History
When the Winterhoof tribe of Stonetalon took in the straggling remnants of the Barrens-based Bloodwolf tribe after the latter were attacked and nearly decimated by centaurs, a young Caren was placed into the care of Nomri Winterhoof while her father recovered from his injuries. Years later found Thothan Bloodwolf and Nomri together as a mated pair and Caren helped welcome a half-sister, Alisa, into their new tribe.
After showing a skill with magic, Caren was taken under the wing of one of the two druids in the Winterhoof tribe. Despite this, she had always longed to follow in her father’s footsteps as a hunter and often accompanied him on hunts when she could. Her own mother had died when she was only a year old and her father had become her world after that. As she grew older, however, her training demanded more focus and she sadly had to abandon their outings. That death, however, and the dislike it spawned for the centaur over the years always colored her training and made it hard for Caren to control the form of the bear.
When her father died years later at the hands of a band of centaur who had invaded the edge of Stonetalon to attack their hunting party, she was torn between mourning and anger. Although the other members of his party had killed the centaurs, she still wanted vengeance of some kind now that they had also taken her father from her. For years his death haunted her and despite passing her Rites and serving as the third druid for the tribe, until the day an argument over how to honor him broke out between the her and her half-sister and a furious Caren ended up losing control, unleashing the bear briefly to attack Alisa. Despite not injuring her at all, Caren considered herself a risk to what was left of her family until she could control the fury in her heart. Thus, she gave up her place in the tribe despite serving as their third druid since passing her Rites and left.
Nearly three decades later, when word of Cairne Bloodhoof bringing the scattered shu’halo tribes together in Mulgore reaching her during an evening at the fire of the Skychaser tribe, she returned home. There she found her sister much older and more worn from her service as a Brave for the tribe for years, with a new child in her arms. When Caren learned that her sister’s mate had fallen in the taking of the lush Mulgore grasslands, she swore that she would be there for her sister as a support system. Caren held to this oath for many years despite the bitter relationship that had formed between her adoptive mother, Nomri, since she had left the tribe. It wasn’t until Alisa saw Caren’s eyes shift to the flat fury of the bear that she saw there was no way to peace between them. After her sister bullied her out into the open air, Caren stated that she had would not stay permanently where she was not wanted…but she would return. Family was important and she would not let Nomri’s bile keep her from her nephew.
Caren has wandered far in the intervening years and become quite the healer. There are some who speak of the day when she may cease her wandering and settle in Mulgore or Moonglade to teach the next generation of druids given her advancing age. For them, she only has an eerie feline gaze and a feral smile that is far too fanged for a shu’halo mouth.
Notable Connections
In her years of wandering, Caren has connected with many. Her years alone taught her that connection is perhaps the most important thing anyone has and she has been driven to connect with those she finds in the world who she feels are the most lost.
Of the people she has connected to, there are three that are the most notable: Kaalo Stormfist, Necronim, and Hresden Duskstrider.
Kaalo Stormfist
The first she met on the bluffs of Thunder Bluff, an older orc who she felt an instant closeness to even when sharing silence. After that initial encounter, they remained close and began learning each others languages and traditions, she learning of his shamanism and he of her druidism. He also refined her Orcish – as it was becoming the common tongue of the Horde – and she taught him Taur’ahe. At his insistence, he also began to teach her the human’s Common, telling her, “If you encounter them, I want you to be able to speak your peace.” Their relationship bloomed into something more than just friendship, each of them feeling like they were the other half of a whole. Although there was nothing innately sexual about the relationship – neither feeling like they required it – they did share clearly affectionate gestures. When he died during the end of the fighting against the Lich King’s forces, she lost a part of herself.
Later, when the Dark Portal was reopened to an alternative timeline, Caren met a younger version of an alternate Kaalo Stormfist. Though she was wounded by the sight of him and conflicted, she did eventually tell him of his counterpart…and what he had meant to her. Although alternate Kaalo did not feel the same, he said he did feel an odd connection to her and that the elements said he could trust her. They became somewhat close over the time they spent together, learning of each other again. After the portal was closed, they managed to occasionally keep in touch via letters that were all her friend Hresden could magically send. When the remnants of the Mag’har of that timeline fled from their world to hers, she frantically went searching for Kaalo and his daughter Kassa, hugging them both tightly when she found them. Since then, she and alternate Kaalo have become as close as original Kaalo – although that connection was nearly shattered when she encountered the spirit of her Kaalo in the Shadowlands. That meeting, however, finally allowed her to truly make peace with his loss.
Necronim
Two years after meeting Kaalo Stormfist, Caren was at Grom’gol Outpost, chasing rumors of something screaming in the night. Her search in her feline form led her to an undead man who was nearly non-verbal but obviously wanted to die as she watched him attempt to cut his heart out of his chest with a rusty knife. Not wanting to see anyone suffer, she roared to frighten him and then spent a great deal of time stalking around the area, keeping him from going after the knife again. When she finally got him to trust her, Caren revealed her true form and spoke to him in stilted Common, telling him that she wanted to help. She met Saran Tathdyl that day at his most broken and helped him rebuild who he was after the trauma of being a thrall of the Lich King.
Necronim, as he began to call himself, quickly became one of her closest friends and companions after that. While Caren says that he taught her as much as she has taught him, the rogue openly tells anyone that she saved him.
Hresden Duskstrider
Just a year or so after she pulled Necronim out of his self-inflicted hole, Caren received an opportunity to help another. While visiting Orgrimmar, she picked up the concerned sounding whickers and neighs of an undead horse and followed it. There, in a corner of the city, she found an elf cowering against the rock wall, arms curled around his head as he alternated between sobs and frantic gasps for air. Above him, an undead horse pranced worriedly and tossed its head, still making those concerned noises between nudging at him with a bony nose. Cautiously, Caren approached and cautiously cast a soothing magic over the both of them – uncertain whether it would work on the horse or not. As she crouched down next to the elf, she realized he was in what her people called a panic of the mind but the orcs dubbed a panic attack. Not wanting to frighten him, she merely spoke without touching him, assuring him that he was safe, that he was in Orgrimmar, and directed him to focus on the dry air of Durotar in his lungs, the sand under his hands, and the sun-warmed rock against his back. When he finally calmed and looked at her, he blinked before saying a quiet, “Thank you.” Casting healing magic over him, Caren settled onto the ground next to him and asked him his name before proceeding to talk about everything other than who he was or why he was there.
Like Necronim, Hresden quickly became one of her closest friends and companion. While the rogue says that she saved him, the mage calls her sister and claims her to be as much his family as his blood sibling.
