The Danaan High Kingdom of the Resurgent Dream is a nation traditionally centered on Dana, a large island in the Atlantic Ocean, just south of the equator, on which the capitol, Tarana, is located and on which over half of the population resides. However, the High Kingdom also claims adjacent islands and large territories in Ambara which it considers to be integral parts of its territory and not mere colonies. Additional reference information is available in The Resurgent Dream's factbook.

The Resurgent Dream

Flag of The Resurgent Dream
Motto: "Fiat justitia, pereat mundus"
Region	Tareldanore
Capital	Tarana
Official Language(s)	English
Leader	Chief of State: High King Owain ap Cunedda; Chief of Government: Prime Minister Adair Scott
Population	2-3 billion
Currency	Sterling
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History

Danaan history started with the migration of people from what are today Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Indonesia, the Phillipines, Hawaii, Macronesia, and Micronesia, through the South Atlantic Passage into the Atlantic Ocean and specifically to the island of Dana. These Aboriginal Danaans have left evidence of their presence for at least the last two thousand years in the forms of pottery and tools. It is estimated that 537,000 lived in the Islands of Mists before European contact and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as syphilis that greatly diminished the native population. While these early Danaans are well known for their advanced navigation techniques, they established no major urban centers.

Before the year 1000, Welsh settlers created a new kingdom in what is now Shieldcrest, founding Narich in 947. The first Indian settlement happened at roughly the same time, at Bharat. Within the next two decades, the Scots extensively colonized what is now Fireforge. In 1044, Greek settlers established a colony at Aristonople. All of these other settlements recognized the high kingship of the king of what Shieldcrest, then called the king of Narich. This high kingship was further legitimized when Rhygyfarch, the first high king, wed Maile ni Cunedda, the daughter of the aboriginal high king, Kamameha.

This state of affairs went undisturbed until 1375, when a large fleet of English settlers landed in what is now Wintermore. The Englishmen, allegedly lost, quickly set up a militarily strong colony. In 1381, the English settlers went to war with Shieldcrest, wresting the high kingship from the hands of High King John and placing it in the hands of their own King Thomas I.

The line of Rhygyfarch regained the kingship in 1478, under High King Daffydd, but only held it until the Homecoming War in 1511. This war was marked by the arrival of the Fae, under a High King Amrod, who claimed lordship over the Resurgent Dream. Amrod set about subjugating the humans of the realm and Dafydd met atrocity with atrocity, setting out to slaugher every Fae man, women, and child. While the Fae were winning, the war only ended when Timon ap Gwydion challenged Amrod, allegedly over the honor of a mortal peasant woman. Timon, after killing Amrod, was briefly declared king before dying himself. His daughter, Corrina ni Gwydion, made peace with the humans, signing the Treaty of Mutual Recognition. From then until the Shattering, Fae and humans lived together, although with Fae occuppying the highest positions of power.

During the early years of High Queen Corrina's reign, some settlers in Wintermore attempted to establish the institution of African slavery. Disconcerted by this practice, Corrina issued a number of edicts, beginning with a moderately worded edict in 1558, banning the enslavement of any Danaan subject on Danaan soil, and ending with a 1605 edict ending slavery and guaranteeing freedom to any slave who set foot on Danaan soil. The 1605 law remains fully in force today and has been responsible for the immigration of many run-away slaves to Wintermore. Wintermore was also settled by many others from the United States during Corrina's reign, soon making the original English settlers and their descendants a minority. While many of these American settlers were ultimately of English descent anyway, many were Spanish, French, African, Duth, German, or Amerindian as well.

During the 20th century, many new principalities were added to the original six as the nation expanded to occupy the other islands in Mists, unclaimed islands elsewhere in the world, and a large chunk of territory in Ambara. One of the new principalities, Pele, was designed as a haven for the Aboriginal Danaans who had been displaced from much of the rest of the islands.

During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. Industrialization was spurred on largely by trade with Menelmacar, Pantocratoria, and Lavenrunz, although it was able to establish firm roots within the Resurgent Dream herself by the early 21st century.

The most significant recent event in Danaan history is the Shattering, an event forcing almost all the Fae to return to the Dreaming for unknown reasons. This led to a large increase in the cultural diversity of the Resurgent Dream as well as the restoration of the line of Rhygyfarch to the throne. Danaans are still deciding what to make of the post-Shattering world.

