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

Dubya

[wynn]

[With a delicious sching noise, Wynn draws the ridiculously shiny sword off from his belt. One by one he lays the flat of the blade upon the squire's 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 Spike. Sir Buffy Anne Summers. Sir Sven van Tol. Sir Andrea Dodge. Sir Ethan Mavery. Sir Martha Jones. Sir Oerba Dia Vanille.

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

[aproperdoctor]

[Martha watches the sword, her brow furrowing for a moment in thought. It looks familiar, but where has she seen it before? As Wynn knights her, she realises that it's the sword she'd previously seen in the crystal statue of the dragon. She wonders about the significance of it, but it's time to rise and be presented to the knights.

All right, so standing up in a full suit of armor isn't the most graceful thing in the world, but she still manages it without falling over or anything, which is a definite plus. Mostly it's the promise of being able to change into something lighter - a nice dress - once all this is over that helps her stand.]

[asap]

[Andie rises quickly, armor clattering as it tries to keep up with her. She grins, looking around the room, and waves at the people she knows in the audience. She's proud of herself. Sure, getting to this particular point mostly took talking to Wynn, but she'd made it here.

Her dad was in the audience, smiling a quiet, reserved smile, and she knew he was proud. She thought her mom would be too, if she were there.

She looked around at the other new squires. She didn't know them, but she figured that would change soon. She rocked on her feet excitedly, ready to get going.]

[slays]

[ She waits until she's on her feet and the applause is going to cringe a little as she addresses Wynn. ]

Sir? Really? There's no ... alternate title? Like maybe Lady? I could be a Lady.

[wynn]

All of our Knights carry the title of Sir. If you desire a different title, you will have to seek it on your own. [It sounds like he's almost... joking. :| Or something like it.]

[slays]

Thought knights weren't allowed solo missions? [ Yeah, she will snark right back. Because she would legitimately quest for the title of Lady, ok. ]

[wynn]

You are, however, allowed private lives. [lmao, lies]

[slays]

Huh? [ A beat. ] Oh. No. I mean, well, thank you. For the, the uh ... Endorsement. But I'm not really a bondage roleplaying kinda girl. A-As a general rule. [ At least she ... doesn't think she is. And yeah she sure just ... said that at the end of the ceremony. To the boss of all bosses. Look private lives + different title = people calling her Lady in the bedroom??? Where else was she supposed to go with that. ]

[wynn]

[He stares at her with a furrowed brow, and it's impossible whether to tell it's out of disapproval for the subject, or whether he just has no idea what in the sam hill she is saying.]

Mm.

[slay]

[ She takes it as "shut the fuck up, Buffy, this is a knighting ceremony." ] Right. Less with the talking. [ Her lips purse and she gives a quick nod, turning to glance out at the audience. Orz. ]

[wynn]

[Hey, he never said that. Directly. So he tells everybody:]

Take the time to enjoy your evening. Your training won't begin until tomorrow.

[And with that, he's gonna peace out down the carpet]

[militarized]

Sir Captain Ethan Mavery, if we're throwing titles around. [ He gets to his feet with a kind of smirk, then glances out at the crowd. Everyone who might have come is either long dead or the reason he's here. So, it's just an ocean of unrecognisable faces, as far as he's concerned. ]

[aproperdoctor]

[Martha keeps looking at Ethan; he seems vaguely familiar, but she has no idea who he reminds her of. Anyway, as long as we're doing the title thing; Martha only speaks loudly enough to be heard by the other new Knights and Wynn, not the rest of the room.] So I guess that would make me Sir Doctor Martha Jones?

[Man, that sounds pretentious.]

[militarized]

A doctor? So what are you doing with the bloody cavalry? Shouldn't you be in a hospital trading your plate mail for a lab coat? [ His tone drops enough so that they can have a conversation that isn't overheard by the entirety of the room. ]

[aproperdoctor]

[Martha gives him an unimpressed look.] Even the RAF has doctors with their units, yeah? Just think of me as a combat medic, if you like. [Granted, she's not so huge on the whole combat part of it all, but she's not going to mention that.] Besides, maybe I want to help people by keeping them from getting injured in the first place.

[militarized]

Or injuring them. [ He shrugs, raising an eyebrow. ] Protecting people as a general rule involves hurting the ones you aren't protecting. Not something I'd expect out of a doctor.

[aproperdoctor]

Or it could involve simply mediating between two parties and finding ways to end a crisis that don't involve violence. I realise you might not be familiar with the concept, being in the military and all, but I assure you that it's possible.

[Or so she was trying to convince her supervisors at UNIT before she came here - she remembers that much, anyway.]

[militarized]

Said like a true civilian. Hopefully whatever knight gets stuck with you can teach you what a military unit's actually about.

[aproperdoctor]

I'm not sure that's at the top of Sir Gar's list of priorities - she seems to accept the way I am. [Actually, she has no idea, but she's not going to admit that.]

[militarized]

Surely that couldn't have anything to do with recruitment.

[socialgraces]

[As he turns towards the crowd, Francesca looks more closely upon her Squire, the Captain. She isn't quite sure whether to be amused or annoyed by his cockiness.

Either way, the indifferent expression on his face stirs a small amount of curious concern within her.]

[militarized]

[ Ethan's eyes scan the room and land on Francesca. He picks her out of the crowd pretty easily -- the hair makes her hard to miss, even amongst the drow -- and can't help but notice how intently she's staring. Huh. He raises a gloved hand to wave to her with a waggle of his fingers, winking. ]

[socialgraces]

[And she rolls her eyes.

She turns to the man beside her, who is also a drow, and mumbles a few words. For the rest of the ceremony she is careful not to make direct eye contact with Ethan.]

[everyredcent]

[That's ok, he'll do plenty of glaring at looking in Ethan's direction for the both of them. :|

8| ]

[oerban]

[She winces at being called Sir anything. She's a girl, isn't there a better title? But these people are helping her and giving her a place to belong, so she bites her tongue and tries her best to just hop up to standing while wearing the armor.

It's hard to do, but she manages well enough, with only a little wobbling.

At the applause going around the room, she feels color rising to her cheeks, and she gets a bounce going as she turns this way and that to scan the crowd. A hand raises up in the air and she waves to no one in particular. She may not know anyone here, but that doesn't stop her from acting like she does, and that she belongs just the same as everyone else.]