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.

---------------------------

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

[befree]

Family. [This word is muttered out, almost in contempt.] I can't remember my own family, but I'm expected to act like I'm a part of this one.

[She looks away, with a very impressive frown on her face. She reaches levels of unhappy that people probably didn't know existed. She can deal with getting used to things, like everything else she's had to deal with in this world, but the fact that she can't even remember who she's supposed to be (the world she's from and her family are a part of her identity, after all) bothers her greatly.]

It's not like we're left with the choice to return home. People like us aren't given a great deal of options on how to survive here.

[That feels oddly and startlingly familiar to her, so she decides to frown some more to express that. You know, instead of showing shock or something on her face. Like a normal person.]

[slay]

Guess not. [ She lowers her glass, frowning. ] But, it's not like our option's a bad one. I mean, weekly dances with enormous wardrobes filled with dresses, anything we could want. Not to mention the company credit card.

[befree]

[The look on Katniss' face clearly says she thinks these are worthless things that are not worth mentioning. But since Buffy had taken the time to mention them, she tries really hard to follow the train of thought.]

It feels like there's something more I should be wanting.

[...okay, she followed the train on a negative track, but still. She's talking to someone, and that's the important part here.]

[slay]

[ It's not surprising -- that's the vibe she's gotten off all the amnesiac types. They want to know. They feel like they're missing something. Buffy doesn't. Buffy feels complete. Like whatever happened in her past is done with.

The more people point out that they don't like losing their past, the more she realizes it feels wrong for her to be so okay with moving on from it. But there's that feeling of peace, despite it all. No matter how vaguely, residually guilty she feels. ]

No saying you won't be able to find it. I mean, zero concern for whether or not we'll be able to survive the next week doesn't mean we just pretend the other stuff's no biggie. There are other needs. Like, uh ... friend-needs. I think that's a ... one of those.

[befree]

An ally.

[She's quick to amend that whole f-word, because if there's something she knows about herself with the lack of clarity about so many other things, it's that she doesn't need or even particularly want friends. Friends are complicated, they mess things up and their only purpose is to get in your way or slow you down. Friends can turn and betray your trust, they can hurt you.

No, she definitely isn't looking for any friends.]

Everyone needs allies.

[She has the instinct right now to be looking around the room and start dissecting people for strengths and weaknesses based on what she sees. She's been fighting it at the meal, given that so many people are too busy stuffing their faces with food (herself included) to get a clear picture of anything other than how hungry everyone is.

She's currently torn on wondering what kind of ally Buffy would be, if she likes the wardrobe and credit card, and values ideals like friends.]

In a perfect world, you could let your guard down enough to have actual friends. I don't think this is even close to being a decent world. You'll be careful, won't you?

[Meaning: Please don't get yourself taken advantage of, Buffy. you're a decent person, Katniss can tell, and you don't need to be taken advantage of.]

[slays]

I think the idea is that we're all allies here. That's what a knighthood is. A team. We can count on each other and work together. [ She shrugs, picking at the dead bird leg and tearing off some chicken then eating it with her fingers so classy. ] So, ally need filled.

[befree]

Ally need potentially filled.

[Because seriously, Katniss isn't trusting anyone here except for Christos, not until they prove themselves useful to her. Buffy's on the potential ally list, though, just on the fact she's female and energetic.

She assumes that energetic people come in useful for more things than just filling in the silence during conversation.]

I think it's still safe to say that we have to figure out who's safe to be trusted or not.

[slays]

I think you sound immensely paranoid when you say that. Wynn wouldn't have knighted them if they weren't trustworthy and stalwart and all those other good, positive, knightly adjectives.

[befree]

[And that amuses her, and she smirks just a little]

You're naive.

[The smile grows, and she reaches over to very briefly touch at Buffy's hand. But her fingertips only graze the other's arm before she startles herself by reaching out to someone and instantly retracts her hand, looking like a skittish animal.]

But it's not a bad thing. [And with that, Katniss moves to stand up, offering Buffy a final lopsided half-smile.]

[slays]

I have faith. There's a difference. [ It's not that she didn't think people could be dangerous -- she was sure they could. They could easily be bad news. But, no one here had been anything but good to her so far -- well, Lan excluded -- and that was worth something. ]

[befree]

Will you try to have enough for the both of us?

[A simple request, coming from her. She can't bring herself to have faith in anyone but herself, but maybe if someone else had extra faith and believed enough, it would eventually rub off on her.]

[slays]

[ It comes off more genuine than judgy, so Buffy's expression softens some, and then finally, she nods. ] Yeah. I think I can do that.

[befree]

[She nods, satisfied with that. She offers Buffy a final glance before retreating, making her way back down to her original seat. She pretty much fails at ending conversations, but she didn't have anything left to say ):]