squiring ♔ injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere

[wynn]

♬ Troy - James Horner

WHO || Wynn, Shawn Spencer, Ashley Magnus, Abbie Mills, Allen Francis Doyle, current Knights attending the ceremony
WHAT || March Squiring Ceremony [backdated]
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Great Hall
WHEN || March 1st, 2015, 6:00PM
HOW || Actionspam

The impressively large Great Hall of the castle could easily pass as a royal throne room, with its length and the red carpet leading up to a set of steps. However, there is no throne set at the top of them, and the Hall is wide enough to accommodate hundreds of Knights. And indeed, several hundred Knights stand in ranks on either side of the wide stretch of red, each wearing the traditional set of ceremonial armor in their possession.

The newest squires have been fitted to his armor after meeting with Wynn as always. It's traditional for them to appear for the first time before the Knighthood wearing it and they are assured that only a very small number of the Knights make use of their armor for other circumstances. It does, however, create an intimidating sense of unity as they stand shoulder to shoulder in rank and file to receive their newest pledges.

They enter together, with a flair of orchestral music that fills the hall with as much pomp as possible. It's a lot like that last scene in A New Hope. Yeah, you thought I was going to get through an entire post being all serious, didn't you.

At the top of the steps, Wynn waits, wearing a sword on his belt that canny eyes† might recognize as familiar. Mark has, after all, brought it back with him from Andres - the famed sword, Excalibur.

It's one hell of a long walk past all those staring, curious eyes. Luckily, it's a long musical number.

For additional dice rolling fun (optional):

† Roll or randomize a d20. Those who roll a 15 or above can spot the sword for being the exact same sword that was suspended in the statue above the Round Table, when they met with Wynn in the Prologue.
† Roll a d20 dexterity check. If your character rolls a 2 or 3, at some point during their walk they're bound to stumble. A critical fail will lead to an epic faceplant ... or worse.

Comments

The Walk

[wynn]

[Optionally play out your character's WALK OF DESTINY down the red carpet, and people in the crowd can judge them / encourage them / gawk ]

[bagsthem]

[Ashley is not faring so well in this armor with her dex check of 8.]

I can't be the only one who feels a little ridiculous in this, right?

[pwnspatrickjane]

[Hello, gorgeous. Shawn is just going to flash her his winningest smile (which happens to be pretty winning, charisma 21), before strutting forward.]

Not at all. I've found it is all about attitude.

[He's doing better than her, but really only marginally (dexterity 12).]

[bagsthem]

[Oh. He's cute. Her will save of 16 doesn't make it. If she didn't look flustered before, she does now.]

I have attitude...

[So petulant, and she's is not selling it. Walking a runway is definitely not her thing.]

[pwnspatrickjane]

[Poor Ashley. Shawn glances at her ahead of him, and decides to do something actually ... really sweet, because he's going to make it so that Ashley doesn't feel like the most ridiculous person walking - because that person is going to be him.

That's right, everybody. It's time to dance it out (perform dance 15):




The narration is so, so sorry, Wynn.]

[bagsthem]

[There's no doubt that that's going to cause some kind of reaction, and she turns her head to catch that out of the corner of her eye-

-and bursts into laughter. HOW COULD SHE NOT?

She steps back over to him, grabbing his wrist and starting to pull him along.]

Alright, Ricky Martin. Come on.

[pwnspatrickjane]

[Made pretty girl laugh. Mission: accomplished. Shawn will happily go where he's tugged, and thus they continue on their way up to the stage to meet Wynn.]

[leftenants]

[Surprisingly, Abbie is managing to do alright walking in armor (dexterity 18), although the staring isn't sitting quite so well with her.]

Could this hall be any longer?

[Muttered, of course.]

The Ceremony

[wynn]

[ When they have arrived at the far end of the carpet and stand before him, Wynn addresses the would-be squires solemnly by name. ]

Shawn Spencer. Ashley Magnus. Abbie Mills. Allen Francis Doyle.

