What can you say about Gaston Dubois, hero of the Mon Dieu Cthulhu! series, whose story begins in 1810 as a valiant French hussar?
He is valiant but vain, dashing if a little dim, both a dandy and a dimwit, proud as a peacock of his horsemanship, sword skills, impressive moustache and cadenettes —and his devastating impact on the ladies (or so he thinks).
In short, he believe himself, the perfect beau sabreur, or handsome swordsman–the very model of an ideal hussar.
Dubois is proud, confident boastful, pompous and self-important, and a little touchy about his diminutive stature. Yet he is also charming, brave, chivalrous and a deceptively cunning commander. He is extremely patriotic, faithful to the revolution and supremely loyal to his beloved Empereur, Napoleon Bonaparte. Faithful but flawed, courageous but self-doubting, he is prone to bouts of emotion and sentimentality. He firmly believes in his own legend and speaks about himself in the third person—although he sometimes experiences moments of clarity when truth and realisation break through.
When it came to writing Dubois’ adventures I decided to use the narrative device of him recalling his escapades to an unnamed writer (Monsieur le Journaliste) as it’s a flexible format allowing you to hop back and forth in the story (a bit like Watson recalling Sherlock Holmes cases). It also marks Dubois as a slightly unreliable narrator and lets some of the more humorous aspects of his nature come through.
His outrageous French accent starts strongly, but improves throughout the series as his command of la belle Anglais (the beautiful English) gradually improves. This allows me to indulge my penchant for Franglais and Dubois’ mangling of the English language in new and amusing ways.
Dubois was inspired by a few different characters like Arthur Conan Doyle’s Brigadier Gerrard, George McDonald Fraser’s Flashman, Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe, and perhaps even a smidgeon of Robert E Howard’s Conan. After writing about the otherworldly, powerful and supremely capable sorcerer Major Seraph in the original Seraph Chronicles, I wanted to create a hero who was appealing but flawed and most importantly very recognisably human—with plenty of space to grow as his tale unfolds.
In 1810, Dubois is a not-so-humble lieutenant in his beloved 13th Death’s Head Hussars (a fictional regiment inspired by the amazing skull and crossbones cap of Prussian Hussars), when his eyes are finally opened to the powers of darkness and evil which underpin the Napoleonic age.
The Mon Dieu Cthulhu! Series
In his debut, The Crystal Void, Dubois is stationed near the lines of Torres Verdras in Portugal, helping lay siege to Wellington’s fortifications when his fiancé is captured by a rogue Portuguese nobleman and his otherworldly allies. Dubois teams up with the mysterious Major Seraph to rescue her, and his life is never quite the same again.
Dubois’ story continues when he is given his own command and leads a company of hussars into enemy territory in Feast of the Dead. There he encounters more supernatural foes, but gains some allies. The redoubtable Sergeant Sacleaux who becomes his right hand man and the delectable and deadly Mademoiselle Brockenhurst. She is one of Wellington’s eyes, a spy and deadly assassin, a character partly inspired by Milady from the Musketeers movies, which were one of my childhood favourites.
But it is in Shadow of the Serpent where Dubois’s grand tale really starts to unfold. Serpent marks the beginning of the Eternal Struggle, the storyline underpinning the Napoleonic age and the meta plot of the entire series (and the forthcoming RPG). When Dubois is fights a duel over a crime of passion it leads to dishonour and disgrace and banishment to the Accursed 31st Dragoons (quelle horror!). There, Dubois must tame his unruly new men, rebuild his reputation, face the bandita leader La Espina and the emergence of the supernatural enemies who wish him dead.
Keeper of the Hidden Flame, coming this September and available on pre-order and paperback now, embroils Dubois even deeper into the shadowy conspiracy which stretches from the battlefield to the ballroom. He finally achieves the recognition he thinks he deserves by being inducted into an ancient order which defends mankind from the powers of darkness. Yet he also faces a new and dangerous threat, an ancient terror from beyond the stars, capable of plunging the Peninsula into an eternity of darkness and death. To stop it, Dubois must confront a nightmare no mortal man was meant to face.
Once Keeper is out, the series continues its narrative arc which gradually reveals the truth of the shadowy conspiracy. In it Dubois will rise from his humble hussar beginnings to be the champion mankind needs during this time of immense danger. The whole of the series is mapped out and ready to be revealed over the course of another four or five books and I’m really looking forward to sharing it with you. Work on the TTRPG also continues apace, so you can create and play your own supernatural adventures in the Napoleonic Age.
As Dubois would say, bienvenue dans la bataille de la lutte éternelle, mon ami! — Welcome to the eternal struggle, my friend!
Want to know more?
Follow these links to find out even more about the Mon Dieu Cthulhu! series, swashbuckling adventures in the age of Napoleon!
What the Devil is Mon Dieu Cthulhu?
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