feast & after-party ♔ empty my heart | i've got to make room for this feeling

[wynn]

♬ Can't Take It In - Imogen Heap

WHO || Wynn, the new Squires, any and all Knights
WHAT || Squiring Ceremony Feast & Afterparty
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Dining Hall & Ballroom
WHEN || February 9th, 2012, 7:00PM / 9:00 PM
HOW || Prose OR Actionspam

While every dinner served in the Knights' exceptionally large Dining Hall manages to have a sense of occasion, given the sheer quantity of food necessary to serve the hundreds who take their meals there, the 'feast' Wynn's ordered for after this squiring party outdoes the norm. It's not a problem to produce so much food at the drop of the hat when mages can magically summon up entire banquets, and so the room teems over with the smells and spices of hundreds of unique dishes. Centerpieces built with peacock feathers and sweet smelling flowers dot the table at intervals. A silver cage in the very middle of the table includes several live birds, their feet and tufts each appearing to be silver as well. A banner hangs from the top of the cage, with the Knight's symbol of a black dragon on a silver field.

The food has a distinctly medieval flair to it today, which several of the older Shadowkind Knights express their boisterous appreciation for as they dive in. The first course consists of a civet of hare, a quarter of salted stag, a stuffed chicken and a loin of veal, the latter two covered with a German sauce with gilt sugar-plums and pomegranate seeds. At each end of the table is an enormous pie, surmounted with smaller pies, which form a crown. The crust of the large ones is silvered all round and gilt at the top; each contains a whole roe-deer, a gosling, three capons, six chickens, ten pigeons, and one young rabbit. Serving as seasoning or stuffing, a minced loin of veal, two pounds of fat, and twenty-six hard-boiled eggs, covered with saffron and flavoured with cloves.

A second course follows: aroe-deer, a pig, a sturgeon cooked in parsley and vinegar, and covered with powdered ginger; a kid, two goslings, twelve chickens, as many pigeons, six young rabbits, two herons, a leveret, a fat capon stuffed, four chickens covered with yolks of eggs and sprinkled with spiced powder de Duc, and even a wild boar.

Next came wafers and stars; a jelly, part white and part blue. A fourth course of cream with Duc powder, covered with fennel seeds preserved in sugar; a white cream, cheese in slices, and strawberries; and, lastly, plums stewed in rose-water.

Besides these four courses, there's a fifth, entirely composed of wines, and of preserves, which consist of fruits and various sweet pastries in the shapes of dragons.

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Following this, assuming anyone is still capable of moving at all is the after-party: a black-tie affair in the lavish, opulent ballroom, every new Knight's chance to mingle and meet some of their new brothers in arms. Per usual, a couple hours are provided following the feast for everyone to change, do hair and makeup, and choose from the vast array of formal attire in the closets of the balcony "dressing rooms" located at the top of spiraled staircases on either side of the ballroom. A separate dressing room exists for men and women, and they include full bathrooms (with, thankfully, very modern plumbing).

The squires are usually among the last to arrive, and the ballroom is full to the brim with a fancy array of people, of all shapes, sizes and species.

Hope none of you are shy. They're all here to meet you. 

All open feast threads should be made under the FEAST heading below. Any other threads below will be for the after-party. Feel free to make your own open threads for people to come congratulate your newly pledged knight.

Comments

[bancroft]

[And charging into the feast ever-so-fashionably late is the scruffy and energetic Sir Bancroft, who swaggers down the length of the gigantic table, reaching over a shoulder here and there to swipe something from a plate and shoot a wink at a lady or two. James gets a hearty clap on the shoulder from the man, who grins down at him, casting his gaze around at those in his vicinity] What, did I walk into a party or a funeral?

[spymaster]

[Oh isn't that nice? The clap on his shoulder causes him to look up, and he grins at the man. At least he's being well, what one would expect for this event. So he's rather quick to change his tune, if only to avoid hearing about how he looks far to grim for this.] A party, presumably, though at the moment I am attempting to learn about the others, so do forgive my, more, stern demeanor.

[bancroft]

One tends to learn more through doing than watching, I've always found. [He gets a slightly devilish grin on his face as he reconsiders his wording] Not that I'm suggesting doing your fellow Knights as a means of introduction, as lovely as some of them may be. But conversation, on the other hand, is an excellent place to begin. [He flips an apple off the table and gives it a hearty crunch]

[spymaster]

Doing, yes that is as much of a learning experience as anything. [He's totally ignoring that grin though, and that wording. No he's not rising to your bait sir.] But yes talking, it is better than idle observation, to some. Though I have, always found that just watching, you can learn as much about a person that way as you can, talking to them. Talking, only adds to what you learn, if you have a keen enough eye.

[bancroft]

And I take your eye must be very keen, if you spend all this time sharpening it.

[spymaster]

I have yet to hear of someone able to match my observational skills, sir. So yes it is very keen, almost as sharp as my mind.

[bancroft]

Oh dear. Then I suppose we'll all have to mind our manners, won't we?

[spymaster]

Not necessarily, in fact, observing others on their good behavior tends to, be a bit boring, after a while. Better to let them, think they are unobserved, you learn more that way, don't you agree?

[bancroft]

Then if I were you, I might keep knowledge of those observational skills to myself, friend.

[spymaster]

I tend to, sir, but I thought I would make sure, you knew what I was doing as you asked. Hardly seems appropriate to be impolite on my first day here, officially does it not?

[bancroft]

Oh I don't know. Might make things interesting.

[spymaster]

Yes, it might, or it may as these things tend to do, alienate someone who does not understand.

[bancroft]

Someone with no sense of humor, you mean? [His lips curve up wickedly]