Kneel. And repeat this oath.

The Pledge

[wynn]

[Each line is spoken separately as a call and respond.]

"I swear to defend the Knighthood."

"I swear that I shall protect all weaknesses and shall constitute myself the defender of them."

"I shall not recoil before mine Enemy."

"I shall make war against injustice, without cessation and without mercy."

"I shall never lie, and shall remain faithful to my pledged word."

"I shall be generous, and listen to and respect all."

[And finally, in ringing tones:]

"I shall be everywhere and always the champion of the right and the good against injustice and evil."

[optional rolling; roll a D20 Wisdom check in order to see if your Knight can remember the phrases properly or not so much. Remember that a 10 is an average person's capacity to do so. :) ]

[bagsthem]

[Her wisdom check was even worse, a whole 6, so she bumbles through the oath like an idiot. She might even ask for him to start over at some point.

She clearly did not practice this.

Whatever, she's not here to give rousing speeches. They've got people better equipped for that.]

[scorekeeper]

[ Gaining a 5, Doyle mutters half of it, and fakes a cough before getting ONLY the last line correct. Opps.]

[pwnspatrickjane]

[That's okay, Ashley, Shawn is going to do even worse than you because he's totally crit failing this and, well, he's going to go out with a bang.

He starts off fine. I swear to defend the Knighthood. I swear that I shall protect all weaknesses and shall constitute myself the defender of them.

I ... ]

I ...

Iiiiiii-eee-Iiiiiiiii ... will always love yoooooooooooooooou .....

[Yep. He went there. He will keep going unless someone stops him, so please God someone stop him.]

[scorekeeper]

[ Sorry, dude, The Irishmans laughing.]

[leftenants]

[Damn it, Shawn, this is supposed to be a somber moment.

... but yeah, she cracks a smile anyway.]

[leftenants]

[It's a little rougher than the walk, but Abbie lands an 11 and therefore manages to get through the oath without any embellishment, but without tripping over her words, either-- though she definitely has to side-eye her fellow recruits during their responses.

Come on, guys.]

Dubbing

[wynn]

[With a beautiful sching noise, Wynn draws the oh so shiny sword from its sheath. One by one he lays the flat of the blade upon the squires' right shoulder, then raises it gently above their head to place it upon their left. When he is finished with each of them in turn, he returns to his place at the top of the steps, and announces:]

You may rise: Sir Shawn Spencer. Sir Ashley Magnus. Sir Abbie Mills. Sir Allen Francis Doyle.

[The moment the squires begin to rise, the entire hall bursts into a frenzy of cheers, applause, hoots and hollering that's practically deafening. It quiets a bit when Wynn speaks again.]

We ask you to join us tonight in celebration of our newest members in the ballroom.

[pwnspatrickjane]

[And with that all said and done, Shawn stands up like he's doing a victory lap, arms thrust into a V in the air like he's getting ready to meet his adoring public, as though he hadn't just completely screwed up this ceremony.

The narration apologizes profusely to you all.]

[leftenants]

[Well, at least Shawn doesn't seem to be even remotely self-conscious.]

You don't sweat the small stuff, do you?

[For what it's worth, she's pretty sure she likes him.]

[pwnspatrickjane]

[Not even a little. He tends to just throw himself into things, regardless of the embarrassment he causes himself or others on his behalf.]

No, I do not. My sweat is clearly only comprised of big stuff. When I sweat, you will know.

[leftenants]

Least that means you're bound to be good under pressure.

[She hopes. That's always been a desirable quality in her line of work, and she figures that has to hold true for the Knights, too.]

Think we're expected to mingle?

[pwnspatrickjane]

[Oh, absolutely. He is the best distraction in a tough situation.]

I heard there's a party - thankfully one we do not have to go to in armor, as awesome as it is.

[leftenants]

Good. Not that I don't appreciate the symbolism, but it's not exactly easy to move in if you're not used to it.

