Quicunque

All this talk on the Dailies at Panhistoria about the difference between roleplay and roleplay (and a very useful talk it is too) reminds me of the other kind of roleplay. I mean the pseudo-pychological crap inflicted on you as part of those work training courses where they think humiliating you makes you a better manager or more docile employee. I was sent once on a course on to learn to be a better supervisor. I thought it was a odd idea since I wasn't a supervisor in the first place so unlikely to become a better one, but it was a day out of the office soooooo.......

Anyway, the afternoon of the course was spent with five bright-eyed self-improving supervisors and one cynical minion (me) roleplaying a situation where a factory boss had to lay off half his staff. The Factory Boss was played by a very nervy girl, I somehow got elected as the Trade Union Steward, and the other four were the Sacked Workers. The problem was, some of the trainees got into their roles too well. One of the Sacked Workers must have been a fan of method acting. Before long the Factory Boss was weeping on the Trade Union Steward's shoulder while the other three Sacked Workers berated their colleague for his insensitivity. Afterwards, the tutor just looked at us wearily and said, "I don't suppose anyone wants to tell the rest of us what they learn from that exercise?" Smartarse Sacked Worker: "Never trust the union steward to back yer up if the boss is crying down his neck."

I much prefer the kind of roleplay I do at Pan. And I haven't played a Trade Union Steward here yet.

Fanny Fae at Panhistoria asks, "If you could travel in time, which era would you visit and why?"

This is one of those questions where you find yourself spoilt for choice *chuckles* I immediately ran through all the obvious choices: Egypt (nah, too pompous, bad wigs and an unhealthy obession with death), Imperial Rome (also pompous, though the mad emperors might be fun as long as you didn't meet any), Classical Greece (lots of naked men after my own heart, but a sad tendency to scrap with the neighbours) or Renaissance Italy (good for artists, not so great for peasants) and eventually I realised where I would most have liked to be was - none of these times and places. Okay, time to read the question again.

Then I realised Fanny had said "era". No mention of chosing a different location, only time. That simplifies the options! So, what era of God's Own County (Yorkshire) might be worth a visit?

This is where I realised there were HUGE gaps in my history knowledge. I know we staunch Yorkshiremen fought the Romans, and after the Romans left we fought the Angles. We lost both times, but at least we put a decent fight. Then my own ancestors arrived - the Great Heathen Army!! (aka the Danish Vikings). We probably put up a staunch resistance before losing to them. Jórvík (York) was the capital of the Danish Vikings and the Kindgom they established here. Oh, and then we fought the Normans, and lost again, but not without putting up a good fight (spotting a theme here yet?) I have to admit Yorkshire was a boom area under the Normans and during the Middle Ages - until the Black Death arrived and we lost a third of the population... *sighs*. Then we have the Wars of the Roses, one of the most fascinating periods in English history, but - alas, the Yorkists lost (not without a damn good fight though!). During the English Civil War, Yorkshire supported both sides (hah! not risking being total losers again!) then we got into wool and coal and pranced about on Ilkla Moor Baht 'at...

And out of all that, what would I visit if I were a time-traveller? I decided to get back to my roots and chose the Kingdom of Jórvík in the 10th century. Not because I want to go a-Viking like my ancestors (though I can think of a few folk I'd like to swing an axe at) , but because it must have been a truly fascinating time. The Kingdom of Jórvík was established by the Danes, passed to the Norse, but much of the general population was still Celtic and Anglo-Saxon. In the centre of this melting pot, the city of Jórvík itself was enjoying an economic boom thanks to Viking trade links that extended as far as the Byzantine Empire and beyond. Yes, it was a relatively peaceful time, all things being considered. And imagine telling your mates when you get back that Eirik Bloodaxe was really a sweetie under all that hairy bluster, and that Sigtrygg Caech the Squinty didn't squint.