squiring ♔ if you want peace, work for justice

[wynn]

♬ Troy - James Horner

WHO || Wynn,Tony Stark, Barry Allen, Bonnibel Bubblegum,Gaz Kothari, Rey, Poe Dameron, Scott Summers, Caroline Forbes, Grant Ward, current Knights attending the ceremony
WHAT || January Squiring Ceremony  
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Great Hall
WHEN || January 22nd, 2016, 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.  There's an air of something unsettling in the air - this is, after all, the first ceremony to be held here since the attack on the castle, and while the room maintains its usual air of majesty, it's hard to ignore that the atmosphere has changed for many Knights who once considered this place unassailable.

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 which seems more appropriate than ever. 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

[hacker]

[ That catches her off-guard enough to make her whip her head sideways and look Malina over. Her eyes skim the other woman, surprised, then distantly processing; warm, then resolute. For most of her life, no one has been there to watch over her like that. Her complaints aren't made with that kind of expectation attached, but it just steels her to more stubbornly defend what she has found here. ]

No. No, it's fine. [ She blinks it off. Then, apropos of nothing, ] What does it take for Wynn to cut a squiring mid-ceremony? Or mid-squiring, even? Has he ever fired a squire?

[bredinthebone]

[Her eyebrows go up a bit at that, before glancing up to the team of squires and gives a shrug.]

In the middle of their squiring ceremony? It's a little unprecedented. But after they've been put on missions and stuff ... it depends on the offense.

[She hasn't seen it, personally, but she has seen squires leave for one reason or another.]

[hacker]

I know Elena breaking that doppelganger didn't get her ousted because she was still trying to do the right thing. But what if they weren't? What if really were just bad people, and Wynn was wrong?

[ambitionist]

[alex leans his way into the conversation like] Which one's the bad one? [/squints at all these human disasters.]

[bredinthebone]

If that's the case then we'll figure it out and we'll catch them. But maybe they're trying to turn over a new leaf.

[Trying to be optimistic without ... really knowing anything about the situation unless Skye's going to enlighten them.]

[hacker]

[ Skye keeps her eyes fixed down on the squires for a long moment's silence, finally shuddering and shaking her head. Though she seems to take Malina's remarks under advisement, it's Alex she looks to when she says, ] Do you ever just meet someone and get major heebie jeebie vibes off of them?

[ambitionist]

Yeah, sure. Some people are just no good.

[hacker]

[ She nods. ]

It's like that.

[bredinthebone]

[Ahh, that kind of heebie jeebies. She will take Skye at her word, and after the doppelganger shenanigans, she has reason to be concerned.]

So which one should we be worried about?

[hacker]

[Skye looks over at Malina, holds her gaze for a long moment, and feels uncertainty shift around in her mind while she weighs the pros and cons of that. Then, she looks back out over the squiring group. Her eyes flicker across them, assessing carefully, before she finally says— ]

That one. At the end. [ it's Tony Stark she's pointing at. ]

[ambitionist]

[he doesn't see a reason for her to lie, so] Yeah, you can't trust guys who spend that much time grooming their facial hair. Fuckin' lesson one.

[bredinthebone]

[Malina snorts a bit at that, before nodding.]

We'll keep an eye on him. See what happens.

[hacker]

Thanks. [ She drums up a weary smile. ] It's probably nothing, but ... [ in case it's not. ]

[bredinthebone]

Hey. Being a little cautious never hurt anybody.

[She slips her arm around her shoulders to give her a small squeeze, before tipping her head back towards the door as the ceremony ends.]

C'mon. Let's get this party started.