squiring ♔ the brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear

[wynn]

♬ Troy - James Horner

WHO || Wynn, Felicity Braddock, Sydney Sage, Kyla Whelan, Dawn Summers, Ruvaen Aeraethrin, Alec Zayed Remmao, Alaric Saltzman, Niklaus Mikaelson, Snow White, current Knights attending the ceremony
WHAT || May Squiring Ceremony
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Great Hall
WHEN || May 1st, 2013, 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 ]

[forfeitredemption]

[Ruvaen doesn't recognize the sword (5) but then, he has never really paid that close attention to weaponry.

At least with a 13 Dex roll he manages to not make a full of himself walking down the carpet. This is one of the rare times he actually does pay closer attention to his surroundings. There is a lot to see here, and he might be a tad bit nervous for the ceremony itself.

On the bright side, Kyla is here, so he does not feel as out of place as he might. One familiar face is a comfort against many unfamiliar ones.]

[watcherjunior]

[ Wow, that really is a lot of people watching. And not really one of them is familiar. Given the fact that she doesn't remember much of anything, though, she doesn't really expect to find a familiar face. Is that butterflies in her stomach? Ugh. Dawn's not nervous or anything, but she's nervous.

The armor isn't helping. She's really hoping what they said is true and that she's not expected to wear this too often. It's not uncomfortable, because it's fitting and all that jazz but. Well, let's just say she's really looking forward to taking it off.

The sword on Wynn's belt is very familiar (19). Too bad she's paying too much attention to that instead of where she's putting her feet (1 dex, god). She doesn't just stumble--she trips over her own feet and lands hard on her hands and knees. It's certainly one way to make an impression. Her face turns beet red, and she's too busy getting back up to her feet to notice if anyone laughed at her (cause in her head, they sure did). ]

[cadhla]

[ There is something vaguely familiar about that sword (14, so close), but Kyla can't place it at all. Perhaps it's just something that tickles one of her many lost memories.

She doesn't exactly manage the most graceful glide imaginable (dex 9), but at least she doesn't trip or fall. She's not exactly used to trying to walk in armor, all right? And while she is used to having an audience, it's usually more on her terms than this.

She makes a mental note to strangle Ruvaen later for getting her into this mess, because it's not like she made her decisions all on her own or anything. Nope, it's all his fault now. ]

[celerystick]

[Sydney's dex roll of 17 has her managing to walk down the red carpet just fine, looking rather comfortable there despite her rampant nervousness. Being in the center of attention is most certainly not her thing, but the fact that there are other new squires as well certainly helps.]

[allmydreams]

[Felicity misses the sword (11). Being in the armor is throwing her off her game a bit, and she wants to make sure she doesn't fall flat on her face which she manages (dexterity check: 17). She keeps her eyes straight ahead, occasionally glancing through her peripherals to see who's around, but not long enough where she might trip over something.]

[fallencrest]

[Alec has no problems recognizing the sword (18+4 he recognizes it for what it is instantly). He's not sure what to make of it, but he gives Wynn a nod of his head as he enters. The eyes on him don't phase Alec at all and with a nat 20 that red carpet is his. He carries himself in the armor like a true knight, and not just a new squire uncertain of the legitimacy of his being here.]

[asuma]

[Klaus has lived through the Middle Ages, so this wouldn't exactly mark his first experience moving about in a suit of armor (dex:17). He appears completely comfortable under this particular circumstance.

Alas, he's too busy returning eye contact with and remembering the faces of anyone whose gaze he catches on him like a creeper to notice the sword that Wynn's holding is the same one from the statue (7).]

[ex_ric243]

[Alaric has no problem spotting the sword (17), mostly because there's a guy with a deadly weapon standing right in front of him. What else was supposed to catch his attention right now?

At the same time, he makes it no secret that he's uncomfortable in the armor they'd provided for him (dex: 9). He's not even trying to keep up appearances at this point. It isn't like this was practical at all.]

Backtagging to the 1st.

[enchantedsnow]

[Snow's eyes widen as she almost immediately recognizes that Wynn's sword is an identical match to the one set in the mile high statue. (18) She gawked at the statue long enough before, it was bound to happen.

However, her attention quickly shifts as she concentrates on staying poised- (19) that, and the fact that she's being carefully watched. Strangely enough, though, the crowd doesn't seem to bother her.]