Grazina Ferrodumond-Quemener

Grazina Ferrodumond-Quemener was a privateer and naval officer from Liotain, who became famous for her activities during the Firoccan War.

## Early Years

Grazina Ferrodumond, born Graziella Molis, was the only daughter of Ansaldo Ferrodumond and his common-law wife, Diana Molis.  She was born in the Firoccan trade port of Svyturys, where her mother operated a somewhat disreputable public bathhouse, which served as an occasional brothel and gambling den.  In order to help cover her gambling and drinking addictions and constant debts, Diana employed her daughter as a bath attendant (essentially a part-time prostitute) from the age of fourteen.  Much of Graziella's education, seriously neglected by her mother, was done by the Sisters of Sventa Laura, an order of Orthodox nuns.  In 1695, the Sisters brought legal proceedings against Diana Molis in an attempt to protect Graziella from her abusive mother, but the case was dismissed by the city authorities.  The Sisters then wrote to Ansaldo, who had not been told about Graziella's birth, and strongly advocated for him to rescue his daughter.

### Early Seafaring Career

Shortly before Graziella turned seventeen, Ansaldo arrived in Svyturys, arrived and offered to take Graziella away from her mother.  She eagerly accepted this possibility, and fled to his ship *Corredora* without Diana's consent or knowledge.  When Diana learned about this, she laid a charge of kidnapping against her former husband and tried to get Graziella back ashore.  However, Ansaldo hurriedly sailed in order to fight as a privateer in the Liotainian war against Anitkabir, and the city officials were not able to serve their warrant.

Once at sea, Graziella took on the duties of a young midshipwoman aboard the *Corredora*, choosing to remain on board even when the Ansaldo offered her the opportunity to disembark and live with some of his cousins in Sventoji.  After leaving Svyturys, Graziella began using the Liotainian version of her name (Grazina) in conjunction with her father's surname, Ferrodumond.  While she did not object to others calling her Graziella, she strongly resented being referred to as "Molis."

In 1697, Grazina joined her father and the crew of the *Corredora* in their raid on a pirate haven on the island of Vahlenæmen, Fusou.  Although Grazina was detailed to guard some of the landing party's boats, she found the raid thrilling, and was assigned as leader of a prize crew for one of the captured pirate vessels.

The next few years were spent at sea on her father's ship, although they saw little in the way of action, and mostly worked as well-armed traders on the Astyrian coastline.  *Corredora* possibly engaged in smuggling during this period, and captured at least one further Fusan pirate craft in 1699.  Grazina spent much of this time learning the sailor's trade, and also learned to read.

## Privateer

In 1700, with war looming between Liotain and Firocco, Ansaldo Ferrodumond decided to sell the *Corredora* and purchase a more modern polacre, the *Mistika*, in conjunction with his brother Marius.  Ansaldo and Marius served as co-owners and co-captains, while Grazina served as a junior lieutenant.  Throughout the course of 1701 and 1702, Grazina sailed continually with her father and uncle, serving as a lieutenant in some capacity, often being responsible for taking particularly valuable prizes into Astyrian or Fusan ports, where they could be sold for profit.

### Captain

Privateering in these early years proved exceptionally profitable for the Ferrodumonds and other Liotainian privateers, and in December 1702, Grazina had enough money that she purchased and outfitted the sixteen-gun xebec *Kokete* ("Flirt") as her own personal ship.  While her father and uncle preferred polacre-rigged vessels, Grazina herself preferred the xebec rig; the *Kokete* was highly regarded as an excellent example of the type, being only four years old, built in Svyturys, and having exceptional speed and handling.  Between January and March of 1703, Grazina semi-independently cruised the Astyrian coast, taking five prizes (although one was recaptured several days later).

During the Raid on Balefornia in June 1703, Grazina led a landing party composed of seventy sailors, mostly from the *Kokete*, to seize the Quinta do Magro, the countryside retreat of Count Carlos.  The objective was to capture the Count and hold him for ransom, either for money or in exchange for Liotainian prisoners of war.  Unfortunately, the Count had left a week prior for Damlis, although his family remained in residence.  Grazina and her crew let the countess and her children depart without hindrance, although she reportedly had her crew pry the gilded crest off the doors of their carriage, and took the countess's feathered hat.  The palace was plundered, and Grazina took a number of Countess Madalena's gowns and much of her jewelry - including the countess's tiara, with its 40-carat blue diamond (called the Eye of Sakarra).  Grazina only burned the main hall of the Quinta do Magro, leaving the servants' quarters and several other outbuildings intact.

