| Darron Trueflame, The Light of Highpass | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Position |
Prince of Highpass |
|
Predecessor |
Henry III Trueflame |
|
Status |
Deceased |
|
Title |
The Light of Highpass, The Truest Flame |
|
Date of Birth |
01 B.P. |
|
Affiliations |
Knights of the Silver Hand |
Darron Trueflame V was the firstborn son of Lord Henry IV Trueflame of Highpass, and before his death considered one of the noblest knights in Lordaeron. Of impeccable birth, Sir Darron's pedigree was only half the measure of his being: from boyhood he strove for excellence and achieved it with ease. He became his father's squire at the unheard-of age of ten, and later that year proved his worth in battle at the Siege of Dawnport. Crown forces, under the overall command of Collins Ridgewell, were hard-pressed by the auxiliaries of Aztinian Hopesfire and their line threatened with destruction. Darron, separated from his father, took up the broken axle of a supply wagon and defeated Aztinian in single combat, brutally smashing the man's skull and claiming his arms and armor.
Four years later he earned his spurs. During a skirmish with several itinerant bands of orcish marauders, young Darron called their chieftain to account and personally slew the greenskin, a beast twice his size and thrice his weight. So complete was Darron's victory that the remaining marauders immediately surrendered themselves. His lieutenants advocated immediate death for the orcish cretins, but Darron would not allow such unjust executions, and consigned them to the same internment camps that held their fellows.
The matter of Sir Darron's induction into the Silver Hand was thus never a metter of if but simply when. At the age of fifteen he was vetted for the Order and sent to the citadel of Blackwatch to train beneath the auspices of Jothaem Albrecht, a seneschal of the Silver Hand. It was here that he met those who would become his closest companions: Gevin Hopesfire, Eldanesh Kurnous, fellow Initiaties, and Madelynne Albrecht, Viscount Magnus' daughter. Though not always in accord with one another, Darron's gallant demeanor served as excellent instruction for Kurnous and Hopesfire, the former a coarse (if admittedly exceptionally skilled) bastard, and the latter the scion of pirates and brigands.
Some years later, during a Tournament at Shimmervale, Madelynne was caught in flagrante delicto with Gevin, provoking a scandal amongst Blackmarsh's nobility and earning Madelynne several scathing nicknames. Incensed by the demeaning of his friend, Darron made it his business to personally challenge any man who was heard to insult the Lady Albrecht. In the time following the tournament alone, he fought no less than twenty-six duels in the span of a single day, victorious in each and generous enough to spare the lives of those men wise enough to yield.
By the time of the Third War, Sir Darron was a fully anointed paladin, stationed at Tyr's Hand in the company of his childhood friends. The circumstances of his death remain somewhat unclear, though some basic facts are known: he rode out with Gevin, Eldanesh, and Madelynne, ordered by Prelate Amorceos Trueflame, a cousin, to ensure the safety of the villagers of Sveholme as they evacuated in the face of advancing scourge. He did not return. Gevin, Madelynne, and Eldanesh went on record upon their return to Tyr's Hand stating that he had remained behind to cover their retreat when the scourge arrived unexpectedly, single-handedly holding the road for many hours before at last being overrun. Whatever the truth of this, on several occasions Sir Gevin, deep in his cups, was heard to lament Sir Darron's end and his own part in it, suggesting the official version of events to be less than accurate.
The Light's Last Stand, a portrait by Wilhelmina Bloodjoy.
Whatever the circumstances of his end, Sir Darron Trueflame died one of the noblest knights in Azeroth, and a paladin who had his career not been cut short, would have indubitably been ranked amongst such mighty heroes as Turalyon the Radiant and Uther the Lightbringer. Widely mourned after his death, his unerring gallantry and perfect chivalry have earned him an enduring legacy of honor and valor, and amongst the smallfolk of Blackmarsh he is known forever as The Truest Flame.
Quotes[]
"He could beat you without even trying. But he was never mean about it. He'd laugh, pull you back on your feet, and show you how to be better." --Gevin Hopesfire, in retrospect.
"Darron who?" --The last words of Sir Lew of Lyle
"If he was here with us, we'd have been coming home two days after making landfall. Two days, I tell you. Because Darron would never fight on a sunday." --Eldanesh Kurnous, at the Siege of Icecrown.