SR - FW: blue tape in the last Pennsic battle

[Martin, Brian]

	Greetings All,

	This was forwarded to me by a co-worker, and I thought that it
really needed to be posted.


> The mercenary household of the Mountain Confederation had been
> fighting for
> the Kingdom of Ansteorra all war, and doing a damned good job of it,
> too.  On the
> final Saturday of the war, Barn, the King of Ansteorra, came to the
> Mountain
> Confederation as we assembled for the first battle, and spoke.  He
> congratulated us on our fighting, on our ability to work with his
> army, and
> gave our fighting unit the Sable Falcon, the highest fighting award in
> the
> Kingdom of Ansteorra.  He shook each of us by the hand, and personally
> thanked each one of us for our efforts on his kingdom's behalf.  We
> cheered him, and
> his kingdom, and we adorned our standard with Ansteorra's Falcon.
> 
> Barn regretted that he could not remain at Pennsic to lead his forces
> into
> battle.  In fact, nearly the entire Ansteorran army was in their camp,
> packing to begin their 2000 mile drive back to their kingdom.  There
> were only a
> handful of Ansteorrans who were going to take the field that final
> morning,
> and Barn wondered if we would allow them to fight with us under our
> unit command.
> We explained that we would be honored to have it so.  Barn's final
> words to
> us were "Take care of my boys..."  We cheered him again, as he strode
> from the
> field.
> 
> The mountain pass battle began, and the combined forces of Ansteorra
> and the
> Mountain Confederation fought hard, well and honorably.
> 
> After the mountain pass, as we were resting for the coming field
> battle, we
> saw there was a great gathering of Eastern forces in the resurrection
> area of the
> battlefield.  A few of our fighters joined the throng, and came back
> with the
> news that the Eastern Army planned to withdraw from the field.  At
> first we
> did not believe that this could be true.  But as we watched, the
> entire Eastern
> Army formed a column behind the Eastern banners and marched from the
> field.
> 
> Our Ansteorran comrades grew dismayed, and cried "We did not drive
> 2000 miles
> to quit a battle!"   Our unit commander, Thorvaaldr, exclaimed: "I
> promised
> your king I would take care of you, and taking care of you does NOT
> include
> walking away from a fight.  Don your armor!"
> >
> And so we did.  By my count, there were 24 warriors of the Mountain
> Confederation, 7 warriors from Ansteorra, and 3 Atlantian warriors who
> arrayed
> ourselves in our battle gear, and strode to the highest point of the
> battlefield.  Over our heads waved the blue and gold banner of the
> Mountain
> Confederation, adorned by the Ansteorran Sable Falcon.  We paused atop
> the
> hill  and gazed at the might of the Midrealm army.  It stretched from
> one side of
> the field to the other.
> >
> Then the 34 of us marched across the battle plain, to challenge the
> Midrealm
> army.
> 
> Thorvaaldr, as our unit commander, spoke for us.  He cried: "We are
> the
> combined forces of the Kingdom of Ansteorra and the Mountain
> Confederation.
> Wecame here to fight a battle, and a battle we shall have.  We will
> leave this
> field only in Victory or in Death.  Gentlemen, assemble your army!"
> >
> And the cheers erupted.  They began with the Midrealm fighters who had
> actually heard the challenge, and spread along both flanks as word
> went out that a
> handful of fighters had stayed on the field.  The cheers became a roar
> as we
> were engulfed by our "foes".  Backs were pounded, hands shaken, we
> were
> lifted and hugged and swung around by a hundred fighters each.  When
> the accolade
> ended, we 34 fighters marched back to our little hill, ready to be the
> last
> "Forlorn Hope" of the blue taped army.
> >
> But as we stood there, beneath our standard bearing the golden
> snarling
> mountain lion and the blue hills we call home, a single warrior
> approached
> from the other side.  He came before us and cried: "You have shown
> great honor and
> glory by your actions this day.  Please allow me to fight at your
> side." And
> we replied: "We would be honored to have you, and welcome.  Bring this
> man
> blue tape!"  And lo, as this was being done, two more fighters
> approached, asking
> to fight with us.  And then four more fighters, and then a unit, and
> then
> another unit asked to join us.  And then, the Kingdom of Calontir
> approached us and
> said: "Please allow us the honor of fighting at your side!"  And to
> all who
> approached, we cried: "Thank you, the honor is ours! Welcome!  More
> blue
> tape!"
> 
> A grizzled knight of Calontir walked through our ranks, shaking our
> hands. He
> was an obvious veteran of many wars, but tears flowed freely from his
> eyes,
> as he shook our hands and told us how proud he was to belong to a
> Society who
> valued honor and chivalry so highly.  "War points do not matter, this
> isn't
> about war points," he said, "it is about honor and chivalry.  You have
> truly
> won this War."
> >
> Once again, we turned to face the Midrealm from our little hill.  But
> now,
> beneath the banner of the Mountain Confederation, there stood an army
> that
> reached halfway across the battlefield.  On the other side, the army
> of the
> Midrealm also covered only half the field.  They had released their
> allies
> from their Pennsic XXVII war alliances, and allowed the marshals to
> even the
> sides. The Midrealm had had the final war point in their gauntlets,
> they could have
> crushed our Forlorn Hope with a couple of small units.  But they had
> chosen
> instead the route of chivalry, honor, generosity and graciousness.
> >
> The marshals finished briefing us, the assembled and newly assembled
> armies
> awaited breathlessly.  And with the roar of the cannon, the final
> official
> war point battle of Pennsic XXVII began.  It was glorious, it was
> honorable and
> clean.  It was some of the best fighting of the war.  When it was
> over, the
> blue taped side was victorious.
> >
> Barn, the King of Ansteorra, was still on site to hear the news that
> his
> kingdom had won the final war point of Pennsic XXVII.  As Ansteorra
> was still
> in alliance with the Eastern forces, Barn sent an envoy to HRM Timothy
> with
> the gift of the final war point.  HRM Timothy graciously accepted.
> >
> The words I write are true.  This saga is the story of a small band of
> warriors who stood alone as a Forlorn Hope against an army, and won.
> "Honor, not
> Honors" is the Mountain Confederation motto.  Our colors are blue and
> gold.
> Our colors do not run.
> 
> This posting is not meant in any way to impugn the honor or question
> the
> reasons of HRM Timothy or the Eastern Army.  It was just too good a
> tale to
> not be told.
> >
> >Arden MacIlhatton
> >Warrior of the Mountain Confederation
> 
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