Evan Woodsley

## ***Early Life***

Evan Woodsley was born on March the 15th 1577 A.T.F in the city of Reichlandia. From a young age Evan Woodsley wanted to join the armies of Reichlandia and fight under the Great Uniter of Reichland. Evan was not of noble birth, as his father worked as a wood cutter and his mother sewed to make extra money. Although he was born to a family of commoners, he was a single child who enjoyed a steady and stable childhood within the relative safety of Reichlandia. By the age of 14 Evan had enlisted in The Royal Army of Reichlandia, and spent the remainder of his teenage years training. In 1597 A.T.F Evan had acquired enough experience to become a captain, leading his company against the many bandits who plagued the city's countryside.

## ***A Commoner in The Kings Army***

Years prior to Evans promotion, the Great Uniter of Reichland had died leaving a power vacuum in his stead. For a short time the realm was at peace during this power vacuum, but the lords who once served under him quickly assumed power over their respective regions and separated from the Kingdom of Reichland. During the later years of this break down, Evan's family decided to flee the city of Reichlandia and moved to Bergia. Once Evan and his parents were settled in the new city, Evan sought out employment under the newly formed Royal Army of Bergia assembled by King David Clement of Donnington.

Evan had kept documentation of his service in the Royal Army of Reichlandia, and thus was promoted to his old position as captain. Even would spend the next few years being retrained to command his men in pike-and-shot tactics rather than the field tactics used for earlier styled infantry. During this time it was said Evan frequented brothels, preferring the accompany of men rather than women. This preference led to Evans family shunning him and cutting all contact with their son. Heart broken by his families betrayal, Evan became solely dedicated to his position within The Royal Army of Bergia.

## ***The First Battle of Goldpeaks***

In late 1605 A.T.F the Royal Army of Bergia was summoned. beginning a series of conquest known as Clements Conquest. During these campaigns David Clement would expand his realm by annexing Gold Peaks and the minor settlements within the region. Goldpeaks and the surrounding regions were occupied by a mix of Human and Thrallish Tribals who had taken residence in the remote region centuries after the Duvans abandoned the Zarim. In response to the approaching Donnington Army the Tribes of Goldpeaks confederated election a powerful Thrallish Warlord named Jaina Corel to lead them. The first engagement of this conquest saw Evan deployed several miles outside of Goldpeaks with the main vanguard of the army. Evan at this time was still a minor captain and thus he was positioned on the frontlines alongside his company in the ensuing battle.

The First Battle of Goldpeaks began on November the 1st 1605 A.T.F, the engagement itself lasted only for two hours. During the battle Evan commanded his company with valor, and his company was responsible for killing the Tribal Queen Jaina Corel. The death of the Tribal Queen caused the morale of the confederated tribes to plummet, and caused a mass route. The casualties suffered on both sides was minimal as the battle was not only short, but mostly involved minor skirmishing causing Evans Company to be one of the few units to see any sort of action. After the mass route, the tribal chiefs regrouped and voted to surrender to The Kingdom of Donnington.

## ***The Second Battle of Goldpeaks***

Immediately following the Donnington occupation of Goldpeaks the loose alliance consisting of The Kingdom of Pola, New Norkia, and Donnington broke apart. The Kingdom of Pola and New Norkia both believed that Donnington had overstepped the terms of the Alliance, which stated no standing power would occupy Goldpeaks until the Alliance's Council decided who would claim the fief. On January the 3rd 1607 A.T.F The Kingdom of Pola and New Norkia laid siege to Goldpeaks.

For nearly three months the opposing forces sent wave after wave of soldiers against the battered Royal Army of Bergia. The full force of Pola and New Norkia were present as both kings, Odin Afruthul of New Norkia, and Tyler Royston of Pola arrived with their personal armies. During this time Evan was once again position on the frontlines, and was ordered to defend the gates. Evan ordered his pikemen to form a pike-wall in front of the gates, and any remaining crossbowmen and musketeers to lay down fire from the walls above. The longer the battle progressed the worse the situation became, soon the camp followers and the wounded were ordered to take to the walls. During the 3rd month of the siege the defenders within the outer walls were overrun, during this panicked retreat to the inner palace walls Evan was able to organize a tactical retreat holding off the Norkish and Polanii attackers for as long as possible. Evan's actions prevented a mass slaughter and kept the retreat organized allowing for a second defense to be initiated.

