Duke (Sir) Darren Haldis

Roberto Manrique as Darren Stephan Haldis

CHARACTER BRIEF

Full Name:	Darren Stephan Haldis
Byname:	The Bastard
Age:	34
Date of Birth:	27th Juliet 1832
Kingdom:	Rivana
House:	Haldis
Title/Profession:	Sir/Duke
Position:	Knight/Duke
Place of Birth:	Charger's Rest

FAMILY

Father:	Duke Bryar Haldis (d. 1860)
Mother:	Lady Miranda Giraldi nee Alvi
Siblings:	Raimond Giraldi (half-brother), Leander Giraldi (half-brother), one half-sister
Spouse:	Mariah Haldis Aquilla (d. 1864), betrothed to Lady Katerine Greycen
Children:	Andre Haldis (d. 1864)

Background

Known as The Bastard, Darren Haldis is one of the most famous yet controversial knights in Rivana and the Duke of Eastfield. He is still dogged by rumours that it was really him who killed his father and many question his reasons for changing sides, but in all most hold him as a deadly swordsman and skilled commander of troops in the tradition of the Dukes before him. Also, as widower he is one of the most eligible men in Rivana. Recently his reputation has begun to recover after he fought valiantly in the Thorn Incursion.

+ Show Full Background

- Hide Full Background

Darren Haldis was born in 1834, during the Thirty Years War, as the bastard son of Archduke Bryar Haldis and his Couvieri mistress Lady Miranda Alvi. The birth was a scandal not only because Miranda Alvi was ‘the enemy’ but also because Bryar was wed to the sister of one of his vassals who had thus far failed to birth him a living child. Despite the lack of legitimate siblings Darren was unwelcome at his father’s court and was instead sent with his mother to live with his uncle Randall in the castle of Whitewalls. Despite the separation from his father, Darren’s early childhood was a good one: His mother lavished attention on him, and being an eager and athletic child he quickly became the favourite of the castle garrison.

At age six Darren’s father had Darren legitimized. The Archduke had yet to have a legitimate son by his wife and as he was about to lead a major offensive against Couviere, he wanted to secure his line. The King agreed, needing Bryar’s skill as a battle commander to continue the war, and so Darren was made legitimate with the understanding that his claims would be secondary to any legitimate children born to the Duke and his legal wife. Following this change in status Darren went to his father’s court at Charger’s Rest and came under the care of his step-mother, the Duchess Esme Haldis. The two did not get on well but in years to come both would do their duty in keeping the duchy running while Bryar waged war in the north. Upon Bryar’s return home some two years later he was pleased with Darren’s progress and sent him to foster with one of his closest friends, Baron Jonn Haver, to continue to learn the skills he’d need as a future Duke and begin the path to knighthood. In particular, Bryar wanted Darren's personal combat skills to be a heavy source of focus, after the Archduke had very nearly lost his life to Duke Cesare l'Corren at the climax of his Grand March.

Darren got on well with the Havers and was a promising page especially when it came to the preparations for knighthood, and when Darren turned twelve he left with some of the other Haver boys to go to Longfield Castle, better known as The Forge, to begin their training to be knights and members of the elite of the Haldis cavalry, The Unbridled. The training was hard but Darren loved it and earned the respect of his fellow squires by being just as willing as any of them to muck out horse stalls and perform the menial tasks required by those seeking membership. Dreams of glory seemed cut short, however, as when he turned seventeen the long war ended and his father summoned him to Sunsreach so he could serve at his side and get some exposure to court life. Darren was unhappy to leave his fellow squires behind but served his father well and found the ladies of court to be a very welcome distraction. While none of his affairs led to bastards or any particular scandals there were no shortage of them, though in all he truly wished to be back his training.

In 1862 he got his chance when he and his father returned to Eastfield to deal with a series of Myrned raids. Darren distinguished himself by killing the Myrned chieftain in single combat but when his father offered to knight him for the deed Darren refused and instead asked to return to The Forge and earn his spurs along with his membership in the Unbridled. Bryar agreed and Darren returned to The Forge and threw himself into his training to make up for lost time. He completed his training in a year and in 1863 was knighted by his father’s hand at The Forge.

