Ferhem was born in the 13th of Mittern of 965 to Jeanna and Kassadin of Bluevale Valley. His mother passed away giving birth, and was followed shortly by her husband, who, not being able to bear the pain of her absence, hung himself. Passed from family to family like the black plague, Ferhem grew up amidst the distrust and fear of the other kids, who had been told by their parents and friends not to tempt fate by playing with the cursed child who caused his parents' death. Bereft of friendship and human touch, he turns his attention to the local animals. He starts catching the numerous rats that creep the village. The poor critters would screech and frantically scratch their enclosures, begging with almost human-like expressions to be let out. Ferhem usually tries to reassure them but just as the villagers, the rats show an irrational fear of him. After a few weeks of this, however, he starts getting annoyed at his inability to quieten the rats. He starts poking at them with objects, at first blunt wooden sticks and then later moves on to daggers. Rather than wanting to calm them down, now he wants to see how scared he can make them. The first time his knife breaks a rat's skin is actually an accident due to playing too rough. But at that moment he feels a pleasure like he has never felt before. He grabs his knife more firmly and plunges it in straight into the defenseless creature's spine. The pleasing sensation comes back again, stronger now. The poor little boy, without friends or family, feared by everyone and by everything, discovers that which makes him happy. For the next several years, Ferhem terrorizes the villagers' pets, and goes from smaller to bigger progressively. From rats he moves on to cats, then to dogs. For five years the villagers think they are cursed. Five longs years which come to an end that fated night of Plenth. He had been savoring his latest capture, the baker's tubby cat. Just as his dagger was scrapping the heart of the nearly dead creature, he suddenly felt that someone was watching him. Realizing he had left the door of the house open, he quickly turns his back and sees a little girl, no older than 5, watching him with shocked, uncomprehending eyes. For a moment Ferhem hesitates, but then hurriedly catches the girl and what he does next I leave to the horrified imagination of the reader, for I find myself unable to recount those events of Ferhem's life without my hand trembling and sad tears flowing from my eyes for the poor girl's fate. Despite the newly found ecstatic experience, he knows he isn't going to be able to hide this, and deciding it was as good a time to get out as any, packed up and quietly left the village. Not familiar with the local area, and with provisions running low, he survives by eating anything he can find, grass, roots, dirt and whatever else fills his stomach. He eventually arrives at the village of Yorin, where by a twist of fate Imperial soldiers are recruiting men for the Red River War. Ferhem sees in this a great opportunity to be able to practice his passion without worrying about the consequences. For the next six months he gets better and better at the art of killing others. Fascinated with the vast complexity of the human body, he finds new and interesting ways to cut down his opponents. He also picks up the custom of collecting the index fingers of his enemies, skinning, cleaning them and turning the particularly well cut ones into a necklace. He also manages to pick up a leather mask that has been broken in half. Liking what it says about himself, Ferhem now wears it constantly, which makes his fellow soldiers uneasy. One day, after a particularly vicious battle, Ferhem is alone, sawing off the hand of a corpse, when suddenly from its splattered entrails forms a black cloud of fleas, which grows in size until it takes the shape of a fiendish creature. More curious than scared, Ferhem listens to the creature speak to him in a tongue that he hasn't learned, but that he suddenly understands perfectly. The creature expresses its admiration of Ferhem's bloodthirsty and evil intent, which he admits is rare to see among his race. Because of the potential the fiend sees in him, he makes a proposition. If he, Ferhem, would give up the warrior's life and become his apprentice, the fiend would in turn become his patron and initiate him in the ways of the warlock. He would teach him new and devious ways of torturing and hurting others. In fact, he would teach him magical spells with which to further explore his passion. In exchange, Ferhem would have to be ready to perform a few tasks here and there for him, to be determined in the future. Ferhem, impressed by the fiend's offer, accepts. To seal it, the fiend sears his mark into Ferhem's face in the form of a capital F, which is the first letter of the fiend's name. For the first task, he will travel to Valmar, where he will offer himself up as a volunteer to colonize the island Maladon. Once there, he will receive further instructions on how to get started following his new path. As a parting gift, the fiend gives Ferhem a focusing crystal, which he says he will need in the future. --- This was a brief introduction to the life of Ferhem, who later went on to be an essential part of Maladon's history. If you want to know more, buy the full book at your favorite book store. Remember, "If it doesn't have the Puzzlewell seal, it's not the genuine product!"
