Sir Tristen Hiregaard
- Nova Vaasa RTCD Malken
Duke Tristen Hiregaard is cursed. He shares his body with an alter ego, Malken, the darklord of Nova Vaasa. The Hiregaard curse was laid by his mother upon his father, who murdered her when he erroneously believed himself to have been cuckolded. Tristan's father escaped through suicide, but the curse jumped on to Tristen; he would from thereafter always murder any woman he came to love. Sir Hiregaard's repentance and regret, which conflicted with the pleasure he had felt when murdering the woman, eventually caused his personality to split. Thus Malken, his vicious alter ego, was born. When the Dark Powers seized Tristen, they allowed Malken to manifest in an arrangement similar to that of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Sir Tristen is actively trying to fight the evil inside of him, seeking to rid himself of Malken and to curtail his rampages (over which he otherwise has no control). Research by the alchemist Desmond LaRouche on the purification of the soul consequently proved to be of the greatest interest to him.
Duke Tristen Hiregaard is the patriarch of the Hiregaard family (a role he has managed to fulfill through a loveless marriage, which does not trigger Malken's impulse to murder his partner). His preferred title is Sir Tristen. The Hiregaards are a noble family that own the Borchava Duchy in northwestern Nova Vaasa. Faerhaaven, the strongly fortified seat of the family, overlooks the Little Borchava River. The castle has fallen into a state of some disrepair as Sir Tristen fails to tax his peasants at a rate that would adequately cover expenses. For the same reason, the guard is not what it once was.
The Hiregaard family is one of the Five Families that traditionally ruled Nova Vaasa by rotating the position of prince among their respective patriarchs according to a schedule called the Cycle of Stewards. Sir Tristen has served as prince three times: from 671 to 673 under the tutelage of a regent (Sergei Hiregaard); from 694 to 698; and from 719 to 723. Sir Tristen served as regent from 729 to 733.
In 729 Kethmar Bolshnik was serving as prince when he died in office. His son Othmar became prince in his stead, under the tutelage of a regent, Sir Tristen, at his father's request. At the end of the Bolshnik term of office, Sir Tristen stepped down, but Prince Othmar refused to do likewise, claiming that the regency had robbed him and his family of their turn. By remaining in office, Prince Othmar broke the Cycle of Stewards. He remains in office unto today.
