Yonali Smithwings
The greatest general who ever lived
Yonali was born in 49. She was the eldest child of Inevi Mistcarnage and Alino Coupleman. Her parents were clothes-makers, weavers, and woodcrafters. She helped run the shop as a trader with her siblings.
But her life changed when the current princess, Thilu Chancestyled, became queen in 62, and Yonali was chosen for the position. At the time, the position was relatively boring, as The Skin of Lions, her civilization, had not been at war with anyone since 24 and no elf had ever died as a princess. The position was only where you waited to become queen. But in 64, tragedy struck as Thilu was abducted by a night creature and changed into one of them. Instead of becoming queen, Yonali chose to put Afe Delightgrowths, a daughter of a previous queen, on the throne. Afe still remains on the throne today.
In 65 Yonali married Inefa Motherpaint, an herbalist, and together they had 8 children. Sadly, 2 of them were lost to night creatures, and 2 were lost to a bronze colossus. Her eldest son Rayeli married in 88 and his wife had Yonali’s first grandchild, Nemo. She married in 95 and had Yonali’s first great-grandchild, Emima. She married in 109 and had Yonali’s first great-great-grandchild, Cata. She married in 122 and had Yonali’s first great-great-great-grandchild, Itha. She married in 135 and had Yonali’s first great-great-great-great-grandchild, Sareve. Truly, elves breed quickly.
Then, tragedy struck in 137 when her husband Inefa was lost to another night creature, and her brother Mawada was killed trying to kill a minotaur. This made a huge change in Yonali. She wanted blood. She wanted someone to pay. But the night creature had vanished like smoke, and she had no outlet for her rage. She began amassing a huge standing army, while honing her own skills. She was helped by the druid, Yarare Skirtfords, who had been in the army for a long time.
In the late autumn of 147 she declared war on The Prestigious Letter, a small dwarven civilization close to the north. Her army, now 7000 strong, completely destroyed the dwarves' small settlement of 500. They didn't go down without a fight, though - every dwarf took at least three elves with them. That night, the elves feasted on the flesh of the treekillers, and their whole civilization rejoiced with them. The army's ranks swelled with new recruits drawn in by the promise of fresh meat. Among the recruits were her own mother, sister, firstborn, daughter, son, and many other family members. They would stay with her throughout her conquests.
But the dwarves would not stand to be slaughtered. They sent an army of 800 toward a tiny forest retreat near their mountains. Yonali met them halfway, and the battle claimed half the dwarves but only a small fraction of the elves. Her men pressed toward the retreating army, and eventually caught up to them at a dwarven mountainhome. There they killed the rest of the army, and all within. Yonali pressed on, destroying another mountain hall. She lost about 2100 men, while the dwarves lost 800. More recruits came, but not many; however, one recruit was her youngest child, and another her queen. By this point almost her whole family except for her father and a few others were part of her army. He stayed back at home and carried on the family business with the help of a hoard of his now-grown many-great-grandchildren.
Then she came upon the great fortress Churchwheel, sparsely defended by only 300 dwarves. But this was no ordinary fortress, and no ordinary dwarves. This was the Mountainhome itself, the pride of The Prestigious Letter, last bastion of dwarfkind, and manned by well-trained men. Yonali lost almost 3000 men taking the fortress, charging uphill toward heavy crossbow-fire, being sliced apart by traps, forced to fight one-on-one underground in tight hallways against berserkers. After the battle was won and all the dwarves were slain, Yonali and her army celebrated over the spoils of war. This was the Mountainhome after all, and its treasures were innumerable. They had conquered the dwarves utterly, and now the only dwarves remaining in the world were enslaved to various other civilizations.
But the elves' bloodlust was not yet appeased. Yonali and her army marched back through their country and attacked The Empire of Bars, their human neighbors to the south. They attacked one hamlet, killed 3000 humans and took 4000 losses, danced amid the ashes, and walked home to nurse their wounded and mourn their dead. Yonali returned to her life of training and raising her children.
After 12 years of inactivity, Yonali began to itch for the battle field once more. She once again declared war on their southern neighbors. But the humans were ready, and had positioned their army on the outskirts of their territory. The two armies met in a large hamlet. Her army, numbering 5500, lost 4000 while the enemy, numbering 3500, was completely obliterated. Yonali also made her first actual kill during the battle when a small group of elite soldiers fought their way through the elven ranks to kill her. After the battle, the elves feasted on the flesh of the humans they had slain and buried their dead. The army went home after the humans begged for peace.
But the peace did not last. During the short peace, a new law-giver came to power over the Empire of Bars. Unlike the last law-giver, she was an extreme religious. Her missionaries came over into The Skin of Lions, trying to convert elves to her religion. They were largely unsuccessful, but the few elves that changed deities were soon chased out of the country.