His knighthood proved timely as shortly afterwards King Lucas died and the kingdom split into civil war between Lord Anton Tracano and his cousin Arturo both of whom made a claim on Lucas’ throne. The Haldis supported Anton who was kin to them through his mother and Darren joined the Unbridled in riding to war against the supporters of Arturo Tracano. Darren proved to be as good on the battlefield as the practice field earning glory for himself in battle and while he lacked his father’s talent for large scale strategy he was a good battlefield commander who’s willingness to risk his own life and obvious care for his soldiers earned him the loyalty of the men under his command. He spent much of the early years of the raiding castles in Seaguard and in all bringing the war to the Haldis’ long-time rivals, the Greycens.

Despite the glory Darren had won, not everything sat well with Darren. While not naïve about the brutality of war he did not go in for the wanton killing that his uncle Alphard indulged in. This caused conflict between the two men and they kept their distance as a result (not at all helped by the distance that already existed between Alphard and Bryar). As months passed, Darren grew more and more discontent with the tactics and behavior of Anton and his supporters, though he kept his concerns to himself, instead simply trying to make sure his own men behaved with a modicum of honor. Other things occupied Darren’s attention soon enough and in 1854 he was wed to Mariah Aquilla, the daughter of the Viscount of Greenfield and one of Anton’s most ardent supporters. It was a good match and it brought together the two leading families on Anton’s side of the war, though Darren was less than enthusiastic about it due to the rumours about his bride and just how "close" to Anton she had been before they married. All the same, he wed her and within a few months she was with child and gave birth in late 1855, a son that Darren named Andre in honour of his late paternal grandfather. Their child brought a measure of peace to their relationship though soon enough Darren was called back to the war, with him taking over many of his father’s duties as the old Archduke had stepped back from the war in part due to age and also (more importantly) his own discontent with Anton Tracano.

Everything changed when Darren caught a spy while leading a patrol near the main Thorn encampment. He had him questioned and while he resisted for days he eventually broke and told the truth of his mission. He was an agent of the Order of the Vigil and had been investigating the rumours of Anton’s amazing strength and resistance to wounds and had discovered it was the result of an ancient artifact called a Chaos Stone. Darren had heard the rumours and had seen Anton take wounds that he’d shrugged off, but had not thought to question it. The man’s story added to the doubts already in his mind, but were not quite enough to fully foster belief. The man was questioned further and stuck firmly to his story of magic rocks and a secret, more dangerous purpose to the Order of the Vigil. It was enough to get Darren to write his father of this news and seek his counsel. His father’s reply was to ask to meet the spy himself and a meeting was set at Castle Longfield. Darren arrived at the castle with the prisoner, but after two days of waiting his father had not appeared. Darren was set to ride to Charger’s Rest when word reached him that his father had been killed on the road, and that Anton and Alphard had declared Darren the killer. Furious, Darren’s first instinct was to gather troops and try to bring down his accusers but his companions counseled otherwise. He needed to flee and take his time. His prisoner offered a means to do that, a hidden gate and refuge with Archbishop Sirrah Lancella in Sanctum. Darren grudgingly accepted and he and a small group of trusted companions slipped out of The Forge before a force of men loyal to his uncle laid siege.

Safely in Sanctum, Darren met the Archbishop and she explained the dangers of the Chaos Stone and what could happen if Anton were to win the war. It only hardened his resolve to see the man fall for his betrayals and with the help of the Order of the Vigil he was able to send word to first his mother to act as his ambassador and then to the Young Rose Alysande Tracano, Arturo Tracano’s daughter and successor and perhaps the only person in Rivana who could help him stop Anton and Alphard. The negotiations between Darren and Alysande were cautious but the assistance of the Archbishop helped smooth things along and a deal was struck. Darren would return to Rivana and try to turn the men of Eastfield against Anton and in return Alysande would grant those men pardons and name Darren the Duke of Eastfield. That settled, Darren was provided with false documents to help back up his claim that Anton and Alphard had murdered his father (as the Order insisted that the existence of the Chaos Stone be kept secret). He returned to find that Alphard had been made Duke in his place and that his vassals had been made to swear to him. Still he was able to wrest the Havers from Alphard’s grasp and with their help won over their liege lords the Lockleys. Though as Darren made these small victories Anton and his forces were able to trap the army of the Rose Queen and force a battle to decide the course of the war. Darren was smuggled into Anton’s camp by his allies and was able to convince other of his vassals to turn on Anton and Alphard or at least, in the case of the Marwyn, stay out of the fight. So it was on the morning of the battle Darren and his supporters turned on their former allies as the Rose forces pressed their own attack. The battle was utter chaos but before it was over Darren would cross blades with Anton, forcing the man to flee, while Alphard Haldis was slain by Old Jonn Haver and the Haldis sword, Bloodthirster was presented to Darren at the battle’s end.

