<div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/archive/7/7d/20180307001217%21Ahum.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;">Ahum (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1515086)</span><br/><br/>Growing up, Ahum wanted for nothing. Born the eldest son of a wealthy merchant, he had very little in the way of hardships and was guaranteed a proper education thanks to his family's money. As soon as he was old enough, the boy was sent to an eduba where he learned to read and write. Despite the fact that he was often lavished with praise by the scholar priest that taught them, simply due to his father's<em>generosity</em>, Ahum's competitive nature had him working diligently to prove that he was better than the other kids, studying often even outside of the scribe school. Eventually, thanks to his own talent and diligence, and his father's frequent gifts to his teacher, Ahum was chosen to receive training for priesthood.<br/><br/>Naturally, Ahum accepted. He saw this as both another means of proving himself and as an opportunity to live a truly lavish life. Unfortunately, despite taking to his studies with his usual determination, the boy grew more and more restless as the years passed, the idea of being confined to temple grounds for the rest of his life somewhat troubling. In his free time, Ahum often pretended he was an adventurer, exploring the world and slaying monsters, sometimes with his friends and brother, other times by himself. The scholar priest eventually took notice of the boy's desire to adventure and offered him an alternative. Instead of priesthood, he could train to become an inquisitor, an agent of the gods, whose sole purpose was to root out heretics and destroy anything that was an affront to the gods. Naturally, Ahum accepted.<br/><br/>The more militant nature of his new position to be meant he had to go to the temple grounds for training, and had entirely new teachers. Fortunately, the lessons he had already received as a priest applied to being an Inquisitor, so he didn't have to start from square one. However, he found the training to be far more arduous than anything he experienced while learning to become a scribe or priest, his body not used to the more physical demands of his new training. Of course ever eager to prove himself, the boy pushed himself to his limits, determined to show that he didn't want to just finish his training, he wanted to excel. As the years went by, Ahum grew to be quite the fighter, able to practically do his training with his eyes closed. This of course led to him growing restless again, knowing he still had a few years left before he could become a full fledged inquisitor and he doubted he'd be challenged anymore in that time.<br/><br/>Ahum decided that he'd seek out his own means of proving that while he wasn't technically finished with his lessons, he was more than ready to become an inquisitor. He often heard about Goblins that would raid the villages outside of town and decided that taking out a Goblin nest would be more than enough to prove that he was ready. After gathering some information about where they were coming from, Ahum<em>borrowed</em>some basic training weapons and managed to talk a friend and his brother into coming with him. The trio set off at night, not wanting to draw too much attention to what they were doing. It took them nearly an hour of travel to reach the cave where the Goblins were said to of been spotted. Ahum headed in, full of confidence with his little party in tow, knowing full well he'd be an inquisitor by tomorrow.<br/><br/>For a while, the boys worried that they were in the wrong place. They'd been walking for quite some time without seeing any signs that the cave was inhabited and the only sounds they heard were their own footsteps and the crackling of the torch that illuminated their path. Just as Ahum was about to give up, he heard footsteps behind them, followed by agonized screaming. Turning around, the boy's eyes widened in horror as he saw several Goblins on top of his friend, stabbing wildly at him, practically tearing the poor boy apart. Before Ahum could move to help him, another of the monsters jumped out of the shadows, slashing at his face. Ahum barely had time to react, the creature's dagger slashing his eye as he did his best to dodge the blow. Realizing that they were far too outnumbered by the Goblins, Ahum knew he had to get his brother out. After dealing with the little beast that had slashed his eye, he grabbed his brother's arm, quickly fleeing back the way they came, knowing full well his friend was already dead. Somehow, the two managed to get out without running into any more ambushes, their lungs burning and legs aching by the time they made it to the cave's entrance. Ahum knew he had to face the consequences of his actions and returned home, defeated.<br/><br/>Upon his return, Ahum first explained what had happened to his father, than the Priests of the temple. The blade that had been used against the boy was poisoned and while the Priests managed to flush out the toxins from his body, they could do nothing to save his eye, leaving him with another reminder of his failure. Having led his friend to his death, without any official support behind the adventure, Ahum was nearly banished from not only the temple, but the city as well. Fortunately, his father used his own charm and significant fortune to talk the Priests into allowing him to remain, albeit with significantly less freedom. He was left confined to the temple grounds and was to be closely watched for the remainder of his training. Despite his previous desire for exploring, Ahum was almost thankful for the new restrictions, realizing that even with all his bravado, he still had much to learn before he was ready.<br/>