Yriel
 Yriel[1] | |
|---|---|
| Title(s) | High Admiral, Prince |
| Homeworld | Iyanden |
| Species | Aeldari |
| Type | Asuryani |
| Gender | Male |
| Relatives | House of Ulthanash |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Affiliation(s) | |
Prince Yriel is an Eldar Autarch of the Iyanden Craftworld, High Admiral of the Iyanden fleet, Corsair Prince of the Eldritch Raiders Corsair fleet, and is widely considered to be the greatest Eldar naval genius to have ever lived. When Iyanden was facing destruction at the hands of Hive Fleet Kraken, Yriel returned from self-imposed exile with his Eldritch Raiders to save the craftworld from becoming totally extinct.[1][2] Yriel is unusual in that he holds the position of Autarch without any notable experience in any of the Eldar Paths of War (which require individuals to select an aspect of Khaine to follow). It is rather his experience in the Path of the Mariner which qualifies him for the position.[1]
Contents
History
Yriel was born on Iyanden, but his bloodline is not purely Iyanden,[13a] and he is also the bastard descendant of the House of Ulthanash. Other than his unpure bloodline, Yriel is often considered to be greatly flawed for his sin of pride.[1]
Admiralty
Hive Fleet Naga
Yriel demonstrated his tactical talent when Iyanden sent a fleet to eliminate Hive Fleet Naga in 810.M41. The commander of the fleet, Admiral Draech, was killed early in the battle when his flagship, the Auspicious Illumination of Eternity, was destroyed. A young Yriel, who was the fleet's second in command, quickly seized full control of the fleet and successfully lead Iyanden to victory.[3a]
However, at the same time, the defenders on the Exodite World of Halathel, the planet which the Eldar were trying to save from Naga, were slaughtered as their World Spirit shrine was overrun and destroyed by Tyranids. Yriel then became overwhelmed with rage and ordered his forces to scour all remaining life from Halathel.[3a]
Yurk
In 919.M41 Yriel and Iyanden warriors made planetfall on the backwater planet of Yurk and eliminated the Ork Warboss, who was mustering Ork forces on the planet, along with all of the Warboss's ruling caste. Yriel then withdrew without having lost a single Eldar life.[5]
Exile from Iyanden
Defeat of Kallorax
Over fifty years before Iyanden was attacked by Hive Fleet Kraken, Yriel was the High Admiral in charge of the Iyanden fleet and led Iyanden against the Chaos Lord Kallorax. Initially, Iyanden had been cautious to engage Kallorax despite Yriel's demands for action, but after the support of Chief Farseer Kelmon Firesight, Iyanden agreed to go to war. Yriel went on to use hit-and-run and subterfuge tactics to disrupt the larger Chaos fleet, and scored a decisive victory over Kallorax at the Battle of Agrion. However later during the Battle of the Burning Moon, Yriel had stripped all of Iyanden's ship and interceptor squadron in his pursuit of the enemy. Thus when Kallorax's last surviving warship launched a Cyclonic Torpedo attack against the near-defenseless Craftworld, Iyanden was devastated and hundreds of thousands of Eldar died. Nonetheless, Yriel had defeated the Chaos Fleet and personally slain Kallorax during the battle. Thus he assured himself that his actions were sound and the sacrifices a necessary price.[6b]
Upon returning Yriel expected to be honoured for his victory, but found himself instead stripped of rank for his recklessness in leaving the craftworld completely unprotected. Furious with indignation, Yriel took self-imposed exile from the craftworld and vowed he would never return.[1]
Eldritch Raiders
Many of Yriel's followers left with him as outcasts, becoming Corsair pirates. Within a few decades, under his talented command, his Eldritch Raiders were the most feared Corsair fleet in the Galaxy.[1]
The Imperium fostered rivalries between Yriel and other pirate companies as his power grew, which resulted in factional fighting; but his conquest and absorption of the fleets of two of these rival groups (Xian's Black Raiders and the Scarlet Command) made him the single most powerful Eldar pirate to roam the galaxy.[8] Yriel achieved considerable success as a power broker amongst human pirate captains, growing an incredible reputation for his successes.[12] Yriel led his own company, known as Yriel's Own on many missions, braving the Ur-Ghuls and Psyk-phantoms of Corsimar to recover the lost herilooms of House Haladesh, ending the reign of terror of mysterous figure known as the Voidlord of the Hrillian Quadrant, and in time returning to Iyanden in its moment of dire need.[13a]
Return to Iyanden
Doom of Iyanden
