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

[slay]

[ And a third scrape, because now Buffy is getting to her feet. Except it's a lot less dramatic because she is 5'3" and probably doesn't weigh more than a buck ten. ]

Clearly Sir Full of Himself disagrees with you there. Besides, I'm hardly a lady. I'm not in the kitchen, like a proper gal oughtta be. I mean, hey, we're all knights here.

[ She drops her hands out to her side in a come at me bro kind of gesture. ] Try me. I'd love to see your face when you get beat by a tarty wench in front of all your pals. 'Cause, if you ask me, you're the one that could use the cool down.

[bigbad]

[Okay, Spike's been enjoying the hell out of Buffy yelling at Sir Smells-a-lot, (what? It's a great nickname!) but the time has come for him to try and defuse the situation before Buffy gets hurt. He stands up to and puts a hand on Buffy's shoulder. If a fight does break out, he's definitely got her back, but he's going to at least try and avoid that. No matter how tough she is, and Spike's sure she's tough, she probably can't take someone with Lan's experience and strength.]

Love, maybe this isn't the best idea...

1/2

[technophobic]

[Lan testily yanks his elbow away from Dovan's grip, and the mug goes flying 8( Craaaaaaash. Welp, now that gets the final third of the room's attention.]

The only thing you'll be seeing is--

[bancroft]

[But we never get to find out what Lan thinks Buffy will be seeing because there's abruptly the clatter of many MORE plates and glasses and cutlery as a figure suddenly launches himself up and onto the feast table, nearby, practically hurtling his way across to a spot between Lan and Buffy. He's a mad slash of long straggly black hair, a incredibly beat up and tattered black leather cloak, and a scruffy beard, and he holds up both hands as if he's about to conduct a choir. ... Except that one hand has a beer mug in it. His voice is louder than both of them as he shouts out in a loud, merry, drunken tone:]

Who's up for a round of "Whiskey in the Jar", eh? [And he starts singing raucously and very, very off tune, wagging one finger to conduct the others who are all staring up at him:]

As I was going over the far famed Kerry mountains...

[socialgraces]

[After observing the whole scene with marked amusement, Francesca can't help but laugh at Thomas's attempt at diffusing the situation. This really isn't all that out of the ordinary, and because of Thomas, she knows all the words to this bloody song.

And she dryly joins in from her seat, only saying the words, not singing them. And she's definitely not as loud as him.]

I first produced my pistol and I then produced my rapier
Saying "Stand and Deliver" for he were a bold deceiver

[slays]

[ WAT R HAPPENIN.

Buffy jerks her shoulder immediately out of Spike's grip, not bothering to tell him to shut up and instead focusing on Lan only to have their tension interrupted by ... musical cue???? SHE'S SO CONFUSED. And is now just standing awkwardly, looking unsure and weirded out and a whole slew of other uncomfortable feelings. Because she doesn't know the words. At all. So she's ... slowly looking around like what the fuck is going on. ]

[bigbad]

[Spike drops his hand when she pulls away, but the... music is confusing and he just stands there looking like an idiot.]

Who the hell is this?

[attollores]

[As soon as she hears the opening strains of "Whiskey in the Jar" she know's the party has really started. Alainn stands up on her chair, grabbing a tankard of ale and joining in for the song as well, never mind the fight that had just been about to happen.]

I counted out his money and it made a pretty penny
I put it in me pocket and I took it home to Jenny
She sighed and she swore that she never would deceive me
But the devil take the women for they never can be easy

1/idk several

[ironsides]

[It's easy to see the visible relief break across Dovan's face, and he manages to snatch a different mug off the table to raise it high and sing louder than anyone, elbowing Lan:]

With me ring dum a doodle um dah!

[koraith]

[The voice of the gigantic gold half dragon way up the table booms over the others happily:]

Whack for the daddy o!

[telekinection]

[Tia is obviously trying very hard not to laugh down by Koraith, but lifts her glass and quietly sings along:]

Whack for the daddy o...

[everyredcent]

[This is probably the most amusing moment of Christos' life. So much so that he's actually smirking his ass off over there, and he quite merrily raises his glass in an elegant toast, fixing his smartass gaze on Lan. HE EVEN JOINS IN FOR A LINE.]

There's whiskey in the jar

[And then he downs the drink, eyes crinkled at the edges with humor]

[nosdacaraid]

[And the off key medley continues, Mark joining in with a loud strong voice, and hoisting his glass towards Thomas:]

I went into my chamber, All for to take a slumber
I dream’t of gold and jewels, And for sure it was no wonder

[shootfirst]

[Beside Mark, Kat is grinning her head, laughing and leaning into him as she sings along, rocking back and forth]

But Jenny drew my charges, And she filled them up with water
And she sent for Captain Farrell, To be ready for the slaughter

[rationalizes]

[On Kat's opposite side, Gar apparently has no idea what the words are, but she makes some up anyways, her erroneous guesses clashing with most other people's]

And a ring ring dah dah dah doodle day ... dah...

[postergirl]

[Dumage sits with a blankly sour expression on her face, staring forward, and takes a swig of her wine, muttering:]

Kill me.

[wynn]

[And Wynn is all just... watching this dispassionately from the head of the table. Yep. Pretty standard Thursday.

[bancroft]

There's whiskey in the jaaaaaaar! [Thomas finishes on an enormous crescendo, stomping on a platter and sending a piece of fruit flying directly upwards. He reaches to his belt, produces a flash of silver and tosses it straight upwards where it strike the apple, sticking perfectly through the center of it. He catches it clumsily in his beer mug, which... splashes all over. Including onto Lan.

He takes a few sweeping bows from side to side, carelessly stepping on plates.]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

annnd done

[technophobic]

[Covered in beer, and with the wind out of his sails, Lan glares back at Dovan's elbowing him, then back at Buffy and Spike once more, before just silently rage-stalking away from the table, and towards the doors.]

[slays]

[ ( u n s u r e )

Buffy is silent for a long moment while Lan flounces out of the room, then she looks around, eyeing all of the people who had participated in the song, then looks back at Spike, her tone something of a stage whisper. ]

... Does this mean I won?

[bigbad]

[Spike still looks pretty confused, but he nods slowly, still unclear of what happened, but Lan stormed off, so...]

Fairly sure it does.

[ironsides]

[Dovan looks over thataway, apologetically] So sorry about him, by the way. It isn't that he doesn't think women are good enough to be Knights. He doesn't think anybody is. [He lets out a hoot of laughter] That's just his way. And he's old and set in it.

[bancroft]

[Thomas feigns a look of horror, hopping down off the table and grabbing the back of Dovan's chair] Don't tell me you're making excuses for that old codger again.

[slay]

But, I notice he doesn't think men are so unfit that they should be baking for the knights. [ She sighs, moving to take her seat again, looking up as Thomas jumps down. ]

Thank you. [ Because now her hands are a little shaky and she's just like OH GOD WHY DID I JUST DO THAT because she's fairly sure it would have ended with ... her ass being kicked. Not only six ways from Sunday by Lan, but also out of the Knighthood. ] The, uh, drunken musical number was a nice touch.

[bigbad]

I'm with the drunken choirboy. [He scowls, more at himself than anyone else.] And I'm supposed to learn from that old wanker.