Turalyon

High General Turalyon is a famous paladin and canonized saint of the Church of the Holy Light who served the Grand Alliance army with distinction during and immediately after the Second War. He was second in command to Lord Anduin Lothar, the Supreme Allied Commander. During the assault on Blackrock Spire, Lord Lothar was struck down in combat with Orgrim Doomhammer. It was General Turalyon that picked up Lothar's battle standard and broken sword, rallying the army of the Alliance to victory over the Horde, capturing Doomhammer and driving the orcs back to the Dark Portal.

Two years after the war, Turalyon left with the Sons of Lothar on the Alliance expedition to Draenor. Despite a series of military victories, the Alliance was unable to stop Ner'zhul from opening the portals which tore the planet apart. Turalyon and his lover, Alleria Windrunner, disappeared some time after that battle and have not been heard from for many years.

The Second War
Turalyon was handpicked as one of the first five Knights of the Silver Hand by Alonsus Faol. He, along with his mentor, Uther the Lightbringer, and the other Knights, Tirion Fordring, Saidan Dathrohan and Gavinrad the Dire, were tasked with assisting Lord Anduin Lothar and Khadgar in organizing the defense of Lordaeron against the advancing Horde. Lothar chose Turalyon as his lieutenant, a decision that made an already uncertain Turalyon, question his worth even more.

The young Turalyon developed a rapport with Khadgar, who despite his aged appearance, was roughly the same age as the Paladin. Turalyon was also introduced to Alleria Windrunner, the leader of a cadre of rangers who had been sent to assess the situation by the Council of Silvermoon. A mutual attraction formed between Turalyon and Alleria, one that would bloom into a full-fledged relationship.

Turalyon fought at Lothar's side for first skirmishes at Hillsbrad and Southshore. After forcing the Horde from their initial beach landing, the Alliances forces followed the Horde northeast to the mountain pass leading to the Wildhammer Dwarves' keep of Aerie Peak. Unknown to the trailing Alliance forces, the Horde's goal was not the Dwarven stronghold there. It was merely a feint to lure the bulk of their pursuers into a cat-and-mouse diversion in the mountains and forests of the Hinterlands, while the main body of the Horde marched on the elven homeland of Quel'Thalas. From this location, the Horde could launch an assault on either Silvermoon or Stromgarde.

Lothar sent Turalyon, Khadgar, and Alleria to intercept the Horde before Quel'Thalas burned. Turalyon led his forces east and then north through the pass now known as Plaguemist Ravine, but they were too late — the Horde had already seized Caer Darrow, taken the Runestone and moved further east into the forests surrounding Stratholme. The Horde preceeded to decimate Stratholme as well as the outlying town of Tyr's Hand before moving north and setting fire to Eversong Forest in southern Quel'thalas.

The Allied forces managed to halt the Horde's advance into inner Quel'Thalas, but at the cost of many lives and a sizable portion of the Eversong Forest being destroyed. A distraught Alleria sought comfort in Turalyon's arms. However, the brutal assault on their home convinced the elves to throw their full support behind the Alliance, and when Turalyon left Quel'Thalas, it was at the head of an elven armada. They arrived at the Capital City, after passing through the mountainous region of Alterac, just in time to turn back Doomhammer's siege, and then chased the orcs back to the beaches of Southshore.

The Lion's Lieutenant
Turalyon and his comrades rejoined the rest of the Alliance army at the liberation of Ironforge, forcing the Horde to retreat to Blackrock Spire itself. The battle proved to be devastating for both sides. In the midst of the battle, he saw his commander engaging the orc warchief Doomhammer himself! Seeing the orc having the upper hand, Turalyon fought his way to Lothar's aid but he was continuously barred by orc warriors and he could do nothing more but watch as Doomhammer brought his hammer on Lothar's helm. Pushing anything in his way Turalyon went to the body of his hero, tears flowing as the warchief laughed and cried victory.

Overcome with grief and anger, the paladin grabbed the Lion's shattered sword and rallied the Alliance forces with the fierce cry "For Sir Lothar!" that struck fear into the hearts of even the most blood-thirsty orcs. The frenzied Alliance army attacked the demoralized orcs. In the mist of his anger, Turalyon almost killed Doomhammer but eventually spared his life. The battle lost, the Horde retreated to their last bastion: the Dark Portal. Turalyon gave chase, driving the orcs through the Portal itself, which Khadgar immediately destroyed, seemingly ending the Horde menace and allowing the humans to rebuild.

