squiring ♔ i am bound to live up to what light i have

[wynn]

♬ Troy - James Horner

WHO || Wynn,Topher Brink, Groot, Deryn Argall, Clint Barton, Elijah Mikaelson, current Knights attending the ceremony
WHAT || September Squiring Ceremony [backdated]
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Great Hall
WHEN || September 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 ]

[andblockbuster]

[apparently, topher must have been LARPing secretly in college, because he can handle the shit out of that armor (dex 18), and he looks so fucking excited about it too. Look at him. Look at the cutie nerd bb.]

[thehawksnest]

[Clint feels rather comfortable in his armor (dex 15, no bubble wrap required, NAT), despite his nitpicking about how the joints limit his flexibility. He walks down the aisle confidently, taking in the rather impressive scene of all these knights standing around staring at him, the fellow squires next to him, and the mobile topiary, which apparently is a thing here. He makes a mental note of that.]

The Walk

[theshadowspeaks]

[ Deryn moved quietly along, looking uncomfortable in his armor but didn't have a problem with the walk (Dex 21) ]

[treeshape]

[Dex 7

Trees do not wear armor for a reason, apparently. I'm not sure what you expected.

At least he didn't fall or anything. He's making a whole lot of noise, though.]

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. ]

Topher Brink. Groot. Deryn Argall. Clint Barton. Elijah Mikaelson.

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. :) ]

[andblockbuster]

[TOPHER "NEGATIVE WISDOM" BRINK ROLLED A NAT 20, which... makes sense, because he has an insane memory, so I guess the dice are just super ic or whatever. yay dice. He recites the oath back, gawking at the tree person while he does so, because his attention span is shit. also giant tree. what.]

[thehawksnest]

[(Wisdom 22, nat 20 calm down Clint goddamn you're not becoming President.) Barton has been eager to prove himself ever since his start with the Knights; if that means memorizing the pledge until you fall asleep and drool on the page, that's what he's gonna do. Not that that happened or anything, of course not.
Clint recites the oath boldly, emphasizing the "protect all weakness / defender" and "champion of the right" portions.]

The Pledge

[theshadowspeaks]

[ Deryn did his best, which means he messed up a couple words. (Wis; 16)]

[treeshape]

[His mighty wisdom of 9 isn't going to matter much to the vast majority of the people here anyway.]

I AM GROOT!

[He seems to...really mean it.]

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 Topher Brink. Sir Groot. Sir Deryn Argall. Sir Clint Barton. Sir Elijah Mikaelson.

[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.

Peanut Gallery

[wynn]

[ ONLOOKERS/GAWKERS/WHATNOT]

[krasnayapautina]

[yeah guess who's here with a package of bandages on hand in case SOMEONE falls on their ass again.]