knightsoflegend | Squiring ♔ honor is honesty to what is, not blind duty to what you wish to be.

♬ Troy - James Horner

WHO || Wynn, Jo Harvelle, current Knights attending the ceremony
WHAT || June Squiring Ceremony
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Great Hall
WHEN || June 1st, 2012, 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, in theory. Numbers are thinner today than they were in the last month or so: a number of crises have the Knights spread across the world and so perhaps fewer than one 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 new squire is fitted to her armor after meeting with Wynn, and it's traditional for each to appear for the first time before the Knighthood wearing it. Each new member is assured that only a very small number of the Knights make use of their armor for other circumstances, but it does create an intimidating sense of unity as they stand shoulder to shoulder in rank and file to receive their newest pledges.

Jo is ushered in alone, 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.

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Optionally play out your character's WALK OF DESTINY down the red carpet, and people in the crowd can judge them / encourage them / gawk ]

[Yep, this right here just proves it. She has more balls than any guy she's ever had to deal with. Even all the ones here that are already knights, she knows she can be a bigger man than them. So she confidently struts her way down the red carpet, smirking pleasantly (not like a smarmy bitch or anything, she hates girls like that) and is sure to make prolonged eye contact with anyone she walks past. It's almost like asserting dominance, but really, it's just her trying to memorize some faces. She totally feels like she's going to chafe in this armor, so she wants to just get this the hell over with, but figures just running right down the aisle and speeding through it all would be disrespectful. And how often do things like this get to happen to her? ]

[ in the sea of armored bodies, it's really easy to pick out that one of these things is not like the others.

pressed against the far wall, barely visible through the cracks in the rank and file of the other knights, stands someone who apparently missed the dress code memo. he stands with hands thrust into the pockets of a beat up leather jacket, one foot balanced against the wall behind him as his eyes follow her course up the red carpet. while everyone's watching her with curiosity, there's something more personal about the interest he appears to have, in the glance she gets of his face. he looks young, early to mid twenties perhaps, and has some pretty epic seventies hair. ]

[She takes notice of his hair before anything else. It's so feathery and...not modern at all. Then his manner of dress is quickly observed, and she wonders if maybe he's a really realistic ghost that needs to be taken care of. She gives him a curious glance, and tries to watch to see if anyone speaks to him or touches him. She realizes that he's watching her, which isn't that unusual, since everyone else in the room is as well.

Hm.

Her eyebrows arch and she maintains eye contact for a few moments longer before prying her attention away and onto someone else. But not before mouthing the words "Nice hair" to him. Because she can, and he can't do anything about it without creating a scene.]

[ He quirks a brow right back at her in response to the cheeky commentary, though it's unclear whether he fully registered what she was mouthing or not. He looks vaguely surprised that she even noticed him, and shifts in place slightly, glancing aside casually as if he'd been caught at something. ]

[Jo gets to bear the full weight of Wynn's intimidating gaze all by her lonesome. He waits until she has reaches the end of the carpet before speaking. ]

Jo Harvelle.

Kneel. And repeat this oath.

[Whatever, Wynn. Whatever. She's going to stare your ass down in return and you're going to like it. And she's going to even keep on staring as you talk. What now.]

Sure thing, boss. [She's so respectful ;__; Oh well, at least she's finally kneeling. As in she's crouching down right now to do so.]

[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.]

I swear ...

[And Jo's knack for paying attention to detail pays off in the fact she hardly stumbles through the pledge, and manages to get most of the words right. She doesn't really think it matters what's being said as much as the emotion and dedication behind it. Her voice is clear and strong as she speaks, and she keeps eye contact with Wynn the whole time. Because even though he's the one in charge, she's not going to be his bitch and feels the need to establish some sort of territorial dominance over her own welfare. As the final phrase leaves her mouth she makes sure that it comes across as friendly and approachable without sounding like a complete pushover. She's passionate about being able to make a difference and really help people, but she also wants to sound decent enough for people to want to speak to her.]

[With a beautiful sching noise, Wynn draws the oh so shiny sword from its sheath. He lays the flat of the blade upon Jo's right shoulder, then raises it gently above her head to place it upon her left. When he is finished, he returns to his place at the top of the steps, and announces:]

You may rise: Sir Jo Harvelle.

[The moment she begins 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 member in the ballroom.

[Awww yeah, she's a Sir now. She's beaming with pride and happiness as she arises, and casually pumps her fist as if she just kicked some ass at poker. She turns around to face the cheering crowd and her eyes scan across the room, the look in her eyes just as bright as her smile.

She's getting a celebration all to herself too?

Yep, she could get used to this.]

Looking forward to seeing all you guys there. [She calls out when there's another quietish moment in the crowd, and lifts her hand up in a wave.]

[ As some people wave back or just offer friendly smiles, Wynn watches the exchange with a look of some small satisfaction in his eyes, as he returns the sword to the sheath hanging at his hip. He speaks in a lower voice, meant just for Jo: ]

You'll find clothes and provisions in the changing rooms above the ballroom, should you require them.

What, I can't just wear this? [A joke, mostly. She's not sure how interested she is in getting all dressed up for something that's not a con. But she's not really all that eager to clank around in this getup, either. So she just nods in agreement that yeah, she'll go see what's up there and get into something a little more comfortable.]

[ He doesn't greet her rhetorical question with an attempt at a real response, walking around her instead, and meeting the eyes of some of the Knights standing near the front - particularly one with dark straggly hair and exceptionally bright blue eyes, who gives him an airy smile and then falls into step with him as he marches up the carpet towards the door. ]

[ALL THE GOSSIP. Anyone in the crowd can make threads here to talk amongst yourselves.]

Squiring ♔ honor is honesty to what is, not blind duty to what you wish to be.

The Walk

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The Ceremony

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Pledge

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Dubbing

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The Peanut Gallery