At the age of 10, his mother died. His father's whereabouts are unknown, or if his father is even still alive. Nevertheless, he was sent to Honorhall Orphanage in Riften. He came to despise, like the other orphans at the orphanage, the matron Grelod the Kind, who he said was everything but kind. He escaped the Orphanage and returned to his home where he performed the Black Sacrament. Unknowing of many of the things in the real world, he was eventually approached by someone who he immediately thought to be a Dark Brotherhood Assassin and asked them to kill Grelod. After the task was done, he thanked the "assassin" and pledged that one day he too would become an assassin so he could help other children like him.
