Soren was born in the Eastern Threshold, where the hills and plains of the Scavenger Lands begin to give way to the forests of the deeper East. His parents were part of the Fish-Hawk tribe, one of several barbarian tribes living in the area.
Although the tribes all competed with each other for the region's plentiful, but not limitless, natural bounty, they very rarely engaged in open warfare. Long ago, the story goes, when the Ten Tribes first arrived in this land of lakes and valleys, they met the fractious gods of the region, all of whom wished to use the tribes as weapons against their rivals. As a result, the tribes fought many bloody battles over the many holy sites in the area. The wise shamans of the tribes saw that while much blood was spilt, the tribes themselves benefited little from this warfare. They gathered together, consulted with the gods, and decreed that forever more, the Ten Tribes would settle their differences through ceremonial combat between special champions. These contests would not be to the death; the champions were sacred, and killing one would be a terrible blasphemy.
Due to various signs and portents surrounding his birth, it was determined that Soren (who was at that time known by his child-name of "Soft Dove's Son") was destined to be one of these sacred warriors. Throughout his childhood, the quiet, thoughtful boy was trained by the shaman, the chief, and the current champion, so that he would be able to properly represent the tribe when he became a man.
When Soren went on his vision-quest to learn his adult name, he travelled far into the forest, until he came to a remote lake. Stopping to fill his waterskin, he saw an osprey dive down from the sky and snatch up a fish -- a most auspicious omen, for the fish-hawk was his tribe's totem. The fish which it had caught was a truly miraculous specimen, with bright golden scales. The bird carried the fish to its roost, but did not eat it. Instead, it regarded the beautiful fish, wounded but still alive and struggling, picked it back up, and released it into the lake. When Soren told this story to his shaman, she declared it an excellent vision, and named him "Merciful Osprey."
Soren Exalted as a Chosen of Venus just before the ceremony which was to make him into the tribal champion. The night before the ceremony was to take place, as he performed a purification ritual in the shallows of the same lake where he had discovered his name, he felt a curious change come over him, as though he were drifting away from the world while remaining perfectly still. Before he could begin to puzzle out the nature of this strange feeling, a beautiful foreign woman appeared before him. Clouding his mind with beguiling words and hot kisses, she spirited him off to her bower, where they remained for several dreamlike days and nights. During that time -- much of which was spent in the otherwordly beauty's bed -- he learned of his new destiny and obligations as one of the Chosen of Serenity.
Soren was at first reluctant to abandon his duties to his tribe, but when his new lover took him back to their village, everyone treated him as a stranger. Even his parents, and the girl who was to have been his wife, seemed to forget him the moment their eyes turned away. Reluctantly, Soren accepted that his destiny no longer lay in Creation, but Heaven.
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