Audra Du Katre

Audra du Katre, born January 1790, was an Erisiciai pearl-diver and a national heroine of Liotain.

### Early Life

Audra was born in the Erisiciai village of Grentale, a floating village located on the Drebulio Islands, midway between the eastern coast of Breizh and the Alizava Peninsula. Her mother Katre died following childbirth, and never stated the identity of Audra's father; as a result, Audra received the "du Katre" surname rather than a more traditional patronym, and was raised by her grandparents.

With almost no education opportunities available in her home island, Audra worked from an early age harvesting *dumbliai* (an edible seaweed) and eventually becoming a pearl-diver by the age of twelve.

### Sailor

In December 1805, shortly before her sixteenth birthday, she married an eighteen-year old Breizhoned sailor named Paol Lagadec, who was a midshipman aboard the Liotainian ship-of-the-line *Neris*. To remain close to her husband, Audra enlisted as a powder monkey aboard the *Neris*, concealing her relationship with Lagadec.

In June of 1806, the *Neris* took part in the Battle of Cape Benitachell. The ship was badly damaged and captured by Antargentine boarders, who herded the surviving crew into the hold, and planned to sail the ship back to Antargentina. Storms delayed the ship's arrival, however, and the Antargentine prize crew released Audra and twenty-four other Liotainian crewers to help operate the pumps.

During the early morning hours of April 1st, the Liotainian prisoners staged a planned uprising, overwhelming the Antargentine prize crew and sneaking away from the victorious enemy fleet, arriving at Alizava. During the fight to retake the ship, Audra was slashed across the arm by a cutlass, and surgeons initially recommended amputation. Her condition improved markedly, however, and slowly healed.

The *Neris* was repaired at Alizava during April and May, and sailed to rejoin the main fleet at Laizuva in late May. On June 1st, however, the *Neris* ran aground twelve kilometers northeast of Breizh. While the ship struggled to free itself, a pair of Antargentine ships-of-the-line appeared. The crew of the *Neris* initially refused to surrender, but after the ship was raked several times in a row by the Antargentines, the crew was forced to strike their colours. Paol Lagadec was killed during this short battle. As the ship was still immovable, the Antargentines looted the vessel, removed the crew, and then blew it up.

### Prisoner of War

Alongside other crew from the *Neris*, Audra was imprisoned in irons aboard a prison-ship in Javan City. Conditions were appalling.

In September, an Antargentine priest visited the prison-ship and was appalled by the conditions, petitioning to have them removed to better quarters. Audra and seven other women from the *Neris* were moved to a Pankasmic convent "for loose women."

### Escape

Upset at this confinement, Audra organized the other women for an escape, which they effected on October 21, 1806. The eight women slipped out of the convent, slipped out of Javan City at night, and stole a small fishing boat. The half-rotten boat was blown back onto the Antargentine coast on the 24th and irreparably damaged.

Audra and four other girls hid in the woods for two days while three of their number, who could speak Antargentine, attempted to scout a nearby village. While they were away, two Antargentine littorias arrived and anchored offshore. The women had to hide while Antargentine sailors scavenged for food.

As they needed another boat to escape, Audra volunteered to swim out to the two anchored littorias with a saw, cutting a small boat free from the stern-rail of one of the ships. On her own initiative, Audra noted the strong tide would push the ships into dangerous shoals to the west, potentially causing enough confusing to help her escape with the jolly-boat.

Shortly after sunset on the 26th, Audra swam out to the first littoria, used her saw to cut through the metal anchor chain links, and then swam to the second ship, where she repeated the process. The Antargentine watchmen failed to notice the danger immediately, and the two littorias drifted first into each other, and then onto the shoals, where they became stuck fast.

Audra, meanwhile, stole the boat and rowed back to shore, arriving in such a state of exhaustion that she collapsed, and couldn't even dress herself. Her seven companions hastily loaded the stolen jolly-boat and began rowing away.

The women endured a mild storm at sea on the 27th. Although this storm nearly swamped their boat, it had more significant results for the damaged Antargentine littorias, which were pounded against the rocks by the surf, eventually breaking up with the loss of a number of their crew.

By the 28th, the escapees spotted a Breizhoned fishing lugger, which took them ashore in Plougrescant.