A few comments about a northern principality

[CHalstead@aol.com]

Poster: CHalstead@aol.com

I originally posted this message on the Principality discussion list, and it
was suggested that I post to the Merry Rose as well.

Begin original message:
_____________________________

I've been mainly lurking on this list until the last couple of days.  I've
been
reading what everyone has to say, and have a couple of responses.

Why is the creation of a Principality in the northern part of Atlantia
believed to be such a danger to the rest of the Kingdom?  Everyone in that
principality would *be* an Atlantian.  Fighters would still fight in Crown
Tourney.  Artisans would continue to produce beautiful objects, music, and
other things to inspire the populace.  People will still travel to events in
other groups, both locally and at a distance, as much as they do now.
*Anything* that a person in the principality does well is a credit to
Atlantia.

We in Ponte Alto just held Kingdom Twelfth Night.  Based on what I observed
and heard from people who attended, it was a success.  It was a success in
large part because we had people from *all over Atlantia* assisting us in
putting it on.  There were cooks in the kitchen from Dun Carraig and Storvik.
There were musicians from Stierbach, Storvik, Windmaster's Hill and Hidden
Mountain.  There were servers from Sacred Stone, Windmaster's Hill and Black
Diamond.  There were volunteers helping with setup and cleanup from
everywhere. These are just the people that I can identify easily, and I know
that I have missed some.  These people were working on a Kingdom event because
they are proud to be Atlantians, and wanted one of the largest events put on
for the Kingdom to go well *because* of that pride.

I've been looking at an atlas today, and determined these numbers:
Maryland is 9,775 square miles, and (as a *very* rough estimate), the portion
of Virginia in the current palmprint of admittedly interested groups is about
6,400 square miles.  That's an estimated total of 16,175 square miles in the
palmprint.  The rest of Virginia is 33,198 square miles, North Carolina is
68,994 square miles, and South Carolina is 30,111 square miles.  Think on this
- while in, for example, North Carolina, there are two baronies with nine
cantons and four shires, in the palmprint there are six baronies (counting
Stierbach), one canton and two shires in an area that is about 25% of the
space.  We are in very close quarters.  Not only that, but there are
geographic features that must be dealt with.  Anywhere in the palmprint, we
have to deal with the reality of the Washington-Baltimore traffic patterns.

Over the past two years, since Ranulf and I were invested as Baron and
Baroness of Ponte Alto, we have watched as the people in the groups around us
try hard to work together, to host joint events, and to coordinate better.  To
a certain extent this has worked.  However, because of the close quarters,
there are inevitable conflicts.  I believe that a principality can, in many
ways, reduce these conflicts.  Not just calendar conflicts, although those are
legion.  A principality will give everyone in this area something outside
their local groups to focus on, that will bring more spiff, and pomp, and
royalty, and all those things that we hold so dear.  It could be, to mangle a
metaphor, the grease for the gears that are the local groups that make it
easier for us to work together.

It is the duty of the members of Atlantia's Curia to consider the good of the
kingdom, as well as of their own groups.  It is the considered opinion of many
members of the Curia from the palmprint, whether landed baronage, senechals,
or Great Officers, that a principality will strengthen the bonds of the groups
in this area, and thus strengthen Atlantia.  There is no intention to leave
Atlantia, now or in two years.  If, and I say *if*, in several years' time the
people resident in a northern principality determine *they* would like to
consider becoming a Kingdom, one of the major questions will be the impact on
Atlantia.  That is a question that can *only* be answered when that time
comes.

In short, I do not believe that a northern principality will weaken or damage
Atlantia.  What it will do is recognize those connections that exist, and
strengthen them, and thus strengthen the Kingdom.

Caitlyn o Duirnin
Baroness of Ponte Alto
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