Commissaire Jules Delaroche (in Lyon)

Role Police Commissioner Nationality French Status dead Age Mid-40s (assumed)

Player-character record: Commissaire Jules Delaroche.

Overview

Commissaire Jules Delaroche is the police commissioner of Lyon, a man of law and order who has been ensnared in Savarin’s web through coercion and blackmail. He is not a cultist by conviction—he is a hostage in his own authority, forced to use his office to protect the Choir’s operations.

Appearance & Demeanor

• Age: Mid-40s
• Appearance: Formally dressed in his uniform, bearing the insignia of his office. His face shows visible strain—creases of stress, eyes that dart nervously, hands that tremble slightly.
• Manner: Rigid, formal, but with visible cracks. He speaks in official tones but his voice carries an undertone of desperation.
• Tell: His eyes frequently flick toward Savarin across any room; his jaw clenches when her name is mentioned.

Personality

Delaroche is a good man trapped in an impossible situation. He is not naturally a coward, but he has been broken by circumstance. The threat to his daughter is absolute and credible; he has seen what Savarin’s people are capable of.

This makes him simultaneously pathetic and sympathetic—he is an object lesson in how power corrupts not through ideology but through terror.

Role in Chapter 2

The Blue Sash Incident (at the Ball)

At the Ball at Château de Camberonne, a servant wearing a blue sash (one of Fouchard’s men) blocks a drunken officer from passing through the garden doors. The crowd grows tense. Delaroche appears quickly, ordering the crowd back and commanding the servant to stand down. His voice trembles.

A successful Spot Hidden roll reveals:

• Savarin watching Delaroche intently across the room
• A young woman’s miniature locket in Delaroche’s hand—his daughter

Later That Evening

If the investigators intervene diplomatically (Charm, Persuade) or bravely (Intimidate), Delaroche notices their poise and courage. Later, he approaches them discreetly:

“You don’t know what she’s capable of. Some of us… cannot choose to disobey.”

His demeanor is soft, almost pleading. He is simultaneously grateful and ashamed.

Early Campaign History (reconciled October 2026)

After the Camberonne ball, Émeric took the investigators and Thomas to Adrien’s hunting lodge. Delaroche came there and laid out his terms to Gus: rescue his children from the hospital, and he would turn against Savarin. His appeal precipitated the hospital raid.

The raid freed more than 240 children, including children of nobles, politicians and other influential families. Their rescue broke a wider network of hostages through which Savarin had controlled civic figures, opening the possibility of further allies.

After the hospital raid, Magistrate Béraud was summoned to report and Delaroche arrested him.

Campaign History

Delaroche was coerced into serving Savarin through threats to his children, who were held captive at the Orphans’ Hospital. At the Ball at Château de Camberonne, the investigators witnessed his terror and gained his tentative trust. At Adrien’s lodge, Delaroche asked Gus to rescue his children in exchange for his turning against Savarin. He committed to their cause — providing his police force for the assaults on both the hospital and the Silkweavers’ Guild.

The Orphans Hospital Raid succeeded in freeing his children and more than 240 captive children. Delaroche was then taken over as a player character by Phil (Jay’s player had already taken over Moreau after Augustus’s death).

Death: During the Silkweavers Guild Assault, Delaroche led his police in through the front door of the Guild, fighting hand-to-hand with Blue Sashes at the barricades. He died trying to scale a barricade — a Blue Sash behind it cut him down. Phil’s second character lost in a single chapter.

Connections to Other Files

• Mathilde Savarin — His blackmailer and master
• Luc Fouchard — Savarin’s enforcer; the source of threats against his family
• Lyon — His jurisdiction
• Marie Delaroche — His daughter (NPC, unseen but critical to his motivation)