It was created as a better incarnation of OR, Sirion's longtime ally, and is, as Indirik said, the fulfillment of Sirion's promise to rebuild OR. There are a few former OR members(Monte Cristo, Olaf, Talius, myself), and a couple family members of OR members(Dagny Buonare is one), but we are mostly those from Sirion or from other places in the North.
Yes, Fontan pledged to give us Ashforth, it was stalled by Krimml joining Westmoor, then Fontan and Sirion worked to get Krimml back. After sometime, Fontan then consented to give Sirion Ashforth. It was a bloody long process.