Obtainer of Rare Antiquities
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Though Ren Sogan sports all of the distinctive features of the Duros genetic makeup, there's one aspect that any observer could use to distinguish him from the Duros stereotypes of sternness and taciturnity: a smile. Indeed, despite the trials and tribulations of his archaeological adventures there always seems to be a levity to his stance, a sense of relaxed fulfillment that radiates through his features. Above all, Ren enjoys his work, and it shows in every part of his physical presentation. His gloved hands cover hard-earned callouses. His happabore leather jacket, usually draped over a light brown tunic, and thick nerf leather pants conceal scars and bruises, along with the one draped across his left eye —monuments to the dedication he harbors toward his craft. His toolbelt, filled with scanners, medical utilities, and (of course) his trusted yellow lightsaber, shows a readiness at any point to step back into the action as needed. Such features often give him a disheveled look that many find unbefitting of a Jedi, but Ren couldn't care less; his dedication to the ideals of the New Jedi Order and to that of scientific discovery is easily seen from his appearance, and where it isn't, he prefers to let actions speak louder than words.
INVENTORY
Standard Yellow Lightsaber: Ren carries a yellow lightsaber that he constructed himself. While the design is unique, it has the standard advantages and weaknesses of the typical lightsaber.
Tool Belt: The Jedi carries a tool belt filled with miscellaneous general utilities. This typically includes medkits, datapads, scientific scanners of various kinds, and a grappling hook.
PERSONALITY AND BELIEFS
In the field, Ren is sometimes described as behaving like a "giddy schoolboy." He conducts his archaeological analyses with a childlike fascination, a joyous search for the unknown. Despite the perils of his profession, there's nothing else he would rather be doing. As such, he conducts most of his time with levity, attempting to smooth the roughness of his travels with light-hearted humor.
The flipside to this, of course, is that he's easily prone to boredom in a cloistered, contemplative setting - a setting most Jedi know quite well. He has struggled throughout his time in the Order to find a balance between the pacifist lifestyle of the Jedi and the adventurous instincts that drive him toward danger and discovery. This lack of balance is the main point that the Jedi Masters continually criticize him for. A Jedi does not crave adventure. While they have tolerated such urges, both due to the good his expeditions do and to the apparent impossibility of removing them entirely, he has butted heads with many on this conflict, including his own Master.
This lighthearted fascination toward discovery subsides entirely, however, when danger arises. At such points, he lets his instincts - and the Force - guide him, setting a single-minded focus on survival where it would otherwise be entirely directed toward his research. This switch in demeanor has allowed him to survive countless encounters where others would surely lose their lives.
STRENGTHS
Quick-Witted: One thing, above all, is certainly true of Ren Sogan: he's quick on his feet. Through a combination of luck, experience, natural brains, and the Force, Sogan has managed time and time again to beat the clock and formulate solutions to life-or-death problems.
Historical Expertise: Sogan has had 18 years of intensive training, both on-the-field and off-the-field, in the history of the galaxy. Though his expertise is in early galactic civilizations, he has a solid working knowledge and understanding of most historical periods- though ironically, he has little interest (as of yet) in unraveling the messy, bloody politics of the last 100 years or so.
Survival Skills: Years of on-the-ground archaeological experience has honed Sogan's survival instincts. From jungles to deserts to anything in between, you name it, Ren probably has some experience navigating it.
Durability: Ren has a surprising amount of endurance and can withstand a considerable amount of pain and bodily damage. While partially assisted through techniques in the Force, this fortitude primarily springs from a primal drive to keep going, to finish the job...as well as a considerable amount of experience taking a beating.
WEAKNESSES
Poor Dueling Skills: Though he's been trained in the basics of lightsaber combat - and often finds use for such training, due to the dangers of the worlds he visits - he has spent little time dueling others. Indeed, most of the time, Ren finds more use for his saber as a machete or light source than anything else. Put him up against a skilled lightsaber combatant, and his luck is sure to run out.
Impulsivity: A Jedi requires extensive training to control and stabilize their emotions. Unfortunately, much of this training has failed to stick, and Sogan's impulsive thinking remains one his greatest vulnerabilities. His inexhaustible curiosity gives him a one-track mind that often excludes important concerns from his thoughts, and his Jedi training frequently falls short in reigning in his need for adventure and discovery.
