Druids of the Flame

Druids of the Flame
	; The banner of the cult.
Main leader	Ashendir Hartwood
Formerly	Archdruid Fandral Staghelm †
Secondary leaders	Norana Morninglight
Formerly	Leyara †
Race(s)	Night elf
Capital	Sulfuron Keep
Base of operations	Ragnaros' Reach, Wildflame Point
Theater of operations	Firelands, Dragon Isles
Formerly	Mount Hyjal
Affiliation	Primalists, Independent
Formerly	Ragnaros' forces, Twilight's Hammer (Old Gods' forces)
Status	Active

"Druid of the Flame" redirects here. For the Firelands mob, see Druid of the Flame (mob).

The Druids of the Flame are a sect of druids founded by Archdruid Fandral Staghelm, who served Ragnaros the Firelord as his loyal majordomo. Thrall referred to them as members of the Twilight's Hammer, and Fandral claimed to answer to the Twilight Prophet.^[1] However, the new iteration of the druids is dedicated to the Primal Incarnate Fyrakk and the Primalists' vision of the world. These vile creatures have turned their backs on Elune's teachings, and twisted by the insane power of the fire, they desire nothing more than to bury everything in ash.^[2] They operate mainly in the Firelands^[3] and can be distinguished from other night elves by their scarred red skin and burning orange eyes.

History

Cataclysm

This section concerns content related to Cataclysm.

Fandral Staghelm, Archdruid of the Flame and Majordomo of Ragnaros.

While Azeroth's defenders fought to hold back the unleashing of Ragnaros and his fire elementals on Mount Hyjal, Deathwing turned his attention to Thrall. The orc's meddling had unified the Dragon Aspects against him, and thus he called on a new weapon to end him: the Druids of the Flame. They were led by Fandral Staghelm, the disgraced former leader of the Cenarion Circle, who had been locked in a barrow den for his attempted murder of Malfurion Stormrage and his dealings with the Emerald Nightmare.

As the Cataclysm had unfolded, agents of the Twilight's Hammer had helped him escape his bonds, and presented him with an offer: if he served the Destroyer, he would be granted the power to take revenge on the world for the death of his son, Valstann Staghelm. After his defeat during the War Against the Nightmare, Fandral knew that resurrecting Valstann was impossible, and his only desire was now to bring ruin to Azeroth.^[4]

Ragnaros himself remade Fandral in flames, disfiguring the night elf but also granting him command over the element of fire. He became the Firelord's foremost lieutenant and the first Druid of the Flame.^[4] Fandral then recruited others to his side, mainly druids who were disillusioned with the Cenarion Circle. Like their new leader, these druids were reborn in fire. Near Mount Hyjal, Fandral and his druids ambushed Thrall, and used the orc's own shamanic power to shatter his spirit and hurl the pieces across the Elemental Plane. Each sundered portion of his essence embodied one of his raw emotions.^[5]

Among other things, they also attempted to use a vessel of Firelands energy known as a "Solar Core" to annihilate Azeroth.^[6]

Meanwhile, Malfurion Stormrage rallied Hyjal's defenders in a massive counterattack against the fire elementals. They drove Ragnaros's army back into the Firelands, and with reinforcements from the Horde and the Alliance, the Cenarion Circle stormed into the stronghold known as the Molten Front. Slowly, they pushed deeper into the Firelands until they reached Sulfuron Keep, where Ragnaros fell before the onslaught of Azeroth's defenders. His greatest lieutenants, including Fandral Staghelm and most of the Druids of the Flame, suffered the same fate. With the Firelord's destruction, Hyjal was at last spared from his all-consuming flames.^[5]

Dragonflight

This section concerns content related to Dragonflight.

