He first knew he wanted to be a priest of Asmodeus when he was 8 years old.

He didn’t remember much before then, every day at the orphanage was the same. You took food from other kids who were too weak or scared to stop you, or you stayed hungry. You did your best to not annoy the older kids who had to look after you, did your chores, stayed out of the way of the orphan handlers, and didn’t cry when you were beaten anyway. Every day was pretty much the same.

But the older kids got to go to the temple once a week, they got to wash with the hot water first thing, got out of the orphanage all morning, and didn't even have to catch up on chores when they were back. They were too young and too worthless for Asmodeus to pay them any attention. Which was fair enough. 

The year they all turned 8 years old it was their turn. The best-behaved kids, or the nicest looking, got to sit at the front. Some of them even got the special clothes the staff kept in locked closets, though they had to give them back afterwards. The stupid kids, the ugly kids, or the ones who'd lost fights and had too many bruises where people could see, had to sit on the ground at the back the whole time and couldn’t see anything. He was just about in the middle. Just able to see over the shoulders of everyone else.

That was the first time he saw a priest of Asmodeus in real life, and from then on that was the only thing he ever wanted to be.