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

[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 ):]