Ambrose Blackwood

Ambrose Blackwood is the second trueborn son of Dorian Blackwood and Alyssane Blackwood. Lord of Raventree Hall, Ambrose sits as one of the most powerful and respected lords in the Riverlands, although it was never his place to be so by birth.

Appearance and Character
Ambrose is 5'10", and is considered conventionally attractive. His hair and eyes dark, there is a mysterious aura about him.  With a beard outlining his jaw, he looks every inch a lord.

Ambrose is intelligent and diligent to the core. Since his youth he was always taken with reading. When he was brought to the Crossing he learned the value of work, and how through it he could command the respect of others, and bring forward himself to the world.

To call Ambrose a good person would be a misnomer; he is moral, but it isn't because he feels an inclination to do good, but rather sees the consequences of doing evil and would prefer to avoid them if possible. He is cautious, sometimes to an excessive amount, but his wife Visaera softens this side of him with her own decisiveness.

Early Life
Ambrose was born in 392 AC to Dorian and Alysanne Blackwood. He was sickly as an infant and required near constant attention as he battled illness. Since he was unable to enjoy the games and other activities of the other children, he instead learned from the Maesters who attended him and ensured he was still breathing.

He always enjoyed the history of magic- while he didn't believe he truly possessed the gift, as his father did, he dreamed that one day he too would hear the voices of the Ravens. He scoured the histories and learned of every witch or wizard that had entered into its pages. Some days he would even get the chance to speak with his father- he enjoyed those days best, for he could learn firsthand of what he knew.

At the age of ten, he was finally strong enough to live without the constant interference of Maesters but he stuck with his learning. He broadened his mind to include more general history than simply that of magic- he learned of the Riverlands, of the Iron Throne. He learned of Blackwood and of Bracken. He devoured any book he could get his hands on, eager to always learn more.

407 AC
Ambrose married Visaera Frey on the 18th day of the 8th Moon in 407 AC. Afterwards, he was taken against his knowledge and will to the Crossing where he served as commander and advisor to his wife as the resident Frey and heir. However, when Rosalind Belmore besieged the Twins, he took no chances and along with his friend Elmo and Visaera, fled from the castle.

408 AC - 418 AC
Ambrose, Elmo, and Visaera made their way to Maidenpool where they were given passage by a charming pirate in the form of Syro. On his ship, they set sail for Myr. Along the way, Ambrose and Syro played a friendly game of spying on the other, all for good fun despite the normally dangerous nature of such a thing.

When they landed in Myr, Ambrose and company quickly attached themselves to a group of sellswords, finding themselves in good hands over the course of their time with them, especially endearing themselves well to the captain, who went by the name of Valarr the Vulture. Through diligent work and cleverness, Ambrose rose through the ranks to become a prominent name in the 'Company of Vultures'. Through this Ambrose gained much experience in the machinations of war, but remained rather unskilled in combat due to his less than brilliant stature, leaving such pursuits to his friend Elmo.

In the Third Moon of 413 AC, Ambrose was overjoyed to learn that his wife was pregnant with their child. While working for the company, he would often buy gifts using his pay for what he imagined the child would like- books and baubles, a small wooden sword and shield. But his joy turned to ash when the boy was born. He was already dead, and Ambrose's happiness was shattered. For awhile, he and Visaera's relationship was weak. He threw himself into work, to the detriment of their time together. Their relationship lacked the intimacy it once had, until they finally pulled themselves together and tried to repair things.

Eventually in the Second Moon of 414 AC Valarr fell in combat working a minor job helping to secure a small village from bandit raids. The company, for a long time, became defunct as they attempted to find a new captain to lead them and get them new contracts. Ambrose was in a good position- he was a favorite of the former captain, and was well experienced in matters of war. It certainly didn't hurt that Syro, his old friend, loaned him enough dragons to bribe the dissenters. Yet it was not enough, and the once large company fractured into small groups. Ambrose renamed the company in the memory of the life he once had. And so, the Company of the Raven, sometimes known as the Raven Company, was born.

But in the Seventh Moon of 414 AC, Visaera gave birth to twins, completing him. Imogen and Benjen Blackwood. His time became spent on being a father to his children and leading the company, but now he and Visaera finally found that spark they had once more.

Together, they lead the Raven Company, as Ambrose deals with financial matters, planning, and logistics, while Visaera exhorts the men on the field, driving them to do better lest they be bested by a woman. But time will only tell if the company remains together, or it all falls apart.

418-426 AC
As time went on, the Company had its ups and downs, but for once things went better than worse. In 418 AC, Ambrose's daughter Lenore would be born. His good fortune would continue onwards, ever onwards, as the company grew thanks to his good stewardship. With better contracts coming in more and more, Ambrose felt rather content. With few real reverses to speak of, the Company of the Raven was in high demand, with some saying that its reputation matched that of the Golden Company from more than a century prior.

With the birth of his second son, Damion, in 425 Ambrose looked forward to a life of luxury in Essos. That is, until he got the message that would change the direction of Ambrose's life for good. A disenfranchised branch of Blackwood under a man named Richard Blackwood invaded, casting his brother Damion out of Raventree Hall and forcing him to the Wall, after having slain much of the Blackwood line. With no other option, Ambrose got together the Company of the Raven and sailed to Westeros to claim what now rightfully belonged to him.

427-438 AC
Upon arriving in Maidenpool, Ambrose immediately got his men started on a forced march to Raventree Hall, getting his men there within a week. With Visaera's sister, Elana, supplementing the Company with Frey men, they looked to outnumber Richard. Yet still, the fighting was fierce in what came to be known as the Battle for the Blackwood Vale. The fighting was fierce, with heavy casualties on both sides. However, the turning point came when Visaera and Elmo led a charge and reached Richard's position, with Visaera slaying him in personal combat, and Ambrose leading archers up onto a hill and raining arrows down on the enemy's right and putting it to rout. With these losses, the battle was over. Ambrose had won, and was the new Lord of Raventree Hall.

His reign started out tenous, but with a firm hand Ambrose guided things back to peace and prosperity. Although he struggled over the Winter as did everyone else, House Blackwood suffered no real casualties to the cold, and would remain firm in its strength. With another daughter, Phoebe, being born in 433 AC under the terror of the Second Hammer Uprising, Ambrose assisted in curbing that damned thing. Now that it's over, Ambrose travels to Fairmarket. With his son having wed the man's sister, he hopes to take good measure of his new liege...