The situation seemed dire but the tide of the battle would quickly change. Shortly before the final push into Goldpeaks, Odin Afruthul and Tyler Royston had begun arguing over who would claim the fief after the battle. This argument developed into a brawl, and both armies disengaged from the siege and entered a field battle against one another outside of the walls of Goldpeaks. This field battle lasted only a day before both forces hastily returned to their respective realms.

## **The Battle of Axony**

With the conclusion of The Second Battle of Goldpeaks the majority of the Donnington Royalty began a journey to return to Bergia. On the journey back to Bergia, David Clement would seize the province of Wraithland. Deploying Evan Woodsley and his company to hunt down several wraith lairs around the region. Due Evans success and his prior accomplishments, Evan was promoted to the rank of General.

Upon returning to Bergia, Evan attempted to contact his family again. When he arrived at the family home, he was told to leave and scolded by his parents for his actions years prior, even with all the success Evan had obtained, his parents refused to forgive him. Distraught and hurt, Evan returned to his drinking habits and frequented the many brothels throughout Bergia for the remainder of the time he was station in Bergia. On May 16th 1607 A.T.F the Royal Palace of Bergia collapsed from an explosion resulting in the death of several prominent nobles and the King and Queen of Donnington. The sudden deaths of David Clement and Colleen Clement caused an upset within the Donnington Administration. Evan was quick to return to his post, and assumed control over the army. Evan's loyalty to the Donnington Royalty was strong, and thus he quelled any attempts made by the power hungry lords who attempted to seize the throne. Alexander Clement, son of David Clement, quickly assumed power thanks to the help of Evan, and rewarded Evan by naming him the Grand General of The Royal Army of Bergia and Katrin Blakley the Head Advisor.

The coronation didn't last long as the lords of the east were forced to convene after a horde of tribal warriors from the west, known as The Yuraks, had begun encroaching upon the east. Katrin Blakley volunteered her province, Axony, as a neutral meeting ground for the lords of the east. Evan was in attendance within the meeting alongside Katrin Bauer of Axony, High King Odin Afruthul of New Norkia, King Alexander Clement of Donnington, Chief Aethelwulf Byronson of New Norkia, Chief Konrad Karlson of New Norkia, Samuel Karlson of New Norkia, King Tyler Royston IV of Pola, Barnes 'Crazy' Barclay of The Spiced Empire, and Mercenary Captain Halfdan. Shortly before the meeting commenced, Evan had dispatched several scouts to the West to track Yurak Movements. The meeting eventually turned sour, and was to reconvene in a week. However thanks to the foresight of Evan, the Scouts he sent west discovered Tarkhan Khan had learned about the meeting and was advancing on Axony.

Within days of the meeting the Yurak Armies of The West had advanced into the Glasgov Valley. The Yurak's outnumbered the armies of the east by a considerable amount, and thus a massive mobilization of every able bodied soldier began. During this mass mobilization the Mercenary Captain Halfdan Case sacrificed himself putting up a desperate defense buying time for the armies of the east. By mid June the majority of the Donnington, Church of Mira, and Norkish forces were present. Evans first engagement began when foraging parties from both Donnington and Yurak camps engaged in a small skirmish near the Glasgov River. The skirmish quickly devolved into a small scale field battle and Alexander Clement ordered Evan to assemble a field army to advance and seize the River.

Evan was able to assemble an army consisting of nearly 25,000-35,000 Donnington Soldiers, and began to march the army across the low river crossings. Evan was accompanied personally by the Child King Alexander and his personal retinue. As Evan and his forces advanced across the river and into the flat lands the contingent of Yuraks he was engaging began to flee. Initially Evan began to assume he had won the engagement and pressed forward; until a force of heavily armored Acrabian Mercenary Cavalry, numbering 10,000 slammed into the rear-lines of his pikemen. The Yurak Mercenary Lord Walt Vanheesem had laid a trap, luring the Donnington Pike and Shot lines out into the open for a flanking maneuver. Evans Army quickly routed and in panic completely broke formation, a staggering amount of Donnington soldiers were killed during this mass retreat. Evan himself was nearly drowned in the river by a Yurak Soldier who had overtaken him, before being saved by Alexander who had shot the Yurak.

