The Umbrian Academy of Science

The Umbrian Academy of Science is one of the most illustrious professional organizations in the entire Republic. Nearly as old as the formation of the Republic itself, the Academy has drawn the brightest minds in math and science for the better part of four hundred years.

While nominally a public institution, the Academy is a frequent beneficiary of the Republic's elite, with several philanthropic trusts established to manage huge endowments which supports its efforts. This autonomy has created friction with the government itself, especially when the peoples' representatives disagree with the pronouncements of the Academy's experts.

The relationship between the two have grown more strained in recent times, as various intelligence departments, design bureaus, and military research and development labs have attempted to poach talent from amongst the Academy's members. The last straw would come when the Senate passed a hidden rider in a spending bill stipulating that all additional research into [---Redacted---] would be handled by the Republic's military apparatus.

The result has been a simmering dispute amongst the Republic's intellectual elite, which many concede has had an adverse impact on its development and growth. Those hard feelings would persist to the beginning of the war with the Ascomanni, as the Academy initially refused to assist in the war effort.

As time went on and news of defeat after defeat came rolling in from the Frontier, the Academy finally decided that they could ill afford to remain on the sidelines. While the Academy made the first move to heal the division between itself and the military establishment, mutual suspicion and a lack of trust continue to hamstring its contributions to the war effort to this day.