Aušra of Kretnga

Aušra of Kretnga
Portrait by Šarune Paksys
Pukias Sualkaranė
Reign	22 December 1601 – 4 September 1664
Predecessor	Skaidre the Tall
Successor	Žydrune II of Ravumo
Born	(1578-06-11)11 June 1578 Kretnga, Silua
Died	4 September 1664(1664-09-04) (aged 86) Ravumo, Silua
Burial	Ravumo Mausoleum of the Sun and Moon
Spouse	Ovidijus Bekeriene (m. 1598)
Issue	Skirmante, Gintare, Laimonas
Full name Aušra Vainauskus of Kretnga
Father	Matas Vainuaskiene
Mother	Raminta Vainuaskus, Karova of Kretnga
Religion	Kuvo
Military career
Allegiance	Silua
Service/branch	Siluan Army
Years of service	1595 - 1648
Rank	Commander-in-chief of the Siluan Army (1601 - 1664)
Unit	3rd Army of the East (1595-1601) 6th Army of Sun (1602-1648)
Commands held	22nd Husaras Pulkas
Battles/wars	Ogre War Second Vanuaskas War Exodus War Third War of the South Stoni War

Aušra of Kretnga was the Pukias Sualkaranė of Silua from 1601-1664. Aušra expanded the borders of Silua at the expense of its neighbors, most notably Shalum, and is frequently rated as one of the best military leaders of the 17th century.

Childhood and family

Aušra was born in Kretnga, seat of the Kretnga military district, on 22 December 1578 amidst one of the coldest winters ever recorded in Eracura. Her mother was Raminta Vainauskus, the korava (military governor) of Kretnga and the daughter of the Siluan war hero Ona Vainauskus. Her father was Matas Vainuaskiene, the son of exiled High Princess Ieva of Ogre. The marriage between Raminta and Matas was arranged by Skaidre the Tall in the hopes that the two would produce a daughter that could lay legal claim to the Ogre Principality which was under Shalumite control at the time.

The two were wed on 10 February 1568 when Raminta was 20 years of age and Matas was 16. The couple's first three children all died within the first year of life. In 1570 Raminta gave birth to a son, Gediminas, who would survive and live to the age of 60. From 1571 - 1576 Raminta was in near constant service in the Siluan border regions as Silua defended against incursions from several nations. After the conclusion of the conflict in 1576, Raminta once again began trying for a daughter. On 22 December 1578 she gave birth to twin girls, Aušra and Ugne.

As was common at the time, the two daughters of Raminta were not raised by thier mother as she was still in active service with the Siluan army. They were instead raised by thier younger aunt, Laima Rabaciauskas, who also acted as thier wet nurse. When the girls were ten years old, Laima enrolled Aušra in the military school of the Kretnga temple of Sual as she was the elder twin and Ugne was sent to study at the Kretnga College of Arts and Administration as the younger twin.

Aušra and Ugne were very close as children and were said to be inseparable from the moment they were born. They would frequently share thier lessons with each other, which benefited Aušra immensely later in life. The two would continue thier close relationship late into life, often supporting each other after Aušra was nominated and confirmed as Pukias Sualkaranė.

Early adult years and military service

Early military service

At the age of 16, Aušra was officially assigned to Siluan Army. She was placed in a provisional hussar company in the 3rd Army of the East along the eastern Siluan border and saw her first combat action four months after her sixteenth birthday in April of 1595. At the time, The Northern Coalition led by XXXX was at war with Silua and was attempting to wrest control of the eastern region of Petrašiūnai from Silua. Initially, Siluan commanders were of the opinion that the war would be over in matter of months, but the Northern Coalition proved a much tougher opponent than the generals thought and the war lasted five years, from 1595-1600.

During the course of the war, Aušra distinguished herself on numerous occasions and by the time of the war's end in 1600 she had been promoted to the rank of Fourth General and was in command of the 22nd Husaras Pulkas. During the war, her commanders and fellow soldiers noted her extreme courage, strength, tactical savvy. On more than one occasion, she was said to have withdrawn from an engagement that would have caused too great a toll on her subordinate troops only to return to the fray in a much stronger position and devastate her opponents. It was in part this battlefield ingenuity that led to her nomination by Skaidre the Tall for the position of Pukias Sualkaranė in the final months of 1600.

