fandomhigh | History in Living Colour - Friday, Period 3 (Week 3)

The Danger Shop was set up to look like the courtyard of a castle this week. The Doctor was leaning against a sword on the far side as he waited for the students to gather. When he was satisfied enough of the class was there, he started to talk. "Right! So this is the last week of the basics before we start wading into dealing with history itself. Recorded history isn't always reliable, especially considering that most of the records have been destroyed. Now you might say 'but there are plenty of historical records out there' and you're right. There are plenty, but there's plenty more where those came from except that they no longer exist. That's where you get into the murkier areas of history and historical fact becomes myth as the stories are told through the generations and changed with each telling, archaeological sites are lost and good ol' common sense tells people that the 'original' story they heard can't possibly have been real.

Most of the time, stories are just stories, but some times you end up with altered stories about people who did live, castles that did stand and deeds that did, in fact, happen.

I want you all to keep in mind that because we're in the unfortunate situation of having multiple universes converging on one spot, what's myth in one universe may be fact in another. Today and for the rest of this course, I'll be teaching you what I know to be fact. It's up to you to recognise what does and doesn't fit into your knowledge of your home universe.

Now, with that out of the way, welcome to the home of a man you might know as King Arthur. He's gone by Artorius, bear-man in Welsh, Arturus and the like, but let's stick with Arthur for now. Modern vernacular calls this place Camelot, so we'll run with that, although it's had plenty of names over the centuries like its owner. It's in a little place you might know as Wales," he said, glancing at Gwen ~~if she was there~~ as he spoke. "You won't find knights of the round table here for the moment, but there really is a round table and it's right up there." He pointed to a window. "For those of you who don't know Arthur, he was a great British leader around, oh, the 6th century, give or take, brought together legendary knights, performed great deeds, defeated a Saxon invasion, had an adviser by the name of Merlin and a very, very famous sword by the name of Excalibur. He became a great folklore hero and still is to this day. There are plenty of books about him in the library and information on the internet. I'll be encouraging you to do your own research to supplement the class because there's more out there than I can cover in an hour and not make your brain dribble out of your ears.

So with that, let's mix a little learning and fun, although I think they're one and the same, and have a discussion and then you can play with the swords."

[OOC: Apologies for the tl;dr.]

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Joan nodded. "Yeah, trying to explain that one to my folks would be tough."

"My dad's pretty easy-going, even when he's around," Peyton agreed, "but loss of a limb would not go over well. So..."

She lifted her sword. "Is there some sort of rule for how we start or do we just kind of start whacking away?"

"I have no idea," Joan admitted, hefting her own sword and, wow, it was a lot heavier than they made it look in the movies.

"Suddenly I'm glad about all the weight training Brooke made us cheerleaders do to make sure our arms looked good," Peyton said with a smile. "Damn these are heavy. Of course, back then they wouldn't have even let girls hold them much less fight with them, I'm sure."

"I don't know," Joan said. "People like Joan of Arc did."

Of course, she was burned at the stake, so maybe not such a good example.

"I think she was kind of the exception that proves the rule, you know? Not that I can see myself sitting locked away in some castle waiting for a prince to come save me."

Joan laughed. "Seriously. How boring life must have been for women back then."

"I know!" Peyton said with feeling. "Imagine having to sit and do needlepoint all day or whatever. I'd probably end up just bleeding all over it."

"I would go crazy," Joan said. Okay, some people would argue that it would be 'crazier', but she didn't want to freak out her sword fighting partner.

"I'm Joan, by the way."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure some people think I'm not far off," Peyton said with a grin. "Peyton. Nice to meet you, Joan."

Joan chuckled. "Yeah, I get that. All right, Peyton, fight to the death?"

"As long as it's only pretend death, sure," Peyton agreed. "En garde, or whatever you say with big swords."

"Definitely only pretend death," Joan assured her. "Yeah, en garde."

She lifted her sword (with both hands) and pointed it vaguely in Peyton's direction.

Peyton took a careful swing, aiming really mostly at Joan's sword.

[OOC: And I'm off to work, will tag in when I can!]

History in Living Colour - Friday, Period 3 (Week 3)

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