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

[attollores]

[She jumps when the other woman speaks. Her attention had still been intently focused across the dance floor and didn't notice her approach. She plasters a smile on her face, obviously trying to look reassuring and obviously failing. She grabs a glass of wine or whatever the hell it happens to be from the tray of a passing waiter and downs most of it in one gulp, then answers Andrea's question.]

Oh! Oh, aye, I'm fine. I uh... thought I might have seen a... ghost DC 7 Bluff Check. Yeah right, good try Alainn and I didn't want to stay in that area. Just in case.

[Good time to try and not-so-tactfully change the subject. Mmmhhmm.]

So, you're one of the newer squires then eh? How is it going so far for you? Do you have any questions?

[piratitude]

[Nat 1 Sense Motive alefjawe Andrea's eyes widen at the answer. Oh gods, she'd been kidding]

Fuck. Really? Do they have old Knights haunting the place or something?

[She didn't like ghosts. They were hard to stab.]

Oh! Uh, yeah, that's me. Little out of my depth, to be honest, but that has more to do with handling how different things are in this world.

[She answers Alainn, but her eyes are still scanning the opposite end of the room for the fictitious ghost.]

[attollores]

[Alainn's jaw drops because she cannot believe that actually worked! She closes her mouth quickly while nodding vigorously at Andrea. It worked, just roll with it running through her head.]

Aye, there are ghosts haunting the castle, some are old Knights, others are just ghosts. They don't usually show up at parties, in fact it's hard to actually catch one in your sights ever. But uh, thinking I saw one was enough to send me... away from it. [She doesn't need to make a bluff check for this part because... it's actually totally true. Thank goodness for small favors :\]

So, where do ye come from? The Shadow World, or someplace else entirely?

[piratitude]

I don't blame you. [Seriously, she's a bit spooked now just thinking about ghosts wandering the halls.]

The Shadow World, as they seem to like calling it around here. Which, by the way, isn't any more shadowy than here.

[attollores]

[She's glad the subject is on safer ground, though when Andrea isn't looking, her eyes scan the dancing again quickly. Good thing there are too many people out there twirling to really see exactly where she's looking.]

Wait, do ye remember quite a lot? [Her interest is definitely peaked. It seemed that there was a fair mix of people in this latest batch of squires that did seem to remember their former lives, and that thought both intrigued and saddened Alainn. Though she does chuckle at the girls defense of her "not any shadowy than here" defense.]

[piratitude]

Depends on what you mean by alot, I suppose. I remember my childhood and basically everything up until I was about nineteen. [She pauses a bit, unconsciously joining Alainn in watching the dancers again]

After that, my memory is basically all holes. There are a few faces in there...maybe a name or two...but it's almost like I forgot why they were even important. I couldn't really tell you what I'd been doing all that time. [Or where she'd got her sword, which she been extremely reluctant to leave behind for this party. She wasn't entirely sure why. It was a powerful weapon, but that didn't quite explain the almost physical attachment she had to the thing. Her friendly smile falls a little.]

[attollores]

[She nods knowingly at the other woman's description of having such a spotty memory. Sympathy crosses her features at her fallen smile, but not pity. No one wanted that.]

Aye, it's like that for a fair amount of us who've come through the Veil. Some recall everything with perfect clarity, others have huge holes in their memories but retain most of them, and yet others remember nothing at all.

Eventually we all find our way, though. It just takes time.

[piratitude]

Find our way to what is the question. If it's really true we can't go back, then...[She sighed, fidgeting with her dress a bit then let out a huffy, slightly self-mocking laugh]...guess I'm in for a new profession.

[attollores]

Aye, it's true we can't go back. But you're still here, and you're still livin' aren't ye? I think I'd rather have that, have a life and have forgotten everything, which I have, than to have no life a'tall. You can figure out all the rest as you go along.

[She smiles gently to soften her words, and really they were more introspective than chiding] O'course, I've had much longer to figure this out than you have, but that is what I've gotten out of this so far. And hey, you've already gotten a starter job, as it were! And what other kind of job are ye going to find where they pay you to live in a castle and use their stuff?

[piratitude]

[Andrea grins and nods her head a little] Not too many places, that's for damn sure. Even the most generous lord rarely lets you play with their toys, so to speak.

And you're right, I am lucky to still have a chance at something, even if it isn't what I was used to. Nothing wrong with somethin' new every once in awhile, and I'd take this over any normal profession any day of the week.

[attollores]

Amen to that! I think, for people like us, normal work or normal professions just weren't meant to be. So we've pretty much got it made here.

[piratitude]

It would seem that way...at least until I can makes heads or tails of how things work around here.

[attollores]

Aye, that is true as well. Though truthfully, it won't take ye too long once ye get going.

Do ye have any idea what it is that you like to do, or what you're good at? That can always be a good help in knowing where to begin.

[piratitude]

I've always been a fighter, really. Unless this world has much call for sailors or artifact hunters.

[attollores]

Darlin', I think ye might've just struck it rich by joining the Knights. We have all of that to offer and more. I think you'll fit in here like a hand in a glove.

[piratitude]

[She laughs] You may be right.

What about you? What did you do before?

[attollores]

[She shrugs a slightly, her face scrunching up a bit.] Well, I've been with the Knights for four years now, and before that I was a year in Ireland.

Before that I've no idea, I crossed through the Veil meself and landed in Galway. This is pretty much all I've known since I've been in this world.

[piratitude]

[Andrea winces sympathetically. She's glad now that she remembers as much as she does] Well, I guess this is one way to make the most of a new life.

[attollores]

That's the spirit right there! And if this doesn't work out for you, at least you can say ye tried something different.

[She trails off with a wondering look, biting her lip then chuckling lightly.]

Though I don't think the Knights are something you can really put on your job resume.