User blog:Poisoned apples/Investigating Lachance

This was originally posted on the /d in June 2017. I felt that it needed updating (and much needed proper formatting).

Disclaimer: ''This is all speculation. The basis of this theory lies in the apple so there is a very high chance that this is all completely off straight from the get-go. Which is what speculation tends to be anyway. There are spoilers for the Dark Brotherhood Oblivion questline, so if you wish to avoid these, you will have to avoid this entire blog post altogether.''

What we Know
Lucien Lachance was a Speaker for the Black Hand in 3E 433, during the time of the Oblivion Crisis. He inducts you into the Dark Brotherhood should you commit a murder. All we know of him is that he is severely loyal to the Brotherhood and dedicated to Sithis.

He claims to have traveled to Skyrim in his youth, mentioning Riften where he took the eye of a thief. Once at the Cheydinhal Sanctuary, he took over from the previous Speaker who had been killed.

At some point, Lucien killed Mathieu Bellamont's mother as contracted by Mathieu's father.

Lucien trained Ocheeva and Teinaava as they were born under the Shadow and thus sworn to Sithis. Whether this was done in Cheydinhal or the training centre of Shadowscales in Archon is uncertain.

Mathieu Bellamont planned Lucien's murder for over a year to avenge his mother.

Early Life
In, Lucien's race is Imperial. However, his name does not sound like an Imperial's, but more of a Breton's. "LaChance" is French, meaning 'the luck', and was a nickname for lucky (or, in irony, an unlucky) person. The obvious answer to this to me was mixed race parents; a Breton father and an Imperial mother. Since his father is a Breton, Lucien took the father's family name. However, since his mother is an Imperial, he was born of Imperial race. In TES, the child takes on the race of the mother in the case of the parents being two different races.
 * Parentage

As for Lucien's place of birth, I speculate it is the Reach. Here is why:
 * Apples and Home

Apples seem to play quite the role in his life. He keeps ten of them in a very hard locked barrel in Fort Farragut, his hideout/home. As the Spectral Assassin in Skyrim, when you cook up the poisoned stew in the quest "To Kill an Empire", he remarks: "A poison stew, eh? I was always partial to apples myself."

This gives us the idea that he used these poisoned apples frequently in his contracts. Many serial killers are known to leave their 'signature' in their murders, apples possibly being Lucien's. Why so? The ease of use, great supply and ease of obtaining barrels of apples without any suspicion, perhaps. Okay, who am I kidding, that is much, much more likely than what I am about to propose...I theorize that they were a significant part of his early life. They are a 'bridge', of sorts, back to who he once was, or all that is left of him. Let me explain:

Apples are abundant in Cyrodiil, they're pretty much in everyone's homes. But there are no trees for the player to actually pick some of their own. There are no orchards. After wandering around in-game lore books, I’ve found that apple orchards pop up where High Rock is nearby. The two books that mention growing apples are King Edward, Book I, but most prominently, The Rear Guard. In King Edward, the setting is as follows:

"The young boy lay drowsing in the palace orchard, high on a breezy hill overlooking the deep blue bay of Daggerfall. The constant autumn fog of Daggerfall had blown away for the nonce and the sky was a deep endless blue."

Next comes "The Rear Guard", set in Cascabel Hall, assumedly in Skyrim. Cascabel Hall is described as being surrounded by apple orchards, and possibly lies in the Reach. I speculate this since the story is set around the time when Farrun and Solitude were in a sour relationship, and Menegur was holding Cascabel Hall on the King of Solitude’s side. However, apples grow best where it is cold enough in winter, but not too hot in the summer. Apples do not grow well when close to the ocean where temperatures do not fluctuate too much. Frosts also damage the fruit. Therefore, Daggerfall is less likely to grow apples in abundance, thus it cannot be Lucien’s childhood home, since it is a port city, too close to the ocean. This then points to the Western Reach where Bretons are prominent. If they lived out in the wilds in some isolated settlement, this would explain Lucien's adeptness at handling weapons and blood. He does, however, show skill in magic with his ability to turn invisible after speaking to the player in quests as "A Knife in the Dark" and "A Kiss Before Dying".

Ah, right, I need to explain the apples. I believe that Lucien's life growing up was not a good one, thanks to his parents. The apples are a reminder of this horrible place where he grew up, and so he uses it to bring death to other people. Using a poisoned apple is all about deceit. The person eating it has to trust the one who gave it to them, or trust that it didn't come from anywhere nasty. To him, gullibility is a weakness. Trusting someone too much, no matter how close you may be with them, is a weakness and like to be your downfall.