Politically Averse: As a Jedi, Ren is committed to the ideals of peace and recognizes his duty as a peacekeeper as equal in priority to his duty as a scientist. His consistency in this matter can be called into question, however. Sogan finds contemporary politics infuriating to navigate, filled with greed, corruption, and mind-numbingly large webs of influence. He prefers to keep his nose stuck in the dealings of history, where evil deeds are to be read about, not experienced. This, of course, means he has little to no experience in the finer points of policy and legislation. He leaves political dealings firmly in the hands of the Jedi Order's diplomats. However, he may soon discover one thing: he may not be interested in politics, but politics are sure interested in him.
Workaholic: If anyone could rightfully be described as "married to their work," it would be Ren Sogan. Sogan has allowed his commitments to the Order and the field of archaeology to tarnish most external relationships and undertakings he would otherwise have. He lives a very lonely life, and the worst part is, it's grown to not bother him much at all.
HISTORY
Ren Sogan was born to Murr and Nara Sogan, two traders originally stationed on the planet Duro. Ren's father, Murr, had a long history as a con artist and thief, a criminal background that necessitated frequent relocations from one part of Duro to the other. Having met Nara long after he had put that life behind him, he was still hunted by the law for crimes he had committed years before. The pair had determined to give their child a better life than the one they would all be forced to endure on their home planet. And so, the three of them moved to the colony of Sulon not long after Ren had been born.
Life on Sulon was quiet, an atmosphere fulfilling to the world-weary Murr and relaxed Nara but not to Ren. From an early age, he craved adventure, a life beyond the quaint dealings of his parents. Murr and Nara, however, were anxious to let such ambitions run free. This resulted, even from a very early age, in a kind of resentment and rebellion. From the age of 5, Ren had found the courage to leave home and run along the barely-paved roads connecting their house to a close town. At times, Ren had even found himself entering the town, his infant mind dazzled by the sights and sounds of civilization. This adventurousness inspired frequent anxiety and anger in his parents.
One day, however, Sogan's curiosity would get the better of him. Snooping in his father's bag of trade goods, he found what he would only know much later to be a Sith holocron. Through sheer brute force, he had found a way (due to his force-sensitivity) to open the device. Too young to understand the words the voice inside it attempted to imprint on him, he was lucky enough to be discovered by his parents before any serious harm could be done.
Knowing all too well the nature of the object, Ren's force-sensitivity had become clear, as did the realization that he was meant for more than what they could give him. Reluctantly, with a broken heart, they did what they had to do. At the age of 7, Ren Sogan was sent to the Silver Jedi.
Ren's initial years with the Jedi were in many ways horribly bitter, and in other ways wonderfully sweet. He held a deep longing for his loving parents, a trait common in Jedi not separated at birth. It took many months to stop mourning the loss of his home, and many years to fully internalize his duties as a Jedi. His instructors discouraged him from contact, something that left him bitter and cold toward many of the Jedi Masters. Still, though his old home was gone from him, a new one had been given to him, and over time he found great fulfillment in the opportunities the Order presented. His love for adventure was nurtured into a fascination with history and archaeology. He formed an insatiable hunger for knowledge of the past, and devoured any resources he could get on the goings-on of ancient civilizations. Sogan showed a precocious skill in historical analysis, but his main love - as always - were the adventures that historical research represented. He spent 13 years receiving formal training in archaeology, under the patient tutelage of one of the Order's top historians. When he grew old enough, the pair would go on frequent expeditions together, collecting relics for museums and the Order's collection. However, in all that time, his Master would find frequent fault in Ren's lust for adventure. A Jedi does not crave excitement or escapade. They seek the peace of knowledge and understanding. This difference worked to drive a wedge between the two. After Sogan's trials were completed, and he had begun to spend the great majority of his time out in the field, his Master's frustration with such antics drove the two to largely cease communications...something Ren would greatly regret upon the fall of the Silver Jedi Concord.
The loss of Ren's second home devastated him. Most of his Masters would each go their separate ways and pursue their own commitments without the unification of a single order. He lost contact with many he had grown up with, had learned from. Still, such a loss made him even more committed to his work, and eventually he found himself in the ranks of the Galactic Alliance's New Jedi Order. His experience and knowledge, he hoped, would serve the Order well, though he still harbored deep disagreements with the more contemplative aspects of the Jedi.
Devoted, as always, to the search for Truth and the Unknown, Sogan walked daringly into the future, his hunger for adventure calling him to the deepest parts of the galaxy. But the escapades that the Force had destined for him even he could not predict...
Last edited: