Interviewer: Victoria Forstander
Featuring; Lady Janette Inglewood
[The following interview was has been edited to meet the approval of the featured person, it is a mixture of both IC and OOC. Enjoy!]
Lady Janette Inglewood is the Administrator of the Gorean Campus, Head of the Gorean Legal Academy and its Chief Magistrate. She is the High Magistrate of the City of Olni and one of the Owners of the Blue Caste of Gor Group
Victoria Forstander: unfolded the scroll she was carrying and withdrew a pen and quill from her pouch, placing these on the table. "We know you have been running the Gorean Legal Academy for over five earth years now and that you wanted to create an atmosphere that will provide the Gorean Community in SL Gor with more classes and events. But what exactly inspired you to bring forth the Gorean Campus?" She looked at her, while dipping the pen into the ink and readying herself to write.
Janette Inglewood: Yes, well I took over the GLA 5 years ago when my mentor became ill. She asked me to keep it going and I took that request very seriously. Over time I saw many, many classes and courses for slaves.... but not so much for the Free.
Victoria Forstander: nodded as she listened.
Janette Inglewood: for example.....as a Scribe I might be interested in what Initiates do, but it is hard to gather that information. Of course one can read Priest-Kings of Gor, as I have, but it is great if you have someone who plays the role, tell you their views. And so.... myself and Krista started to invite people to come and speak on topics. This really took off, and today we are larger than we ever envisaged.
Janette Inglewood: We hope the Campus is not somewhere that you get told what to think, but somewhere that inspires and generates better Gorean RP and makes people decide to stay in SL Gor.
Victoria Forstander: nodded as she wrote the dictation. "Then you wanted to provide more courses for the Free and did it because your mentor wanted the Academy to continue." She paraphrased, "Of course it is much easier. They have been there." She smiled carefully taking notes of the details, "And that dream became indeed big. Inspiration. Were you surprised to see those results?"
Janette Inglewood: I was pleasantly surprised to see it blossom so well.
Victoria Forstander: "And all the people who want to be part of it today." She smiled.
Victoria Forstander: went on to question number two, "Can you tell us about your own experience in SL Gor, what challenges did you face and what did you have to sacrifice? What has kept your boat rolling to stay all these years?"
Janette Inglewood: I started out as an apprentice Scribe in Thentis, I kept the City rolls and so forth.
Victoria Forstander: nods listening and writing.
Janette Inglewood: Then I got a place to train at the GLA under Anzhela, this widened my horizons. I moved to live full time at the Academy site, and started to attend all the classes. When Anz got too poorly for the large commitment, I took on more duties to support her. It meant less role play for myself but I was happy to be useful. And I realised one meets such lovely people when teaching. Perhaps as a woman there are challenges, but as I said before I seek to open people to what there is on Gor rather than tell them what to do.
Victoria Forstander: "And I am pretty sure you still remember those people, as we remember those who have inspired us." She admitted while dipping the pen into the ink once more before moving onto the next question and making sure the Lady was ready. She would look at her and grinned. "Who is Lady Janette Inglewood?"
Janette Inglewood: A Scribe who seeks to inspire others to love and nourish Gor on SL.
Victoria Forstander: "And as a Free Woman of Gor?"
Janette Inglewood: Committed to my Home Stone of Olni, and to contributing to the enjoyment of everyone who participates in SL Gor.
Victoria Forstander: "You have succeeded in inspiring me." She sincerely wanted to let her know that before moving onto the next question. "What does it mean to be Gorean in your own words, and how close to the books can you say the SL Gor we are in today is in general?"
Janette Inglewood: Interesting question. I suppose it means to operate within the parameters and spirit of the world that Norman devised. To interpret and reproduce the roles and behaviours he defined. To enjoy and appreciate the difference of Gor to the modern Earth world in which we live.
Janette Inglewood: As for question 2...
Victoria Forstander: smiles.
Janette Inglewood: I know there is a lot of tension around who is more BTB, whether one can take liberties and so forth. Naturally there are things we cannot reproduce on SL. Furthermore, it is likely that Women and slaves participate in more activities than they might have done in the books. However, providing one has read some of the books, is eager to learn, is eager to interact, then enthusiasm can take you a long way. I have been here since 2008, I think we are about the same in terms of proximity to the books.
Janette Inglewood: When you think how long ago the series was started, I think SL Gor has survived very well. Whatever the weaknesses may be, I am delighted to see new people arrive and SL Gor to continue to thrive.
Victoria Forstander: Indeed that is true. I could not agree more. Many people has told me that Gor in SL is not as harsh as it should be, as you have said it there are many thing we cannot do here because of the “limitations” and preferences.
Janette Inglewood: yes, I agree it is not as harsh as the books.... and yes for those reasons.
Victoria Forstander: What advice would you give to that new generation of SL Gor?
Janette Inglewood: The first, and obvious.... read some of the books.... there is no substitute for that.
Victoria Forstander: *chuckles* Otherwise they are going to be BTN, By the Notecard.
Janette Inglewood: Take time to look around and consider character and location carefully. There are many helpful institutions around to give you a chance to get a feel for the place before you dive in. Yes, notecards are great to focus on single issues from within the books. When you read the books you may not pick out specific details. But alone they will not give you the spirit of the books at all.
Victoria Forstander: No they will not. When I picked up one of the books and started to read it I felt an amazing feeling. And what would you tell Sim Owners to do to help new players journey into Gor? Is there something they should change, perhaps?
Janette Inglewood: Sim Owners deserve huge praise for the work they do.... it is a very hard job and often thankless. I think they offer a pathway into Gor as well as they could possibly do. I suggest people take time to explore and learn before diving in fully. Also the variety of sim available is quite amazing....from small villages to big cities, regional variations...training and welcome sites.....all do a great job.
Victoria Forstander: Yes indeed, they work hard to paint Norman's vision on the builds and the architecture of their sims. More than 300 I could not believe!
Janette Inglewood: Yes
Victoria Forstander: smiled warmly. “Thank you so much for your time and for answering all these questions and what you have shared.”
Janette Inglewood: you are welcome Victoria.
~~~
Thank you for reading! I welcome any ideas for questions or interview suggestions.
Victoria A. Forstander
Scribe of the Gorean Campus
Chief Magistrate of the City of Cartius
victoria@goreancampus.com