Government

Democracy and suffrage

The Resurgent Dream is an example of a constitutional monarchy. It is also considered a liberal democracy, although purist Rawlsians and other critics dispute this claim. The government is formed according to and operates within a set of limited powers. The Resurgent Dream has no one document which qualifies as a constitution. Some consider the nation to have no constition while others consider that the Agwenian Edicts, taken together, constitute a written constitution. Government is conducted on four levels: National, Principality, Parish, and Municipal. The Resurgent Dream contains apolitical hereditary leaders for the nation as a whole and for individual principalities. Leaders of government on all levels are popularly elected. Judicial officials on all levels are appointed based on merit. All elected officials are chosen by secret ballot. Danaans enjoy virtually universal suffrage from the age of 17 without regard to race, sex, wealth, or education, with only the high king, his wife, the princes of the various principalities, and their spouses denied the right to vote.

Royal government

The royal or national government consists of the Parliament, the High King, and the Uasal Court. All of these powers balance each other, although the king reserves ultimate sovereignty. The primary functions of the royal government are defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the regulation of trade with foreign nations and between the principalities, and the protection of human rights. However, Danaan law is relatively flexible and ambiguous on the limits of the national parliament with regard to the principalities. The national government not only possesses a monopoly on the use of the aforementions powers but also shares many other powers with the principalities.

Parliament

Parliament is a unicameral legislative body which meets in the Parliament Building in the Marble City of Tarana. Parliament has 364 members, each referred to as a Member of Parliament or simply MP. Of the members of the Danaan Parliament, 339 are elected by the people according to principality, while 25 are appointed by the principalities. Elected seats are divided proportionally between the principalities, although every principality is guaranteed at least one seat. Each principality also appoints one member. According to the 2005 formula, the principalities elect one member for every ten million persons, always rounding up. As can be obviously seen, the rounding has a substantial effect, although demographers predict that the correspondence between overall population and parliamentary representation should even out within the new year or so.

The Danaan Government is contained in the Parliament and is headed by the Prime Minister, who governs with a mandate from the High King and with the confidence of a majority of the Parliament. The Prime Minister is considered the Head of Government and is generally granted a large measure of discretionary power by Parliament, although this has definite limits.

The High King

The high king is charged with enforcing the laws and defending the rights of the nation. Unlike most constitutional monarchs, who have ultimate sovereignty but are not supposed to involve themselves in the actual running of the state, the Danaan high king has not only ultimate sovereignty but a specific list of enumerated rights and duties which fall to the throne. However, while he may become involved in government, the high king is expected to remain strictly apolitical, not even allowing his personal political preferences to be known. The primary principle of constitutional monarchy, at least in the Danaan understanding, is that it serves as a sovereign force above party disputes, unifying the nation across party and factional lines to avoid the kind of partisan division common in some states.

The courts

The highest court in the Resurgent Dream is the Uasal Court. This court can, upon the request of the High King, inform him as to the legality of any Act of Parliament which he feels might violate a more fundamental law, such as one of the Agwenian Edicts. The Uasal Court is also the ultimate source for the interpretation of all laws, including Acts of Parliament, the Agwenian Edicts, and the Common Law. The Uasal Court is also the final court of appeals for all cases involving national law. It has original jurisdiction in all cases involving piracy, treason, or violations of any of the Neutrality Acts. It is also the only civilian court to which the results of a courts martial may be appealed.

Principality and municipal government

The level of government with the most effect on peoples daily lives is the Principality. The principalities all have their own constitutions, written or unwritten, and all are presently constitutional monarchies, although this is not required by law. What is required is that the Danaan government guarantee each principality balanced, constitutional government. Principalities typically control education, transportation, infrastructure, and the social security net within their own borders, although Parliament can and often does interfere in these matters. They also may pass their own criminal laws so long as these do not contradict national laws. Principalities are headed by a prince, although not always called that, who heads up the enforcement of the law. The political executive proper is contained within the legislature of the principality and operates within the norms of parliamentary democracy. Principality's have their own judicial systems. Some have elected and some appointed judges.