Off-duty life

Between engagements, Aušra read voraciously and was known to consume whatever texts she could get a hold of. These included Siluan, Saldian, various Nordic, ancient Makedonian, and Ridevan works of fiction and nonfiction alike. Among the many books that Aušra read, she was said to have found those concerning Siluan Predominance Theory, military treatises, and the often condemned sensual literature of Tennai exceptionally enthralling. These varieties of literature would inform her early political career and lead to widespread rumors regarding her sexuality which were only partially quelled by her marriage to Ovidijus Bekeriene in 1598 and the birth of her children following her confirmation as Pukias Sualkaranė.

During her early years of military service, Aušra developed her Pan Siluan philosophy which she would publish shortly after her ascension to Siluan leadership. Encapsulated in her philosophy was the idea that all those of Siluan and closely related ethno-linguistic groups should either belong to a single nation (presumably Silua) or at the very least a tightly-knit alliance of these peoples. On assuming the head position of Siluan government in 1601, Aušra further developed her philosophy and used it as partial justification for many of the wars she fought during her long tenure as Pukias Sualkaranė.

In early 1597, Skaidre the Tall took note of Aušra's military successes and academic interests and made a series of visits to the young Aušra's unit and by the middle of the year, she had begun to groom Aušra for the the role of Pukias Sualkranė. Also by the end of 1597, Skaidre had arranged a marriage for Aušra with the son of the prominent Bekerys military and religous family. Aside from the advantages of having such a doubly powerful and influential family tied to the top position in Siluan government, it has also been theorized that Skaidre also made this particular arrangement to help smother rumors of what was considered deviant sexual behaviour by the leading Kuvo religious leaders of the time. Skaidre herself had been at the center of rumors concerning her sexuality throughout her tenure as Pukias Sualkaranė and it has been theorized that aliging Aušra with a well known religious family was an attempt to help Aušra avoid the challenges to her rule that Skaidre had faced.

While the 3rd Army of the east was camped for the winter, Aušra and Ovidijus Bekeryte were married in January of 1598.

Advisors and councils

Ugne Vainuaskus

A modern portait of Ugne Vainuaskas

Ugne Vainuaskas was the twin sister of Aušra and is almost universally considered the most skilled and successful of her advisors by historians of the modern era. Although twins, Ugne was reported to have been born an hour after Aušra which made her both the second born and youngest daughter of her mother Raminta by Siluan legal standards of the 16th century. As the both the second-born and youngest daughter of a prestigous Siluan family she was assigned an education that focused on the arts, administration, politics, and diplomacy instead of the military education given to the eldest daughter and those following after the second.

During the course of her education, Ugne reportedly impressed her teachers and tutors so thoroughly with her keen intelligence, cleverness, charisma, and dogged determination that they would frequently allow her into discourses usually reserved for the most knowledgeable and prestigous of scholars and philosophers.

With her excellent performance at the Kretnga College of Arts and Administration, Ugne was frequently able to visit Aušra while her sister was on campaign with the army. The two would spend hours in discussion, with Ugne sharing much of what she learned with Aušra, and often only retiring to rest in the morning after a whole night of discussion. These visits from Ugne provided Aušra with a valuable secondary education which provided her with important political, administrative, and diplomatic skills that would later be invaluable to her as Pukias Sualkaranė. These conversations also served to strengthen the already strong bond between the sisters.

During Aušra's term as Pukias Sualkaranė, Ugne was perhaps the most important and competent of her advisors. Many of Aušra's most important and influential policies and pieces of legislation were either co-produced with Ugne or constructed almost entirely by Ugne herself. As well as the important role that Ugne played in the administration of Silua, she was also very successful and important to Siluan international diplomacy during Aušra's tenure as Pukias Sualkaranė. She traveled extensively throughout Eracura, strengthening ties with Silua's allies and extracting favorable agreements from nations treated as neutral and enemies alike. Her charisma and diplomatic prowess when dealing with Shalum is generally treated as equally influential as Aušra's military victories in the successful conclusion of the Reunification Wars which saw the incorporation of a large swathe of eastern Shalum into Silua.