[Which, she imagines, few people in this day and age are-- at least in her neck of the woods.]

[pwnspatrickjane]

[He nods in agreement.]

They made it look so much easier when I was working at Medieval Times.

[leftenants]

Not quite the crash-course in knighthood you were hoping, I take it.

[Although it sounds like it was probably fun, if nothing else.]

[pwnspatrickjane]

[Oh yeah, it was a blast. He got to watch jousting tournaments every day.]

No, clearly not. Though, I will admit I am glad that this particular knighthood does believe in showers.

[leftenants]

The indoor plumbing is a definite perk.

[The title is kind of nice, too.]

Shall we go get ourselves party-ready? I'm thinking the sooner we get out of this armor, the better.

[pwnspatrickjane]

[He nods in agreement before grinning.]

Let's do this.

[And off they go to party hardy. /scene]

Peanut Gallery

[wynn]

[ ONLOOKERS/GAWKERS/WHATNOT]

[druidisms]

[ walks in late like an asshole because he was smoking outside. he needs to be stoned to deal with shawn tbh. ]

Anyone else hear Magnus?

[daredtobelieve]

[Helen meanwhile is just... staring, mouth hung open, face pale. It's like she's seen a ghost.

Because she has.]

Ashley?

[She whispers the name, still frozen in shock.]

[ambitionist]

[immune to helen's internal crisis, alex comments to ... anyone who happens to be sitting near him about the general first impression he's getting of this batch of intrepid heroes. so many good rolls u know.] They know they're supposed to wait for the afterparty to get drunk, right? Not pregame it?

[bittersweeter]

Can I return mine for store credit? [ her nose wrinkles. ] At least yours is pretty.

[ambitionist]

Mine's a brat. Which one's yours again?

[daredtobelieve]

[Slowly, Helen takes a step forward, like she's about to just move through the crowd and figure this out for herself. Her baby is up there?? How??]

[bittersweeter]

I dunno, one of the guys. [ wait she wrote it on her hand. ] Future Sir Doyle. Is Helen having a stroke?

[ambitionist]

Uh ... maybe. Someone ought to look into that. [not it.]

[bredinthebone]

[Malina is focused mostly on her concern for her friend at this point as she moves forward, placing a hand on Helen's shoulder to get her attention.]

Helen?

[daredtobelieve]

[Malina's touch at least draws her attention from the main ceremony.]

It's her. [She says, still looking completely shocked and confused.]

It's Ashley. [Her eyes dart from Malina to Gus and back again.] My daughter.

[bredinthebone]

[She blinks in surprise, glancing up to the girl she means for a moment, before turning back to Helen.]

Are you sure?

[Not that she doubts her ability to recognize her own child, but she just wants to be certain.]

[daredtobelieve]

I... [She looks over towards Ashley, tears filling her eyes.] I don't know how it's possible. It shouldn't be possible.

Ashley's dead.

[bredinthebone]

[Malina tries to keep her shock off her face but unfortunately it's not as well as she would have liked (will save 10). Raising the dead. That's ... that's a new trick. She keeps her hand on Helen's shoulder gently, before nodding.]

Okay. Okay, let's ... let's wait until they finish the ceremony and we'll get to the bottom of this.

[daredtobelieve]

[She just nods and takes a breath, watching the rest of the ceremony quietly.]

[bredinthebone]

[She does the same, focusing on "Ashley" and wanting to make sure there wasn't anything too off about her right out the gate, but once everything is said and done, she glances back to Helen.]

Do you want to do this at the party, or somewhere more private?

[daredtobelieve]

No, I'm... I'm alright.

[bredinthebone]

Alright. Then let's go get our party on.

[And investigate Helen's mystery daughter. And probably get very, very drunk. /scene]

[mordsith]

[Cara is there purely to see her squire and size her up. At least hers isn't the one making a fool of themselves.]