When Hive Fleet Kraken invaded the galaxy, Iyanden was directly in its path and was too slow to outrun its advance. The craftworld's Farseers found themselves regretting the disappearance of their fleet's greatest asset. Word of Iyanden's situation managed to reach Yriel despite the psychic blockade around the craftworld caused by the Tyranid's Shadow in the Warp. As Iyanden was on the verge of annihilation, Yriel tempered his anger towards his former home and returned to aid his people. The arrival of Yriel and his fleet tipped the balance of the space combat towards the battered Eldar, and the reinforced Eldar fleet managed to destroy all the proceeding Tyranid waves before they could board and unleash their cargo upon the craftworld. Eventually, no more Tyranid ships came; the Hive Fleet had been destroyed.[1][2]
Yriel and his forces then landed on Iyanden itself to help clean up the invading creatures. Yriel set his eyes upon personally slaying the monstrous Hive Tyrant leading the Tyranid horde. But the creature was so powerful it could not be killed by mortal weaponry. Yriel, from a stasis field in the Shrine of Ulthanash, pulled the ancient Spear of Twilight and charged after the Hive Tyrant. As the Eldar lines were on the verge of being overrun, Yriel slaughtered his way through the Tyranid horde to the Tyrant and drove the spear into the monster's gaping maw and through the back of its skull. With the death of their Synapse leader, the Tyranid swarm was then easily defeated. But Yriel had doomed himself in the process, as the Spear of Twilight was cursed to eventually burn out the wielder's soul and once taken it could not be abandoned.[1][2][3b] Yriel had saved Iyanden, and was restored to Admiralship of Iyanden's fleet.[1]
Battle of Duriel
Following the Battle of Duriel, Yuriel felt that his time had come and the Spear of Twilight had sapped the last of his strength. As he intended to return the weapon to Iyanden's Shrine and die in the process, he was stopped by the mysterious Shadowseer Sylandri Veilwalker who he had not seen since first taking the relic. The Shadowseer told the prince that his job was not yet done and showed him violent visions of what may be to come: Daemons loose among the stars and Eldar Gods reborn in glory. Yriel felt his soul grow strong again for some unknown cause, and took up the Spear of Twilight once more to lead his people through these future trials.[6a]
Death and Rebirth
In the closing days of the 41st Millennium, Iyanden was again invaded. This time, Space Hulks carrying the Daemonic legions of Gara’gugul’gor threatened the Craftworld. Iyanden was only saved thanks to the effort of Yriel and the newly arrived Ynnari. In the final stages of the battle, Yriel used the Spear of Twilight to destroy Gara’gugul’gor and his Space Hulk at the cost of his own life. However, shortly afterward his corpse was recovered and resurrected by Yvraine, who revealed that the Spear of Twilight was one of the lost Crone Swords. Much of the life stolen from him by the Spear has been returned, but his death has still only been forestalled.[7]
The Maelstrom
Since his rebirth, Yriel has found himself once more filled with the vigour of youth and the desire for adventure.[9] In his role as High Admiral he appeared before Iyanna Arienal and the Seer Council of Iyanden to express concerns about the lack of lasting benefits to the Craftworld that came from following the increasingly extremist zealot Yvraine and her Ynnari, instead urging the Seer Council to turn the whole of their efforts towards Chaos,[13a] but was rebuffed as the council reaffirmed their intention to follow Ynnead's prophet.[10]
He turned his attention again to the void,[9] and following a quest from the Harlequins of the Masque of the Midnight Sorrow to seek out the Nightmare Gulf within The Maelstrom[10] and recover Alaitoci prisoners taken in surprise by Huron Blackheart and his Red Corsairs[13b] as well as artefacts the Harlequins believed could uniquely aid in the fight against Chaos,[13a] and to once more reave and plunder as leader of the Eldritch Raiders.[9]
Yriel's web of spies lead him to the Space Station known as the Crimson Eyrie within the Arrax System where he could employ the talent of the Void Dreamer Kharseth to safely suprise and raid the transient Red Corsair fleet as it docked at the Eyrie, piloting his own Dragonship the Flame of Asuryan and companion Dragonship the Jade Kris to slingshot around the mass of the largest planet in the system and blast through the hull of the Eyrie where landing parties of [Vampire Raiders]] destroyed the remaining defenses and landed Voidreavers within the station, fighting to the vaults to extract the Alaitoci as Kharseth led other bands to recover the troves of stolen Asuryani artefacts elsewhere in the vault, retreating as the Red Corsairs began to mount the first vestiges of a defense. However, while Flame of Asuryan made its escape without issue the Jade Kris was boarded by Huron Blackheart's own Tyrany Incarnate and destroyed – a heavy price to pay.