Yonali and the humans fought another war 11 years later in 171. But the humans were feeling scared. Their population was shrinking rapidly, and their villages destroyed one by one. But the elves were enjoying themselves. Fresh meat and all the loot you can carry! The population wasn’t even shrinking, due to the size of The Skin of Lions. They trusted in Yonali, and her amazing reputation. After all, who will oppose you if you kill the enemies’ generals? By this point, the core of Yonali’s army was battle-hardened, experienced veterans. Most had been with her since the dwarven wars. All the dying was being done by the new soldiers.
Yonali fought the humans again in 182. This battle was different. In this battle, elves fought elves. All the enemy were slain as usual, but the elves found it unnerving to have to kill their own brethren. What could be so good about their religion that they would fight against their former countrymen? Even Yonali was not unaffected.
Yonali felt the itch for battle once more in late 192. She led her army down again, and conquered the waiting army. But this time she ignored the stuck-up law-giver’s pleas for peace. She kept conquering, and took the entire region with less than a hundred casualties in total, while slaying more than 11000 humans. Yonali claimed the region as a vassal state of The Skin of Lions and returned home victorious.
In 203 Yonali learned that the dwarves still lived. They had crawled out of their holes in the ground and began rebuilding out of sight. Yonali and her army crushed all four mountain halls with ease and distain. The dwarves were once again no more.
In late 204 queen Afe summoned Yonali to her court. At this point Yonali was a global legend, victor of 47 battles. Afe told Yonali about the encroaching goblin threat. They were led by a demon and rapidly expanding. They had already taken over the land the dwarves had left vacant after their defeat, and were looking for more room to grow. Yonali was ordered to put her skills to the test and conquer the goblin nation.
Yonali launched her attack in the spring of 205. Her army of nearly 8000 marched across the plain toward a small goblin fort. Yonali signaled the attack from her war elephant. But the goblins were ready. They had an army of over 3000, headed by the demon Liwa Boggorged the Ruthlessness of Bristling. The two armies collided with a roar.
Yonali shouted orders left and right. Liwa waded through the elven army, spitting webs at any elves who came to close. The lizard demon wielded a great iron axe the size of a small tree, and he bisected elves with every swing. Swords, spears, and arrows bounced off his scaly hide.
“I’M COMING FOR YOU, GENERAL!” he roared over the din of battle.
“I’d like to see you try!” Yonali shouted back. Liwa jumped the last thirty feet before Yonali’s elephant, roaring in anger. He swung his axe in a wide circle, aiming straight for Yonali. She jumped from the elephant’s back, landing on the ground with an acrobatic roll. She knew she couldn’t possibly take Liwa head on, but she could dodge his attacks and try to stay alive. She successfully evaded Liwa for a full ten minutes, during which time the entire goblin force was defeated. This left Liwa and Yonali in the center of an elven army of 4000. One of Yonali’s rolls took her into a patch of webs, sticking her fast.
“I HAVE YOU NOW, LITTLE ELF!” Liwa roared. He swung his axe around, aiming for Yonali. She raised her sword and shield to try to block the blow—
The axe cleaved through sword, shield and body alike.
The elven attack redoubled, tears streaming from their eyes. They threw themselves against the demon, hoping to overwhelm him with sheer numbers. But it was all in vain. Eventually, an old swordself named Liceyi Coastmatches called for a retreat. They could not defeat such a monster. She and the remains of the army fled from the battlefield, carrying with them Yonali’s body. They buried her in the capitol under the central tree, surrounded by the family members that survived the battle. Among the dead were Yonali’s mother and eldest child, along with the druid. Only 1500 men had survived the battle.
Liceyi became the new princess. She was the descendant of a queen, and had been with Yonali since her first battle. She made peace with the goblins. In 210 the elf Cethire Cageadore slew the plains titan Iger Oakensinks the Fog of Beaches, passing the world into the Golden Age.
Wishing to continue the legacy of Yonali, Liceyi declared war on the humans on the continent to the west in 217. She led her army of over 9000 against the humans’ army of 6500. She was killed in the attack, taking more than 6000 casualties while only killing 4000 of the enemy. The army retreated in shame.
Amayi Earthenuttered became the next princess, and had been with Yonali since her conquest of The Empire of Bars. Embittered by the elves’ loss, in 228 she declared war once again on the humans to the west, and led her massive army of 11000 against the humans’ army of 6400. She was driven back after taking nearly 8000 losses. However, only 150 men were left from the opposing army. Amayi forged a peace with the humans that lasts to this day.
Turning her anger south, Amayi attacked the Empire of Bars in 239. She led her army of 9000 against the humans’ army of 3600. Her army suffered nearly 5000 losses while only inflicting 2700 on the enemy. She was forced to give back all the occupied towns in the peace treaty. Sad and angry, Amayi led the army home and declared that there would be no more wars. She simply could not hope to match the accomplishments of Yonali Smithwings, the greatest general who ever lived.
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Topic: The Great Elven General Yonali Smithwings (Read 33766 times)