- Pierre: "A calendar? What are you counting down to?"
- Natasha: "Oh, nothing much – just my own death. I know it will come, and every day is a blessing. You see, I am crossing out one column every time I awake from my sleep: knowing I lived one day longer. It is just a question of time, my dear friend"
- ―Natasha explaining Pierre Étienne why she is using a calendar
| Natasha Bezhukov | |
|---|---|
| [[File:|250px]] Countess Bezhukov was the most loved noblewoman all from Moscow to Lisbon | |
| Biographical information | |
| Born |
11 December 1766 |
| Died |
7 September 1829 (aged 63) |
| Political information | |
| Affiliations | |
| Real-world information | |
| Appears in | |
| Voice actor |
Avdotya Nikolavena |
Natasha Helena Vladimirovich Bezhukov, was the half-sister of Pierre Bezukhov, and illegitimate daughter of count Kirill Bezukhov, and a member of the Assassin Brotherhood both in Paris and in Moscow; although, she appear as a Templar. She is playing this role very good, letting her pass behind the enemies' line. No one other than the French Council knew she was an ally before the Assassins Marie Anne Étienne and Pierre Étienne almost killed her during the French Revolution in 1793.
During the Napoleonic Wars, Natasha served as a Russian spy for the Assassin Brotherhood, and gave information to the Tsar and his associates, such as Mikhail Kutuzov. She also married a Pytor Tolstoy, and they parented four children – of which one of whom parented Leo Tolstoy.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Natasha Bezhukov was born on 11 December to a Chinese merchant-widow. Her father was a Russian count named Bezhukov. He came to the widow many times, and this resulted in Natasha. He loved his illegitimate daughter. He was entirely lost in his lover: the merchant-widow. So he sent money to her every month – long enough to live to the next one.
When Natasha had turned five years, she and her mother was brought to Moscow to live with the count. They both lived luxury: lived rich and had more money than most women in their usual position had (like Alphonse Saint-Just and his mother). When she was 7, Natasha became known with the fact that her father belonged to an organization known as the Assassins. He explained the meanings of their Order, and what they believed in. He told about the Templar Order, and that the Assassins had fought them since the Crusades – and some meant even before that, as well, primarily ancient Egypt. Natasha was instructed how to live as an Assassin. However, with the conservative powers in Russia: Templars was around every corner. In order to bupport the Assassins, she was told to find Templar friends. In this way, she could find out how the Templars worked, and maybe managed to bring peace between the two factions.
Years as an Assassin[]
Years passing, and learning how to operate as an Assassin, Natasha soon got trained in the ways of freerunning, stealth, and fighting. Her armory was a green custom-made attire of the Assassins. She used a dagger and axe to fight, while she had smoke bombs in her belt. Even if Natasha had lots of money, she was still the illegitimate child of the count, and was not allowed – by the government – to have all that money until her father died. So, she used her money to run operations for the Templars – she had been inducted in the age of 19 in the year of 1785. Her role for the Assassins – to which she had been inducted to the year before, 1784 – was to locate and destroy cooperations for the Templars. She did therefore chose to stop her actions as Templar, as an Assassin. However, as a woman fighting for both sides, Natasha also knew which actions the Templars did that were actually good for the sake of humanity, and which was not. In order to have balance, and not only stop her own, she also located operations run by her Templar-associates, and destroyed them in the name of Assassins. If the Assassins did something that was not the Creed's way, she stopped her Assassin-friends in the name of the Templar Order.
French Revolution[]
The Bureaucrat[]
The same year the French Revolution started, Natasha had been sent to Calais by the Templar Order: she was going to visit a bureaucrat named Joséph Iscariotte. She had orders to kill Joséph. He ran operations that was against the Order's actions. So, Natasha was given the task to poison his drink with ricin. It would take just as long time to send a letter to some Templars in France to take down Joséph as it would take for her to travel to France. Also, since she had time to plan how to kill Joséph, it would go faster. The Assassins also wanted to send her to France to execute the same task. She wanted to travel alone, since in that case she did not needed to have a Templar and Assassin by her sides.
