At one time, it was said that you could not be an Axemoor knight unless you had some chronic injury. Sir Beorn has a "trick" knee that necessitates his fighting with a brace. Sir Phelan has a bad ankle and is partially deaf as a result of combat injuries received in Vietnam. Sir Esteban has chronic neck and upper back problems as a result of combat injuries received in the streets of Philadelphia, PA. One wonders how good these knights would be were they not slowed down by their injuries!
The Crown List to choose a successor to Orlando Cavalcanti II was held at Hard Labor Creek State Park in Georgia. About five Axemoor fighters entered the Crown List that day including Baron Sir Beorn Collenfehrth. His Excellency fought particularly well and made it to the finals of the single-loss round. Beorn's one loss had come early on at the hands of Sir Roderick Level-Lance of Rampart. In the finals of the single-loss round, Sir Beorn faced a fighter I shall refer to as Lord C.
All day long, Lord C had been fighting with a force field or, as we say these days, he was rhino hiding. The winner of the single loss round would have to face Sir Roderick in the finals, so Sir Beorn did not want to waste much time or energy fighting Lord C. When the marshals cried, "Lay on," Sir Beorn quickly closed and with a single lightening wrist snap, put a new crease in Lord C's helm.
Lord C stood there unbelieving for a second, then looked at the marshals. The marshals returned his gaze with one that said, "You’re dead. Fall over." Realizing that the crowd was beginning to murmur, Lord C collapsed dead on the field.
Sir Roderick stands a full head taller than Sir Beorn and having defeated His Excellency earlier, seemed to have the advantage. Sir Beorn made up for size with speed and skill and fought fiercely. The finals went the full three rounds and Sir Beorn emerged the winner.
When the fighting was over, Lord Esteban, who was squired to Sir Beorn, helped his knight disarm. While he was removing Beorn's leg armor, Esteban noticed something was missing. "Where's your knee brace?" asked the Squire.
"At home," was Sir Beorn's terse reply. His Excellency felt that his knee brace cut down on his mobility too much and had decided to fight without it.
Squire Esteban was Kingdom Chirurgeon at the time and proceeded to read his Knight the riot act. In this, Esteban was assisted by Lady Isolde, who had been chirurgeon for part of the tourney. Sir Beorn took his medicine like the Knight he was, knowing full well that the chirurgeons were right.
I don't think His Excellency really cared. He had entered Crown List so that he might become King and do some things that he felt were needed to improve the Kingdom. I believe that if Sir Beorn had it to do over again, he still would have fought without the brace.