A Danaan Principality is any one of the twenty-five Confederal Members (of which Shieldcrest and Tarana are referred to as Grand Duchies and not properly as Principalities) which are traditionally considered part of the Danaan High Kingdom. Each principality is a distinct constitutional monarchy with its own prince, princess, grand duke, or grand duchess; its own judiciary; and its own separate representative legislature. The principalities also recognize the High King of Dana as their High King, although each principality extends this recognition independently. Every principality is subject to duly constituted Confederal authority, contains branches of the Confederal judiciary, elects members to the Confederal Assembly and otherwise behaves as a constituent part of the Confederated Peoples. The principalities are a group of Confederal Members within a larger dual-sovereignty federal system.

Confederal law allocates power between the Members and the Confederal government and the principalities have no special status in this regard. There is no intermediate governmental body between the principalities and the Confederated Peoples nor do the principalities have any special rights of obligations different from those possessed by other Members. Generally speaking, the government of the principality governs roads and other matters of internal infrastructure, education and law enforcement, although the Confederal government does have some say in all these affairs, including control over the national highways (those passing between different Members) and national law enforcement agencies. Each Danaan principality has traditionally established an established church within its territory, without prejudice to the freedom of worship of other faiths, although there is a growing movement to completely separate church and state in many of them. All principalities except Wintermore and Amory have a local language which they use as an official language alongside English.

List of Danaan Principalities

Legal relationship

The Danaan principalities are not legally distinct from any other Confederal Members and their union is only cultural and historical. All the principalities recognize the High King of Dana as their High King and also endorse the High King as the fount of a Danaan honours system which is thus recognized by the Confederated Peoples as such. However, the recognition of a shared high throne and a shared honours system is the extent of legally recognized union between the Danaan principalities as distinct from the other Members and any principality could withdraw from this arrangement by passing an ordinary statute to that effect except in so far as their own constitutions prohibit them from doing so.

Various facts about the principalities

• Two principalities bear the formal title of Grand Duchy: Shieldcrest and Tarana. This does not effect their legal status although it does effect the protocolary status of their heads of state
• Tarana is both an independent Grand Duchy and a single city.
• The Grand Duke of Tarana is also the High King of Dana
• The Grand Duchess of Shieldcrest is the High King's younger sister.
• Principalities are free to organize their judicial systems differently from the national system and from the systems of the other principalities so long as they maintain due process of law and protect certain rights of the accused.
• Principality names vary in origin:
  • Alekthos, Amalad, Amory, Bilbtoria, Carasia, Farinor, Holista, Kagerlund, Kar, Kadoki, Legon, Nerise, Sanero, Saraben, Thorlund, Wyrnsk, Zeng, and Zutern are all geographic names existing prior to settlement and of unknown origin.
  • Corral was named for the corral cities in which the Merfolk among its people lived prior to the Shattering.
  • Fireforge was named in honor of the smithing for which it was justly famous.
  • Pele was named for the volcano goddess worshipped on that island in pagan times.
  • Selinia was named for Seline, the Moon, to denote the principality's origins as a Lunar colony, although Selinia is now located entirely in Ambara
  • Shieldcrest was named to reflect the honor of its people, their role as defenders of the weak and the honor of their heritage.
  • Tarana's name is commonly believed to be connected to the ancient Irish capital of Tara.
  • Wintermore was named to show allegiance to the Unseelie Court, during the fairy dynasties.
• Farinor and Zeng, the largest two principalities, have a combined population greater than that of all twenty-three other principalities combined.
• Twenty-four of the twenty-five principalities have an established Church of some sort with Tarana being the only exception.
  • Fifteen of the twenty-four consider themselves Christian.
    • Seven of these consider themselves Protestant.
    • Five of these consider themselves Catholic.
    • In Bilbtoria, Eastern Orthodoxy is established.
    • In Carasia, Oriental Orthodoxy is established.
    • In Wintermore, Mormonism is established.
  • Three consider themselves Muslim.
  • In Farinor, Hinduism is established.
  • In Kadoki, Shinto is established.
  • In Legon, Buddhism is established.
  • In Saraben, The Faith is established.
  • In Selinia, Judaism is established.
  • In Zeng, Confucianism is established.