Oren

"*I know how it sounds. But he's my best friend. He wouldn't just lie to me like that, flower or not.*"
—Eliam
**Oren Lane** is apprenticed to a wizard in Westbridge.

## Personality

He has dedicated himself to being useful and good at his role as a wizard's apprentice. He collects rare books and artifacts in the hopes of presenting them as gifts to his master to make up for leaving him without notice.

He is unpracticed at social situations, having rarely left the tower except on errands. He means well, but can often come across as rude or curt without meaning to. He is extremely well read and skilled at doing research.

Before finding his blood lotus, he would have been described as obedient, patient, and reserved. He followed every instruction given to him by his Master and never questioned his decisions. After finding the seed he became obsessed and neurotic as his need for blood intensified. After the flower bloomed he calmed down and became less nervous, but was still awkward and often lacked empathy for other people while putting his own needs above theirs.

Oren successfully buried the flower in Thirshalon, as it requested, and freed himself of its curse. Now that he can care about things deeply and not prioritize his quest, he can focus on developing his relationships with his fellow Children and is much more concerned about his future.

As a result of growing up very poor, Oren hates highborn people who treat peasants badly or look down on them more than is appropriate. He considers himself a peasant, but also dislikes many aspects of peasant culture and recognizes the superiority of high society. His master taught him proper speech, etiquette, and other benefits of a wealthier life, and Oren definitely appreciates these things as much as anyone would. He has respect for rank and definitely sees the landed gentry and nobility as superior to the peasantry in many ways, but at the same time questions their right to rule and feels the plight of the workers after witnessing the way his hometown was run. He considers Eliam a generous, unprejudiced person due to his treatment of the other Children, all of whom Oren assumes are lower class like himself.

Despite being terrible at expressing himself verbally; Oren is able to clearly and politely explain things in letters.

## Appearance

He appears to be an ordinary commoner, with a slightly olive skin tone and dark wavy hair that's usually a bit messy. His eyes are blue, though the bright blue glow of his irises is still obvious when he uses his water powers. He is average height and weight, though he is still a little skinnier than he should be after months of not eating enough, and he is moderately attractive when he's groomed and dressed properly. His ears are pierced, and he used to wear a pair of simple gold studs with sapphires which dip down behind his earlobes, attached to the backing; but he hasn't worn any earrings since a little while after finding the seed.

While travel and insanity has made him a little unkempt and disheveled, he is slowly getting back to his usual appearance. After recovering from his Geas he has been tying his hair back into several intricate plaits which come together to form a short ponytail. He's a lot more concerned with his appearance than before, and he wants to get back into his own clothing and cut his hair.

As a result of Kunalchusi's Geas, Oren was mostly apathetic to his appearance for almost six months. While he did keep himself clean, he let his hair grow longer and twisted and braided it into small clumps in order to keep it from forming large tangles. He only ate enough to survive and after being starved by the police in Thirshalon he lost some weight, but always kept himself healthy enough to continue his journey. The outfit he left home in was normal for a traveler, but some of his clothing was noticeably embroidered and made of finer materials, and his boots and cloak were well-crafted, the latter held closed with a subtly decorative broach that was likely expensive.

During his time in Thirshalon Oren underwent several changes to his wardrobe, after robbing the motel outside Asle Lenor and the clothing store in Ariglodo, he and the rest of the party acquired warmer clothing for their journey into The Foothills. He wore a warm coat and fine wool clothing, stolen from travelers who died at Judgment. Upon returning to Iquai, he immediately changed into lighter clothing, exchanging the coat for his old blue cloak.

## History

*For a more detailed history, read Oren's Backstory*

Oren was born in a small mining town in the mountains, east of Hell's Mouth. His mother died when he was born. When he was five, his father died, and he and his older sister were placed in the care of his uncle. After two years he was sold to a wizard named Adani Pender for one hundred gold, and has not seen any of his family since. The wizard claimed Oren would be his apprentice, and taught him to read. He has led a mostly peaceful life learning from the books found in the wizard's tower.

He claims to have made a living in his village by being a doctor, accepting money, food, and goods in payment for his services. He remained in the tower until he decided to to travel to Thirshalon.

## Skills

### Combat

Oren carries a light mace, but he isn't sure what it is and rarely tries to use it in combat. Instead he relies on shadow magic. At Fallowfield, he discovered a book on the hidden Blood Arcana. Using this book, he began to study and master blood magic. He is able to use his blood to supplement his spells and can boil people's blood in their veins, causing a massive amount of pain and damage. He used this spell to incapacitate several of the False Children and kill Florence. He can also pull the blood out of a person's veins and cause massive hemorrhaging.