After the engagement Evan took time to recover, and would spend the next few years of the battle engaging in minor skirmishes. Evan wouldn't see another large scale engagement until the Summer of 1611 A.T.F. During the early phase of the summer Tarkhan Khan launched what would later be called "The Madman's Push". Tarkhan and his son Taichu-Karha Avskura assembled a force of conscripts, slaves, and the remainder of Yurak Veterans numbering over 100,000+ Soldiers with the intent of advancing against the main Donnington Lines. Tarkhan initiated this advance due to the previous failures of engagements over the battles duration, many of which Evan wasn't present for. Upon sighting the Yurak's advance Evan ordered the Donnington Artillery to bombard the approaching Yurak Army. After a steady rain of bombardment, Alexander ordered Evan to only advance on the Yurak flanks after the main Donnington and Norkish lines engaged the approaching Yuraks. The situation further improved when the inexperienced Yurak Khan Taichu had forgot to assign bannermen to the Yurak force causing a massive lack of communication. Both lines of the Eastern Sovereign Alliance and Yurak forces clashed and the fighting quickly turned into a mosh pit. Within hours of the ensuing fighting Evan had divided his force into two separate parties and assaulted the right and left flank of the Yurak Forces. The assault devastated the Yurak Forces, and sent the Yurak Horde into full retreat. This would be the last Yurak Advance in the Battle of Axony and was considered to be the death blow for any chance of a Yurak Victory. After the battle Evan would begin to asses the tattered Donnington Army, initially Evan was under the impression that the Eastern Sovereign Alliance would continue pushing the Yurak Forces back to the capitol. But to his surprise his liege was convinced to recuperate their losses after the battle.

## ***Occupation of Axony and The Donnington-Polanii Border War***

Within the following years of The Battle of Axony, Evan continued to serve his lord faithfully. Evan's first major campaign after The Battle of Axony ironically saw him return to Axony to seize the province from Katrin Blakley's Cultist in 1613 A.T.F. The Annexation of Axony saw little bloodshed as the majority of the cultist surrendered upon news of their leader's execution. Shortly after the conquest of Axony, Evan would begin to reorganized the Royal Army of Bergia. Later naming, naming General Byron Oro Lord of Wraithland, and nominating a new General named Allelic Wolfgang. These Generals would later go on to betray and subjugate the Norkish Kingdom of New Norkia who had assisted The Eastern Sovereign Alliance during The Battle of Axony, under orders from Alexander Clement. By 1629 A.T.F Evan was managing almost all military affairs independent of his liege. Alexander had become paranoid and his mental state was beginning to deteriorate. Evan found himself managing an unofficial war that had broken out between the Kingdom of Pola and The Kingdom of Donnington over border disputes. Although large scale battles were avoided, skirmishes between minor forces, and games of cat and mouse between border armies were common. Evan deployed a large number of Donnington's Generals to the border without Alexander's direct orders to secure the Donnington Borders, nevertheless even as Evan wielded an immeasurable amount of power within The Royal Army, he remained entirely faithful to his lord.

Years later Evan was still the acting Grand General of The Royal Army of Bergia. By this point and time the Second Reichlandian Civil War had been raging for nearly 8 years since its start in 1627 A.T.F. And although The Eastern Sovereign Alliance was still a major super power, The Alliance had become stagnant. The Majority of its members, who were minor fiefdoms and Norkish Tribes, were forcefully annexed into The Kingdom of Donnington. The Alliance existed entirely by name, as The Kingdom of Donnington was its only autonomous participating member left. Even as its sole member, The Kingdom of Donnington possessed the most numerous armies, and also possessed one of the largest economic sectors within the continent. This was thanks primarily due to a skilled set of administrators Alexander had appointed before his mental state mysteriously began to deteriorate.

Late 1635 A.T.F Donnington's power would be tested again, as by late 1635 A.T.F the Yurak Horde had regained some of its former strength. Now lead by the new Khan Jochi, the Yuraks attempted an advance East hoping to catch the stagnating Eastern Sovereign Alliance off guard. Evan was informed of a large horde of Yurak Warriors was approaching Gold Peaks. With little time to spare, Evan assembled what forces he could and advanced to Gold Peaks in a race to beat the Yuraks there and to reinforce the garrison. To Evans luck, Alexander in his last days had befriended a Dragon who sacrificed himself, destroying a majority of the Yurak Army. The remainder of what was left of the Yuraks were quickly mopped up by Evan and General Byron Oro.

