Sous-Brigadier Gabriel Chevalier

Description

This man's look can usually be summed up with a single word: guarded. His sharp features are normally half-hidden from view by a long cap or, when none is available, the bit of length his dark bangs have. Still, behind all of that lies a pair of piercing blue eyes that are all the more vivid for their dark surroundings, the first signs of life from this normally inanimate face. The clean-shaven skin and lack of any real lines on his features mark him as a man that's still in the prime of his life, somewhere near the mark of thirty.

Dark blue dominates this uniform of law enforcement. It starts with a cyndrillical hat with a pair of white stripes lining its edges and a long, straight brim. Beneath that rests a militaristic getup cut out of wool, cleaned and straight, and including a few pips on the collar and marks on the eapulets to signify this man's rank, Sous-Brigadier. A white nightstick hangs from the left side of his belt, a pistol resting in a leather holster on the right side, all within easy reach should a situation require their use. White gloves are a snug fit on his hands, and along with the polished shine of the buttons that run down the front of the exterior shirt and black boots, the attention to detail of this uniform is obvious to even the casual observer.

Background

Gabriel Chevalier was born on 16 Sep, 1909, to Jacques and Marie Chevalier in Arras, France. Already a booming town, Gabriel lived the early years of his life in relative ease and comfort. His father was a cobbler, and managed to own his own shop, and for the last time in a long time, the youth was content, as was life around him. That was soon to change.

Gabriel and his parents were making their way home after a long trip north, travelling through the dark of night in their carriage, with Gabriel safely asleep in the back. Suddenly, the most earth-shattering sound the youth had ever encountered shook him loose from his slumber, waking him. Somehow… he had ended up on his back, the carriage a shambles around him, with a few cuts and bruises here and there. Of course, his parents, riding up front, took the brunt of the blast, and the poor youth was conscious just in time to sit with his parents through the last few minutes of their lives.

Unable to properly come up with any particular survival plan, he simply walked, following the road, which some time the next morning, brought him back to the somewhat familiar contours of Arras. What he did not see, when he arrived, were many people… as the mass exodus of civilians during the initial attack had turned his home town into a ghost town.

Gabriel was eventually found and shuffled off to an orphanage, where he spent most of his formative years, learning the harsh lessons of the nuns that ran the place. Food, clothes, pretty much everything but prayer was in short supply, a contrast to his previous life, and one that he blamed on those bastards that had taken everything from him: Germans. Still, his time in the orphanage had left its mark on him. Right from wrong, strong protecting the weak, all of these things were important lessons that were impressed upon him, all wrapped up into a desire to actually be able to keep a careful grip on his life led him to apply to sign up with the local police force in Arras as soon as he was old enough.

Gabriel was usually considered a bit of a lonesome sort, generally quiet and stern. Eventually, however, he met a wonderful young woman named Alice, whom he somehow (even he isn't really sure how he managed it) impressed and eventually managed to marry. Since then, the man has softened his exterior a bit, but he's still got years of strict discipline and a calling to protect that keeps his attentions sharp. Now, having served in the police force for 13 years at the age of 30, he's considered one of the more 'senior' officers despite his age, and is generally afforded the respect due his years of service by other members of the department. To this day, he's the one that is the most detailed in his reports and paperwork, taking great care to make sure that procedure is properly followed, by himself and those around him.

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