Arabic version: لارب يمنح كوميديًا من ملبورن مهربًا من العصور الوسطى

According to The Guardian, Melbourne comedian and freelance writer Scout Boxall spends one week each year immersed in live action role play, or Larping, at Swordcraft Quest in Victoria. The event turns a rocky cattle paddock in Pomborneit into Sudenburg, a medieval fantasy village populated by hundreds of players.

Boxall, who has been Larping for seven years, describes weekly gatherings on a community sports field in Melbourne’s inner north, where participants wear historical armour and fight with foam latex swords. Swordcraft Quest is fully in character and immersive, while retaining modern necessities including Portaloo facilities and soy flat whites.

This year, Boxall played Sudenburg’s Master of Coin, overseeing the town’s finances. The role involved operating a tax office, checking in-character documentation, collecting copper coins and placing money in a box labelled “TAX OFFICE COFFERS – LOOTABLE ITEM”. Players attempted elaborate fake heists using disguises, fraudulent documents and foam knives, all arranged beforehand out of character.

At the end of the event, however, someone broke into the tent and took the coins for real, prompting an out-of-character investigation. In the game’s economy, 12 copper coins equal a silver coin and 20 silver equal a gold coin. A copper is valued at between A$3 and A$6 in “shadow currency”, though it cannot be exchanged back after the game.

Boxall writes that Larping can explore real-world issues through fantasy scenarios, including mining, cronyism and xenophobia. The activity has also created a chosen family and community, while offering an annual escape into a setting where Boxall can play a financially secure bureaucrat.