Aurélien Camaille, the Sergeant

Important character in The Engineering Corps book series and the main presenter of the World Anvil articles.

I am the only reason anything ever gets done in the alchemy manufacture! The whole place—and so the whole army—would fall to pieces without me!

— Sergeant

Background

Both the Camaille (Aurélien paternal family) and the Flamion (Aurélien maternal family, name inherited by his elder brother) are military families whose members all are making their career in the army. They move from region to region all throughout France depending on their affectations. Aurélien's parents are both battle-mages who met while working in the same regiment. The rest of Aurélien's family is also in the army working in different type of jobs, either as soldiers or medics, or in support roles such as in the administration or as one of the craftsmen and women who work with one regiment. Thanks to this, Aurélien knows everything that is going on in the army and he is always up to date with the latest gossips.

You better keep on the good side of the Camailles if you want to have a successful career in the army!

— Advice to a new recruit

As a child born inside the army, Aurélien was one of the enfants de troupes, the children living with the soldiers inside the barracks and following the army. They get instruction from officers and take care of simple tasks. Some of those children are even included in the payroll, although there is a limit on their numbers and so this money always goes to the most deserving children from the lower rank soldiers, as officers earn a higher salary and thus do not need this help. Aurélien did not get onto the payroll since both of his parents were officers.
Aurélien was a talented and clever child who excelled in his studies. He was also early on fascinated with understanding how things work and experimenting with making them better. Thus, at 16 years old, he was sent by his parents to the Lycée Henry IV in Paris to prepare to pass the entrance exams to Ecole Polytechnique, the military school that trains all engineers, into which he was admitted two years later. He then graduated major of his class and chose his affectation into the engineering corps.

Life in the military

— Haven't you heard the shocking revelation? The Sergeant is, in fact, not at all a sergeant! All military engineers graduate from Polytechnique with the grade of Sub-Lieutenant. He's in fact a Lieutenant-Colonel. His nickname of 'Sergeant' has been given to him by his battalion for the way he behaves around new recruits.

— And I'd guess that Colonel Leiemens may have also been involved somehow... Just revenge!

— Two gossiping Lyonnais civilians

In the engineering corps, Aurélien first integrated the battalion stationed at the Royal Foundry of Saint-Gervais, where he worked on making improvements to the cannons that are used to project potions at enemies. He was quickly promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, then Captain Adjutant-Major, a rank used to accelerate the career of promising young officers. With this role, he was moved to Lyon to lead a section of the alchemy manufactory.
It is there that he met Adalinde de Leiemens, an engineer that is as talented in alchemy as she is in politics and who is only Aurélien's cadet by one year.

— What's up between the Captain Adjutant-Majors? Have you heard how Camaille is calling Leiemens?

— Are you crazy? Hush, you idiot! You don't want her to hear us! Camaille might get away with calling her 'lindworm' or 'dragon', but we certainly won't!

— Pfff, that's downright complimentary. Yesterday, he he called her 'worm', but she didn't appear concerned at all. Why does he even do that?

— Don't you go believe that. She just cannot do anything against him because they are of equal rank. She must have given him another talk about safety rules and discipline. She is always being a spoilsport and harping on about that—she's named after the lindworms, you know, and seems to have taken upon herself to emulate them!

— Two new recruits at the alchemy manufacture

Aurélien and Adalinde were both promoted together to Lieutenant-Colonel, assisting Colonel Longchamps who was directing the whole alchemy manufactory. However, when the Colonel was recently promoted to Brigadier General, it was Adalinde who was chosen to replace him.

— Have you heard how Camaille was passed over for promotion in favour of Leiemens?

— Pfff, I doubt anyone in Lyon has not heard about that! How could this happen with the extended network his family has in the army? He is even her senior by one whole year! Have you seen him since the news came? How is he reacting?

— Yes, but that's the strangest thing! He has been completely closed off about what happened!

— How strange. His countenance is always so open, and he never has shown any unwillingness to express his opinion about all matter of subjects that any prudent person would know to ignore.

— Do you think he is hiding his bitterness and biding his time?

— There is no doubt about that...

— Two new recruits at the alchemy manufacture

As Lieutenant-Colonel, Aurélien assists Adalinde in directing the manufactory and is the second most important person on the site. He is often charged with taking care of new recruits—the young graduates from Polytechnique who have just joined the regiment—and showing them around the manufactory, the barracks and the city, all while explaining facts of life to them. He likes to make to joke about deadly accidents and straight up murders so as to motivate the recruits into behaving, as well as to criticise the enemies of France as his life among the troops has not given him a high opinion of them.

We've only had a few deaths during the experimentations! Couple of imbeciles blew themselves up by mixing the wrong chemicals—I'm joking of course!

— Sergeant

Similarly, he has nothing good to say about any politician, with the exception of the king who is an ancient engineer and whom Aurélien knows personnaly from his childhood in the army. He greatly admires him and his cleverness, skills and ambitions, although he has little illusions about what he is capable of.

All politicians are corrupt and imbeciles entirely incapable of doing their jobs correctly. We're all lucky his Majesty is there to direct their leash!

— Sergeant

Table of Contents

Nationality: French

Corps: Engineering
Rank: Lieutenant-Colonel
Veterancy: 15 years
Schooling: Polytechnique

Age: 37
Eyes: Grey
Hair: Brown
Size: 1m80

Uniform worn

For more information, see:

Superior

Education

Place of work

Character

From a first glance, Aurélien appears like someone who is very honest and open. If you displease him, he will make it known to you. If you make a mistake—especially if it's a stupid one—he will make everyone know about it. Aurélien tends to have equal moods. He is quick to annoy and he considers criticising to be an art form, but he will do little beyond sharp remarks and distributing punishments. He is not an impulsive person and he will not physically or magically attack anyone unless strongly provoked. This leads many to consider him as a trustworthy person who is not dangerous to them. This would be a mistake.
All of this indeed hides a very shrewd mind well versed in politics and in how to manipulate people. This is not by chance and merely through his family network that Aurélien has managed to obtain such a high rank so young after all. One cannot rise so high without participating fully into the politicking...

Lieutenant-Colonel Camaille has been super welcoming to us and he is super helpful with showing us how to do things properly and be the best engineers we can be, and how to properly settle and fit in the regiment and not be homesick and—

— Completely honest testimony from a new recruit

Goals

Promotions, obviously. Everyone in the military dreams of obtaining a baton de maréchal, as this reflects the most prestigious honour that can be obtained as well as being an ennoblement. And who knows what else could happen after that. The examples of Generals Bonaparte, Bernadotte and Esselin are rather famous after all...
The only small problem is that officer positions are scarce in the engineering corps, as the size of the corps is rather small and they do not tend to die as often as other military personnel. This means that any promotion is fiercely fought over and that rivalry between engineers can be pretty bitter...