Soren/Lore

Soren is one of two main defenders of the Uru Clan within the Ashen Wastes. He is a young Mauler and a strong-willed fighter. He is a bearfolk, though with significantly less fur than normal.
==Profile==
===Early Life===
Soren was born into the Grimmaw Clan as the leader's, Orson's, son. However, he was considered a runt and was abandoned in the desert as an infant. He was taken into the Uru Clan and raised as a brother to Alsa by their father figure, who they refer to as Pops. As Pops grew older, the siblings promised to bring glory back to the small Uru Clan, as it is considered the weakest of those within the Ashen Wastes.
===Current Life===
Soren is the protector of the Uru Clan, alongside his adoptive sister Alsa. He is the main caretaker of the young inhabitants of their settlement and often hunts and cooks for all of them.
==Story Quest==
===An Imposter?===
During the events of the quest "Into Dusk's Embrace", he meets Magister Merlin after being introduced through Alsa, leading Merlin to the Uru Clan's settlement. After resolving his initial hostility, the siblings allow Merlin into the settlement through Alsa's encouragement. The Magister learns of their desire to prove their clan's strength through participation in the Warsong Festival, which takes place every ten years, and joins them on their journey while simultaneously investigating rumors of an imposter Merlin.
===The Festival Begins===
Soren and Alsa, with the Magister's assistance, begin and complete the three trials required in order to compete in the Warsong Festival. During the first trial, the Trial of Blood, they are tasked to find the Sand Spider Nest and bring back a spider egg to immortalize their victory at the Sunseek Arena. During this trial, the party comes across Satrana, who gives Soren a reading: "On the high peak where eagles soar...sleeps the eternal will...the summit is drenched in blood...the stranger hides in darkness...the bond of siblings...life and death, honor and strength are revealed in the thunder..."
===Warrior's Resolve===
After completing the Trial of Blood, the party head back to the Uru settlement to rest and encounter Grimmaw soldiers at the clan. The soldiers intend to bring Soren back to the Grimmaw Clan, which results in a fight between them and the party. During this fight, Brutus the Blood Claw appears, resolving the physical conflict. He also reveals that he will be the target of the siblings' next trial, the Trial of Souls, in which they will have to fight him. Due to Brutus' reputation as a legendary fighter, this revelation causes a conflict between Soren and Alsa. Soren is set on facing Brutus no matter what, but Alsa argues that they could be terribly injured and harm their ability to protect their already weak clan. Soren threatens that he'll be going to fight Brutus either way.
The next morning, Soren heads out to Heros' Rest with Merlin, Alsa being notably absent. Soren takes on Brutus by himself and he puts up a good fight, but is defeated. Just before his loss is officially announced, Alsa arrives and requests that they be given a second chance due to her absence. Brutus allows it, and ultimately submits to the pair, congratulating their strength and drive.
===Blood Ties===
After completing the Trial of Souls, Soren, Alsa, and Merlin head to the back entrance of the Sunseek Arena in order to get to the Warsong Camp for the third trial. However, without the proper documentation, the party need to take a different route which goes through the territory of the Grimmaw Clan. Almost immediately, they run into trouble with Grimmaw guards and are forcibly taken to the clan's camp. To the party's surprise, they're met with a warm welcome. Orson admonishes the guards' behavior and assures Soren that he's always welcome in the Grimmaw Clan. When Orson offers Soren an invitation back into the clan, the young Mauler turns it down promptly. Enraged, Orson fights the party, resulting in the clan leader being injured and the party fleeing the camp. In their escape, they run into Kruger, who allows them to pass after defeating him in battle. Finally, the party makes it to the Warsong Camp. They're pulled into a side quest and meet [[Smokey & Meerky
|Smokey]], who they fight before he escapes.
===The Final Trial===
They then begin the third trial, the Trial of Wisdom. With the company of Seth, they make their way to the Sandswirl Field, where they're promptly abandoned by Seth, who refuses to help the party despite their common goal of solving puzzles. After multiple rounds of puzzles, they speak to the Wisdom Keeper. Seth attempts to take on a giant spider by himself, quickly begins to lose, and is assisted by the party. When the party make it through the final gate, Seth leaves the party, saying that the victors of the fight deserve the spoils. The party collect their prize, the Huntsman's Necklace, as proof of their victory and then head back to the Warsong Camp.