"I remember Skyrim from my youth, and the glistening crimson on fields of white."
 * Travels

- Lucien as the Spectral Assassin

From Lucien's constant rambling recounting of his life as the Spectral Assassin, we know that he has been in Skyrim. In fact, he knows quite a lot about places, as he remarks about wherever the Listener visits with him. This cold province is not new to him. We know for a fact he has been in Riften before, when he says "I do so love Riften. I journeyed here in my youth. A thief took my purse... so I took his eyes. It was a fair exchange." What was he doing here? Well, it is no secret, or surprise (or maybe it is?) that the Thieves Guild has ties with the Dark Brotherhood, and work together from time to time. Well, at least the Fourth Era Skyrim guilds do, anyway. I don't believe he was in Riften on business, however. Besides, although he may be a bit bloodthirsty, he wouldn't be so violent towards a "coworker", for lack of a better word. In fact, I don't think he has joined the Brotherhood just yet.

Hold your horses, what is he doing in Skyrim anyway?

Because of his mother.

Right, here's where I start to lose you (if I haven't lost you already by this point). Vicente, in the quest "The Assassinated Man" has this to say:

"The Dark Brotherhood is not in the business of staging deaths, no matter how much gold is offered. Sithis demands blood, and blood must be paid. In order to accept the contract, we demanded a life. Motierre offered his mother, and we accepted. Lucien has already taken care of that... detail."

So Lucien killed a guy's mother. So what? Well, for a start, Francois is a real craven for selling his mother out like that. I just thought, why go through the trouble? Why not just have the Slayer do it? Why would a high ranking guy like Lucien take the time to kill some old lady?

This isn't the first time he's killed someone's mother.

I believe Lucien had familial issues, and thus is why he left home, alone, wandering. Maybe even why he's violent. The evidence I have to back this up comes from his other family; the Sanctuary. Sure, he was a father figure to the Argonians, but have you heard Antoinetta Marie's story?

"I will always think of Lucien Lachance as my savior. When he found me, I was living in a gutter, an inch away from death. I owe him everything."

Fascinating, calling a ruthless, violent killer a 'saviour'. Believe it or not, this Speaker has an ounce of compassion in him. Or is it empathy? Asking Antoinetta (or really, anyone in the Brotherhood) for contract advice gives a lot of insight about who they are and what they have gone through. I believe Lucien went through the same thing as Antoinetta; being outcast. Antoinetta has poisoned her Aunt, spent time in the Imperial Prison, slept in the Chorrol Chapel Undercroft. Coincidentally, her name is derived from Marie Antoinette, who was the last Queen of France just before the French Revolution. She was very unpopular among the people. During the French Revolution, she was executed. Now, Lucien would not just up and help every beggar he finds. But I like to think that maybe, just maybe, he saw his younger self in her and pitied her. And also she killed someone and gained the attention of the Dark Brotherhood, but we're just gonna slide on past that...Anyway, I think that, due to Lucien's, shall we say, violent tendencies, that his mother banished him from their home. Something must have happened in that household to create a bitter, merciless, wandering killer with trust issues and a thing for killing mums.

The Dark Brotherhood
So, young Lucien Lachance went from the Reach, down to Riften and through the border, perhaps going west by Pale Pass, into Cyrodiil.
 * Advancement

Being a bit of a violent man in nature, he must have attracted the attention of the Dark Brotherhood in Cyrodiil. This is where Vicente is super helpful once again.

"When I first joined the family, this Sanctuary was controlled by another Speaker. Lucien took over when she was killed while fulfilling a contract."

My guess is that Lucien has been in the Cheydinhal Sanctuary longer than Vicente had been, but at one point worked together, until Lucien advanced. well no duh, that's literally what Vicente said Vicente's been a vampire for three hundred years, and for two hundred of those years, he has been with the Dark Brotherhood. He's probably seen a lot of Speakers come and go.

