House Ashwood

House Ashwood is a noble house located in Lorithia with its main seat being the Town of Firelink in the Gods Walk Coast.
== History ==
=== Humble Beginnings ===
House Ashwood was founded by Roderick Ashwood at the tender age of fourteen, though it was four years earlier that made him the man who he became. Orphaned at a young age, he grew up alone in the Town of Firelink during the time known as the Era of Healing. Roderick had a habit of riding and taming horses, even from such a young age, becoming adept by the time of his great discovery of the Ashen Warhorse, a special breed of horse found in the plains beyond the Town and so Roderick began to corral them and became their sole owner at the age of ten. The horses were attributed to the large amounts of Ash that seeped into the ground from the previous incarnation of the Town, being Firelink Shrine and the unkindled that died there and leaving them with an Ashen coloured coat.
The Ashen One, now King of Lorithia, had his attention brought to Roderick, as he heard of the sheer amount of horses he was breeding, noting their special quality. So the Ashen One approached Roderick, asking him if he would begin breeding them for a standing army cavalry unit, offering him a Lordship and generous pay for his work, but Roderick at first refused as he did not wish his beloved horses to be put in extreme danger. Roderick however realised that these horses had a certain quality to them, making them stronger and tougher than the rest, also realising that the cost to keep the horses could be too much for him to maintain and so he accepted the Ashen One's generous gift, becoming a Lord at the age of fourteen and founding House Ashwood in the process.
=== The Ashwood House ===
Roderick eventually met the woman who was to be his wife, Charlotte at the age of twenty one and then started to consider the construction of a main house for them to live, as he had been living humbly in his stables for several years by that point and as such, the Ashwood House was constructed near the stables on the southern edge of the Town. Several years after, the pair had their first and currently only child, Vincent Ashwood, being named heir in the case that Roderick would die and so that the breeding of the Ashen Warhorse could continue. Over the years the amount of horses that were bred by Roderick became innumerable, all with the same quality that their line started with and soon began to be sought after by people across the whole continent, even reaching the shores of Dwyrain. None were bigger purchases of them than that of Catarina, famed for the Sieg Knights but also their cavalry and these horses provided the perfect tool for a well constructed cavalry unit.
Roderick also participated in the Era of Healing and also sat on the council of the Ashen One, participating in a series of policies that would help govern Lorithia but also the Town of Firelink as that was now his main priority, aside from the breeding of his prized horses. The Town universally accepted Roderick as their Lord and his house as the governing party, liking the Lord almost as soon as he was placed in charge. He also organised the construction of many houses to accommodate for the rising population of the Town as well as the construction and advertisement of the famous Firelink Market, which many would eventually travel to come to trade at, coming from all over the world. House Ashwood soon became a famous name across the continent and one of Lorithia's most respected Lords, from the humble beginnings that he came from.
=== Ashwood Cavalry Unit ===
The Ashen One, impressed with the journey that House Ashwood had been on, decided to ask Roderick if he would begin constructing his own Cavalry unit, that he would train and lead himself. Roderick believed that this task was beyond him, but the Ashen One knew that Roderick was more than capable, knowing that he had the physical capabilities as he had already shown his fighting prowess when it came to killing the remnants of the hollowed undead. As such, Roderick accepted this generous offer and began to train his own cavalry unit, naming them simply, as the Ashwood Cavalry Unit.
The Ashen Warhorse were, as mentioned before, a very special breed of horse. Tougher and faster than any horse on the planet, with a coat as white as snow and distinguishable from every horse and also somewhat immortal in terms of age, attributed to the special properties of the unkindled ash on their coat. The riders would often specialise in traditional polearms, mainly using Glaives, Lances and Pikes to enhance their charging capability. The steel used to create their light armour and weaponry would be that of the special Catarinian Bulwark Steel, which gave it their special white colour, perfect for an armoured cavalry unit that would not impede their manoeuvrability or their speed. 
=== House Ashwood Fights ===
After a long period of peace during the Age of Dark, a double attack in the nation of Mirrah took place, in the form of an assassination attempt on the Empress Muriel and her children and an attack on a small town in Western Mirrah by the forces of Morion, once known as Londor, who at one time, had controlled most of the continent of Dwyrain, subjugating them under Londorian rule. After the flame faded, the Ashen One issued a decree that the world needed to heal and as such ordered the destruction of all of the hollowed undead that had been causing so much chaos. When the news arrived in Mirmark, capital of Mirrah, but at the time known as Morion (the city name, not the current nation), the people began to rise up against their subjugators, led by Muriel who in turn became their empress.
Following the assassination attempt, the Ashen One decided to pledge his support to Empress Muriel and Mirrah as a whole and travelled to the nation, becoming the first Western King to do such an act. Roderick Ashwood accompanied the Ashen One on his voyage, as by this point he was great friends with the King and brought along over 500 Ashwood Cavalry horses to contribute to the war effort. There the Ashen One formed the Aegis of the Embered, a global pact with many nations involved to combat the forces of Morion. Lord Roderick was named as one of the founding members, as were the Rhosyn Lords, who were also from Lorithia and one of their first Lords, even predating House Ashwood.