squiring ♔ justice and goodwill will outlast passion

[wynn]

♬ Troy - James Horner

WHO || Wynn, Pietro Maximoff, Zaihne Cale, Marian Hawke, Ashelia Lavellan, Solas, Risa Eamon, Scott McCall, Smith, Isaac Lahey, Maggie-May West, current Knights attending the ceremony
WHAT || April Squiring Ceremony
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Great Hall
WHEN || April 1st, 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 ]

[uncareful]

[ If she's having any trouble moving with the armor, Maggie-May doesn't show it. Head held high, she moves down the carpet gracefully, nary a stumble to be found (dex 20). ]

[shadowmind]

[ the hell has she gotten herself into for serious.

dexterity 9 says risa is pretty terrible at this. big bulky armor is so not her thing thank you. she may be sulking a bit at maggie-may because ugh some people are too good. ]

[hawkeing]

[ hawke doesn't rock this as much as maggie-may but a 16 dex ensures that she does fairly well and at least doesn't stumble. maybe she's a touch slow but whatever. she's got this. ]

[virtutem]

[ Surprisingly enough Scott doesn't go tumbling to the floor (dex 22). He walks proudly and with his head held high. #TrueAlpha. ]

[trackability]

[ He's not used to armor like this (dex 12) and if he had his way he'd have ripped this shit off at the start and just gone plain clothed. Fuck you very much, armor. ]

[lichslap]

[Zaihne is another one struggling with the armor, managing to make it without tripping (dex 11) but-- that's about all that can be said for his entrance. He feels like he would have been a hell of a lot smoother if he could have worn his own clothes, but that wouldn't have gelled with tradition or ceremony.]

[twistingveil]

[Ashe finds herself missing her robes more than ever as she makes her way down the red carpet along with the other squires, feeling awkward beneath the weight of the armor (dex 11). She'd never done too well with it back in Thedas, either, and despite whatever modern armorsmithing techniques this world might have to employ, she finds this armor to be just as unwieldy as every other set she's ever had to wear.]

[bythedreadwolf]

[ Solas saunters in with the full confidence of someone perfectly at ease with the display he was making. (dex 22 after a nat20 roll gdi) ]

[cramped]

[ Isaac, while not quite relaxed, is still relatively poised and grateful (dex19) -- keeping a pace that's neither too fast nor too slow. ]

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. ]

Pietro Maximoff. Zaihne Cale. Marian Hawke. Ashelia Lavellan. Solas. Risa Eamon. Scott McCall. Smith. Isaac Lahey. Maggie-May West.

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. :) ]

[uncareful]

[ The dice are kind tonight, and Maggie makes it through the pledge without a flub (wis nat 20, 22 total). She'll shoot everyone else a look of what? like it's hard. ]

[shadowmind]

[ so this entire thing is super stressful, she's already screwed up something simple like walking, and now she has to recite something? oh come on. this is dumb.

dumb says the girl who can only barely get it out in the most average way possible (wis 10). on the plus side, she's still alive and she didn't completely trip over it? yeah. sigh.

someone hates her life over here. ]

[hawkeing]

[ hawke's got this. again not as well as maggie-may but still pretty damn well (wis 15).

she does manage to hold herself back from adding on "and tyrannical or justice or vengeance crazed mages" though (will save 27). y'all should be proud of her. ]

[virtutem]

[ Apparently knowing that he has seeing Allison to look forward to after this ceremony has Scott totally on point because he gets the pledge out perfectly (nat 20 wis; 23 total). Lydia would be fucking proud. ]

[trackability]

[ The ex-monster hunter isn't really good at all of this shit (wisdom 6). He follows up all the flubs with a shrug a smile because whatever. He tried. ]

[lichslap]

[Zaihne actually makes it through with flying colors (nat 20), even managing not to flinch when he gets to the part about never lying. If only one part of the ceremony could go smoothly for him, he's glad he managed to avoid doing anything gawk-worthy now.]

[twistingveil]

[Ashe has had enough practice with speaking in front of crowds and participating in various ceremonies that she does well with remembering and reciting each line of the pledge (wis 17), although the tips of her ears still turn red as she nears the end, very conscious of the fact that there are spectators.]

[bythedreadwolf]

[ The words are easy enough to remember for him to remember (Wis 16), it's the offering his vow to a strange organization in a strange world that has him hesitating over a few of the words. But in the end, he makes it through the pledge without so much as a hitch, his words spoken deliberately and strongly, voice ringing clearly in the Hall. ]

[cramped]

[ More than simply managing to not make a fool out of himself in front of a large crowd of people, Isaac actually succeeds at sounding pretty competent (wis15). ]

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 Pietro Maximoff. Sir Zaihne Cale. Sir Marian Hawke. Sir Ashelia Lavellan. Sir Solas. Sir Risa Eamon. Sir Scott McCall. Sir Smith. Sir Isaac Lahey. Sir Maggie-May West.

[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]

[animalistic]

[Malia is here to support her Alpha and also to spy on this Isaac guy. He likes scarves and he used to be part of Scott's pack. He might still be part of his pack. She's waiting for the verdict on that one. Either way, she's here to watch things.]

[huntersdaughter]

[Jo is there to support her squire and to check out the rest of the newer recruits.]