At some point, before he advanced on to the Black Hand, Lucien fulfilled a contract to kill Mathieu Bellamont's Mother. This left Mathieu scarred, and swore to get revenge ever since, beginning with his father who had put out the contract on her in the first place. Mathieu got himself into the Brotherhood and advanced through the ranks. It was Lucien himself who suggested him for the Black Hand. That was when he began the first stages of his plan. Over a year, he killed off various members of the Dark Brotherhood. This means that Lucien has been in the Dark Brotherhood for more than a year. He couldn't have been a Speaker when he killed Mathieu's mother because Speakers do not fulfill contracts, their Silencers do. If we take into account that Mathieu may have been a boy when Lucien killed his mother (maybe twelve or so years old), it may have been at least 8-10 years since then, meaning Lucien has been in the Dark Brotherhood a very long time (and perhaps making him 25+ years old).

This may have been the hardest one to research. As the Spectral Assassin, if he sees Shadowmere (Skyrim), he will greet her with "Shadowmere... my old and dear friend." Lucien is the original owner of Shadowmere, before Astrid. However, Astrid calls Shadowmere 'he' while Lucien calls Shadowmere 'she'. This could mean that 'Shadowmere' is just a name passed down horse to horse within the Dark Brotherhood, but considering how you 'behold' her in "The Cure for Madness" and that Lucien recognizes her two hundred years later, I'm not so sure of that. One thing's for sure, she is not a normal horse. I want to say daedra, but from which Daedric Prince (or daedric cult/worshipper) would she be obtained from? Mephala? Or Boethiah? Boethiah has been known to take shape of both a male and female, as Daedric Princes do. He/She is prince of deceit, treachery and secret plots of murder after all. I suspect Shadowmere comes from one such worshipper who probably had a contract on someone and offered her as a reward.
 * Shadowmere

"I once saw Lucien deal with an insubordinate Brother, someone who had broken one of the Tenets. It took me a week to get the blood off my boots"
 * Trust and the Sanctuary

- Gogron gro-Bolmog

Trust issues. He's a bit rife with them, I think. If he really did go through something with his biological family, then it must have been pretty bad if it made him into the Speaker we all know and love? .

He was pretty quick to Purification, no? I mean, he literally raised Ocheeva and Teinaava since they were hatchlings. From the Argonians, Vicente and Antionetta, they seem, well, not close but connected. Surely, surely he felt a bit of remorse or agony in ordering them all killed just because there's a possibility that one of them betrayed? Unless, of course, his early life in the Reach has deteriorated his ability to trust in anyone. Any hint in treachery, and he will be quick to remove it.

To Summarize
Lucien Lachance was born to a Breton father and an Imperial mother. They lived in the Western Reach, on the border of High Rock and Skyrim. This family was not a positive, healthy one, and due to some unknown reason, Lucien left them and journeyed into Skyrim, and then into Cyrodiil. His early life honed his violent ways but also caused him to be near unable to put too much trust in people. Eventually, the Dark Brotherhood found and recruited him. He worked alongside newly joined Vicente Valtieri in the Cheydinhal Sanctuary. He fulfilled a contract for the mother of Mathieu Bellamont's mother. He then replaced the Speaker who had been killed while on a contract. He raised Ocheeva and Teinaava and trained them, and he saved Antoinetta Marie from the streets. At some point, he received Shadowmere, a daedric horse, as a reward for one of his contracts. Mathieu Bellamont was welcomed into the Brotherhood, and he too rose through the ranks. It was Lucien himself who recommended him to join the Black Hand. And then, over the course of a year, Bellamont began his plot for revenge...

Trivia

 * Apples play quite a role in Lucien's life. He may have grown up on an apple orchard, he kept poisoned apples in a very hard lock in his home and supposedly used them often in his murders. He gives the Silencer a poisoned apple to use for Purification and he dies on a farm named 'Applewatch'. But it doesn't stop there, because guess who his Silencer killed in that isolated little farmhouse? Yes, that's right; the mother of the Draconis Family.
 * His last name means 'the luck'. Luck is another ongoing theme within the Oblivion Dark Brotherhood. The Lucky Old Lady is really the Night Mother, for example. Perhaps this symbolizes how he adopted the Night Mother as his true mother.
 * The Black Hand Robes Arquen hands the Silencer is likely Lucien's since he's hanging upside down, dead and naked.
 * The final quest the Silencer speaks to Lucien, before he goes to his death, is named "A Kiss Before Dying". How poetic.
 * Lucien Lachance, Speaker of the Dark Brotherhood in 3E 433, does jazz-hands and whistles to himself when he's alone in Fort Farragut.