Arriving in Calais, Natasha traveled immediately to Joséph's – some hours before the whole show started. As a represented high-in-society-woman, Natasha had been noticed, and did have to kill him unnoticed. So, she poisoned a delicious wine she had bought by herself, and filled it with the ricin. She said that Joséph needed to inhale it under the party: it was very expensive – and only the expensive things was good enough for a man like him. At the party that evening, Natasha talked to Grand Master de la Serre and other high-ranked Templars – such as Louis Philippe. That night, Natasha sat and talked with an old bearded priest about how the situation was in Paris: the people needed food and guidance. The citizens of Paris needed to be released of their anger to the tyrant of a King. Joséph called for the guests attention. He held a short speech before he drank. The wine was her own, and Joséph soon grabbed himself to the chest. He could not breathe and fell to the ground. All of the Templars drew their weapons, ready to defend themselves from the threat. All of them left the area, but four of them was killed by booby traps. She had not placed them there, so it had to be a French Assassins who did not knew of her.
Work in Paris []
The conversation with the man – who Natasha later learned was Chértien Lafrèniere – had convinced Natasha that something was going on in the city of Paris. In order to find out, she traveled to the city and contacted the Council. One of the Master Assassins in the Council, Sophie Trenet, told Natasha that she could help the Brotherhood in Paris by finding information of the different targets to the Assassins: where they could be located, their story, what they are doing, etc. Also, in this way, she could find other targets. She could also find some targets of her own. Natasha found this disturbing: locate people on this way seemed unfair. She decided to unfriend Sophie Trenet, and work on her own.
Whilst Natasha stayed in Paris, she soon found out of a conspiracy against Grand Master de la Serre. She warned the Grand Master and his daughter: Élise de la Serre. This was discovered by the Council, and they expelled her. Natasha replied: "I never pledged my life to your murderous, naive and narrow-minded Brotherhood. I have lived by both factions, and I can tell that yours Brotherhood is the worst I have ever witnessed." The words was harsh, and she was escorted out of the city. Natasha now was to be located in an old house outside of the city walls. Here she operated by giving away locations of Templars and Assassins that was corrupted.
In 1793, Natasha wrote some letters to her mother when she saw a shadow outside of her house. She heard some footsteps outside, and understood it was the Parisian Brotherhood that was tired of her work. She grabbed a pistol in one of her drawers of her table. After killing the Assassin, she would bury his or her body in the garden. Natasha saw a movement, and dodged. A blade had been shot into the house, and Natasha fired in that direction. She did not killed her attacker, but wounded him badly. Natasha walked outside and took the Assassin into her home.
When the Assassin awakened, he asked where he was, and Natasha explained the situation. When the Assassin understood it, he grabbed for a pistol, but Natasha was faster and grabbed it. She yelled: "Listen, monsieur, I am an Assassin and Templar. You have come to kill me, but let me ask you why." The Assassin, that also presented him as Pierre, said: "I have been sent her to kill you. You are giving away information about Assassins to the Templars!" Natasha sighted before saying: "I only give away information about Templars, Assassins and other citizens that have been corrupted by power! The Council in Paris tasking the Assassins to kill persons who are for the Revolution. Also, you can never know exactly what they're wanting! Are they supporting the King or are they against him? I only give people order to kill those who are corrupted and wanting to stop the revolution, or are too radical! Paris is needing a reform! I want to create peace between the two factions!" Pierre was soon convinced, and knew she had right: The Council was never to be trusted. "If you want to help me, execute these contracts." Natasha showed a wall with not less than 27 contracts: all of them visualizing men and women in Paris that was against the Revolution, or was too radical, or wanted to use the Revolution to gain personal power or influence.
When the 27 contracts was executed, Natasha gave the Assassin a choice. Natasha had to leave the nation: her mother had died, and had to go back to Russia. Either, the Assassin could take down the last contracts – with Natasha turing herself in – or escorting her to Meaux, where she would be escorted by some Danish Assassins to Russia. The Assassin accepted the contracts feeling Natasha was too dangerous to be out in the world. Natasha and the Assassins walekd up to the Notre-Dame, where their paths now ended. During the escorting, they were attacked by members of The Luxembourg Fighters and the Saint Vierge. Fighting them off, and ending up in front of the church. Natasha gave the last three contracts to the Assassin: Hervé Quemar, Sophie Trent, and Guillaume Beylier. After delivering the last contracts, Natasha left the area – turing herself in.