The Council of Foreign Born Siluans

Resep Liseu

Siluan leaders had in the past, on rare occasions, taken a few foreign born inhabitants of Silua into their retinues. This was generally done to provide linguistic expertise to Siluan leaders as well as provide insights into other nations. Aušra took the idea of incorporating foreign born citizens into her retinue and formalized it with the creation of the Council of Foreign Born Siluans. The expressed purpose of the council was to provide Aušra with knowledge of her neighbors and nations further abroad, enchance diplomatic endeavors with the use of individuals knowledgeable of other nations, and also espionage when needed.

Two of the better known members of the council were Resep Liseu, a Gylic hailing from a small state in the Liúşai League and Annika Breuer of Blackburn, the daughter of a minor branch of the greater House of Blackburn.

Resep Liseu

Resep Liseu came to Silua when she joined a Siluan mercantile company while in a Liúşai port city after being forced into exile. She was highly educated and had traveled extensively within Siduri and met Aušra for the first time during the winter 1598 while delivering a shipment supplies to the front lines of the war against the Northern Coalition. Aušra and Resep were said to have spent several weeks of the winter encampment in discussion of Resep's travels within Siduri. Aušra was so captivated by what she heard that she asked that a diplomatic officer be assigned to Resep in case she needed to make use of her knowledge in the future. In 1604, Aušra offered Resep a position on the Council of Foreign Born Siluans, which she accepted. Over the course of Aušra's long tenure as Pukias Sualkaranė, Resep was instrumental in expanding Siluan trade in Siduri as well as establishing formal and regular relations with many of the major Sidurian powers of the time such as Arkoenn and Tennai. Resep was generally impressed by Aušra and wrote in her memoir:

"Much unlike the common description of Northerners found in Southern lands, Aušra displays a deep love of culture to include literature, poetry, and musical composition. She has a keen mind for not only war, but also diplomacy and administration and I have never met a Northerner so enamored with life and the desire to celebrate it. Many nights of drunken carousing and the resulting hangovers of the following day can provide ample witness to this zest for life."

Annika Breuer of Blackburn

Annika Breuer of Blackburn

Annika Breuer of Blackburn was the youngest daughter of the Breuer minor branch of House Blackburn. As the youngest daughter of a minor branch, her father sought to increase Breuer power and prestige through marriage to a more prominent and powerful family. To this end he arranged a marriage for fifteen year-old Annika with forty year-old Bastian Blum, a powerful member of the Blum branch family of House Holland. The two were married on 12 March 1595 and soon after Annika took up residence within the Blum estate.

Later writings by Annika note her displeasure with the arrangements her father made for her marriage and also the lack of agency she and other young women of Shalum of the time had. Despite her great displeasure with the marriage and calling Bastian an “uncaring and cold fop” Annika describes her marriage as an “lovely escape from her family and marriage politics”. Bastian was rarely at the Blum estate and would frequently spend weeks or months at a time socializing with close male companions or showcasing his son to other major Shalumite families. This lack of presence gave Annika much time to herself as Bastian’s family rarely interacted with her either.

Annika spent her ample free time either immersed in the Blum’s substantial library or riding in the countryside with her handmaid Charlotte Müller. Of the multitude of volumes that the young woman read, those by Siluan epicists and poets delighted her the most. In these writings Annika saw independent and fierce women engaging in exciting adventures and engaging in torrid affairs with whichever men or women they chose. The idea that a woman could be independent of men and control her own destiny resonated deeply with the young noblewoman who eventually resolved to escape from her marriage in whatever way she could.