Wargear
The Spear of Twilight, which Yriel took to save Iyanden, is said to contain the energies of a dying sun, and is one of the Croneswords of Morai-Heg. It is no normal weapon and is now eternally bound to Yriel as it slowly consumes his soul. Yriel constantly battles to stop the weapon from consuming him and in order to protect himself has taken a personal forcefield which allays the worst of the spear's affects. He is also armed with the Eye of Wrath, a monocular device covering his left eye capable of unleashing a tempest of lightning upon unfortunate foes.[1]
Prior to taking up the Spear of Twilight during the Doom of Iyanden, Yriel was known for wielding the Sword of Valriehm: a power sword with a nearly-invisible blade and intricately crafted golden hilt which he won in a raid of an arms freighter.[12]
Yriel's flagship is the Flame of Asuryan, a Dragon Ship that has been with Yriel since he was the head of the Iyanden fleet. When he took exile from Iyanden, Yriel kept the Flame of Asuryan with him, and years later when Yriel returned to save Iyanden he took the ship with him again.[4]
Images
Prince Yriel (10th Edition)[11]
Prince Yriel miniature
Sources
 |
- 1: Codex: Eldar (4th Edition), pgs. 52-53
- 2: Battlefleet Gothic Resources, Doom of the Eldar, pgs. 6-8 (site accessed 2010.05.25)
- 3: Codex: Tyranids (5th Edition):
- 4: Battlefleet Gothic Resources, Yriels Raiders, p. 3 (site accessed 2010.05.25)
- 5: Planetstrike, pg. 56
- 6: Iyanden: A Codex: Eldar Supplement (E-Book):
- 7: Gathering Storm: Fracture of Biel-Tan,
[Help] - 8: Warhammer 40,000 Chapter Approved - The Book of the Astronomican, pg. 43
- 9: Codex: Aeldari (10th Edition), pg. 69
- 10: Grotmas Calendar Day 19 – We catch up with an Aeldari admiral (archived, last accessed 19 December 2025)
- 11: Warhammer Community: The New Year Preview – Prince Yriel counterattacks with new Aeldari Corsairs (archived from the original 16 January 2026, last accessed 16 January 2026)
- 12: The Citadel Journal 14, pg. 47
Fanatic Press - 13: The Maelstrom: Lair of the Tyrant:
| Command | Autarchs • Bonesingers • Farseers • Spiritseers • Warlocks • Exarchs |
|---|---|
| Aspect Warriors | |
| Troops | Guardians (Guardian Defenders • Storm Guardians) • Windrider Squadrons • Rangers (Pathfinders • Shroud Runners) • Ghost-Warriors • Wraithguard • Wraithblades |
| Support Weapons | Grav Platform • Support Battery • War Walker |
| Constructs | Avatar of Khaine • Wraithknight • Wraithlord |
| Special Characters | Amallyn Shadowguide • Eldrad Ulthran • Illic Nightspear • Iyanna Arienal • Nuadhu 'Fireheart' • Yriel |
| Phoenix Lords | Asurmen • Baharroth • Drastanta • Fuegan • Irillyth • Jain Zar • Karandras • Lhykhis • Maugan Ra |
| Fortifications | Webway Gate |
| Command | |
|---|---|
| Psykers | |
| Elites | |
| Walkers | |
| Troops | |
| Fast Attack | |
| Aircraft | |
| Heavy Support | |
| Transport | |
| Special Characters |
