Colonel Henri Moreau (in Lyon)

Role Former Imperial artillery officer (half-pay); civic observer Nationality French Status dead Age 47

Player-character record: Colonel Henri Moreau.

Role: Disillusioned veteran and potential ally

Occupation: Former Imperial artillery officer (now on half-pay)

Age: 47

Residence: Lyon (lodges at a respectable but modest townhouse near Place Bellecour)

Faction: Independent; quietly loyal to France, not the monarchy

Appearance

A tall, broad-shouldered man with the bearing of a soldier even out of uniform. His hair, once black, has gone iron-gray at the temples; his face bears the creases of years spent squinting through gunsmoke. He dresses neatly but simply — dark blue coat, brass buttons polished to a dull glow, and a worn officer’s cane that he still carries out of habit. His hands are calloused and nicked, and he smells faintly of tobacco and oil.

When he enters a ballroom, conversation dips — not out of awe, but recognition. He has survived more than most in this room.

Personality

Measured, pragmatic, and tired of glory. Moreau is a man whose loyalty was once absolute — to France, not kings. The Bourbon restoration has left him displaced, and he masks his bitterness with stoic courtesy. He dislikes aristocratic excess and despises political games, but respects discipline, courage, and sincerity when he sees them.

If the investigators approach him with honesty (or demonstrate competence under pressure), he becomes one of their strongest allies in Lyon.

Public Reputation

• Known as a hero of the German campaigns and for his role during the defense of Lyon in 1814.
• Viewed by royalists as “dangerously Napoleonic,” but too respected to openly insult.
• Frequently attends civic events (like Brissac’s Ball) to maintain appearances and watch the shifting political tide.

He has refused several offers to join the gendarmerie or the prefecture, telling Prefect Duret bluntly:

“I have no patience for uniforms that come without courage.”

Early Campaign History (reconciled October 2026)

Moreau brought four French veterans to the hospital raid. Thomas and Adrien were seriously wounded during the hospital assault, one shot and the other stabbed. Someone seized the remaining nurse in a surgical theatre near the veterans’ gunfight and compelled her to treat them.

Campaign History

Chapter 2 — Lyon

Moreau was introduced to the investigators by Duplessis at the Ball at Château de Camberonne. His suspicions about Savarin’s paramilitary network proved well-founded, and he committed his veteran soldiers to the party’s cause.

Moreau’s veterans participated in both major assaults. At the Orphans Hospital Raid, Moreau entered from the rear with the ladies, Thomas, and Adrien. Both Thomas and Adrien were wounded.

At the Silkweavers Guild Assault, Moreau’s veterans descended into the tunnels with the investigators. When the Chakota was unleashed, his veterans fell back and prepared a volley. Marina — her mind shattered by the sight of the creature — attacked Moreau, thinking he was an enemy. He grabbed her and spun her into the Chakota’s mass. Marina detonated herself with lantern oil and gunpowder, killing the Chakota. Moreau barely survived the blast. His veterans then fired the volley that killed Savarin instantly.

After Augustus’s death at the hospital, Jay took over Moreau as a player character for the remainder of Lyon and into Vienna.

Chapter 3 — Vienna

Moreau continued as Jay’s PC into the Vienna chapter. He was assassinated on the Graben on the evening of 7 August 1814 by the Bauer brothers — three stab wounds, staged as a robbery. First PC death of the Vienna chapter. See Moreau Graben Assassination.

Connections to Other Files

• Abbe Etienne Duplessis — His Order contact
• Mathilde Savarin — His suspected antagonist
• Luc Fouchard — Savarin’s enforcer; Moreau despises what Fouchard represents
• Lyon — His home city and sphere of influence