Reposting my contribution to the ceremony, a good bit of Ten storytelling!
"I am a stranger to Darkshore, and to much of Kalimdor. My home is Hearthglen, Light’s Hope, and all of the great land the Argent Crusade seeks to restore. Long ago, the Argent Dawn stood against all evils on Azeroth, welcoming all who wished to fight for peace.We traveled from our sacred ground where the spirits of a hundred knights watched over us, to dispel evil wherever we found it. It was on those journeys that I met a dear friend of mine, the man who gave me my name. Haldan Groveheart, a druid who once dwelled in these forests and the deep barrow dens of this land.
Haldan told me countless tales of Kalimdor and the battles fought to preserve it, the blood shed to keep it safe, and the losses he’d suffered to preserve peace for others. He chose Lordaeron next to wander, turned plagued fields of blighted mushrooms into fields of wildflowers, and fought alongside myself and others against zealots and the dead to hold onto our sacred ground. One day, he called me Tenoly, ‘Warm One’, and said I brought him hope alongside the others of the Dawn.
For years he stayed with us, donned our colors and walked into unknowable danger with a smile that never fell from his face. Despite all he had endured, he never hesitated to fight to restore a land with a history he’d never witnessed. The cause was righteous, and so he remained. Northrend, and our true struggle against the Lich King came and went with great loss. Friends I’ll never forget returned to be buried behind our Chapel, or interred within the Sanctum. Haldan saw the time of our land’s struggle was nearly over, and chose to return home. We said our farewells for the last time nearly four years ago.
When Windrunner’s war came to these lands, he sent word, begged me and other comrades of the Crusade to aid in protecting the home of his people. I’ll not dwell on my actions, only that I accepted. When Teldrassil burned, I can only admit with shame that there was nothing I could do. I was forced to lead the others who were with me through Horde lines until a Highborne arcanist could ferry us to safety through arcane means.
It was not until days after that I received word…"
Tenoly’s eyes become misty, her throat bouncing slightly as she swallowed.
"Even as he ferried countless innocents from Darnassus, my friend despaired. He sent away the civilians he was sheltering, and wandered into the old Argent Dawn embassy where he’d worked, even as it was consumed by flame. My friend died, consumed by the grief inflicted on the entire Kaldorei race.
Our united hearts are all that stand between us and the despair the darkness seeks to strike us with. Be strong, not simply alone, but with one another. As one who has few old friends remaining after a life of struggle, I can only beg that of you all. That…that’s it."