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

ota;

[slays]

[ Given that she caught on that her and Lan's little uproar caused quite the scene during dinner, Buffy is trying her best (again) to keep to the outskirts of the crowd. She found something of a fluffier dress this time around, but in a perfect world it will be more camouflage than the red from before.

It was a big hall. Maybe no one noticed. Or ... maybe everyone noticed and would be too nice to say anything. Or scold. Or ... god, Jack was going to take her out back and shoot her for mouthing off to a knight, wasn't he? ]

[socialgraces]

[Francesca finds her easily, as she too is in the outskirts observing the crowd.] You don't need to be embarrassed. [She offers kindly.] If anything, Lan is the one who should be embarrassed. He and Thomas. [And she gives the other woman a little smirk.]

[slay]

What, embarrassed? Me? I wasn't--Did I look ... ? [ Bluff check 14. She's pretty convincing, but she still trails off and just gives up trying. Because, really, she's not fooling herself. ] Just not really how I wanted to finish out my week, I guess. I mean, I've barely been knighted and I'm starting fights at dinner. Who does that?

[socialgraces]

You'd be surprised. [She says with an amused smirk.] Plus, you made most peoples' night. In a good way, I promise. [She gives her a reassuring smile - Diplomacy check 26.] It was a pretty tense night to begin with, so everyone was a little on edge, Lan included.

Just try not to take it personally. Lan's an ass. And as you could see, no one jumped to his defense. [She continues to use diplomatic persuasion throughout her little speech, trying to offer Buffy a little comfort. It really wasn't all that out of the ordinary. And it was fucking hilarious.]

You certainly gave Thomas a chance to shine. [And then her smile turns to more of a reminiscing look of fondness as she stares out at the crowd.]

[slays]

Thomas ... That's Sir Dances on Tables? [ She follows Francesca's gaze, feeling pretty convincingly reassured by the remarks. She had a point -- no one was exactly defending Lan, just trying to stop him from starting a fight and intervening from Buffy agreeing to finish it with ... well, singing and dancing. Still. It felt weird -- a part of her still expected to be scolded any minute now. ]

[socialgraces]

[Francesca laughs at the nickname.] Yes. Sir Thomas Bancroft, the Dragon's Claw. He's been out of town since you've all arrived, so I'm sure he very much enjoyed making such a grand introduction to all the new squires.

[slay]

[ Long pause. Disbelief is happening. Her brain will boot back up shortly, but for now she's blue screen of death.




Okay. Rebooting. ]

He's a Dragon's Claw?

[socialgraces]

[She chuckles, very used to this reaction, I'm sure.] I think it was uncanny ability to diffuse volatile situations that won him the job.

[As she just remembers Buffy's connection to Jack Chessing:] He's very different from our other Dragon's Claw, but that's usually how it goes. Creates some sort of balance. And Thomas has been a Dragon's claw for several decades now, and a Knight for much longer than that. He's quite capable.

Once you get to know him, it won't seem so strange.

[slays]

Guess I just kinda figured you had to be all straight-laced and Jack-like to be one. [ She purses her lips in thought, but shrugs it off. ] Guess I should be glad he takes the Whiskey in a Jar approach to diplomacy. They're supposed to be pretty strong, right?

[cabot]

[Not nearly enough camouflage to hide her, b/c Val'drin definitely seems to locate her. He slide up casually next to her as best as he can, hands in his pockets]

Fancy seeing you here.

[slay]

[ She doesn't see him coming because he's the tiniest but when she hears his voice, Buffy finds a small smile creeping over her face, and she glances over at him out of the corner of her eye. ]

Now, see, this is where I get confused. Is that the American "fancy seeing you" or the British "fancy seeing you"? [ She turns to face him more fully, smile more full now. ] I wasn't sure if I'd see you.

[cabot]

[So tiny] I'm afraid revealing the answer to that would be giving away important secrets of the Crown. [He says this with perfect feigned sincerity, before flashing her a look and a smile]

What? And miss the circus? Never.

[slays]

You think this is entertainment, you should have caught the feast. There was singing. Dancing, even. [ She is ... leaving out the part about embarrassing herself. Because Val'drin never needs to know. After a beat, she adds sheepishly; ] Not ... that I noticed you weren't there.

[cabot]

[His eyes skim across her face, and he looks notably pleased, but not arrogantly so. Maybe flattered, even.]

I'm entirely sorry I missed it.

[slay]

You should be. Of course, I'm sure you had good reason to. Like, very important official business or something. [ She gives a wave of her hand to dismissive it, tone wry and sarcastic, but she does slowly raise an expectant eyebrow, wordlessly asking him what exactly that reason was. Curiosity and all. ]

[cabot]

Oh yes. Fate of the world stuff. [His tone is... really hard to read, so he might actually be serious, and just playing casual about it]

Should I ask how you've been getting along, or will that lead this conversation to an uncomfortable start?

[slays]

You can ask. [ She says it with a wry smile, then goes on to explain. ]

The getting along has been getting better. It's -- I'm okay. Settling in's still wiggy, I guess, but everyone's been pretty helpful. Plus, I guess it doesn't hurt that I don't really remember not being here, so the more time I spend here, the more right it feels. [ She shrugs. ] It's good. I'm good. [ And then she glances back at him. ]

And, I'm gonna take the whole being here as a sign that there's hope for the fate of the world yet. Which probably means you've been doing all right, too, huh?

[asap]

[Andie manages to find her, though, and... well, it's not that she's un-nice, she's just got all the tact of, well, Cordelia. So she goes over to find Buffy, looking positively gleeful.]

Hi Buffy! Did you really completely chew out Lan? That is so cool.

[slay]

[ Oh. So, everyone heard. Buffy drums up the fakest smile she can manage and reaches up to rub the side of her neck, managing to look falsely happy to see Andie despite her tactlessness. ]

Apparently, just completely enough for everybody to hear about it. You know, I was kinda hoping the impromptu musical would win gawkathon of the night.

[thebetrayer]

[HE PASSES BY JUST IN TIME TO COMMENT]

I thought it was pretty gawk-worthy.

[asap]

[Andie shrugs because she missed it but is kind of disappointed about it. Look, it seems AWESOME from her perspective.]

Little bit gawky, but you know, the good kind.

[slays]

I'm never living this down, am I? It's gonna be on my epitaph when they bury me out back. "Here lies Buffy. Shamer of Sir Wellington, sexist extraordinaire."

[asap]

Hey, he could totally use the shaming. And then there was singing and stuff... [She sighs wistfully.] Remind me to not be late next time.

[slays]

Why were you late, anyway? I figured a feast would be like ... auto-on time for you.

[asap]

It is! But see, I sort of forgot. I mean, I remembered it this morning, but that was hours ago, and then I did some training with Tia and then my dad and I took a nap and I checked Facebook to see what my friends in the States were up to and then I decided to go for a run and right around Spain I was like, oh, wait, there's a feast tonight and I'm way fast, but even my fastness can't take me back in time so...

[She shrugs.]

Late.