Hendrik

Hendrik (died 1725) was a Dutch explorer working for the Dutch East India Company in the early 18th century. He was a friend to the navigator John Young.
During an expedition to , Hendrik found the ruins of Angkor, the lost city of the Khmer Empire and an alleged Isu site. He documented his discovery in a series of sea logs, which in 1725 would become the objects of interest of various factions, including the Assassin Edward Kenway and the Templars, who sought to find Angkor for the Pieces of Eden they believed it contained. 
==History==
===Early life===
Seeking to make a fortune in order to provide for his wife and children, Hendrik left them to join the Dutch East India Company as a sailor, a decision he eventually came to regret. While serving, Hendrik wrote a letter which he sought to give to his family in the event he failed to return.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 3 Hendrik also came to befriend a fellow company mate and navigator by the name of John Young.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 2
===Discovery of the lost city===
While serving in the Dutch East India Company, Hendrik was tasked by its Chief Navigator Jan van Aert to research various legends around Southeast Asia concerning possible treasures and ancient sites that could benefit the company's interests. However, all the information Hendrik managed to uncover was deemed useless by Jan, who did not want to waste company resources investigating what he described as "old fisherman's tales".Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 50
At some point during his investigation, Hendrik learned about Ferdinand Magellan's search for Pieces of Eden in the Philippines two centuries prior. Traveling to Cebu, he met a monk at the Basilica del Santo Niño who reluctantly told him about Magellan's discovery of an Isu artifact on Cebu and his subsequent death at the hands of 's chief Lapu-Lapu, who wielded another Piece of Eden.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 41
The monk made no mention of what had happened to either of the two artifacts after Magellan's death, so Hendrik resolved to continue investigating by himself, believing the Pieces of Eden to be connected to rumors of a "forgotten temple" located somewhere in . He also began documenting his search in his personal sea log, which he encrypted using a special cipher that he kept hidden within the log.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 10
Eventually, Hendrik discovered the so-called "forgotten temple" and its treasure in the lost Khmer city of Angkor during a company expedition in the jungles of Indochina. Unable to retrieve the artifact, he wrote down instructions to find Angkor in his sea log, intending to return to the ruins at a later date.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 12 At one point while drunk, he also told John Young about his discovery, not knowing that his friend would then steal his story and boast about it.
Later, Hendrik, realizing the danger Angkor's artifact posed if it fell into the wrong hands, decided to conceal its location. He split his sea log into two halves, with the first half documenting Hendrik's original research into Magellan's story and concluding with the message "follow in the footsteps of Ferdinand Magellan".Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 40 This was a clue to the location of the second sea log, which Hendrik and the monk from Cebu hid within Magellan's cross at the Basilica del Santo Niño.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 56
In early 1725, Hendrik came to be based in Macau and approached the affluential Qing merchant Lee Huiyin, asking her to sponsor an expedition to Angkor. However, she rejected his offer, believing his story about the lost city to be absurd, and Hendrik was thus to forced to put a halt to his ambitious plans. In the meantime, he kept his original sea log in a bank safe in Macau, knowing how valuable the information within the journal was.
===Death===
In February 1725, Hendrik was attacked in his room at the company dormitories in Macau, being fatally stabbed in the abdomen by ninja from the Japanese Shimazu clan working for the Templars, who sought to silence anyone who knew about Angkor.
The Assassin Edward Kenway, who was attempting to learn the location to the lost city, entered Hendrik's room moments after the attack, while Hendrik was still conscious. The sailor told Edward a little about Angkor and its "piece" and asked that he deliver a letter to his family before finally passing.
Hearing the commotion, Hendrik's fellow company men entered his room and found Edward standing over Hendrik's body. Mistakenly thinking he was Hendrik's killer, they attacked the Assassin, who fled by jumping out the window. Edward subsequently escaped the harbor with John Young's help,Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 5 but was declared a fugitive by the authorities, who hanged wanted posters of him around Macau.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 6
==Legacy==
Following Hendrik's death, his sea log became the object of interest of multiple factions who sought to find Angkor and its treasure. Lee Huiyin initially purchased it from the bank where Hendrik had been keeping it, but the log was soon stolen by the Templar Shimazu Saito,Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 11 who entrusted it to her benefactor, Sun.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 34 When Sun was later killed by his nephew Xiao Han, the Mentor of the Chinese Assassins, the latter claimed the log for himself and subsequently formed an alliance with Lee to find Angkor's treasure.
Despite losing the log, Saito had been able to memorize its contents during the brief time she held it, and later joined forces with Edward Kenway and his Zhang Wei Union, helping them decipher the information. After learning about Hendrik's investigation into Ferdinand Magellan's story, the Union members decided to follow his trail and traveled to the Philippines.
While in Manila, Edward encountered a monk who wielded a crescent amulet, a Piece of Eden which was part of the same set as Angkor's artifact. After being subjected to the amulet's powers, Edward experienced several visions, including one of Hendrik concealing his second sea log within Magellan's cross.
Edawrd and his fellow Union members later traveled to Cebu to find the cross, but were beaten to their destination by the chief Rajah, who took the sea log for himself.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 66 Rajah subsequently entrusted it to his men, who hid the log inside Fort San Pedro,Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 70 where it was later recovered by Saito.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 71 However, she ended up losing the journal to the Chinese Assassins during a fight.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 73
In 2023, when Edward's descendant Noa Kim relived his memories in the Animus, Hendrik's dying words about leaving his family reminded him of his own father's abandonment, resulting in a brief synchronization error.
==Personality and traits==
Hendrik loved his family and sought to provide for them, so he chose to pursue a career as a sailor, though doing so required him to abandon his wife and children. After learning about the legend of Angkor, Hendrik investigated it with the intention of acquiring the lost city's treasure for himself, so that he could return home to his family a wealthy man.
As he learned more about the nature of the Pieces of Eden, Hendrik realized the information he possessed was more valuable than he had thought at first, and went to great lengths to conceal it in order to prevent Angkor's treasure from falling into the wrong hands. Despite his precautions, however, he failed to realize that his investigation had attracted the attention of powerful groups like the Assassins and Templars, and was utlimately silenced by the latter.
In his final moments, Hendrik regretted having abandoned his family for the sake of a treasure he could not claim, but hoped his investigation might help someone else find the artifact so that it could be put to good use. Feeling he could trust Edward Kenway, he gave him the letter to his family and told him what little he could about Angkor's treasure before passing away.
==Behind the scenes==
Hendrik is a character introduced in Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple, where his sea logs serve as the that drive much of the comic's plot.
===Etymology===
Hendrik, alternatively spelled Hendrick or Henderick, is a Dutch name which is the equivalent of the English name Henry.
==Gallery==
ACFT - Hendrik closeup.png|Close-up of Hendrik
ACFT - Hendrik with his sea log.jpg|Hendrik with his sea log
ACFT - Hendrik writing.png|Hendrik writing in his sea log
==Appearances==
*Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple
==References==
de:Hendrik
fr:Hendrik
Category:1725 deaths
Category:Individuals
Category:Dutch people
Category:Sailors
Category:Explorers
Category:Dutch East India Company