Soren is approached by a Mauler child, who claims to be abandoned and asks to join the Uru Clan. Alsa excitedly accepts and embraces the child, who then stabs her with a poisoned dagger, who said that he was forced to for his sister by a foreign merchant. After enlisting Smokey's help and getting a permit of passage from Mikola, Soren and Merlin manage to bring Alsa back to health.
===Legend of Mars Peak===
In the preliminary battles within the Sunseek Arena, Soren and Alsa face off against Lumont and Shakir in separate battles before watching Brutus fight Orson, and then watching Merlin fight the imposter Merlin. For the final match, the party, alongside Brutus and Kruger, begin the climb up to Mars Peak. On the way up, they're all confronted by Orson, who's been corrupted by the Hypogean Berial's power. He injures Brutus severely before kidnapping Soren, and Alsachases after them.
At the summit of Mars Peak, Alsa is defeated by Orson and wounded by the sword upon the altar. This enrages Soren, who manages to break free of Orson's hold, allowing him to join the fight against the corrupted chief. Berial steps in and reinvigorates Orson before the chief is defeated once again, releasing him from the Hypogean's power but rendering him too wounded to recover.
===Desert Champions===
The party head back down to the Warsong Camp, and Brutus withdraws from the final match, giving the victory of the Warsong Festival to Soren, Alsa, and the Uru Clan. With the honor of their success, the siblings head back to the Uru settlement with Merlin. Once back home, Soren and Alsa head to their Pops' grave with Merlin, having finally fulfilled their promise to their late adoptive father.
====Treasure Hunt Trip====
After returning to the main camp, things quickly take a turn as one of the children of the Uru Camp tell Soren, Alsa, and Merlin that some of the other kids left the settlement to look for treasure and haven't returned yet. Leaving Alsa to tend to the settlement, Soren and Merlin head out to the Eroded Enclave in order to search for any leads or tracks as to where the children currently are, and they find caravan tracks along the road. After speaking to a stranded Lightbearer merchant along the side of the road, they're directed towards the town of Alkali. Along the way at a Wayrest, the duo are jumped by members of the Quicksand Claws, a bandit group that's been stirring up trouble in the area.
Leaving the Wayrest, the duo continue towards Alkali, confirming their trajectory via more tracks that Soren finds along the path. They investigate a few broken and abandoned caravans along the way, searching for clues as to the Uru childrens' destination. Eventually, they come across Atalanta fighting against a few Quicksand Claws herself. She's currently searching for the same rumored treasure. She helps the party find internal correspondence from the Quicksand Claws that mention the Clawcave, which they assume is where the children are being held. After investigating the cave, they find captives, but none of the Uru children.
After escorting the captives back to safety, Soren speaks to one of the stranded Uru kids, Simba, and makes him promise to remain there until Soren returns with the rest of the children.
===Alkali Mystery===
Heading to Alkali with Atalanta, the party check the notice board for information before running into some bounty hunters that attempt to pressure the party for gold in exchange for information. After fighting them off and helping a stall owner, she answers a few questions before they go back to the notice board, where Soren posts a self-drawn portrait of the missing children. They find a missing necklace notice from Satrana, who they find speaking to Walker beside a pond, who is also interested in returning the necklace in exchange for a divination from her.
After searching around the town for the necklace, they find that a merchant, Odie, matches her description, and finds her necklace amongst his wares. They fight him, chase after him, and then fight him once more alongside walker before Odiemanages to flee after tossing the necklace back to them. As Soren and Walker catch the thrown necklace, they take it back to Satrana together for her to decide who gets the divination. It turns out, however, that they're looking for practically the same information, and thus decide to team up after hearing her divination.
===Chase the Claws===
Utilizing the information from the divination, Soren, Merlin, Walker, and Satrana all head towards the Quicksand Claws' location. They find another camp with bounty hunter captives and free them, one of which who knows Walker. The party then head to another Wayrest, where they speak to an informant from the Quicksand Claws. After finding a few more broken down caravans, they find another group of Quicksand Claws and quickly defeat them.
==Personality==
Soren is a stubborn young Mauler with a strong will and equally strong combat skills. He speaks very little unless talking about fighting and he takes the safety of those he cares about more seriously than anything else.
==Voice-Overs==
==Affinity Tales==
==Character Mentions==
"When Alsa was young, she was extremely shy, curling into a tight ball at the slightest interaction. However, after meeting Soren, she became much more outgoing." - Alsa's second Affinity Tale.
==Navigation==