### Arcane Device

Until the events at the Thirshalon Wellspring he channeled his spells using a satchel containing a dried blood lotus. The lotus once compelled him to go on a quest, though it then became dormant. He was still driven to complete the task the lotus set out for him, and did so, losing the lotus as it became Kunalchusi. Afterwards he gathered a new lotus from the pool beside the wellspring. This dried ordinary blood lotus is wrapped in a cloth, and hidden in his pocket.

### Elemental Abilities

He is one of The Children of Destiny, specializing in water. He has shown remarkable skill with his element, and is able to divert an entire river. In the past, he has claimed that being surrounded and in tune with his element has helped him feel less impatient and more focused. Meditating this way helped him achieve greater control over the river for a while, though overusing this power caused him to pass out and he suffered serious fatigue for several days.

So far, his powers have manifested in the following ways:

* He can summon water from nothing, and use it to hamper enemy movement
* He can freeze liquid into ice, including human blood, severely damaging the person
* He can collect water from thin air, pulling moisture from the air and plants around him
* Fill a tub with water drawn from the surrounding air
* Purify water, filling it with aether
* Divert a river and control it, causing the water level to rise substantially
* Freeze the surface of water to create large icebergs
* Prevent a torrent of water from striking himself or his friends, pushing it to the sides and leaving them dry
* Cause large shards of ice to form out of a water source, stabbing enemies
* Pour water down a person's throat, into their lungs
* Summon a whirlpool of water to disrupt enemies
* Launch enemies backwards with a burst of water
* Create a bridge of ice
* Lift water from a river to form a small rain-shower to put out flames

With the assistance of Eliam and Elise, Oren was able to move a huge amount of water out of The Sages' River and douse the flames consuming Tezef, as if a massive rainstorm had washed over the city.

### Non-Combat Skills

Oren is a skilled doctor and can provide first aid to the injured and medicine to the sick. These abilities are not always useful in a world of magical healing, but despite this he has saved several lives and isn't reliant on aether or the wellsprings' existence to heal. In addition to his medical expertise he also has a great deal of knowledge about magic and arcane lore. He has read many tomes and can easily recall information regarding most topics, but arcana is his specialty.

As a wizard's apprentice he was often tasked with transcribing old rare tomes and copying their contents onto new parchment, and learned to create illuminated manuscripts of popular religious books to be sold at high prices.

His master often dealt in the apothecary trade and would allow Oren to help him in preparing reagents for spells, potions, and medicines. He cannot make many potions from memory but with a recipe he is able to make basic ones, though his master didn't allow him to do this alone as it can be dangerous to get them wrong. Mostly he prepared medicinal teas and ointments. He also understands the basics of brewing, though he would need a recipe to complete this as well.

Oren can ride a horse, swim, and hide. These skills were useless to him during his stay at the tower outside of Westbridge, but some of them have come up in his journeys.

## Goals

* Wants to be a 'middle-class' doctor in a quiet place, ideally, but living with or near his friends is more important to him than any other goal
* Oren desperately wants to right the wrongs he has caused during his time under Kunalchui's control, namely stopping the demon and saving Iquai
* Stop the Elyde and install a new government which will let people be happy and safe, without laws that persecute the poor and lead to situations like what he experienced as a child
* Make amends with the people he feels he wronged in Westbridge
* Reunite with his master, gifting him some rare items he acquired throughout his journey
* Help Eliam be happy
* Has never seen the seaside, and wants to go there
* Thinks Minerva is attractive and wants to be with her, despite her treatment of him
* Find out how his sister is faring and possibly see her again
* Help Elise with her problems, despite her treatment of him

## Notes

* Oren is right handed
* He has pierced ears, but hasn't worn any earrings since leaving home
* His birthday is unknown to him, he guesses his age as "22 or 23"
* He is a fan of toast and wine, but doesn't care for ale
* Considers himself a member of The Lyriad, and thinks it's a good idea to join a cult at least once
* Spoke with a 'mountain' accent, similar to the one Dwarves have, when he was a child. His master taught him to speak properly, but his natural accent comes out slightly when he's drunk or angry
* Has almost no experience of music; except Votig's driving songs, Minerva's humming, and Eliam's serenades and lute practice. He thinks they're all amazing
* He doesn't know where he was born, exactly, except that it was warm and never snowed.
* Claims to have met an elf in the past
* Oren considers Eliam his best friend, though he feels guilty for putting one friend above the rest

## See Also

* Oren's Backstory
* Intermission: Oren
* Oren's Family
* Blood Lotus
* Fystone
* Westbridge
* Adani Pender