## ***Service in The Republic of Reichland and Later Life***

The rest of Evans service within the Kingdom of Donnington would be uneventful. After the destruction of Jochi's Eastern Armies and the destruction of the Yurak Fleet at the Battle of The Nova Baatar Strait the capitol would fall to coalition of Pirates, Merchants, and Freedom Fighters, this Coalition would later go on to found The Republic of Reichland. For a short time both super powers had an awkward status quo, and both nations refused to send a representative or delegation to one another. Eventually the Republic's Chairman Tokuda Naro personally approached Alexander Clement with an offer to unite Reichland. To Evan's surprise, Alexander accepted only on the condition he be allowed to rule until death.

Alexander Clement would finally pass away on March the 11th, 1642 A.T.F, ending the Clement family line. Upon his death the Kingdom of Donnington ceased to exist. Evan would faithfully honor his lord wishes, and would help with the integration process. The integration process proceeded smoothly, and only a few incidents occurred where minor lords attempted to hold onto their fiefs. Evan responded by marching the Provisional Army he had created from the remnants of The Royal Army of Bergia, and intimidating any who stood in the way of the integration process. Tokuda took quick notice to Evans loyalty and commitment, and after the Unification of Reichland. Tokuda appointed Evan Woodsley The Commander of The Republican Army of Reichland.

As the Commander of The Republican Army of Reichland, Evan organized the early Armies of Reichland, laying down the ground works for the Republican Army's doctrine for years to come. He helped train and modernize the army, and appointed several generals. Evan would serve The Republic of Reichland for an additional five years until May the 12th 1647 A.T.F. Ten days earlier Evan was ordered to take three companies of infantrymen and put down a small band of Yuraks who were attacking settlements in the Western Steppes of Reichland. The Yuraks had experienced a massive depopulation crisis, after The Reichlandian Civil Wars a mass exodus had taken place. Many of the Yuraks returned to Drazzan in fear of persecution by the newly formed Republic. Furthering the depopulation of the Yurak peoples from Reichland was the constant warring and infighting that had taken the lives of many of the tribals. The Yuraks by the late 1640's were reduced to small pockets of tribes numbering no more than in the hundreds of thousands, and were now living on government designated reservations. Settlers from Eastern Reichland began to settle the steppes, coming from all over the continent to farm the flat lands of the steppe. These settlers, still holding hatred for the Yurak peoples from previous conflicts, would oftentimes attack and kill the Yuraks who were settled on these reservations. This prompted what small population of warriors the tribes could muster, to assemble warbands which were hellbent on killing any non-Yuraks they encountered in the Western Reichlandian Steppe.

When Evan Woodsley arrived he was informed that a majority of the settled tribes were not participating in this retaliation. However to his surprise his order's were to occupy a large Yurak Reservation Settlement within the steppe. Upon arriving Evan was informed all men aged 15-50 were missing from the settlement. This threw Evan's men into a rage and Evans men began pillaging the city. Evan attempted to stop his men but was unable to regain control. Within mere hours Evan's men sacked the settlement, slaughtered innocents, and raped and looted what they could. Later it was reported that all of the abled bodied men had been sent on a massive hunting trip to the Nova Baatar Straight. Evan was devastated and was arrested 4 days later for under charges for committing war crimes, however thanks to witness testimony and Tokuda Naro's intervention, Evans charges were dropped and he later resign from the Reichlandian Republican Army on his own volition.

After Evan resigned, Evan used the funds he had built up from his years in military service and moved back to Bergia. Evan lived his last days in luxury, buying a large Estate outside of the city of Bergia, now an old man, Evan felt that he had only one last task to accomplish. Evan wished to spend the rest of his days with someone he loved, and two years after his resignation he quietly married a man who worked as a carpenter in Bergia. The marriage was kept quiet as to avoid controversy, Evan and his Husband lived out their days until Evan passed away on December the 3rd 1651 A.T.F in his sleep at the age of 74.