In an entry retrieved May 26, 1855, Wikikenna editors Wrote:Princess Asta Rhonda Haddock (November 10, AD 1042-October 16, AD 1122), the firstborn child of Hiccup and Wulfhild Haddock, was an early Norse scientist of the Dragon Era, whose areas of interest included biology, anatomy, botany, mathematics, geology, paleontology, and cartography.  Taught by her father, she also completed a full course of education at Waterford University.  As one of the foremost early alumni of that institution, she achieved formal recognition as a Master of Natural Philosophy three times over during the course of her career (and is considered to be the founder of the fields of modern geology and paleontology as a result, based on her published studies of the fossils and sedimentary layers of Europa and the northern Vestrilands), in addition to the collaborative research work she engaged in, especially with her other siblings.

While she advised her half-sister, the Empress Valka II, on scientific matters, she actively shunned involvement into politics, viewing them as a distraction from her scientific work…

(06-08-2020, 09:08 PM)classicdrogn Wrote: Despite having been marked complete three days ago, the Tarvek-gets-Peggy-Sued Girl Genius fic Prince of Time]https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/prince-of-time-girl-genius.856662/threadmarks?threadmark_category=16]Prince of Time has gotten four more decently long updates showing the progression of events from other characters' viewpoints. Cliffc999 appears to be torn between confused and dismayed at its refusal to accept being tied off and done so he can get back to his previously ongoing project.

Quote:…this is not to say that all of Ingerman's early espionage actions were missteps. While her first year as Berk's spymaster featured a large number of missed opportunities, other opportunities were seized on, including the creation of a network of information gatherers paralleling the initial Dragon Mail routes and the uncovering of several plots against Berk. Still, her early focus was, unsurprisingly, more on the recruitment of information sources and potential field agents. It was not until later that the need for analysts and organizational clerks became apparent in the face of the scope of Berk's potential fields of interest across Europe and beyond.

These early days of the North Sea Empire's intelligence services offer a valuable case study in the field of espionage when it comes to the scale of an intelligence service. Many of the feudal spymasters of the European kingdoms were around Ingerman's initial levels of sophistication, but their concerns tended to be provincial at the behest of their feudal lords and thus needed no further sophistication beyond what could be handled by a single person or at most a small group of people. Berk, in aiming for a sphere of influence spanning an entire continent and beyond, required an espionage service scaled to suit. As such, seeing the early failures and successes of Ingerman's tenure—and the inspirations and lessons that she drew upon, from her husband, her mentor, her fellow agents, and even the more sophisticated espionage services of the Byzantine Empire, the Vatican, and beyond—is a potent reminder of not overreaching one's institutions and structuring them to fit the actual needs facing that institution.

—Statecraft: The Great Game Of Diplomacy, Espionage & War By Other Means, 1732, Rouen University Press