met with Hidalgo personally to sign up for his cause. It was through him that she learned of the Assassin Brotherhood and their fight to end the oppression weighing down on Mexico under the thumb of the Templars that dominated the Spanish rulers. Aguila, not wanting anyone to feel the way she did under the thumb of her father, joined the Brotherhood and followed Hidalgo and his revolutionaries into battle as the Mexican War of Independence began.

Things seemed to go well at first. The rebel forces defeated the royalist army that was led by Templar Grand Master, Agustín de Iturbide, at the Battle of Monte de las Cruces, in October 1810. However, the royalist army soon heavily cracked down on the untrained rebels, defeating them at the Battle of Calderón Bridge in January 1811. Hidalgo himself was captured and executed in July, and the rebels lost the city of Cuaulta after 72 days of Spanish siege in 1812. The revolution lived on, however. Even though Hidalgo’s replacement, Father José María Morelos, was executed in 1815, he still pushed for the Mexican government to declare independence from Spain two years prior. Aguila, now mostly on her own with a few scattered Assassins across Mexico, continued to operate against Iturbide’s Templars from the shadows over the next 5 years.

However, things severely backfired in the cause of independence when in 1820 King Ferdinand VII was forced by a coup to reinstitute a liberal constitution for Spain. The Mexican elites and the Templars that backed them saw this as a threat to their power and way of life. And so, they made an uneasy truce with the rebels for the cause of independence. This caused a massive schism between Aguila and the newest rebel leader, Vicente Guerrero. She wanted independence from anyone and everyone, Spanish or Templar alike. Guerrero could only see the cause of liberating Mexico from Spanish hands only. Despite her efforts to change his mind, Guerrero and Iturbide joined their armies together and used their combined might to secure Mexican independence in 1821. The new nation started out as a democracy, but in 1822, just as Aguila had feared, the Templars used this opportunity to overthrow the new Congress and instate Iturbide as the first Emperor of Mexico, giving the Templars supreme power over the new nation. Seeking to rescue her nation, Aguila teamed up with General Antonio Lopéz de Santa Anna to overthrow Iturbide and restore Congress in 1823. Iturbide fled into exile, returning a year later, only to be killed by Aguila in the town of Padilla.

Her greatest nemesis gone for good, Aguila thought this would mean a new dawn for Mexico. Slavery was even abolished in 1825 by President Guerrero, re-earning Aguila’s trust in him. Aguila later spent a few months helping the Native Apache peoples fight for their rights within Mexico. At one point she hooked up with an Apache warrior and had a daughter with him, but she realized that their paths went in too different directions, and so she allowed him to keep and raise their daughter while she returned to fighting for the Brotherhood across Mexico.

The whole of the country soon fell into dozens of in-fighting and civil wars, most in response to the military leadership of General Santa Anna, who was practically king in all but name. He had a complex relationship with both the Assassins and Templars, never giving in to the whims of either, even when he once met the American Templar President, Andrew Jackson, in 1837 and was attempted to be recruited. The now-scattered Templars tried to use this insurgent chaos to their advantage. Their most successful venture to reclaim power was when they influenced the American immigrants in Texas to revolt and call for independence since they were irritated at the outlawing of slavery. Knowing the Templars would reinstitute slavery if they were able to win, Aguila rushed to Texas to try and stop it. She killed dozens of Texans at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, but this unfortunately only served to martyr the lost lives and drive the Templar Texans to fight until they won their independence later that year. The Republic of Texas was created, and slavery bloomed there, much to Aguila’s dismay.

The chaos would only get worse as the years went on. The Pastry War between Mexico and France in 1838 and 1839 severely hurt the nation's economy and their relations with Europe. And less than a decade later, war would break out with the United States in 1846, when the States wanted to gain the territories of New Mexico and California in addition to Texas, which joined the Union in 1845. The War waged until 1848, when the Americans won victory and took control of the new states, allowing Templar influences to spread there as well. Tired of all the strife, Aguila set out to end the reign of Santa Anna in hopes of restoring order to Mexico. She assisted rebels in the Revolution of Ayulta in 1855, which resulted in Santa Anna getting overthrown and exiled. This gave the leaders in government the chance to start perusing new reforms that would make the nation a more equal and stable place. The Templars tried to fight against this in the Reform War of 1857-1861, but they were put down by the Assassins and their allies.

Realizing that working from the inside was no longer working, the Templars turned to foreign powers for help. They influenced the governments of France, Spain, and England, to push Mexico on their unpayed debts in order to weaken the nation. Diplomatic meetings convinced Spain and England to cut Mexico some slack, but France would not budge. And Emperor Napoleon III sent troops to Mexico to claim the debts by force. In hopes of supporting the French efforts, Mexican elites elected to have the Republic dissolved and replaced by a new monarch, the Templar agent who was crowned Maximilian I in 1864. However, with the help of Aguila and the Assassins, the Mexicans pushed the French troops out of their country by 1866, and Aguila herself hunted down the emperor Maximilian and assassinated him in 1867, freeing Mexico and restoring the Republic once and for all. Aguila was finally satisfied with her work, and slipped peacefully into old age. She passed away in her sleep in 1876, leaving the fate of Mexico in the hands of future Assassins whom she had mentored over the years. Her own grandson, Artie, son of her Apache daughter, would go on to join the Assassins that year and combat the Templars in the American Old West.

Aguila is an ancestor of Ava Arlie.