Chapt. 1 ♔ the age of chivalry is never past, so long as there is a wrong left unredressed on earth.

[wynn]

♬ Troy - James Horner

WHO || Wynn, characters newly joining the Knights, current Knights attending the ceremony
WHAT || February Squiring Ceremony
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Great Hall
WHEN || February 1st, 2012, 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, in theory. Today no theories are needed: it seems that almost every Knight in the London area has decided to attend the squiring. Perhaps it's the rumors floating around that some of these arrivals have caused something of a stir even with Wynn himself, but whatever the reason, the 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 were 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 Ceremony

[wynn]

[Once all the squires have made it to the foot of the steps, hopefully all in one piece, Wynn speaks to each in turn, his eyes landing on each one for a prolonged moment. Like Galadriel, but less creepy.]

Spike. Buffy Anne Summers. Sven van Tol. Andrea Dodge. Ethan Mavery. Martha Jones. Oerba Dia Vanille.

Please kneel. And repeat the following.

[He intones each line separately, call and response]

"I swear to defend the Knighthood."

[aproperdoctor]

[Martha kneels obediently with the other six people. She wonders briefly where they're from and what their stories are, her gaze running over them for a moment before Wynn begins the oath.]

I swear to defend the Knighthood.

[oerban]

[Kneel?

She has to kneel in this armor? And then get back up?

Gulping, Vanille wobbles her way down to a kneel. She glances over at the others, briefly making eye contact with some. But her attention has to be on Wynn right now, and not them, so no matter how curious she is, she forces her attention to be on the man in charge. Since this is an oath and she feels it should be semi-heartfelt, she places a hand over her heart. It just feels right to do, like making a promise she can't let herself break.]

I swear to defend the Knighthood...

[asap]

[God, could this ceremony crawl on any more? It doesn't help that Andie's excited. She breathes slowly, using the meditation techniques her father had taught her to slow down.]

I swear to defend the Knighthood!

[bigbad]

[Kneeling feels weird. Spike agreed to all of this, and he thinks it's the right thing, but... it's weird. He already doesn't like taking orders.

He swallows the discomfort down and looks up.]

I swear to defend the Knighthood.

[slays]

[ Oh boy. Ceremony. How she was destined to mess this up majorly, let Buffy count the ways. Her eyes wander, fixing on her fellow knights, and she slowly lurches to a kneeling position with some minor awkwardness because, well, let's face it. Her body type was so not meant for full plate armor. ]

I swear to defend the Knighthood.

[militarized]

[ It's just ceremony, he realizes that, but there's something about it that doesn't sit well with Ethan. He's done oaths before -- to get his commission. But this is different. Brotherhood was something he had with his unit, everything since then has just felt cult-y by comparison. Still, through a somber, even gaze, he stares up at Wynn as he goes forth with the ceremony. ]

I swear to defend the Knighthood.

[thebetrayer]

[Sven kneels with everyone else, calm in both manner and facial expression. He's no stranger to ~ceremonies~. He knows how all this shit works. But, this one is different. This is going to be different than everything he ran away from. He wants to believe it will be different.]

I swear to defend the Knighthood.

[wynn]

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

[wynn]

"I shall not recoil before mine Enemy."

[wynn]

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

[wynn]

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

[wynn]

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

[wynn]

[And the final... said most solemnly of all. And it's a mouthful. HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD MEMORY.]

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

[aproperdoctor]

[Martha repeats every line after Wynn says it. Luckily, she doesn't stumble over the last line or anything, because she's JUST THAT AWESOME.] 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. I shall be everywhere and always the champion of the right and the good against injustice of evil.

[Dang, that was long. Martha needs a glass of wine to wet her throat now.]

[oerban]

[There's so much talking! Vanille takes it as slow as possible and repeats each line after Wynn, but the last part has her eyes widening and she almost speaks out to ask him to repeat.

But that would probably make a terrible first impression. So she just bites at her lip and grimaces, and mumbles the rest of the oath, her accent magically travelling to something sounding more American than Australian.]

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

[bigbad]

[Spike makes it through all the way without stumbling. Because he's awesome. B) Look besides Passions he just doesn't have that much in his head.]

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

[asap]

[Oh god. Words. To memorize. And he's going SO SLOWLY. It's like being in school and why didn't she just memorize the pledge before hand? It would have been so much easier!

She tries to pay attention, but by the time the last word leaves his mouth, she's just... forgotten the first.]

I swear that I shall, uh, protect the constitution and defender...ing... them. [that can't be right.] I shall not recall my enemies. I shall make war against... bad stuff? Without ceasing and without mercy. I shall never lie, and shall remain faithful. I'll be generous and respectful. I'll be everywhere at once and champion right and good and not be evil?

[Oh my god this is so embarrassing she will never become a knight. Her face burns and she looks down.]

[thebetrayer]

[Yeah son. Sven's got this. He has a good memory and this is the kind of shit he just eats up anyway. You wish you were as legit as him.]

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