squiring ♔ if you want to test a man's character, give him power

[wynn]

♬ Troy - James Horner

WHO || Wynn, Fiona Tollins, current Knights attending the ceremony
WHAT || February Squiring Ceremony
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Great Hall
WHEN || February 1st, 2014, 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 newest squires have been fitted to his armor after meeting with Wynn, and it's traditional for them to appear for the first time before the Knighthood wearing it. They are 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.

They enter 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 ]

The Ceremony

[wynn]

[ When they have arrived at the far end of the carpet and stand before him beside each other, Wynn addresses both would-be squires solemnly by name. ]

Peter Pan. Fiona Tollins.

Kneel. And repeat this oath.

Dubbing

[wynn]

[With a beautiful sching noise, Wynn draws the oh so shiny sword from its sheath. One by one he lays the flat of the blade upon the squires' right shoulder, then raises it gently above their head to place it upon their left. When he is finished with each of them in turn, he returns to his place at the top of the steps, and announces:]

You may rise: Sir Peter Pan. Sir Fiona Tollins.

[The moment the squires begin to rise, the entire hall bursts into a frenzy of cheers, applause, hoots and hollering that's practically deafening. It quiets a bit when Wynn speaks again.]

We ask you to join us tonight in celebration of our newest members in the ballroom.

The Peanut Gallery

[wynn]

[ALL THE GOSSIP. Anyone in the crowd can make threads here to talk amongst yourselves.]

The Pledge

[wynn]

[Each line is spoken separately as a call and respond.]

"I swear to defend the Knighthood."

"I swear that I shall protect all weaknesses and shall constitute myself the defender of them."

"I shall not recoil before mine Enemy."

"I shall make war against injustice, without cessation and without mercy."

"I shall never lie, and shall remain faithful to my pledged word."

"I shall be generous, and listen to and respect all."

[And finally, in ringing tones:]

"I shall be everywhere and always the champion of the right and the good against injustice and evil."

[optional rolling; roll a D20 Wisdom check in order to see if your Knight can remember the phrases properly or not so much. Remember that a 10 is an average person's capacity to do so. :) ]

[missindependent]

[ the armor is hella cool and all, but fiona is in no way trained or experienced in wearing it -- aside from the few dorky epic poses she did in front of Faith's phone camera moments before the cermony -- and it's the very first step that gets her, which is probably better than it being the last. She lifts one foot up to ascend the stairs, but the weight of the full plate drags her whole body forward, and she falls in a heap at the base of the stage in a series of loud clangs.

However, she's not even remotely embarrassed, nor does she try to stifle her laughter, as she lumbers back to her feat, merrily calling out: ] My bad! [ and she makes it the rest of the way to Wynn without incident... ]

[missindependent]

[ fiona's short-term memory is very well intact today, apparently, and she recites the pledge with little difficultly (wisdom 14), emulating both wynn's pride and tone as she does so. seems like standard hero fare and she has little problem agreeing to the terms, at least for the time being ]

[missindependent]

[ oh, a sword! awesome! fiona grins widely as she accepts the knighting, feeling pretty awesome herself at the moment ]

[exceptone]

[Peter Pan's never worn armor before. He's never needed to. So, even though it's fitted for him, he feels a little out of sorts, weighted down. Still, thanks to a dex roll of 16, he makes his way down the red carpet with his usual nimbleness, smirking a little too smugly. He does, however, laugh when the woman stumbles and falls.

What? It's okay, he's covering his mouth with his hand, stifling his own laughter as best he can. He has some respect for others.

...

Right.]

[moonheart]

[ faith cracks up from where she stands in the ranks, and then puts both hands up on either side of her mouth and lets out a loud: ] WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[exceptone]

[Well, Pan can't say he really agrees with the whole oath. No lying? That'll be difficult. He's Peter Pan, of course he lies. In any case, he manages to recite the entire oath (wis 17), and since he is a practiced liar and all, he manages to sound sincere enough.]

[exceptone]

[So, he's a knight now. Sir Peter Pan. Yes, he likes the sound of that. That little smirk of his turns into a full blown grin as he rises. And now there's to be a party? GLORIOUS.]

[missindependent]

[ she'll just give a thumbs up (as best she can in this get-up) in faith's direction as she continues on her merry way, still laughing at herself ]