The final batch of DLC for Fire Emblem: Three Houses adds new story content including a fourth, secret house. Cindered Shadows introduces the Ashen Wolves and, while they're not technically associated with Gareg Mach Monastery, the four new playable characters can become your students in the main game as well.
In Cindered Shadows, players will learn about a hidden community called Abyss located underneath the monastery. The people of Abyss have all fled society for their own reasons, and four of them, Yuri, Hapi, Balthus, and Constance, are either student-aged or former students of the Officers Academy. These characters also help to reintroduce old classes previously missing from Three Houses. Let's take a look at the Ashen Wolves and how to recruit them.
HOW TO RECRUIT THE ASHEN WOLVES
In order to add these characters to your game, you'll have to start the Side Story on the main menu. This Cindered Shadows file will be separate from any main game files you may have, so don't worry about it interfering with your existing game. These levels are pretty challenging even on Normal Mode and the story touches on quite a bit of existing lore, so we recommend you complete at least one of the main storylines before beginning Cindered Shadows.
From there, you will have to play a few chapters to gain the ability to recruit each of the characters. Constance will be recruitable after Chapter Two, Balthus after Chapter Four, Hapi after Chapter Five and Yuri after Chapter Six. Once you've unlocked them, travel to Abyss in Part One of the Main Story. You can do this either by speaking to the Shady Merchant or fast traveling there from the Map where you'll find Abyss left of the Sauna. Once there, speak to whichever student you want to recruit and they'll join your team. Characters you haven't yet unlocked can be asked to join as Mission Assistance for the month.
Abyss is also where you can obtain Abyssian Exam Passes, which will allow you to reclass units to one of the new classes. Each of the Ashen Wolves will be holding one when recruited, but interacting with the Pagan Altar in Abyss will allow you to spend renown to purchase more.
Now that we've discussed how to unlock them for the main story playthrough, let's take a look at each of these new characters.
YURI
The leader of the Ashen Wolves, Yuri is a former student of the Officers Academy who was expelled under mysterious circumstances. He is fiercely protective of the people of Abyss and is slow to trust outsiders. Yuri is also quite flirtatious, especially with Byleth, and is available as an S-Support for both male and female Byleth. Notably, his paired ending with either makes it explicit that he is their husband.
In Cindered Shadows, Yuri is a Trickster. This returning class is an upgraded version of the Thief and requires any potential user to train in Sword and Faith. Upon certification, Tricksters obtain boosts to these skills, as well as Reason.
HAPI
A member of the Ashen Wolves who was born in a small village located within the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, Hapi is a passive young woman who seems apathetic towards life. She has a tendency to sigh a lot, though this is dangerous as, for mysterious reasons, her sighs attract monsters. In battle, her Monstrous Appeal skill will allow her to do extra damage to monsters, though it will also cause them to target her rather than more defensive units.
Like the other Ashen Wolves, Hapi reintroduces a previously missing class to Three Houses: the Valkyrie. A female-locked class, Valkyrie are mounted units that require high Riding and Reason skills for certification. The class also grants bonuses to Swords and Faith.
BALTHUS
The self-proclaimed "King of Grappling," Balthus now lives in Abyss hiding from his family and his debts. He grew up in the Leicester Alliance and was the best friend of Holst, Hilda's older brother. Because she grew up around him, Hilda calls him "Baltie" and treats him like family. Balthus is tough but insightful, and his pride keeps him from accepting help from others -- even when the help could save his life.
Balthus is a War Monk, a class that requires Brawl and Faith skills for certification. This is a unisex class (though females are referred to as War Clerics) that also uses Axes. The War Monks do not have great Magic skill growth, especially for healers, but Balthus has pretty high Defense. He also wields the Vajra-Mushti, the only special gauntlets in the game.
CONSTANCE
The final member of the Ashen Wolves, Constance, is a former noble from the Adrestian Empire and the last surviving member of House Nuvelle. With nowhere else to go following the tragedy that killed her family, Constance moved to Abyss. Living underground has actually been good for her since sunlight triggers a sluggish and self-deprecating side of her personality.
Constance is a Dark Flier, the final returning class for Three Houses. As the name suggests, this is a mounted user that flies into battle on a Pegasus and requires high Flying and Reason skill for promotion. Once certified, Dark Fliers also get bonuses for using Lances and Swords. Like the Valkyrie, this class is female-locked.