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

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 ]

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. ]

Tony Stark. Barry Allen. Bonnibel Bubblegum. Gaz Kothari. Rey. Poe Dameron. Scott Summers. Caroline Forbes. Grant Ward.

Kneel. And repeat this oath.

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 Tony Stark. Sir Barry Allen. Sir Bonnibel Bubblegum. Sir Gaz Kothari. Sir Rey. Sir Poe Dameron. Sir Scott Summers. Sir Caroline Forbes. Sir Grant Ward.

[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]

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. :) ]

[supertardiness]

[Barry is not fond of this whole armor thing. People seem to not realize that even with his super speed Barry is a clumsy mess. This is evident as he tries to make his way down the walk of fame and only just barely manages to not trip over his own too feet (dexterity 8).

Good job, Barry.]

[supertardiness]

[He does a little better here! But only a little (wisdom 12). But he does well enough to recite the oath back properly and may look a little pleased with himself when he's done.]

[supertardiness]

[YAY TEAM. Barry looks super pleased to be part of one again. And pleased to have permission to get out of this armor.

Once he's given the all clear, he may zoom off to go do that. It's a miracle he doesn't kill himself doing so, really.]

[highlyemotional]

[ caroline has got this down (wis 14), though she may embellish some of the lines and stumble over the more medieval of the phrases.

and then she fudges the last one. ] With liberty and justice for all.

[ IT'S CLOSE ENOUGH OK. ]

[highlyemotional]

[ graceful and delicate (dex 25), caroline tugs on her armor as she follows barry. ]

This is not the most flattering look. I still think it could be more fitted...

[newgenwraith]

[somewhere between the two, Poe is able to walk in the armor, even if he looks uncomfortable in it (dex 15)]

Yeah, I would never have made it as a stormtrooper. Is this thing chafing anyone else?

[newgenwraith]

[Yeah, he didn't get that (wis 4). You guys totally have strange accents on this planet.]

Could you repeat all of that. I can't make out a word you said.

[forcevisions]

[ reasonable and calm, rey strides up the aisle with little concept of the ceremonial importance (dex 15). in fact, she doesn't glance up at wynn, but rather around the rest of the room, taking in what is all still very new to her. ]

It's heavy. [ her complaint is quiet but firm. she doesn't see a need for it, and she's never seen a reason to WEAR metal. ]

[forcevisions]

[ Space cadet Rey just blinks (wis 5). ]

... I'm sorry. Can you do that one more time?

[farmgirlfighter]

[ It's like Gaz forgot how to speak Common. (wis 6) ]

Can we just pretend I said all that perfectly and get to the 'war against injustice' part?

[hacker]

[ Skye is up here glowering, slumped half over in her chair, arms folded over her stomach and shoulders hunched, muttering under her breath. ]

I'm gonna puke.

[farmgirlfighter]

[ Gaz walks awkwardly (dex 11), muttering to herself, ] I don't know how people do it with this full plate. Hide armor is so much more maneuverable.

[bredinthebone]

[And Malina, knowing nothing, is just going to look over at her, concerned.]

You okay? You want some ginger ale or something?

[Mama bear Malina: activate.]

[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.]

[highlyemotional]

Ew, hide like some poor cow's backside? No thank you, I'll take the armor that matches my ring.

[ which it does, lmao. how fortuitous. ]

[monosaccharide]

[Bubblegum is as poised and balanced as a princess ought to be, gracefully holding her head high as she strides down the aisle as though her armor weighs nothing at all (dex nat 20).]

From what I've seen, most people only wear this armor for ceremonial purposes. It really isn't very practical for the battles of this era.

[monosaccharide]

[Bubblegum wavers after the first line. Until just recently, she was a princess, with her own heroes and guards to defend her. She wasn't serving anyone, except, of course, in the sense that she always had a duty to serve and defend her people. And now here she is, with about as much rank as a lowly banana guard would have, and... well, it's fine. It's very kind of Sir Wynn to have taken her in and given her this opportunity to work on Science with the finest scientific minds the knighthood has and....

Oh, she was supposed to be repeating something, wasn't she? (wis crit fail)]

...against injustice and evil!

[Close enough....]

[monosaccharide]

[Bubblegum rises, beaming, and gives the crowd a dignified nod. She isn't a princess anymore. But maybe being a knight will suit her. It will be a change, at least.]

[highlyemotional]

[ determined not to let these dummies ruin her ceremony (hers) by being abject failures, caroline leans over to whisper the oath to poe, literally feeding him mostly accurate lines one by one, nudging him to pass it along to rey and so on down the line.

it's not just that teamwork makes the dream work and she's altruistic and kind; this is going to make her look so good in front of the boss omg. ]