Please add any available information to this section.
Thought to have been destroyed with the deaths of Fandral Staghelm and Ragnaros, the Druids of the Flame were able to escape into the Firelands and gained recruits in the wake of the War of the Thorns, as a lot of night elves felt devastated and demoralized by those events. They later allied with Fyrakk and the Primalists under the promise of reclaiming their immortality,^[7]^[8] and struck against the Dragon Isles during fire Dreamsurges, coming from Waking Dream portals. Their alliance was later discovered by Shandris Feathermoon and an adventurer in the assaulted Lunedane.^[9]

The Druids of Flame later blessed [Fyr'alath the Dreamrender] as Igira forged it for Fyrakk, who used the axe to open the way into the Emerald Dream.^[10] As Fyrakk launched his assault on the World Tree Amirdrassil, the Druids of the Flame did their part in attempting to breach the Wellspring Temple that led to the World Tree's core. However, the barrier protecting the temple proved stronger than anticipated, leading an impatient Fyrakk to lash out at the Druids for what he saw as incompetence. Ultimately, the Druids of the Flame fell before the Defenders of the Dream, their leadership being dashed and what few remained were killed by Fyrakk when they failed to breach the barrier, leading the Primal Incarnate to destroy the barrier himself. Yet, in the end, Fyrakk failed to corrupt the World Tree and was killed by the tree's defenders, allowing Amirdrassil to complete its blooming, rendering the Druids of the Flame's efforts for naught.

Abilities and equipment

To the untrained eye, a flame druid's staff would be indistinguishable from any druid's staff.^[11] Their idols signify their tie to the element of fire,^[12] and they carry spellbooks which detail their strange spells.^[13]

Flame druids mostly use fire-oriented spells. Much like normal druids, they are capable of shapeshifting into animal forms, but their forms are always fiery versions of the animal in question.

Druid players can acquire customizations for several of their shapeshift forms to match the Druids of the Flame. Upon learning the form, it can be changed at the Barbershop:

- [Cat Form]: Learned at the same time as obtaining the transmogrification [Fandral's Flamescythe], which drops from Majordomo Staghelm in the Firelands. This customization is also temporarily available by using [Burning Seed] or [Fandral's Seed Pouch], but only Fandral's Flamescythe makes it permanent.
- [Bear Form]: Learned from the [Pollenfused Bristlebruin Fur Sample], looted in the Emerald Dream zone.
- [Moonkin Form]: Learned from [Feather of the Smoke Red Moon], which drops from Tindral Sageswift in Amirdrassil, the Dream's Hope.
- [Flight Form]: Learned at the same time as obtaining the mount Anu'relos, Flame's Guidance, which drops from Fyrakk the Blazing in Amirdrassil on Mythic difficulty.
- [Travel Form]: Learned from [Mark of the Smoldering Dreamstag], which drops from Talthonei Ashwhisper in the Emerald Dream zone.

Members

Notable

A druid of the flame in Hearthstone.

Name	Role	Status	Location
Fandral Staghelm	Archdruid of the Flame	Deceased	Various
Leyara	Lieutenant of Fandral	Deceased	Various
Ashendir Hartwood	Prophet of the Flame	Killable	Various
Norana Morninglight	Priestess of the Flame	Alive	Various
Tindral Sageswift	Seer of the Flame	Killable	Amirdrassil, the Dream's Hope
Prophet of the Flame	Prophet who appears in the Molten Front	Alive	Ashen Fields, Molten Front
Firodren Dawncaller	High ranking member	Alive	Unknown

Types

Please add any available information to this section.

Notes and trivia

They were considered heretics by the Shadow Wardens present in the Firelands. Some of them were captured at the Forlorn Spire to be questioned and then eliminated.^[15]
Players may change into a Druid of the Flame with [Leyara's Locket].
Ebon Knight Frostreavers can have the same skin texture as the Druids of the Flame.
The Druid of the Flame is a common druid minion in the Blackrock Mountain adventure for Hearthstone. When played, it can shapeshift into either a fire cat with aggressive stats or a fire hawk with defensive stats. When its effects are combined, it transforms into a fire version of a wyvern with combined stats instead.
In Heroes of the Storm, Malfurion has a skin called "Druid of the Flame Malfurion", depicting an alternate reality in which it was he and not Fandral who became the Majordomo of the Firelands. This version of the character also appears as an alternate druid hero in Hearthstone, rewarded from the 2021 Fire Festival event.

Speculation

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

Since Leyara was inducted into the organization due to being highly disillusioned with Malfurion's passive stance in regards to the Horde, it is possible that other members of the Druids of the Flame joined for similar reasons. It is also possible the Druids of the Flame are holdout loyalists of Fandral Staghelm after the events of Stormrage, and that their emergence is an escalation of the schism that existed between Tyrande and Fandral during Malfurion's absence.