Pros and Cons of your caste/role

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May 2012

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May 28 - Memorial Day

[Anarch Allegiere]

You almost won't hear about a Torvie deciding to join the Red Caste in a city or a Schendian taking up the Entertainter Caste being accused of impersonation because of their looks in RP.  I know that Gor in general is xenophobic, but to generate RP, an open mind on race is encouraged.

I think that the problem is that in SL Gor they hand out such things too fast perhaps... which is wrong and not wrong in itself.

But if you go to a city and say IC "hai I wanna r join ur Caste???" and they instantly group-invite you and say "Ya k here you go!" ... then something is wrong for me. Why? Because joining and proving you were worth to join a Caste would've been a tedious process.

What is more logical to me then is to declare that: "I've always been of this Caste of this city." for a storyline rather than instantly being given your place among it. But that would need some background reworking. Honestly, I think it could be great RP if you'd try to do the efforts and tasks a Head of Caste or it's council would be giving you to proof you've got the aptitudes and right attitude to join said Caste of that city.

[Heaven Demina]

Pani would still need coin to survive, regardless one's heritage, you all need coin to survive,  unless you intend to thieve your way through life or rely on the hospitality of an owner.

I think it is perfectly acceptable to assume a pani may well wander from city to city selling some kind of wares. Herbs, flowers, even wild fruit would be perfect examples, of something that anyone willing to travel far and wide enough could harvest for free and sell for a profit without needing to pledge to a caste... just a door to door salesman striving to make ends meet!

[Poisonous Adored]

I suggest you to ponder about Byron and Heaven's posts, Suyuan.

Second, yes, if you declare yourself belonging to a caste where you have not been accepted officially into, by the legal way, you are impersonating it. Period. Of course, in SL Gor, the majority of people wont even arch an eyebrow. Until someone makes exception....

Residing and working in a place is perfectly BTB, and you can work in a city and claim as homestone another city, as usually, your homestone is the place of your birth. But you cannot decide suddenly to belong to a caste which is not your by right of birth. I do not see how this constraint would limit your RP, because working to be accepted into a caste, would rather provide a great RP. If you are in Tyros, I am sure that this kind of RP could interest people. Else, you can NPC the whole story, of course. But you are always better, when you write your bio, to have a plausible backstory.

[Rayzor McAuley]

I find it amusing that people just assume that Torvaldslanders would do this or that, or that they didn't recognize castes in the north.  While it could be argued that they themselves didn't have a caste system, they most definitely recognized that people had castes, and there is reference to "class of men" in Marauders.  While class and caste are certainly not the same, they aren't entirely dissimilar.  Also, while I can't say for certain that Older Tarl was a Torvie, the description of him given in Tarnsman of Gor would suggest such, thereby making the case that Torvies in the south would be justified in seeking admission into the Caste of Warriors......which isn't uncommon in SL Gor.

Now, I must agree with Anarch on the seeming ease that one joins a caste.  It should have more to it than "here's a group tag," and there are many cities that require a process in the Caste of Scribes and the Caste of Physicians that often requires an internship....sometimes even in the case of someone who's always played that particular role.

[Suyuan Quan]

I find it amusing that people just assume that Torvaldslanders would do this or that, or that they didn't recognize castes in the north.  While it could be argued that they themselves didn't have a caste system, they most definitely recognized that people had castes, and there is reference to "class of men" in Marauders.  While class and caste are certainly not the same, they aren't entirely dissimilar.  Also, while I can't say for certain that Older Tarl was a Torvie, the description of him given in Tarnsman of Gor would suggest such, thereby making the case that Torvies in the south would be justified in seeking admission into the Caste of Warriors......which isn't uncommon in SL Gor.

Now, I must agree with Anarch on the seeming ease that one joins a caste.  It should have more to it than "here's a group tag," and there are many cities that require a process in the Caste of Scribes and the Caste of Physicians that often requires an internship....sometimes even in the case of someone who's always played that particular role.

I think I might take everyone's advice here and not declare a caste and become a jill-of-all-trades Pani.

I think the Torvaldslanders had their own hierarchy very much like the Pani did with the except with was based upon earth Norse/Vikings.  Here's an example:

Three social classes existed in Norse society. The classes were nowhere near as rigid as they were in other parts of Europe at the time. Mechanisms existed such that a person could move himself from one class to another.

The vast majority of Norsemen belonged to the middle class, the karls. These people were freemen and land owners. They were the farmers, the smiths, and the just plain folks. Families of karls usually lived in clusters of two or more buildings, typically longhouses supplemented by barns and workshops.

Above them were the jarls, the noble class. The stories indicate that jarls lived in fine halls and led refined lives filled with a myriad of activities. But archaeological evidence to back up these details is lacking.

Jarls were distinguished by their wealth, measured in terms of followers, treasure, ships, and estates. The eldest son of the jarl was on the fast track to becoming the next jarl. But, by gaining enough fame and wealth, a karl could become a jarl. The power of a jarl depended upon the goodwill of his supporters. The jarl's essential task was to uphold the security, prosperity, and honor of his followers.

Below both of these classes were the þræll. These included the slaves (usually booty from a raid) and bondsmen. If a Norseman of any class could not pay his debts, he was obliged to become a bondsman and to work for another man until the debt was paid. Icelandic law (Grágás K229) allowed for someone convicted of theft to be handed over as a slave to the victim of the theft. The þrælar must have led very hard lives.

The actual social structure, not surprisingly, was more complex than this simple explanation would indicate.

Source: http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/society/text/social_classes.htm

So yeah, not really any castes there.

[LilianneLandar]

On this topic...
I can see why groups like the physicians and scribes have apprenticeships, support groups, etc. -- they serve a good purpose in helping people to conduct excellent roleplay and not propagate onlinisms or outright nongorean content.... 

On the other hand, who are we to set little clubs and tell people "you can rp X caste only if a certain cross-SL group approves you to do so"?

Slaves dont do that, why should free have to?

Reasons to choose a caste dont have to be fly-by-night silly ones.  They're the choice of an individual rper.  As for myself, I'd been a panther and a slave on previous avatar...and got tired of the raid/rape/release/repeat that began to be the bane of panther existence in SL Gor.  High-castes are also worth "more points" to certain raiding parties -- they are trophy captives.  So.....I chose a low-caste woman (silversmith) so that I could focus on the RP without being collar meat for every Tarl Rask and Verna.