Following the battle Darren was declared the Duke and he and his supporters formally swore oaths of fealty to the Rose Queen. After that Darren took charge of his duchy’s forces and set them to the task of laying siege to the remaining Thorn supporters in Eastfield and hunting down Anton. The latter task was one Darren took on himself along with Jaren Cassomir and off and on for three years they pursued rumours of Anton until at last in 1863 they brought him to battle and Darren bested the would-be king with Bloodthirster in his hand while Jaren Cassomir faced his few remaining "Royal Lancers." Anton was executed shortly afterwards and with his death, the Succession War ended. Sadly, there would be no peace for Darren. His wife had been shattered by the death of Anton, the execution of her father and brothers, and the divestiture of her house. Further, he had brought his mother to Charger’s Rest and it set off a fierce rivalry between her and Esme Haldis. Few could blame Darren for spending much of 1863 moving from castle to castle helping rebuild his duchy in the wake of the War. However when he finally did return home he found his wife still mad with grief, so much so that when they quarreled she attacked him with a dagger. Darren fought her off and his wife fled to their son’s chambers. He tried to bash down the door but it was too strong and he bid his wife to open the door. She did not, instead taking their child, a lively boy of almost eight years old, and leaped from the chamber window to die on the cobble stones below.

Darren hated Mariah for the deed and mourned the loss of his son deeply. When Andre was buried, he left Charger’s Rest once more managing the duchy’s affairs from a distance but leaving most of the affairs of the Duchy in the hands of his mother, step-mother and uncle Randall, which proved an unstable triumvirate at the best of times. It took a letter from the Queen directing that Darren return to Charger’s Rest that finally brought him back, and was able to bully his mothers and Randall into working together for the good of the duchy.

It was shortly afterwards in 1865 that the Thorns re-emerged and the realm was drawn into war once more. Darren took a leading role in the early fighting as the Lord Marshall, but when his uncle Alphard returned (apparently from the dead) and sacked Charger’s Rest, Darren rushed home to face him and was greviously wounded in a trap laid by his uncle. This lead to the rise of the hold-out houses in Eastfield and a general civil war within the duchy. Darren would eventually recover from his wounds and return to the battlefield but by the time he did much damage was done and it was with the help of the Queen and the hated Greycens that the rebellions were at last brought under control. Darren was furious but tempered this anger when he joined his forces to the rest of the loyalists and faced Alphard at the Battle of Blackstone, where he lured Alphard into a trap of his own, playing to his reputation for being headstrong and quick to rush to battle (the very weakness Alphard had initially preyed upon). In the fight that followed the resurgent Thorns were all but broken and Darren and Alphard met on the field of battle. Darren would win their duel, and to ensure his uncle wasn't coming back again, Darren cut off his head with Bloodthirster, and in a surprising show of generosity to his rivals, allowed the body and head to be burned by Lord Stephen Greycen, helping the man to heal a bit from the psychological wounds his hated uncle had inflicted on him in capivity during the Succession War.

The victory came at a cost, though, as some of the wounds Darren had taken in Alphard’s trap had been re-opened and he was too weak to take part in the battle to re-take Sunsreach, or go north with the Rivanan forces to fight the Tirians at the Battle of Three Crowns. Instead he remained behind at the court of the Rose Queen acting on the Queen’s behalf to help get Rivana and Eastfield back on their feet in the wake of the war, and commanding the "home guard" that had remained behind. He even diverted a fair number of the loyal Haldis troops to the march North, despite some concerns about the reception Haldis troops in particular would face in Couviere. When the forces returned victorious from Couviere, Darren returned to Charger’s Rest to continue the work of rebuilding trying to undo the damage, both physical and otherwise, done to his duchy by decades of war.