With the death of the conservative Assassin-leaders, Natasha planned her escaping. She would not keep her promise, but she needed to go to her mother's funeral.
Napoleonic Wars []
Arriving in Moscow in early 1794 with the help of the Danish Brotherhood, Natasha visited the grave of her mother. She mourned for some months, but was soon back in her routine in working for both Templars and Assassins. She went on like this for 11 years.
Natasha had now grown to be a 39-year-old in 1805. She operated from St. Petersburg, and one day – when she was on a mission for the Brotherhood to find an informant of the Templar Order – Natasha was stopped by a man named Pierre. Natasha only knew one Pierre, and this was not him. The man told his full name: Pierre Bezhukov. He was the son of count Bezhukov, which also was Natasha's father – making the two of them half-siblings. Natasha wanted to know why he was here. Her father was ill, so she wanted to know if this man just wanted the money. Pierre said that he had come to Russia to pay his respects to his father – a man he had not been the best son to. Natasha did not trusted him, and left the man. Returning to her task, Natasha was suddenly aware of a conversation between prince Vasili and Anna Pavlovna: Napoleon was on his way to Russia!
During the Napoleonic wars, Natasha worked as an iformant for both the Templars and the Assassins. What she did is uncertain. She did, however turned central battles into the favor of the Assassins, such as the battle of Waterloo – when she gave the plans of operations to the duke of Wellington.
Death[]
Torn into living by two different sides of life, Natasha felt she had to choose. So, she chose the Assassins. The Templars sought control, but all they had done, convinced Natasha that the Assassins was the wisest decision. But even the Assassins had their problems, and in those points, the Templars wiser to choose.
7th September 1829, Natasha took her own life. She had lived a long life, and now it was time to end it.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Upon the release of the first samples of the book War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy was forced to remove all traces and hints of Natasha, by the Russian Templar Order. When he refused, he was brutally beaten until he accepted. Some Assassins did managed to collect some of the correct editions however. The versions without Natasha was published.
- When BBC was under the production of the TV-series "War and Peace" in 2015, Angelica Concord paid a man to exclude the parts with Natasha Bezhukov – in fear of information of the Templars would come out. Instead, they added an old man from the Freemasonry. Abstergo also managed to collect every edition of Leo Tolstoy's work, and locked them away. They edited them to exclude Natasha entirely.
- Historically, Natasha is just a fictional character, and not in ANY connection with the Tolstoy family.
- Unlike many known Assassins, Natasha never got a higher rank than Assassin.
- Natasha's contracts could only be done after the events of Calais – although the first was given by Trenet: tasking Pierre and Marie Anne to locate and kill her.
- Natasha adapted the outfit of Shao Jun, but made it easier to move around. She honored her mother by using a bow.
- However, when she became elder, she chose a more discreet outfit – hood and all.
- In-game the player of the Assassin's Creed: Changes was given the choice to either accept the contracts, or escort Natasha to Meaux. If the player accepted the contract only to get Natasha into jail, they could choose not to kill the leaders when they had fought them – resulting Natasha to escape. If the player killed the Assassin-leaders, Natasha would stay in jail. If the player chose to escort Natasha to Meaux, they would get letters from Natasha (in-game with months between each, but in real life, each time the player started the game for 6 times) that stayed how she now lived during the Napoleonic Wars. In the end, they would get her diary.
- Escort Natasha to Notre-Dame; kill Council-members; Natasha stays in the jail; player will not receive letters, but diary
- Escort Natasha to Notre-Dame; do not kill Council-members; Natasha flees from the jail; player will not receive letters, but a war-painting
- Escort Natasha to Meaux; cannot kill the Council-members; Natasha never gets to jail; player receive letters and diary and war-painting