Expedition to Draenor
Only a few years later, General Turalyon was handpicked by King Terenas Menethil II to lead an expeditionary force also nicknamed the Sons of Lothar through the reformed Dark Portal and into Draenor. There it was discovered that Ner'zhul, with the aid of Deathwing, was planning to use a number of powerful artifacts to open more portals, allowing the Horde to escape and plunder other worlds.

Upon arriving, Turalyon renewed his relationship with Alleria Windrunner and lay siege to the Hellfire Citadel. Unfortunately, Ner'zhul had already escaped. While they were determined to go after the mad shaman and the Skull of Gul'dan, Deathwing was in a different direction. The Skull was needed to close the portal so the Alliance forces split up: Khadgar, Turalyon, and Alleria going after the black dragon while Danath Trollbane, Alleria's rangers and the Wildhammer dwarves followed Ner'zhul.

Turalyon's group encountered a gronn and ogres on the way and agreed to aid in their assault on Deathwing. After a fierce battle against the black dragonflight, they managed to gain the skull and rejoined Danath's forces in a final attempt to lay siege on the Black Temple. However, the Alliance forces ultimately failed to stop Ner'zhul from opening and escaping into his portals, and the subsequent chaotic energy the portals released began to destroy the planet. Rather than risk Azeroth being damaged by Draenor's destruction, the brave paladin selflessly assisted Archmage Khadgar in destroying the Dark Portal on Draenor.

As Draenor tore apart around them, Turalyon lead the forces of the Alliance Expedition that were with him through a portal to yet another world, one they could barely make sense of. After the set of cataclysmic events that changed Draenor into Outland were over, Turalyon, Alleria, Khadgar, Danath and the other Alliance troops all returned to Draenor. After briefly surveying the damage, Turalyon led his friends back to Honor Hold, which had remained standing despite the chaos that created Outland. However, although many of his friends do, Turalyon as well as Alleria do not appear anywhere in Outland, making his current whereabouts unknown, despite Tigole telling us that all of the people depicted in the statues in the Valley of Heroes would be seen in The Burning Crusade expansion.

He is immortalized in a massive stone statue in the Valley of Heroes in Stormwind, alongside the other leaders of the Alliance Expedition. The broken sword in his hand is most likely Lothar's, as he took up the shattered blade in combat against the Horde when Lothar fell.

Personality
Turalyon is a kind and gentle soul who only wishes the world to be at peace. His innocence and understanding personality allow him to see through people for who they truly are. An example would be his friendship with Khadgar, as wizards were often discriminated against by holy orders. He has no special hatred for his enemies either and is very merciful: he refused to kill Doomhammer even when the warchief killed Lothar, whom Turalyon admired very much.

However, when innocent lives were threatened Turalyon's passive nature changed to that of a determined avenger willing to do what was necessary, setting aside his own well being and putting the lives of the endangered as the top priority. It was these traits that drew Alleria Windrunner to fall in love with him.

During his time under Lothar, and for a time afterwards, Turalyon would often doubt his own abilities as a leader, feeling that Lothar could do things better. Most notably, was when the Alliance army was driven from Quel'Thalas, he blamed himself for the defeat, even though the cause of the defeat came from the red dragons enslaved by the Horde, creatures that neither he nor anyone in the Alliance had any means of stopping.

Faith
At an early age Turalyon joined the ranks of priesthood and fell under the guidance of Uther, at that time a knight of Lordaeron and a cleric apprentice of the Archbishop. He believed in the Holy Light, but was never able to feel its full strength. When he saw the destruction the Horde wrought in Azeroth, he felt his faith falter.

It was only when Lothar was struck down that Turalyon's faith was revitalized and it was so strong that both the Alliance and Horde forces were completely stunned. Turalyon would draw upon his skill as a paladin and his experience in command to defeat Doomhammer.

Combat
Although he was initially a priest, Turalyon is a skilled and fearsome warrior and can fight as well as any knight. He, like Lothar, is usually seen leading contingents of knights, smashing aside any foe with his warhammer and his aura, spreading encouragement to his own troops and fear into the hearts of his enemies.

His determination and faith gives him enough strength to fight dozens of much larger orcs. A skilled tactician, Turalyon is known for his tactics of surprising enemy forces with fearsome charges of knights and foot soldiers while supporting them with arrow and magic.