Municipalities are responsible for waste collection, zoning, animal control, and local law enforcement. They are headed either by a mayor, a town council, or a mixture of these two forms of municipal government. Some principalities appoint municipal governments at the principality level while others allow them to be elected by the citizenry.

Political divisions

The original six Danaan principalities were considered to be sovereign kingdoms under one high king for at least the first nine hundred years of the nations existence. This gradually began to change in the twentieth century as the high throne increasingly centralized the government of the country. It was not, however, until 1990 that then reigning High Queen Agwene formally declared that the Resurgent Dream was a single, indivisible national unit.

The majority of the current 25 Danaan principalities, the result of rapid expansion over the last 15 years, were established after this declaration and have never been independent states of any sort. However, all Danaan principalities enjoy a fair amount of local autonomy and even certain definite rights against the Royal Government under the federal system which now exists.

The principalities are further divided into various parishes, with most principalities containing 100 such divisions. Parishes are then subdivided into municipalities.

The Resurgent Dream can be divided into four basic areas: Dana, the original island nation; Mists, the islands surrounding Dana (while Dana is technically located in Mists, it is considered large enough and of enough historical import to be classified independently; the other Atlantic islands, including Kagerlund; and Danaan Ambara. In addition to these lands, the Resurgent Dream also claims permanent sovereignty over four naval bases on the east coast of Sahor and operates a number of other military bases in Marlund, at the invitation and with the permission of that country's government.

Foreign relations and military

Danaan foreign policy combines a liberal desire to encourage institutions conducive to freedom and rule of law with a measured respect for the sovereignty of other states. Generally speaking, this policy of engagement normally takes the form of seeking to increase understanding among cultures, peoples, and nations through direct contact. Correspondingly, the Resurgent Dream arranges cultural and student exchange programs on a significant scale, presses for the reduction of travel restrictions (except for certain security measures) through diplomatic means, and seeks increasing economic integration with other nations.

The Resurgent Dream is often a haven for those fleeing oppression based upon race, color, sex, or creed. Regardless of relations with the requesting country, the Resurgent Dream will never extradite a person wanted purely for political or religious reasons. The Danaan government also guarantees the freedom of and offers citizenship to any enslaved person who sets foot on its soil. The Resurgent Dream considers slavery in international waters to be piracy and the Danaan Navy deals with any slave ships it encounters accordingly.

The Resurgent Dream is not a member of the United Nations. However, recent governments have given vague indications that it might be interested in joining or even helping to found a less intrusive organization of equally broad international cooperation. The Resurgent Dream is a member of the VERITAS and KIST organizations, as well as the unbinding TNA.

The Resurgent Dream is willing to exchange embassies with any nation except for the tiny handful known to routinely harm or imprison diplomats for little or no reason. The Danaans continue to recognize traditional diplomatic principles such as diplomatic immunity, extraterritoriality of embassies, and the right of foreign nationals charged with crimes to the consular services of their embassy. It is Danaan policy to encourage, but not to require, that these principles also be applied to Danaan embassies abroad.

The Resurgent Dream is a founding member of the small, informal Entente alliance, along with close allies Pantocratoria and Excalbia. Other major Danaan allies include Knootoss and Menelmacar.

Largest cities

The Resurgent Dream contains dozens of large cities,among which is included the global city of Tarana. The populations given below are for persons living inside the city limits only and do not cover broader metropolitan areas.

Economy

The Resurgent Dream has a massive economy with a per-capita annual gross domestic income of S22,174.65, the equivalent of 21,817.20 Menelmacari credits or ∂20,158 Pantocratorian ducats. The Danaan economy is officially classified as "Frightening" by the United Nations, although the classification sometimes drops to "All-Consuming" during periodic market slumps.

The strongest industry in the Resurgent Dream is book publishing, followed closely by information technology and retail. The nation also has a plethora of natural resources, including precious metals, gems, diamonds, and oil. In agriculture, the Resurgent Dream is known for its pork and beef products, as well as its fruits. In manufacturing, book publishing dominates, although automobile and cola are also strong.

Economic activity varies greatly within the Resurgent Dream. Pele, for example, is known for tourism, Corral for fishing, Shieldcrest for agriculture, and the Shieldcrest city of Caer Gawen for film production. Danaan Ambara excels in arms manufacturing and trout farming, while Kagerlund, the one Danaan territory in the Pantocratorian Archipelego, excels in soda and cheese.

