feast & after-party ♔ empty my heart | i've got to make room for this feeling

[wynn]

♬ Can't Take It In - Imogen Heap

WHO || Wynn, the new Squires, any and all Knights
WHAT || Squiring Ceremony Feast & Afterparty
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Dining Hall & Ballroom
WHEN || February 9th, 2012, 7:00PM / 9:00 PM
HOW || Prose OR Actionspam

While every dinner served in the Knights' exceptionally large Dining Hall manages to have a sense of occasion, given the sheer quantity of food necessary to serve the hundreds who take their meals there, the 'feast' Wynn's ordered for after this squiring party outdoes the norm. It's not a problem to produce so much food at the drop of the hat when mages can magically summon up entire banquets, and so the room teems over with the smells and spices of hundreds of unique dishes. Centerpieces built with peacock feathers and sweet smelling flowers dot the table at intervals. A silver cage in the very middle of the table includes several live birds, their feet and tufts each appearing to be silver as well. A banner hangs from the top of the cage, with the Knight's symbol of a black dragon on a silver field.

The food has a distinctly medieval flair to it today, which several of the older Shadowkind Knights express their boisterous appreciation for as they dive in. The first course consists of a civet of hare, a quarter of salted stag, a stuffed chicken and a loin of veal, the latter two covered with a German sauce with gilt sugar-plums and pomegranate seeds. At each end of the table is an enormous pie, surmounted with smaller pies, which form a crown. The crust of the large ones is silvered all round and gilt at the top; each contains a whole roe-deer, a gosling, three capons, six chickens, ten pigeons, and one young rabbit. Serving as seasoning or stuffing, a minced loin of veal, two pounds of fat, and twenty-six hard-boiled eggs, covered with saffron and flavoured with cloves.

A second course follows: aroe-deer, a pig, a sturgeon cooked in parsley and vinegar, and covered with powdered ginger; a kid, two goslings, twelve chickens, as many pigeons, six young rabbits, two herons, a leveret, a fat capon stuffed, four chickens covered with yolks of eggs and sprinkled with spiced powder de Duc, and even a wild boar.

Next came wafers and stars; a jelly, part white and part blue. A fourth course of cream with Duc powder, covered with fennel seeds preserved in sugar; a white cream, cheese in slices, and strawberries; and, lastly, plums stewed in rose-water.

Besides these four courses, there's a fifth, entirely composed of wines, and of preserves, which consist of fruits and various sweet pastries in the shapes of dragons.

---------------------------

Following this, assuming anyone is still capable of moving at all is the after-party: a black-tie affair in the lavish, opulent ballroom, every new Knight's chance to mingle and meet some of their new brothers in arms. Per usual, a couple hours are provided following the feast for everyone to change, do hair and makeup, and choose from the vast array of formal attire in the closets of the balcony "dressing rooms" located at the top of spiraled staircases on either side of the ballroom. A separate dressing room exists for men and women, and they include full bathrooms (with, thankfully, very modern plumbing).

The squires are usually among the last to arrive, and the ballroom is full to the brim with a fancy array of people, of all shapes, sizes and species.

Hope none of you are shy. They're all here to meet you. 

All open feast threads should be made under the FEAST heading below. Any other threads below will be for the after-party. Feel free to make your own open threads for people to come congratulate your newly pledged knight.

Comments

[king]

[ Not only was Arthur raised in a castle, he also apparently learned to notice when someone was picking dubiously at a dish rather than wholeheartedly stuffing themselves with it. The next time he has to pass something her way, he gives a nod to one of the stranger looking dishes. ]

You should try the sturgeon, it's very good.

[aproperdoctor]

[Martha gives him an exceptionally skeptical look.] Sturgeon? That's a fish, yeah? [It probably still looks rather fishy - literally, not in a pun sort of way. Okay, also in the punny way.]

[king]

Indeed. With ginger, this one, if I'm not mistaken.

[ He indicates the dish. Yeah, there's a fish under there somewhere. ]

[aproperdoctor]

[Martha figures it would be rude to refuse, so she takes a helping of the sturgeon, though she looks vaguely alarmed by the concept. On the other hand, she thinks that Arthur would probably be just as perplexed by many of the foods in modern-day England - so it's all down to culture shock, really. Or something like that.]

It's...not bad?

[king]

Good!

[ He's pleased, even if she still looks a little off-put. ]

[aproperdoctor]

[Martha glances at some roast birds she can't identify - namely, the herons.] So what sort of food is that?

[king]

[ Arthur isn't wholly sure at a glance, so he serves himself some, tries a small forkful, chewing thoughtfully. ]

Crane, perhaps, or heron.

[aproperdoctor]

Heron? Like the...waterbirds? You can eat heron? Why couldn't Wynn just have a fry-up like a normal bloke?

[king]

What's a fry-up?

[aproperdoctor]

It's...sort of a stereotypical bloke - er, man - thing, all fried foods. It was a joke, Wynn probably watches his cholesterol.

[paaaause]

Cholesterol is, um, something in fatty food that clogs up your veins and makes you have heart attacks because the blood flow to your heart is cut off.

[She figures Arthur probably still doesn't understand it, but there's not much more simplifying she can do, sob.]

Like, um, apoplexy? [SO TECHNICALLY INACCURATE.]

[king]

[ What is Martha even talking about. Arthur tries to sort through it. ]

So you'd prefer apoplexy-inducing food to some truly excellent roast and pie?

[ As though the amount of lard in the pastry alone wouldn't kill a man in five years. ]

[aproperdoctor]

No, no, I was only kidding. Although I wouldn't mind something more, er, recognisable. And less...heron-y.

[king]

What would we be be eating then, if you got to choose?

[ He lifts an eyebrow and the corner of his mouth, interested. ]