squiring ♔ there is a battle to be fought before the weapon is in hand

[wynn]

♬ Troy - James Horner

WHO || Wynn, Aedan Cousland, David Levin, Kenzi, Phineas Dantalion, Jaina Solo, current Knights attending the ceremony
WHAT || April Squiring Ceremony
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Great Hall
WHEN || April 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. 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 new squires are fitted to their 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.

The squires are ushered in 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.

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 beside each other, Wynn addresses each would-be squire solemnly by name. ]

Aedan Cousland. Kenzi. David Levin. Phineas Dantalion. Jaina Solo.

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.]

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 Aedan Cousland. Sir Kenzi. Sir David Levin. Sir Phineas Dantalion. Sir Jaina Solo.

[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.

The Peanut Gallery

[wynn]

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

[generaldavideus]

[This is soooo not like the knighting ceremonies in Everworld. In fact, this is far nicer than Everworld would ever be, and he isn't really sure if he should be here. He should probably be paying more attention to where he's walking (dexterity check: 5) because he totally scuffed his foot on the floor and nearly falls but manages to pick himself up before it goes to far.

People probably saw.

He doesn't really care. Much.]

[generaldavideus]

[David's dyslexic and not so good with the public speaking, so when he learns he's going to have to recite something, he works hard at it(wisdom check: 16). He still trips up a word here and there, and he may not speak it as confidently as he should have, but at least he gets it right.]

[technophobic]

[ there's a tall, imposing older looking knight near the front ranks who is watching him critically, and sure doesn't seem to miss that. he frowns deeply and there's something about the way he holds himself in armor that makes it seem like he's used to it wearing it, unlike so many of the others present. ]

[generaldavideus]

[Now that seems familiar. His eyes look the knight up and down but he doesn't seem intimidated. More curious -- is he the mentor he's going to be working with or someone else.]

[ex_noble101]

[Aedan, unlike the would-be squire to his left (that would be David for those of you following along at home), was possibly a little too at ease by the atmosphere that such a ceremony presented. While there was no faceplanting or close calls to be had on his end, he did break composure by smiling broadly and huffing out a silent breath of a laugh that couldn't necessarily be heard so much as witnessed in response to his new comrade's near fumble (dexterity check: 8).

He should probably be taking this a little more seriously, all things considered.]

[ex_noble101]

[There are a few drawn out pauses when it's Aedan's turn to recite the pledge due to his familiarity with the words spoken at a Grey Warden's Joining (which was nothing at all like this tbh, but apparently he straight up went into auto-pilot mode when it was his turn). He makes it through without actually botching any of the words (wisdom check: 11), but he probably came out of it looking like a special snowflake or something.]

[flyingsolo]

[ the short brunette looks as if she's done this hundreds of times. given the star wars reference in the setting description above, maybe that's a little dramatic irony. either way, she marches confidently down the aisle with a nat 20 dex check, exuding an aura of muscle memory to the whole process and appearing entirely comfortable in her armor as well. her eyes are affixed on that sword, and it seems clear to anyone paying attention to her that she finds it of interest. she doesn't spare more than a few glances at her fellow squires, although it seems more out of a sense of discipline than an attempted snub. ]

[flyingsolo]

[ jaina's got this. repeating the words with cool precision, there's a determined look in her eye that shows she's obviously taking each one of them to heart. ]

[flyingsolo]

[ there's a strange moment when wynn hovers the sword close to jaina's shoulder where she seems to hold her breath - whether she expects him to take her head off with the thing is unclear, although there's almost a look of dread in her eyes for a moment, before he merely says her name and moves on.

she looks confused for a brief second, then seems to shake it off, and looks back down at the floor, brows knit together, before taking the cue to rise and squaring her shoulders back proudly. ]

[everyredcent]

[ next to david's glaring paladin stands another much shorter figure in the crowd. he has gray skin and white hair, bound back in an aristocratic ponytail, and sharp ears that mark him clearly as a dark elf. the armor doesn't seem to sit right on him: he's clearly uncomfortable in it and the fact makes him annoyed. either way, his eyes are riveted on aedan from the front ranks of those watching, and he projects a Ray of Judging Your Life spell from his eyes... ]

[morethanasidekick]

[Kenzi prefers walk of awesome thank you Arden.

She may have only had a dex check of 11 but that doesn't stop Kenzi from entering the room with a whole lot of swagger. While this may be very srs bsns for everyone else, she's far too impressed with her fancy shmancy armor and the swank of the room to really look like she's taking this very seriously. That could be because she's not. She only came for the food... Or that's what she'll tell you.]

Re: The Pledge

[morethanasidekick]

[Well it could have been worse. Thank you Wisdom Bonus, Kenzi got a 7 so though she is repeating her oath, she makes half of it sound like more of a question and can't help but throw in her own little flourishes here and there. You should all be grateful she didn't roll above a 10, otherwise she would be rapping her oath for Wynn. As it stands, she's having to actually use whatever concentration she does have just to keep up.

But she's still Kenzi so she can't help but add an extra somethin somethin at the end.]

And I shall continue to be fabulous while doing it. [She tosses a look over her shoulder at the rest of the room... and winks.] Bitches.

[morethanasidekick]

Yo? I was I not meant to... Your good, carry on.

[She sure did just pat Wynn on the arm as she gave him permission to continue.]

I'm just gonna... kneel [And she does. Because... despite her bravado. Wynn's a little scary.]

Re: The Walk

[thesleeper]

[The Dex check of 15 must mean Phineas has overcome his jet lag by now]

[Despite that, his steps seem rigid, mechanical - and he seems very eager to have this whole event over with, though he does smile for a moment, finding the thought of being knighted somehow amusing]

Re: The Pledge

[thesleeper]

[Suddenly: Jet lag returns in the form of: CRITICAL FAILURE Big shiny roll of 1, plus my Wis modifier of -1... Best. Speech. Ever.]

[Phineas makes an attempt to fumble along... he may possibly get one, or if he's lucky, two words right each line. There's a good chance those damned pretzels and oversalted peanuts attempt to crawl their way back up, but he manages to keep from getting too queasy.]

To himself: I am never going on one of those flying contraptions again.

Re: Dubbing

[thesleeper]

[Not typically one for meet and/or greets - particularly not after his embarrassing stunt, Phineas takes some time to go outside, get some air, and collect himself; before returning to the celebration. If there's one thing that makes social events tolerable, it's strong drink... He's really hoping they've got some good stuff here.]

[necessaryevil]

[ he'd pass a few familiar faces from out in the desert: not the least of which is max, cleaned up slightly and looking out of place in the armor of the knights, but keeping his eyes riveted on phineas with more interest than on their last encounter. ]

[flyingsolo]

[ gurrrrl jaina be over here next to you with a look that says who is this guy and exactly who are they letting into this outfit... ]