Little is known of the exact details, but Annika left the Blum estate in 1600 with the family unaware of her absence for many months afterward. Of the many theories that surround Annika’s exodus from the Blum estate and her eventual appearance in Silua, those describing her handmaid as the facilitator of her seemingly uneventful departure have gained the most support in modern academic circles. Blum records of the period describe the death of Annika and her handmaid and their subsequent burial while writings by Annika and Ugne Vainuaskus give identical descriptions of a woman described by Annika as her handmaid Charlotte and by Unge as a spy by the name of Nata Legzdiņa. These writings along with several other documents are frequently cited as evidence for Charlotte Müller and Nata Legzdiņa being the same person and that Annika’s entry into Silua was a well planned endeavor supported by the Siluan state.

In February of 1602, Annika is recorded as the first member of Aušra’s Council of Foreign Born Siluans after she took up residence in the Palace of the Moon in Ravumo. Almost immediately after joining the council, Annika could be seen accompanying the Siluan leader as she met with both House Blackburn representatives and also envoys from the Siluan ethnic communities within Shalum. Annika’s extensive knowledge of Shalumite power politics and the Shalumite noble houses proved a valuable asset to Aušra who used the knowledge to great effect in her dealings with Shalum.

Leading up to, and very frequently during the series of wars collectively known as he Reunification Wars in Silua, Annika would make trips to Shalum and visit with Shalumite nobles who were often shocked to see her attired in military clothing, with both a saber and pistol at her side, and also leaders of communities within Shalumite territories dominated by Siluan ethnic groups. These trips are thought to have served as means to persuade some Shalumite nobles to look the other way in the wars, rally support for the Siluan war effort among ethnic Siluans and Nordics alike, and also provide opportunities for espionage. Despite the shocking “manly attire and mannerisms” of Annika, surviving journals and letters of Shalumites who interacted with her describe Annika as such:

“A beautiful and charming woman with a silver tongue and the tenacity and ferocity of an enraged boar. She disarms you with a lovely smile and then cuts you down with honeyed tones and eloquent words. A truly formidable and devilish woman to make you beat you breast raw.”

Annika was said to have traveled everywhere with Aušra, even joining the Siluan leader in whatever suite of rooms she occupied and also traveling with her on campaign. This, along with what little time Aušra spent with her husband, and reported frequent intimate moments between the two women helped fuel rumors of an amorous relationship between Annika and Aušra. Within Siluan society and religion of the time, dalliances or romances outside of marriage were commonplace, especially amongst the wealthy elite and were accepted as normal. On the other hand, the strict dichotomies that governed Siluan social and religious life found the idea of bisexuality anathematic. Aušra, as a woman with a husband, was branded a bisexual when her purported romantic engagement with Annika, another woman, became the subject of widespread gossip within Siluan elite society and Kuvo temples.

Rumors of Aušra’s and Annika’s bisexual relationship would follow them throughout Aušra’s tenure as Pukias Sualkaranė with both women neither confirming or denying the rumors publicly. Though their romantic engagement has never been recorded in any known official documents, personal writings from both Aušra and Annika give strong indications of such a relationship. Among the intimate lines produced by these women, one from Annika’s personal journal on the day of 25 June 1610 is considered the strongest proof of the women’s relationship;

“Oh but her face is so radiant to look upon that I find myself unable to keep my eyes on hers. When she sees me turn away, I can sense a smile on her face before she gingerly takes my chin and turns my face up to hers. When then I find myself gazing deeply into those radiant, viridescent pools my heart races like a fox from hounds. And it is not simply that I am gazing into her eyes that my heart palpitates so, but also that soon I will be rendered utterly weak by the wholeness of her glorious form before she takes my meager and humble shell unto her.”

Foreign policy

Foreign policy during Aušra's time as Pukias Sualkaranė focused primarily on strengthing ties with Silua's tradtional allies such as Ossoria and absorbing or putting under direct influence ethnically Siluan and related ethnic communities in northern Eracura. The latter occured through a series of successful wars fueled by a Pan-Siluan idealology developed and promoted by Aušra herself. The former was a diplomatic campaign orchestrated be Aušra's twin sister and chief advisor, Ugne Vainuaskus.

