The Yggdrasil Project

The Yggdrasil Project was an ambitious biotechnical research project spearheaded by an international collaboration between the Very Definitely Independent States, the Hegemony of Whales, and Shaster. The project began life as an idle side project of the inimitable Dr. Stafford during a guest teaching stint at the National Academy of Velskyavo, which goes a ways toward explaining the project's success in the face of Shastrian involvement.

The basic idea of the project was to create a new form of life that could cleanse the oceans of centuries of industrial pollution. Dr. Stafford's notes suggested taking advantage of the distinctive properties of the oceanic environment; thus, it was decided some kind of plant would work best. The final shape of the organism evolved over the course of the project; while it was initially modeled after kelp, the nascent Yggdrasil organism soon began to take after terrestrial trees in shape.

It is appropriate at this point to note that the various participants had different objectives for the project. Shaster's motives, as ever where Dr. Stafford is concerned, are entirely transparent: they've never missed a chance to be involved with one of his projects. As such, their involvement was mostly nominal. The Very Definitely Independent States, on the other hand, had more than the glory of a Stafford project at stake: a successful collaboration with the Hegemony would cement their position on the international stage. But that motivator proved to be the project's undoing.

As the project progressed, the Hegemony of Whales began to push for an additional project goal: the ability to control Hegemony territory. Flandre had always been a thorn in the Hegemony's side, especially given their flaunting the recently instituted Whale Tariffs, and of course they'd never been on the best of terms with the Panark Fleet. To appease the cetacean pressure, the other actors on the project quickly moved to appease them. Thus, in addition to filtering out toxins from the water, the organism was also given prehensile tentacles strong enough to drag a boat below the surface.

After years of development, the Yggdrasil Project was declared complete in 939, after which they hired the Esoteric Order of Florists to plant them all over the world. But no sooner had Hegemon Aouwouou unveiled the first fully-grown forest of Ravenous Squid-Trees on live television did they seize and devour her before disbelieving witnesses. Reeling in shock, the Hegemony did the only thing they could, and blamed Flandre.

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Most Honored Pierce Milton