Principalities: "baby steps" Proposa

[Mike Baker]

> Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra wrote:
>> Ansteorra already has administrative regions in place, with
>> geographical designators but no _formal_ "medieval-side" names or
>> functions. How about taking things one step at a time and advancing
>> these to "named regions" (shire, march, barony,  principality & others
>> having already been designated, we'd have to find an appropriate
>> alternate "title" - perhaps "Marquisate"? "March-land"?) instead of
>> full Coronet-list principalities?. These could / should be complete
>> with regional champions (Marquis/Marquessa? Waldgraf? other?),
>> hopefully permitted to present awards of less than grant-level by
>> derived authority of the Crown.
> But what you've described *is* a principality. A Prince/Princess is
> under just those restrictions on award giving. If you want a first step,
> I would suggest just naming the regions.

Not quite a principality. A side conversation reminded me what I thought was 
implied but unfortunately neglected to spell out in the original proposal: 
the named-region branches would *not*, under my vision of the system, have 
their own awards. The region-level Ceremonials would only present 
Kingdom-level awards through the derived authority of the Crown.

>>:<GoB:  Why just north?  Do northerners feel so much less attachment to
>>:the Kingdom?  And do you mean "north" as in "Oklahoma", or as in
>>:"north >of Waco", or what?  I've learned that "north" varies with who
>>:you ask.>
> It's not so much a lessening of attachment to the Kingdom, but instead
> an intermediate level of attachment to our region. Some of us, but not
> necessarily all of us, are strongly attached to local group, region and
> kingdom (not necessarily in any specific order here, and it does vary by
> person).
> And "south" can vary as well. After all, from where I'm at *all* the
> groups in Ansteorra except Wastelands & Northkeep are south of
> Mooneschadoweshire. It's only a matter of how far south they are.

And I was thinking particularly of folk I personally know such as Estrill & 
Haldane & Burke & Barn & Frederick & Gwendolyn & Kat & Tarl & 'Stacia & 
William & Aeddan (sp?)  & Rhuadraig & Anghus (and plenty of others) when I 
made reference to "friends in the north".  I kinda "grew up" there, you 
see...

Further, I note that northern Ansteorra (esp. as constituted by the branches 
from Oklahoma) has the most well-defined "regional flavor" within the 
current Kingdom. Ongoing, well-attended, regional events. Powerful 
inter-branch support. An organically-occurring name ("Nordsteorra: it just 
happened"...).  The western region is next-closest within my (admittedly 
limited) experience.

But please to remember: I offer the proposal as the basis for more 
discussion, more *constructive* debate. NOT as a "kick da bums out", not as 
a matter of division, not as a point of contention. I could have as easily 
used the Coastal Region as my example -- I just know the Northern better.

Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra
     currently residing in Barony of the Steppes, Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mike C. Baker                      mbaker at rapp.com
Any opinions expressed are obviously my own unless explicitly stated 
otherwise!