http://www.pennsicindependent.com/WaterBattleBy Grizzly of Ironstar
Marshall Reporter, the Pennsic Independent
Over 300 Pennsic youth stormed the Fort Monday afternoon.
Armed with water guns and water balloons the children of Pennsic rushed the Fort and the handful of adults that protected it. Armed with super soakers, hoses, and buckets of water, it looked as though the adults might actually hold the Fort. In the end, the overwhelming number of children was too much and they were able to storm the Fort, take prisoners and demand the treasure.
The Water Battle is an annual event that has been going on for about 11 years and is sponsored by Shadow Clans.
“It’s a blast! I love doing it each year,” said Taranach, one of the defenders who were taken prisoner in the fort. No ransom was asked or offered for Taranach, and he was released unharmed in the end.
The battle usually stems from some sort of betrayal by the adults towards the children. Swapping brussel sprouts for treasure and kidnapping Santa Claus were by far some of the worst offences and the ones that received the most violent response from the children.
The organizers of the event are very careful to hand pick adults as defenders and marshals who are very even-tempered and careful with the children. All children of Pennsic were welcome to join in the fun. Children over 40 could watch safely from the hay bales. At the end of the battle the adults gave up and relinquished their treasure: foam swords and bags of candy.
My one question is, "How have we not known about this until now? This has been going on for 11 years and no one has stumbled onto the online watergun community to tell us about this. It just goes to show that while there may only be a few of us diehards who network online watergun fights are still very popular.