Pan-Siluanism

Pan-Siluanism, a movement which crystallized in the early 17th century, is the political ideology concerned with the advancement of integrity and unity for the Siluan peoples. Its main impact occurred in Northern Eracura, where non-Siluan empires and kingdoms had ruled various Siluan ethnic groups for centuries. These were mainly Shalum and other neighboring Nordic states.

Extensive pan-Siluanism grew from the sense of unity and nationalism experienced within ethnic groups after the subjugation of Siluan ethnic groups and the conflicts of the 16th century with the various Nordic powers of northern Eracura. Like other nationalist movements, Siluan intellectuals and scholars in the developing fields of history, philology, and folklore actively encouraged the passion of their shared identity and ancestry.

Commonly used symbols of the Pan-Siluan movement were the Pan-Siluan colours (black and yellow) and the Pan-Siluan anthem, ‘’Rise Siluans’‘.

The movement began taking hold within Siluan ethnic communities during the Northern Wars of the 16th century. Some of the earliest manifestations of Pan-Siluan movement thought within Shalum have been attributed to Ēra Birziņ in the 16th century and Vida Riekstina in the 17th century. Aušra picked up on the rising Pan-Siluan sentiment she encountered while on campaign in the late 16th century before rising to the position of Pukias Sualkaranė and began to write the Siluan Nation. Within the Siluan Nation, Aušra called for unity amongst all Siluan ethnicities and the violent expulsion of the “Nordic barbarians” from the ancestral and holy lands of the Siluan peoples.

During her tenure as Pukias Sualkaranė, Aušra widely distributed Siluan Nation throughout northern Eracura and her sister Ugne Vainuaskus also traveled extensively promoting the ideas of the Pan-Siluan movement. The actions of both women are credited with instigating the Reunification Wars which began with the Principality of Ogre electing to join the Siluan Hegemony in 1607. Following the success of the Ogre War, the Pan-Siluanism movement rapidly overtook and overwhelmed the attempts of Shalum and other Nordic nations to stymie independence and unification movements within their Siluan ethnic communities. The Pan-Siluan movement of Aušra not only drastically altered the borders of northern Eracura, but it ushered in an era of proto-nationalism in Eracura that slowly evolved into what is considered its mature form in the 18th century. Only following the end of the Eracuran war of the 20th century did this nationalism begin to subside.

Reunification Wars

During the course of Aušra's rule she engaged in a series of wars that saw the reclamation of territory lost to Shalum in the Vanuaskas War of 1517-1520 and also the incorporation of large swathe of eastern Shalum occupied primarily by Siluan ethnic groups. These wars were collectively known as the Reunification Wars in Silua and are among the most widely documented of the time period.

Aušra of Kretnga leading her army during the Ogre War

Ogre War (1607-1609)

The Ogre War was the first of the Reunification Wars fought by Aušra and set the stage for a series victories over Shalum. Early in the 15th century Silua had stopped its westward expansion to focus on consolidating its territory and strengthening its economic postition in the region. This left numerous independent and small prinicipalities, queendoms, and republics inhabited primarily by Siluan ethno-linguistic groups sandwhiched between the Siluan Hegemony and the Shalumite House Blackburn. By the turn of the 16th century, the majority of these small states had been absorbed by the Shalumite House Blackburn. While the former independent bodies of government remained, they held no power and House Blackburn took over governance on all levels.

With the traditional political structures of these formerly independent territories gone, dissatisfaction spread among the traditional political elites of the new Blackburn territories. Subsequent Blackburn suppression of certain religous and cultural practices among the predominantly Kuvo and ethnic Siluan populations created widespread unrest and fueled spread of Pan-Siluan ideas across the Blackburn controlled ethnically Siluan lands.

This came to a head in 1562 when the Blackburns ousted High Princess Ieva of Ogre and forced her into exile. Following the ouster of the Ogre high princess, Count Karl Peucker was proclaimed High Prince of Ogre. These actions served to enrage the whole of Ogre from the local nobility to the landworking commoners. Observers of the time described Ogre as a "barrel of powder with a slowly burning fuse".