The raid proved hugely successful for the Liotainian privateers.  The prize court, held by the Ferrodumonds in Pamplonia after the conclusion of the raid, showed that the fleet shares totalled just shy of fifteen million Liotainian florins; the average sailor in the fleet received a payment roughly equal to six years' wages.  Grazina exchanged some of her shares in cash for plunder taken from Quinta do Magro, sharing many of the gowns and jewelry with one of the other captains, Katarin Pereire.

In August, Grazina and four other ships of the Black Cross Fleet also attacked a Firoccan convoy of galleons and trading ships returning from ports in Astyria and Denishu.  The Firoccan escort proved strong enough to beat off the attack, and none of the galleons were captured; but the privateers captured six stragglers, including a ship with a rich cargo of sugar from Denishu.

### Mental Breakdown

For her rather visible role in the raid on Balefornia, Grazina was picked out for particular attention in Firoccan propaganda.  Details of her early life in Svyturys became public and were wildly embellished with increasingly-lurid descriptions.  Felipe, the Pankasmic bishop of Svyturys, declared that Grazina's father was actually a demon, and that her success as a privateer stemmed from witchcraft, occultic shipboard orgies, and virgin sacrifices.  She was increasingly referred to as "the Liotainian Harlot'' by the Firoccan newspapers, and at least one senior member of the Pankasmic Church suggested that she be tried and burned as a witch if captured.  The Svyturys-born painter Haraldo Espindola even produced a painting, unsubtly titled *The Harlot at Her Devilry*, depicting Grazina ejecting Countess Madalena and her three daughters from their burning home.  Many of these wild stories - although acknowledged as Firoccan propaganda - even reached the Liotainian press, and caused Grazina a great deal of anxiety.

In December 1703, Grazina learned that a mob of Syrellian mercenaries stationed in Svyturys, encouraged by Bishop Felipe, had locked her mother in her bathhouse and then burned it down, killing her and nearly a dozen other people.  The mob then sacked and torched the orphanage run by the Sisters of Sventa Laura, murdering seven of the Sisters and a number of local orphans who'd been trapped inside.  This drove Grazina into a complete mental breakdown, and she locked herself in her cabin aboard the *Kokete* for nearly a week.  Ansaldo and Marius both failed to snap her out of her depression, and ended up sending her back to Liotain to live with relatives in Sventoji.  She spent several months in relative seclusion, and strongly considered joining an Orthodox convent.  In May 1704, however, King Karolis requested her appearance at court.  Grazina accepted, and determined to use the occasion to show public defiance to her critics.

Grazina made a dramatic first appearance in court in June, wearing a dress of expensive Kislevite silk taken from Quinta do Magro, as well as Countess Madalena's coronet, which she retained from her shares.  She was warmly welcomed by Karolis, his wife Antanina, and his sister Princess Vilmante (who had been named the organizational commander of the Liotainian Navy).  In their first meeting, Grazina and Vilmante got along extremely well.  In July, Vilmante made Grazina one of her maids-in-waiting, and earnestly requested that Grazina take up a captaincy in the Royal Liotainian Navy.  Grazina initially demurred; but in December 1704, after nearly a year ashore, Vilmante finally prevailed on her to take command of the Liotainian ship-of-the-line *Saltielis ir Reicele*.

## Naval Career

Although she shifted away from the more lucrative privateering career into the Navy, Grazina retained ownership of the *Kokete*, which continued sailing with the Ferrodumonds under Grazina's former lieutenant.  As owner, Grazina continued to receive shares from the ship's privateering.  In addition to this, Grazina quickly recovered her reputation as a daring and fortunate commander.  In March 1705, *Saltielis ir Reicele* slipped into Grappa Bay and recaptured four Liotainian merchant ships taken two weeks earlier by Villafane de Lezo, which included several valuable cargoes.  For this she was commended both by Admiral Adomaitis and Admiral Prince Llyras (Princess Vilmante's husband).

