Ash is entitled to a large inheritance from his parents but must first prove himself to his adventuring father who disapproves of his love for nature and awe of the phoenix-like characteristics of nature. Ashe's mom runs the family business and dad is a well-known (but not famous) adventurer. Ash loves getting together with them to talk about his latest discoveries and interesting people he's met. His dad loves him but thinks he could do better if he gave up on this strange obsession with fire and flame. His mom just bakes him cookies for his next trek out with his friends. Ash has often been described as “Just so gosh darn perky!” and has a lot to learn about the difficulties that life can bring. His little fire spirit friend, Paraffin, appears as a gecko lizard with flames for eyes.

In one of his many family chats with his adventuring Dad, he described an adventure in and around Sanguine where he and his party routed a group of evil undead from the Sanguine graveyard. He didn’t want to go into detail about what it was and it seemed to disturb him quite a bit. Ash is curious whether the current troubles in the ancient city of Sanguine are related.

Ash inherits a series of stories about powerful sorcerers he has tracked and identified, including Dost Toffens, a tiefling from several centuries ago who had created a laboratory in the catacombs of Sanguine.