squiring ♔ character is doing what you don't want to do but know you should do

[wynn]

♬ Troy - James Horner

WHO || Wynn,  Jimmy Novak, Anthony Hudson, Lissa Dragomir, Diana Meade, Chai Faelan, current Knights attending the ceremony
WHAT || July Squiring Ceremony
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Great Hall
WHEN || July 1st, 2013, 6:00PM
HOW || Actionspam

The impressively large Great Hall of the castle could easily pass as a royal throne room, with its length and the red carpet leading up to a set of steps. However, there is no throne set at the top of them, and the Hall is wide enough to accommodate hundreds of Knights. And indeed, several hundred Knights stand in ranks on either side of the wide stretch of red, each wearing the traditional set of ceremonial armor in their possession.

The new squires are fitted to their armor after meeting with Wynn, and it's traditional for each to appear for the first time before the Knighthood wearing it. Each new member is assured that only a very small number of the Knights make use of their armor for other circumstances, but it does create an intimidating sense of unity as they stand shoulder to shoulder in rank and file to receive their newest pledges.

The squires are ushered in together, with a flair of orchestral music that fills the hall with as much pomp as possible. It's a lot like that last scene in A New Hope. Yeah, you thought I was going to get through an entire post being all serious, didn't you.

At the top of the steps, Wynn waits, wearing a sword on his belt that canny eyes† might recognize as familiar.

It's one hell of a long walk past all those staring, curious eyes. Luckily, it's a long musical number.

For additional dice rolling fun (optional):

† Roll or randomize a d20. Those who roll a 15 or above can spot the sword for being the exact same sword that was suspended in the statue above the Round Table, when they met with Wynn in the Prologue.
† Roll a d20 dexterity check. If your character rolls a 2 or 3, at some point during their walk they're bound to stumble. A critical fail will lead to an epic faceplant ... or worse.

Comments

The Walk

[wynn]

[Optionally play out your character's WALK OF DESTINY down the red carpet, and people in the crowd can judge them / encourage them / gawk ]

[spiritualdebris]

[ A dex roll of 17+2 means that Tony is somehow managing to look fine as he makes his way down that carpet. His armor fits like a glove and somehow the fact that he is absolutely terrified manages to come off as a sort of quiet dignity rather than him just being stiff as a board because he wants to run far, far away.

Anxiety has never looked this good, people. ]

[necessaryevil]

[ a young guy with a scruffy mop of unkempt 70s hair watches from a few rows in, so it'll take a good spot check (18+) to notice him in particular. he looks really out of sorts in his armor, though with a casual air of not giving a fuck about it. ]

[spiritualdebris]

[ (Spot check 11) Anthony is a little too wrapped up in himself to notice anyone in particular so he definitely doesn't manage to spot someone who is hard to see. He's just happy he's managing to not turn around and march out of the room to go have himself a nice little anxiety attack in some secluded corner, in all honesty. ]

[juststories]

[Chai is a tiny little lady to be wearing armor, seriously, did they give her dwarf armor? She thinks they might have, but somehow she manages to get down the walkway without any mishaps. She doesn't even stumble and it makes her a bit more proud than is strictly necessary for a 14 Dex roll, but it's Chai. What do you really expect?]

[lastdragomir]

[Lissa's walk goes normally (dex 14), but she at least looks like she is fine (cha 18, aw yeah). It is nerve wracking, but she knows Rose is there so that lessens it some. After all, that is why she is there and she won't even deny it.]

[silvermaid]

[ it's really hard to miss the remarkably striking tall woman in the front, watching her with a very wide, joyful smile that seems reserved just for her. as she passes by, she claps her hands together and clasps them under her chin, looking on proudly ]

[littledhampir]

[There's at least two familiar faces among the crowd and thanks to some emotional bleed, Rose is looking more nervous than she'd like to be right now. Still, if Lissa does look out there's an encouraging, albeit tight smile waiting for her.]

[astrae]

[Diana has been struggling in her armor since it was fit to her earlier. It's heavier than anything she can remember wearing, and she struggles a bit as she walks down the carpet to join the rest of the new squires.

Something about the chest plate doesn't fit quite right (cha 9) and she's busy adjusting it, so she doesn't notice the small air pocket at the carpet's edge until she's already tripped over it (dex 4).]

[wildmind]

[ it's hard to explain what happens: one moment she's stumbling and feeling like she's going to eat carpet, and the next she feels herself almost pushed back up to standing by an invisible force that holds her in place. a spot check of 14 or higher can notice the blonde woman across the way, innocently twirling her finger in a circle in diana's direction and smirking to herself. ]

[thesleeper]

[Phineas scowls as he sees the squire recover from what he was sure would be an entertaining fall. Half the fun of coming to these things is seeing people screw up... damn...]

pay no attention to the man behind the curtain etc

[astrae]

[Her heart rate picks up a little as she’s righted, and she has a curious sense that the feeling is not entirely unfamiliar.

With a spot check of 11, Diana is still too out of sorts to do much more than glance toward where the other Knights are watching the ceremony. Even then, she can’t pick the smirking blonde woman out of the crowd; the suits of armor and unfamiliar faces are beginning to blur together.]