The Resurgent Dream trades with many countries, including all signatories to KIST, all members of the VERITAS economic module, and most members of the TNA. The largest Danaan trading partners are Pantocratoria, Excalbia, Lavenrunz, the Dominion, Knootoss, and Menelmacar.

The Danaan economy one heavily reliant upon market forces, although recent governments led by the Liberal and Labor Parties have tended to move in a direction of more economic regulation, a stronger social security net, and a larger public sector. However, most debate on the issue concerns matters of degree. No major Danaan political party favors a shift to a command economy.

The Resurgent Dream has done poorly in past United Nations income equality rankings. The highest 10% of Danaan income-earners is responsible for 40% of consumption while the lowest 10% is responsible for only 1% of consumption. 21,208,000 Danaans are currently below the poverty line.

Transportation

Transportation in the Resurgent Dream is very different on the island of Dana itself than in other parts of the kingdom. On Dana, many of the towns and much of the infrastructure predates the automobile. Correspondingly, it is not uncommon to find areas where stone or cobblestone roads prevail and where streets designed for horses and carriages have been modified to be suitable for automotive traffic, rather than replaced.

In other parts of the Resurgent Dream, almost everything was built after the invention of the automobile. In these areas, the people benefit from a sophisticated network of high-capacity roads, including high-speed highways that link together such large land masses as Danaan Ambara.

Most large cities in the Resurgent Dream have mass transit systems composed of monorails, subway systems, and buses. These are used disporporionately by the poor, who find them less costly than the prive of purchasing and maintaining a car. However, in congested urban areas, they are also frequently used by people who own or could afford to own an automobile, simply to avoid the hassel of traffic.

Air travel is the preferred means of travelling a long distance in the Resurgent Dream. However, in most areas, an extensive rail network is also available. As there are few landlockaed Danaan principalities, sea travel is also an option in most cases.

Society

Demographics

The population center of the Resurgent Dream currently remains Shieldcrest. However, this center is slowly shifting away from Dana and towards Danaan Ambara. The fastest growing principality in the last year has been Zutern, followed closely by Amory.

Recent years have seen a great surge in immigration, even as they've seen the almost total decline of the Fae population due to the Shattering. While many immigrants come to the Resurgent Dream fleeing despotism or economic depravation, many others come from comparable Western nations in pursuit of a specific job or a marriage or a specialized education.

Ethnicity and race

The Resurgent Dream is a racially diverse country. There are 25 different ethnic groups which can claim to have at least a million members in the Resurgent Dream and countless more represented in smaller numbers. It is usually said that every ethnic group or sentient species is represented by at least one Danaan citizen. While this is not literally true, it comes very close.

The majority of Danaans are descended from white European immigrants who began to settle most of Dana a thousand years ago. This majority currently stands at 78%. Too little time has passed since the dramatic demographic changes of the Shattering for a respectable estimate to be made as to the stability of this percentage. However, if the experience of other Western nations is a guide, it is likely to decline.

East Asians are the second largest racial group. At 14% of the total population, they are concentrated heavily in the Atlantic Territories. However, East Asians also constitute a substantial minority in Pele. East Asians are mostly immigrants or the descendants of immigrants from China, Japan, Adoki, and Vietnam.

The third largest racial minority, at 6% of the population, consists of South Asians, concentrated overwhelmingly in the Principality of Farinor on Dana itself. They are mostly the descendants of Indian settlers who settled the area hundreds of years ago.

While no other racial group makes up a comparable proportion of the total population, there are a number of other peoples who are highly visible in the Resurgent Dream. Elves, Fae, blacks, and Arabs are all lively minority communities represented at all levels of Danaan society.

As far as actual national heritage groups are concerned, the two largest are the Welsh and the Swiss, each of which makes up a full quarter of the total Danaan population. Most Danaan principalities possess a discernable culture strongly rooted to the national culture of the people who first settled there. Normally, the heritage group of the original settlers continues to predominate or at least to be the most visible in a given principality, although it is uncertain how much this is due to actual ancestry and how much to the assimilation of newcomers to local culture.