By March 1607, the social elites and township leaders of Ogre had drafted a declaration stating that Blackburn sovereignty was illegal and that that only the true heir to the Ogre throne, Aušra of Kretnga, could legally claim the title of High Princess. This quickly led to vote among the township leaders who unamimously voted to join the Siluan Hegemony. Having been well informed of everything occuring in Ogre, Aušra had readied her army to enter Ogre as soon as word of the election results were recieved. Though the first clash between Siluan and Blackburn armies had yet to occur, historians generally agree that conflict began in May of 1607 when Aušra led her army across the Siluan border into Ogre.

Incensed at the invasion of its territory, House Blackburn gathered its forces and first engaged with Aušra in June of 1607 near the Ogre township of Ludza. The Battle of Ludza was the first of many crushing defeats the Blackburns recieved at the hands of Aušra. Aušra's highly professional army, innovative tactics and military science, and her staunch leadership proved higly effective against the Shalumite armies of the time who were overwhelmed with the speed, efficiency, and quality of the Siluan armies.

In November of 1609 an exhausted and demoralized Shalumite leadership met with Ugne Vainuaskus who secured a highly favorable peace. Shalum relinquished all claims to Ogre, accepted Siluan control of Ogre, and payed indemnities to Silua. Also a part of the treaty was the provision for Shalumite settlers and officials to either remain in Silua and accept Siluan suzerainty or be provided safe passage into Shalum. Nearly all Blackburn officials and some 60% of Shalumite settlers chose to leave for Shalum.

With Ogre under Siluan control, the conquered Siluan territory of Vanuaskas was cut off from all direct land routes to Shalum, leaving only one major port as means of efficiently supplying the Blackburn armies of the territory. This was a strategic boon to Aušra who used it to great advantage in the Second Vanuaskas War.

Domestic policy

The domestic policies of Aušra focused on strengthening the economy and protecting trade, expanding education, promotion and patronization of the arts, and strengthing Silua's maritime capabilities. With the assistance of her talented and capable twin sister Unge Vainuaskus, Aušra was highly successful in instituting her numerous policies and reforms. Some historians have even commented that "instead of a single capable woman leading with a singular purpose, you instead had two highly capable women working as one towards a common goal."

Education

Academic, non-military education was something reserved for the wealthy and expanding middle class of Silua during the course of the 16th century as it was in many nations across Eracura. This had the effect of creating a large, undereducated population of poor and usually landworking citizens. The lack of education among the poor also had the effect of stifling creativity and innovation which was at times exacerbated by the military focus of Siluan governments. During her military service prior to becoming Pukias Sualkaranė, Aušra saw first hand the effects that a lack of education had on the poor of Silua and its neighbors and she became convinced of the need of least a basic education for all Siluan citizens, rich and poor alike.

Upon assuming leadership of the Siluan government, Aušra conferred with her sister and chief advisor, Ugne Vainuaskus, concerning methods of putting into practice Aušra's idea of a basic universal education. After several years of planning and convincing of the Siluan elite class and leaders of the Siluan polities, Aušra introduced the Švietimo Mandatas (Educational Mandate) in 1610. The mandate opened schools that had previously catered exclusively to the wealthy and middle class to all citizens. It also created state-owned and administered general schools in all Siluan polities that served primarily the poor and also made basic education compulsory from the ages of 8-16. As was the case in many parts of Tyran at the time, a major reason impoverished children did not attend school regularly, aside from lack of access, was the need for families to have every possible member of a family working. To help ease the burden that having a child away at school would place on an impoverished family, the mandate provided for a small stipend for each child an impoverished family had in school. To offset the cost of this educational reform, small increases to tariffs and the creation of an early income tax for the wealthty and businesses were instituted.

