squiring ♔ the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.

[wynn]

♬ Troy - James Horner

WHO || Wynn, Willow Rosenberg, Cordelia Chase, Cora Hale, Kali, Drax, Alisha Daniels, Alice Lincoln, Cara Mason, Henry Mills, Sam Winchester, current Knights attending the ceremony
WHAT || September Squiring Ceremony
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Great Hall
WHEN || September 6th, 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 as always. It's traditional for them to appear for the first time before the Knighthood wearing it and they are assured that only a very small number of the Knights make use of their armor for other circumstances. It does, however, 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 ]

[allaboutme]

[ wow this armor is not doing cordelia any favors. she scowled her entire way through 'donning it' in the first place, griping to anyone who would listen, and now as she clanks her way past the crowd, craning her neck to see how many hot guys are out in that sea of people, she practically trips on the rug at some point (dex 6) and slams into the back of whoever was in front of her with a clang. she at least rights herself immediately (balance 19), flipping her hair back as she accuses whoever it was of being at fault here, hissing: ] Watch it!

[icouldbe_bess]

[ alice doesn't fall or waver (balance 19), but she makes a face at cordelia, lips pursed in irritation. ] I'll be sure to grow eyes in the back of my head for next time.

[ YOU BUMPED ME. ]

[spinerip]

[Drax has certainly put on some of the armor! The bottom half, specifically. He seems to have forgotten the top part of his armor. At least his walk is good though (dex 22). He strides down confidently, looking straight ahead as he makes his way to the front of the room.]

[familybusiness]

[Sam manages the armor just fine (dex 15) as he walks along with the others, his eyes moving through the audience as he makes his way toward the stairs.]

[wanttobeahero]

[ Is the armor comfortable? No, not really. But is it amazing to be wearing it all? Yes. It's an honor, and Henry regards the entire ceremony with a great deal of reverence. He even manages to walk with his armor perfectly fine (dex 20), despite the slight stirrings of nervousness. ]

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. ]

Willow Rosenberg. Cordelia Chase. Cora Hale. Kali. Drax. Alisha Daniels. Alice Lincoln. Cara Mason. Henry Mills. Sam Winchester.

Kneel. And repeat this oath.

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. :) ]

[allaboutme]

[ cordelia's great at this part, ok. it's not that different from picking up cheers, is it?? (wis 14) ]

I swear to defend the Knighthood. I swear that I'll protect all weaknesses and constitute myself the defender of them. I shall not recoil before mine enemy. ... Damn right I won't.

I shall make war against injustice, without cessation and without mercy. Gee, harsh much? I shall never lie, and shall remain faithful to my pledged word. I shall be generous, and listen to and respect all, even if they're wearing last year's fashions.

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

[icouldbe_bess]

I swear to defend the Knighthood. And I swear...

[ fuck, what else does she swear? SHE DOESNT KNOW ANYMORE. fuck. shit. balls. she can't salvage this. (wis crit fail.) balls to the wall time. ♫ ]

... like the shadow that's by your side. I see the questions in your eyes, I know what's weighing on your mind, you can be sure I know my part. 'cause I'll stand beside you through the years, you'll only cry those happy tears. And though I'll make mistakes, I'll never break your heart.

[ she pauses. yep. that sure did just happen, she just made this into a movie musical. pretty good one, too. (perform: sing 14) ] And uh, evil bad.

[spinerip]

[Yeah, Drax got... a 1. Not a crit fail 1, just a 1. His life is hard. He kneels and frowns as everyone repeats, trying to understand call and response since I guess that's not a thing on his planet. It takes the entire oath for him to catch on, and then he gets so distracted by the fact that he can't be everywhere he can only be in one place that it isn't until everyone has finished that he finally says something.]

I swear to guard the gal-- the Knighthood.

[Oh, everyone's done. He looks around, and falls silent.]

[familybusiness]

[Wis 15 like a boss. He doesn't sound like he's giving a masterful speech or anything, but he repeats the words with little difficulty and without mistakes.]

"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."

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

[If hunters had a formal oath, he'd hope it was something like this. Now he just had to hope he was capable of living up to it, and that when he finally did get to see Dean, that he'd be able to get him to stick around too.]

[olreliable]

[Wis 18 like anyone should be surprised. She looks up at Wynn, and recites the words perfectly with not even a moment of hesitation. She is so good at this part. The words part.]

[impetere]

[Cora isn't so great with public speaking. She kneels well enough, but her voice is unsteady as she tries to repeat the words and she ends up backtracking a few times in trying to get it right. But she does manage to finish in the end, even if it's nowhere near perfect (wisdom 8).]

[wanttobeahero]

[ Alright, so that nervousness gets stronger when he has to take the pledge. It's not that he doubts his abilities, he knows he'll be good at this, he knows he was born for this, really. He's wanted to be a hero his entire life. He just...cares so much about doing this right and not letting anyone down - even people that he hasn't seen in years - that he stumbles. And despite his best efforts, he doesn't do a great job with the pledge. (wis 5) ]

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 Willow Rosenberg. Sir Cordelia Chase. Sir Cora Hale. Sir Kali. Sir Drax. Sir Alisha Daniels. Sir Alice Lincoln. Sir Cara Mason. Sir Henry Mills. Sir Sam Winchester.


[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.

[allaboutme]

[ cordy immediately forgets her discomfort at this whole armor thing when everyone cheers for them with such enthusiasm, and she pops to her feet with a wide smile, giving a miss america wave to the crowd, and blowing a few kisses. ]

[spinerip]

[Drax doesn't flinch at all when the blade touches down on his bare shoulders. He waits until Wynn says his name before standing and turning to face the crowd, staring out solemnly and shirtlessly.]

[familybusiness]

[...cue awkward smile. Oh good, a party. Y a y?]

[olreliable]

[All of this apparently JUST sunk in to Willow. As the crowd starts to cheer, she just blinks before a slow smile spreads across her face. She's still focused on Wynn, in awe of him, basically.]

Really? [It's not a question she expects an answer to but holy cow wow she's a knight???]

[impetere]

[YES THEY'RE DONE now she can go change into her second uncomfortable outfit for the evening. And the cheers are good? Probably? Yay?

Can she get out of this armor now?]

[wanttobeahero]

[ Okay, now this is the best part. This makes it official. No backing out now. Though...it's not like he'd want to, really. But truthfully, he's looking forward to getting out of this armor and just mingling at the afterparty. ]

[arrested]

[ Alisha hangs about a bit because she's almost expecting to be given a medal or something, but then when that doesn't happen, she at least has the cheers to fall back on. She'll take it. ]

Peanut Gallery

[wynn]

[ GOSSIP TIME ]

[missindependent]

Who's that guy with all that chest? [ fiona whispers to... no one in particular ]