A number of years ago... Pennsic 35… I got hurt in the last fight practice before War. Practice was
on Tuesday, and we left on Saturday. I
caught a shot right on the inside of my elbow, at just the right angle that
there was no armour there. It hurt like Hel, and swelled and bruised pretty
spectacularly. By the time we got to Pennsic… it had not improved.
I decided to fight Monday when the war points started anyway… I had OK range of motion and could work a spear pretty well, and I had not driven there to sit on the sidelines. The Monday battle was the town battle. I’m not sure if folks remember this one, but it was the one where we built a HUGE town out of hay bales. I mean HUGE… it took up the entire battlefield, and was a rabbit warren of streets and alleys and buildings. Our plan was to hit in three teams, penetration, assault, and security. Penetration team punched in fast, advanced to contact, and made the enemy stop and engage. Assault team followed that up and knocked them back, and the security team… the slower moving but generally heaver fighters… held the ground. Rinse and repeat.
I decided to fight Monday when the war points started anyway… I had OK range of motion and could work a spear pretty well, and I had not driven there to sit on the sidelines. The Monday battle was the town battle. I’m not sure if folks remember this one, but it was the one where we built a HUGE town out of hay bales. I mean HUGE… it took up the entire battlefield, and was a rabbit warren of streets and alleys and buildings. Our plan was to hit in three teams, penetration, assault, and security. Penetration team punched in fast, advanced to contact, and made the enemy stop and engage. Assault team followed that up and knocked them back, and the security team… the slower moving but generally heaver fighters… held the ground. Rinse and repeat.
 |
| Heading into the town.Photo by Ursus of Anglesey |
We took over half the town at the opening cannon, and never gave it back. It
was a gloriously brutal battle.
Maybe halfway through, I came to the sudden and frightening realization that I could no longer feel the hand on my injured arm. I took this as a Bad Sign. I came off the field right in front of the Tuchux pavilion, and started to drop my gear. A couple of their dogs started ripping into me to GTFO of their space, but Animal saw I was hurt, and smacked them down. I explained what was wrong, and he asked me to take my arm harness off and he would try some acupressure. I had no idea what that was, but at that point, I was willing to try anything. He worked on the arm for a few minutes, and feeling returned. Pretty much as soon as it did, I wished it hadn’t… because that hurt like a mother. After he finished, Animal told me I probably shouldn’t fight. I intended to follow the advice, but a quick glance at my exhausted compatriots fighting the good fight, and I decided to go back in. My intent was to carry water up to those people guarding banner points, and I didn’t carry a spear. I had my seax on my belt, so I was armed, and I figured I would count as a combatant if they needed bodies for a count around a banner. This not fighting thing lasted a VERY short time… there was a push on the line where I was, we were about to be overrun, and almost without thought, I flipped a spear that was lying on the ground up into my hand, and started killing folk. The spear broke in my hands (I lost three spears that day, though this was the only one broken) and I ended the battle batting cleanup with the seax as the enemy tried penetrating our line.
I staggered off the field, and had to be helped back to camp. I was hurting. Bad.
That night, there was much prayer in camp. Master Harald blessed his own Thor’s hammer and had me wear it. A massage therapist worked on the arm a while, I took it easy, I ate motrin like candy.
I woke up the next morning, and the arm was still f^cked. The swelling had worsened. The bruising had spread… it was now bruised from mid forearm to my shoulder, ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE ARM!
Harald looked at it, and told me if I went out and fought the woods, it was very likely that I would not be fighting the rest of War. I sat in my tent and watched my friends head off to the woods battle.
I sat there staring at my helmet and thinking. I popped back out of the tent, looked at Harald and said “Boss… I would rather miss the rest of Pennsic than not fight the woods.” I was going. There wasn’t a question.
He looked at me, understanding. Nodding, he said “So suit up.”
I did. Threw my armour on as fast as possible and left the camp just as the cannon went off to start the battle. We were on the far side of the woods that year… about a mile walk from where I was. In under fifteen minutes, I had reached our res point, grabbed a spear from the spare gear ( I had not gotten my spear back from the battlefield the day before) and was in the woods.
I proceeded to have one of the best battles of my life. Seriously… occasionally you have one of those days where damn near everything goes right. This was one of those days. I felt unstoppable, and many a fun story came out of that woods battle.
At the end of the battle, we piled in the vehicles and got a ride back to camp. I got back, armoured down, and took a look at my arm. The swelling was gone. The bruising was almost gone… the arm barely tinged with yellow. I fought the rest of War, no pain or discomfort.
I don't fight the last practice before Pennsic now though. J
Maybe halfway through, I came to the sudden and frightening realization that I could no longer feel the hand on my injured arm. I took this as a Bad Sign. I came off the field right in front of the Tuchux pavilion, and started to drop my gear. A couple of their dogs started ripping into me to GTFO of their space, but Animal saw I was hurt, and smacked them down. I explained what was wrong, and he asked me to take my arm harness off and he would try some acupressure. I had no idea what that was, but at that point, I was willing to try anything. He worked on the arm for a few minutes, and feeling returned. Pretty much as soon as it did, I wished it hadn’t… because that hurt like a mother. After he finished, Animal told me I probably shouldn’t fight. I intended to follow the advice, but a quick glance at my exhausted compatriots fighting the good fight, and I decided to go back in. My intent was to carry water up to those people guarding banner points, and I didn’t carry a spear. I had my seax on my belt, so I was armed, and I figured I would count as a combatant if they needed bodies for a count around a banner. This not fighting thing lasted a VERY short time… there was a push on the line where I was, we were about to be overrun, and almost without thought, I flipped a spear that was lying on the ground up into my hand, and started killing folk. The spear broke in my hands (I lost three spears that day, though this was the only one broken) and I ended the battle batting cleanup with the seax as the enemy tried penetrating our line.
I staggered off the field, and had to be helped back to camp. I was hurting. Bad.
That night, there was much prayer in camp. Master Harald blessed his own Thor’s hammer and had me wear it. A massage therapist worked on the arm a while, I took it easy, I ate motrin like candy.
I woke up the next morning, and the arm was still f^cked. The swelling had worsened. The bruising had spread… it was now bruised from mid forearm to my shoulder, ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE ARM!
Harald looked at it, and told me if I went out and fought the woods, it was very likely that I would not be fighting the rest of War. I sat in my tent and watched my friends head off to the woods battle.
I sat there staring at my helmet and thinking. I popped back out of the tent, looked at Harald and said “Boss… I would rather miss the rest of Pennsic than not fight the woods.” I was going. There wasn’t a question.
He looked at me, understanding. Nodding, he said “So suit up.”
I did. Threw my armour on as fast as possible and left the camp just as the cannon went off to start the battle. We were on the far side of the woods that year… about a mile walk from where I was. In under fifteen minutes, I had reached our res point, grabbed a spear from the spare gear ( I had not gotten my spear back from the battlefield the day before) and was in the woods.
I proceeded to have one of the best battles of my life. Seriously… occasionally you have one of those days where damn near everything goes right. This was one of those days. I felt unstoppable, and many a fun story came out of that woods battle.
At the end of the battle, we piled in the vehicles and got a ride back to camp. I got back, armoured down, and took a look at my arm. The swelling was gone. The bruising was almost gone… the arm barely tinged with yellow. I fought the rest of War, no pain or discomfort.
I don't fight the last practice before Pennsic now though. J
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