Though Aušra is often given credit for the Švietimo Mandatas, many scholars and Aušra herself give much of the credit for it to her sister Ugne. Aušra and historians both credit Ugne's great intelligence, charisma, and persistence for the success in both drafting an implementing the educational reform. She is also awareded praise for the ease with which she was able to convince the wealthy elites of Silua to provide both thier full support and also monetary contributions to allow the program to thrive.

Patron of the arts

The arts, especially literature and opera were two areas for which Aušra had a very keen interest. Aušra was an avid reader and amateur novelist who was said to have a personal library that rivaled many national libraries of the time. After her assumption of the head of Siluan government, she invested large amounts of her own personal wealth into the patronizing of writers such as novelists Juta Kiuras and Lilija Didvalis, poets Rusne Rusilas and Annelies Hillerin, and the playwright Frida Bzezinskas. For much of Siluan history, most libraries were operated by Kuvo religious orders with only a small number of secularly operated libraries existing in some of the larger urban areas of the nation. During the administration of Aušra, an estimated 4,000 secularly operated libraries were created either through the conversion of old structures or the construction of entirely new buildings. This large increase in the availability of written materials coupled with Aušra's educational expansions and reforms are credited with transforming Silua into one of the most literate nations of the era, a legacy which carries on into the modern period.

Opera in 1601 was a young art form, with the earliest composition considered an opera, as understood today, being Džiuginta by Saldian composer Luka written in 1595. By the time Aušra had risen to Pukias Sualkaranė in 1601, opera had spread from Saldia and had become well entrenched within the large urban centers of Silua. It was during the period of 1595 and 1600, when she was not on campaign with the army, that Aušra became familiar with the emerging art form and quickly became enamored by it. This love of the art was made evident when the newly seated Pukias Sualkaranė on addressing a crowd in Ravumo, was reported as saying;

If there is an art form that matches opera in its perfection, then only the words of poets and the [novelists] come close to comparing. I shall therefore raise opera up as the national artform and make it available to all.

During the rule of Aušra, opera exploded in popularity throughout Silua and thousands of operas were written and performed in the more than six decades of her rule. With the increasing popularity of opera at home, Aušra promoted the art form abroad by sending performers abroad and inviting foreign composers and dignitaries to observe performances. Of those that were most influenced by Siluan opera were the Cacertan composer XXXX who successfully adapted and developed a uniquely Cacertan variety of opera and the Gylic composer Teisa Jaréy who did much the same for the Gylics of the Liúşai League.

Alongside the promotion and patronization of opera, Aušra constructed the first Tyran national opera house in Ravumo and also supported the construction of many more opera houses throughout the polities that comprised Silua.

Merchant navy and navy

Throughout much of Silua's history through the end of the 16th century, Siluan leaders had opted to maintain a small navy whose primary focus was to curb piracy and patrol the Siluan coast. The idea was that Siluan allies, such as inhabitancts of the Ossorian islands, in times of conflict would provide the bulk of naval power while Silua would provide the bulk of land forces. By the end of the 16th century though, it was evident that to successfully compete with the other powers of northern Eracura, Silua needed a much more robust naval presense. In 1605, Aušra issued the Vanuaskas Naval Decree, which called for the construction of 40 new heavy warships and 60 new lighter warships of "narrow beam and reduced draft". In order to gain the necessary experience and skills required for this ambitious program, Aušra sent 300 naval officers and scores of shipbuilders to the Ossorian islands. On thier return home in 1610, the Siluan naval officers began the task of training other officers and ship crews while the shipbuilders began preparing and expanding Siluan shipyards. Also within the Vanuaskas Naval Decree was a call for the creation of a fleet consisting of an "adequate number" of armed merchant vessels to provide logistical and troop transporting capabilities.

The ambitious goals of the decree, were ultimately carried out successfully. This success drastically reduced Siluan dependence on its allies for naval power, though not entirely, and provided Silua with a means to project its military power with greater ease throughout northern Eracura.