In one of her visits to the fleet, Princess Vilmante introduced Grazina to Armel Quemener, a Breizhoned officer who tried his hand at privateering prior to being recruited into the Navy by Prince Llyras and Princess Vilmante.  Quemener held command of the HLMS *Sv. Jonas Kankinys*, one of the sister-ships of *Saltielis ir Reicele*.  Vilmante's matchmaking hints ultimately proved successful, and Armel and Grazina married in March 1706.  Both remained on duty in the fleet.  Quemener was independently wealthy (although not from his privateering), and as a result the couple were very well-off financially, having a 15th Century castle (Kastell Kerouzere) on the island of Breizh.

During the autumn of 1706, the Liotainian fleet under Admiral Adomaitis, with Prince Llyras acting as second-in-command, felt strong enough to attempt a breakout past the Firoccan fleet guarding the Strait of Moirai.  The two navies brushed up against each other in the Battle of Cape Atropos, but Adomaitis evaded action.  *Saltielis ir Reicele* was in the windward division of the Liotainian line and saw no action, but *Sv. Jonas Kankinys* was in the main body, receiving light damage.

The fleets collided again at the Battle of Rietavas, on 10th April 1707.  *Saltielis ir Reicele* found herself opposite the *Fúria*, a forty-two gun ship-of-the-line converted from a large merchant galleon.  Although nominally similar in size and firepower, the more lightly-built *Fúria* quickly struck to *Saltielis ir Reicele*.  Before the Liotainians could take possession of the ship, *Fúria* caught fire, burned, and exploded, being lost with heavy casualties.  *Saltielis ir Reicele* took damage from the explosion and briefly caught fire herself; but it was extinguished before it could spread.  Further down the line, *Sv. Jonas Kankinys* was also hotly engaged, first with *Santo Casimiro*, which struck to her fire, and then the much larger *Tribunal*, in order to aid the beleaguered HLMS *Perkunas*.

The Liotainians ultimately triumphed in this hard-fought battle; and their victory at Rietavas proved decisive in the course of the war.  As one of the victorious captains present at Rietavas, Grazina was awarded the Order of the White Lion; in addition, she was presented a diamond *chelengk* by Prince Llyras and Princess Vilmante.  Both Armel and Grazina left the naval service in 1708, just prior to the birth of their first child, returning to Armel's home in Breizh.  They eventually had three children together, and adopted six more war orphans.  Grazina made regular appearances at court as one of Princess Vilmante's ladies-in-waiting.

## Trivia

* In 1720, Grazina gave Princess Vilmante the tiara she'd taken from Countess Madalena during the Raid on Balefornia, together with its famous diamond, the Eye of Sakarra.  Both were passed down to Princess Vilmante's great-granddaughter Maurizia, who became Queen of Liotain in 1780; the diamond was separated from the tiara sometime in the 1790s, and incorporated into Maurizia's official state crown, where it remains to this day.

## See also

* Ansaldo Ferrodumond
* Marius Ferrodumond
* Liotainian Privateers

## Quotes

* "You needn't fear, countess; we are not here to kill you or defile your daughters; nor shall we carry you off to be sold abroad or ransomed.  For this is not Telsai, and we are not your king's hired scum.  You shall have leave of your carriage, its horses, and your footmen, the better to speed you on your way.  But I believe I shall have your hat, for it is quite handsome.  Good day, madam!" - *Alleged speech to the Countess of Balefornia*.
* "An attractive vessel crafted by the finest shipwrights; though narrow of beam from stem to stern, nor over-long between figurehead and sternpost, built sturdy to weather the storm. Her sails are dark and crisp, with nary a line or stay out of place, trimmed for speed, with cunning banners shifting in the gentle breeze. And though her hull is a-glitter with the flash of ornamented bowsprit and stern-galleries, it is a most tasteful decor, not boastful of battle-honours claimed nor sea-leagues speeding away under her keel. No doubt a lucky ship, but also a capable one, to be respected and feared in the line of battle..." - *Armel Quemener describing his future wife in a letter to a friend.*
* "Uz Sventąja Laura, uz Sventąja Jurata, ir Viespaties teisinguma!" (tr. 'For Saint Laura, for Saint Jurate, and the justice of the Lord!') - *Grazina's battle-cry during boarding actions; the phrase was printed on a flag flown aboard her ship at the Battle of Rietavas.*