Religion

Polls indicate that just under 80% of Danaans consider themselves to be Christians. However, the Christianity of certain religious groups, such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or the Unitarian Church of the Resurgent Dream, is disputed by Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and some Protestants. The Danaan Ministry for Religion maintains statistics based entirely upon self-identification, leading to numbers which many theologians and religious leaders consider highly problematic.

Statistically, 57% of Danaans identify as mainline Protestants. 12% identify as Confucian and another 12% as Mormon. 6% identify as Catholic. 6% identify as Hindu. 2% of all Danaans identify as Buddhists. 2% identify as Eastern Orthodox. 1% identify as Unitarians. Although not present in statistically large numbers, Jews and Muslims also play an important part in Danaan culture and society.

On the whole, Danaans are more religious than people in many other developed nations. The United Nations consistently ranks the Resurgent Dream among the world's more devout nations. 92% of Danaans consider themselves to be "practicing" members of their faith. However, only half as many attend weekly religious services.

Education

In the Resurgent Dream, education is primarily the responsibility of the principalities. However, the central government is involved through the Ministry for Education. The ministry distributes tax funds to educational programs, sets basic national standards, keeps communication open between different public and private educational programs, determines that portion of the civics curriculum which is common in all programs, and ensures the rights of teachers, parents, and students.

In the Resurgent Dream, schooling is mandatory from the age of five until the age of seventeen. Schooling is normally divided into twelve grades which are further divided into elementary, middle, and high school, although the exact cut-off points for each level vary. Parents have the option of schooling their own children at home or sending them to a private school, although such alternative education is still required to meet certain minimum standards.

After high school, students have the option of pursuing further education at a wide-range of institutions, ranging from the prestigious University of Civic Duty and University of Civic Virtue to thousands of two-year vocational programs. Danaan institutions issue everything from vocational certificates for specific jobs to doctoral degrees. They include liberal arts colleges, research universities, vocational programs, military academies, correspondence colleges, and much more. 84% of Danaans pursue some form of further education after graduating high school.

Language

The official language of the Resurgent Dream is English. Twenty-two of twenty-five Danaan principalities also have a second official language. These include Arabic in Amalad, Alekthos, and Kar; Dutch in Corral; French and Hebrew in Selinia; Ge'er in Carasia; German in Thorlund, Zutern, and Kagerlund; Greek in Bilbtoria; Hawaiian in Pele; Hindi in Farinor; Irish Gaelic in Holista; Italian in Nerise; Japanese in Karoki; Mandarin in Zeng; Polish in Wyrnsk; Scots Gaelic in Fireforge; Sindarin and Quenya in Saraben; Spanish in Sanero; Vietnamese in Legon; and Welsh in Shieldcrest.

The primary signed language is British sign language (BSL).

In 2006, the Resurgent Dream was home to 347 languages of which eleven are indiginous to Danaan territory.

Culture

Although lacking in unique musical forms of its own, the Resurgent Dream is home to a large variety of musical forms including classical music, hip hop, country, rock & roll, and the folk musical forms of a wide variety of countries.

Motion picture production in the Resurgent Dream is centralized in Caer Gawen, although films are also often shot in Narich and Tarana. While Caer Gawen cannot claim any international cultural dominance, it does largely monopolize the Danaan film industy. While some foreign films, especially from Excalbia, do well with Danaan audiences, over 80% of all active cinema screens in the Resurgent Dream are showing domestically produced films at any given moment. Some principalities are more receptive to foreign films than others. In Corral, Knootian films are popular. On the other hand, Pantocratoria films are often well received in Selinia.

The major cities of the Resurgent Dream are culturally flourishing places. It is normal for any sizable city to have its own opera, ballet, theatre, and orchestra. The sites of major events all feature musuems and most cities have some sort of community cultural center where locals can learn to paint, sculpt, or perform music and where they can often display their talents for the community. Practically every municipality in the country has a cinema and most have more than one. Most schools offer or require some cultural education as part of their curriculum and the drama departments of most colleges and universities regularly stage plays.

The people of the Resurgent Dream celebrate a wide range of holidays, both secular and religious. Some are recognized by certain principalities or municipalities. Others are simply practiced by the people without official recognition. Eight holidays are nationally recognize: New Year's (1 January), Labor Day (1 May), High King's Day (7 July), Remembrance Day (8 August), and Thanksgiving (8 November).