squiring ♔ keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others

[wynn]

♬ Troy - James Horner

WHO || Wynn, Steve Rogers, Cybill Robinson, Caroline Forbes, Nick Hawley, current Knights attending the ceremony
WHAT || April Squiring Ceremony [backdated]
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Great Hall
WHEN || April 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

[leftenants]

[Good that someone understands the struggle.]

He doesn't seem as scary as some people might have us believe.

[Of course, that might just be her appreciation for strong authority figures showing through. She's been lucky to work for a few good ones in her time.]

[bredinthebone]

[Malina can understand that appreciation as well - she never really had any before Wynn. But she also knows enough about him to know that he can be downright scary when he wants to be.]

That entirely depends on how you're dealing with him.

[leftenants]

I figured as much.

[He wouldn't be in charge of something like this if it were otherwise, she thinks.]

So, you know any of the new kids?

[She's noticed that the folks who show up to these seem to be the ones who are already invested-- or signed up for mentoring.]

[bredinthebone]

[Malina's mouth draws into even more of a smirk, before pointing in Hawley's direction as he stands and turns to greet the crowd.]

I'm the knight who brought in your boy.

[leftenants]

[WELL THEN.]

So you're the one I have to thank for keeping him from completely falling off the map.

[Even if it's sheer dumb luck that they'd both wound up on this side of the veil.]

Didn't give you too much trouble, did he?

[bredinthebone]

[She shakes her head.]

Nah, not at all. Could have done without the ceiling caving in, but I don't think we could have helped that part.

[Besides, if he hadn't been there she would have been down their dealing with gargoyles and a doomsday device all on her own while the rest of her team was upstairs. Bad plan.]

[leftenants]

Sounds exciting.

[Much like her fantastic ghoul adventure with Kate.]

Does anyone ever get brought into the Knights without some kind of violent catalyst?

[She smirks. She's sure it happens, but she's sensing a theme here.]

[bredinthebone]

[She pauses for a moment before tipping her head to the side.]

Well, for some of us it's a family business. They grew up with parents in the Knights and became knights themselves. And I guess mine was less violent than it could have been.

[leftenants]

So I take it you aren't one of the family business types.

[Consider her curiosity piqued.]

[bredinthebone]

[She pauses for a moment.]

Not technically. I guess it depends on how you define family.

[leftenants]

Loosely, I'd say. Means different things to different people.

[She's started getting just how flexible the definition really is over the last year or so.]

[bredinthebone]

[She nods with a smirk.]

Me too. My actual family wasn't the greatest, so I decided to build my own.

[leftenants]

I get that.

[Her actual family hadn't been great, either, fell apart when it was still young and she'd been forced to find her own. She's just glad Jenny is a part of that now, that they've managed to make things right.]

Sometimes the best family is the one you choose for yourself. Blood doesn't have a lot to do with it.

[bredinthebone]

Amen to that.

[Her chosen family was miles better than her living one. Except for her dad - he tends to meet her halfway.]

[leftenants]

[Abbie smiles-- it's nice to know there's someone else on the same wavelength, but before she says anything more, she's distracted by the ceremony again as it wraps up. She already knows what that means.]

So- ready to go party, give the new guys a proper welcome?

[bredinthebone]

[Malina nods her agreement because she is always ready for a party.]

Yep. Let's do it.

[And off they go to party. /scene]