Joachim Ashford de Rouen
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Baron Joachim Ashford de Rouen, commonly known as Joachim of Luciensburg is the only and illegitimate son of Antonio de Bar and an undisclosed mother. He was the first baron of Blackwald and the progenitor of House Ashford de Rouen.
Contents
The Vagrant Child of Arentania
An illegitimate son of the restored Ashford dynasty, Joachim Ashes was born on the 12th of the Grand Harvest, 1803, within the vast reaches of the Arentanian mountains to Antonio de Bar & an unknown lady of Waldenian origin. Joachim was raised solely by his father and spent his youth traveling through the vast Almarisian wilderness alongside his father and the Esheveurd warband. Joachim learned to traverse rigorous mountain ranges and woodlands under the tutelage of the Daelishmen that served under the employment of his father’s band. On his twelfth winter, Joachim and a party of twenty men were sent by his father to aid in the Sedan Rebellion under the command of Olivier Renault Ashford de Savoie, future Prince of Savoy. he’d spend the latter half of his childhood squiring under de Savoie as the rebellion came to a close.
Metinan Mercenary
The bastard remained to follow Olivier Renault along with his overlord, Ser Bernard de Salier, the lord of the city of Luciensburg, where he was stationed for the next few years of his life. Joachim furthered his military knowledge after enlisting in the Luciensburg city watch. A short time after enlisting, the Tenth Nordling War began, where Joachim served faithfully within the Metinan Company of mercenaries. It was during this service that he met lady Lillian Barbanov at Southbridge, and only 2 weeks after their introduction, proposed to and wed her. The newfound couple got along amicably and in 1819 had twin sons, Edmond and Robert. A third, Adrian, came a year later in 1820. Lilian Barbanov would face complications during the pregnancy which would result in her death following her son’s birth. In spite of his grief, Joachim's attention was swiftly diverted as the flames of war were ignited in the north, where a conflict with Norland escalated. Without much opportunity for lamentation, he was ushered north where he assumed leadership of a Savoyard warband into the rugged terrain of the Arentanian mountains.
The Gwynon Plot
Despite Joachims deep belief in canonism, he felt the war against Norland was failing, and the men of the Metinan Company and the Holy Orenian Empire needed an event to reinvigorate their soldiers to a last push for victory. Together with Olivier Renault, a plan was devised to place Griffith of Gwynon upon the Pontifical throne in replacement of the contemporary Pontiff Jude II. Joachim mired over the choice before him; he was to gather a small band of close affiliates and murder the head of the church for reason of deflecting blame unto the Norlandic heretics. Albeit, at the eleventh hour, Joachim decided to execute his plan alone, so as to not condemn any of his agents to mortal sin. The plot was carried out on a cool afternoon on the 17th of Sigismund’s End, 1820, within the Basilica of Providentia, when he entered the confession booth alongside the holy father only to exit alone with blood staining the knife stashed in his pockets.
The Pontiff’s death was not in vain. Following the successful exploit of the murder for the war gains, a great fury was ignited within the hearts of the Orenian and Lubourgeois people. The tide was shifted at the Skirmish of the Southern Highway and on the 4th of the Grand Harvest, the Norlandic forces were trapped and routed during the Battle of Outer Arentania in a decisive victory for the Imperial forces, bringing an end to the war.
Following the moving banner of Olivier Renault, Joachim traveled south to the Almarisian dunes in service to the Queen of Sutica, Johanna von Alstreim.
Upon their travels, Joachim was confronted by a clergyman in distress who had led his band of men to a small party of orcs. A small skirmish ensued that evening in which the orcs were slayed and a holy man by the name of Cardinal Pelagius was saved by the bastard of Luciensburg. For his exploits within the dunes and participating within the crusade against Norland, he would be legitimized [2] into his father’s family of Ashford de Bar.
A Lord of Rouen
After the sudden collapse of Luciensburg by a horde known as the Ratiki. Joachim would depart for Luciensburg under the command of Olivier Renault in the purpose of assisting and providing supplies from San Luciano to the refugees of Luciensburg. The Ashford found himself giving limited assistance as the people of Luciensburg were proud and had grown to resent Olivier Renault for his departure in their time of need. Undeterred, Joachim then set back onto the roads running errands for the young Savoie. Upon his travels he unexpectedly found himself in the company of his ailing father. The Old de Bar on his deathbed bestowed upon his son all of his treasures and a small, dilapidated fort situated east of Luciensburg. The former bastard of Luciensburg, made a home of this ruined fort, selling all the riches of his father to build up the castle into something he deemed worthy. Once the renovations of the estate had been completed, Joachim had sent for his children to join him in their new home. Alongside the completion of the estate, Joachim, unaware of the history of his father’s house decided to adopt a new styling for his lineage known as Ashford of Rouen, after the fort that had been bestowed upon him by his late father.
The land Joachim had recently come to possess was destitute and plagued by hardship. To support the maintenance of his newly renovated estate, he opted to selling his sword to noblemen scattered across the realm. Often, the Baron of Blackwald found himself abroad in the distant shores of Aeldin, where he acquired a disdainful reputation for his shrewd and ruthless behavior. Upon returning to his homeland, Joachim was afflicted by an unyielding illness that confined him to his bed for weeks. Many of his knights speculated that this unforeseen malady served as GOD’s punishment for his continuous plundering of Aeldin’s seaports, though Joachim held the belief that it was, at last, his atonement for the killing within the church all those years ago. Baron Joachim Ashford de Rouen died on 31st of Sigismund End, 1835.
Issue
| Name | Birth | Death | Marriage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmond Leonard | 1819 | 1914 | Régina Élisabette | Firstborn child of Joachim and elder twin to Robert Guy |
| Robert Guy | 1819 | 1900 | Lucrecia of Wett | Secondbord child of Joachim and younger twin to Edmond Leonard |
| Adrian Tobias | 1820 | 1822 | Unwed | Thirdborn child of Joachim |
