This convinced her that Ashkaari would make a poor Qunari soldier, as they needed to be obedient to the spirit of an order as well as the letter. Without hesitation, he took two pieces of meat he had hidden in his pocket, placed them upon the plate, ate the two pieces while looking at Tama and ran off to play. On one occasion, after he'd eaten all the meat on his plate but left the vegetables untouched, his 'Tama' told him that he wouldn't be allowed to go and play until he ate two more things off his plate. But Ashkaari sometimes got into trouble himself. He was big and strong for his age and liked to act as a secondary caregiver for his fellow children, reporting to the tamassrans when someone wasn't feeling well or was about to cause trouble.
The Iron Bull was raised in the schools of Par Vollen by the tamassrans, though he was called Ashkaari, 'one who thinks', at the time.