As general

Aušra of Kretnga was an extremely able military commander. Her innovative tactical integration of infantry, cavalry, logistics and particularly her use of artillery, earned her the title of the "Mother of Modern Warfare". Future commanders who studied and admired Aušra include XXXX and XXXX. Her advancements in military science made Silua the dominant Northern Eracuran power for the next one hundred years. Aušra was the main figure responsible for the success of Siluan arms during the Reunification Wars and led her nation to great prestige. As a general, Aušra is famous for employing mobile artillery on the battlefield, as well as very aggressive tactics, where attack was stressed over defense, and mobility and cavalry initiative were emphasized.

Among other innovations, she installed an early form of combined arms in her formations, where the cavalry could attack from the safety of an infantry line reinforced by cannon, and retire again within to regroup after their foray. She adopted much shallower infantry formations than were common in the pike and shot armies of the era, with formations typically fighting in 5 or 6 ranks, occasionally supported at some distance by another such formation—the gaps being the provinces of the artillery and cavalry as noted above. Her artillery were themselves different—she would not let herself be hindered by cumbersome heavy cannon, but instead over a course of experimentation settled on smaller, more maneuverable weapons, in effect fielding the first light field artillery in history in significant numbers.

These were grouped in batteries supporting her more linearly deployed formations, replacing the cumbersome and unmaneuverable traditional deep squares (such as the Tercios that were up to 50 ranks deep) used in other pike and shot armies of the day. In consequence, her forces could redeploy and reconfigure very rapidly, confounding her enemies.

Her armies were very well trained for the day, so that her musketeers were widely known for their firing accuracy and reload speed: three times faster than any contemporary rivals. Later generals considered her one of the greatest generals of all time. She was also renowned for the consistency of purpose and the amity of her troops—no one part of her armies was considered better or received preferred treatment, as was common in other armies where the cavalry were the elite, followed by the artillery, and both disdained the lowly infantry. In Aušra’s army the units were extensively cross trained. Both cavalry and infantry could service the artillery, as her heavy cavalry did when turning captured artillery on the opposing Shalumite Tercios at the battle of Luakas. Pikemen could shoot—if not as accurately as those designated musketeers—so a valuable firearm could be kept in the firing line. Her infantrymen and gunners were taught to ride, if needed.

Reengineering

Aušra was a very forward thinking military engineer. She reengineered the way in which her army worked, with simple innovations that proved devastating to her adversaries. One example of this was the Siluan cavalry system. Cavalry had been pushed to the fringes of military worth and had been largely neutralized by the tercios. They were being ineffectively used to charge the enemy front or flank, fire broadsides with pistols and muskets and then retreat to reload and reform. However, Aušra used light cannons (reengineered to have 3 standard calibers, one of which was eventually called "The Regimental Cannon,") along with muskets to eliminate enemy pikemen, then the cavalry would swoop in and cut through enemy lines with lances and sabers.

Aušra then faced the problem of equipping this newly raised army. To do so, she thought it necessary to make sure everyone had the same equipment. Standardizing this way makes mass production, training and maintenance much easier. The major reform was reducing the weight of the musket. The musket was also standardized in caliber. Perhaps Aušra’s greatest contribution however, was her work in artillery. Making the artillery lighter and more maneuverable gave her the option of moving around instead of being in a fixed position. She formed an army that was quick to attack but also could defend.

Personal life

When not governing or leading armies Aušra spent much time of her time reading, viewing concerts and operatic performances, and riding in the countryside of Silua. Except for her sister Ugne, Annika of Blackburn, and a few close advisors and friends, the Siluan leader kept very little company. Historians of the time noted that Aušra typically eschewed socializing with the wealthy elite of Silua, instead often spending time with her closest friends amongst the taverns and bawdy playhouses of the poor and middle class neighborhoods. Aušra's nights of carousing in taverns with Annika of Blackburn were especially well known among the common people and several bawdy plays and songs were written concerning the the two women, a fact which seemed to delight the Siluan leader.

Aušra had three children with her husband, despite spending very little time in his company. They were her daughters Skirmante and Gintare and a son, Laimonas. Much like herself and her sister Ugne, all of her children were raised by a close relative while Aušra was actively campaigning with the Siluan Army.