squiring ♔ i am bound to live up to what light i have

[wynn]

♬ Troy - James Horner

WHO || Wynn, Matt Byrne, Indra Crestrage, Nyna Dilant, Liam Dunbar, Stefan Salvatore, Rocket, Amy Pond, Sylar, Dean Winchester, Regina Mills,  current Knights attending the ceremony
WHAT || October Squiring Ceremony [backdated]
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Great Hall
WHEN || October 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.   

While plenty of Knights try to get out of attendance once and awhile, Wynn personally ordered his Knights on Andres to cease their activities and flew them back for this ceremony, a step towards rebuilding in the wake of more tragedy.

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.  Mark has, after all, brought it back with him from Andres - the famed sword, Excalibur.

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

[uncurse]

[ Sensing his struggle (because it's not unlike her own), Emma shifts her attention from her own mother (sparing her the heartache of yearning looks and teary eyes) to her son before her. Reaching out, she puts a hand on his shoulder, staying him. ]

Henry.

[ It's quick and uncertain, but she wants to stop him before he jumps into anything too fast. ]

We don't know who we're dealing with. The Veil could have done a lot worse to her than it did to either of us.

[ Regina may be his mother in Storybrooke, but she's been far, far worse in the past. ]

[unhand]

That might be a blessing with her. [Hook has only ever met the Evil Queen, not the reformed Regina.] Especially since Snow White's here.

[wanttobeahero]

[ The hand on his shoulder is a blessing, really, because there are those moments when extreme emotion begin to overtake rational thought, and you need to be pulled back from the edge of doing something potentially...well, stupid. He'll have a chance to talk to her in a better setting, when he's less likely to be crushed by the reality of what the Veil might have done to her.

God, what if she only remembers being the Evil Queen... ]

This...could be bad.

[ He looks at his mom, not for reassurance because none of them know anything yet, but...because just looking at her sometimes is enough to make him feel better. ]

[uncurse]

Let's not jump to conclusions.

[ She holds her free hand out to stay Hook's panic as well as Henry's. ]

It could be, but if it is, Wynn'll know. He hasn't been wrong about one of us yet. We'll just take it slow, figure out what she knows, and then … [ Her cheeks inflate and she exhales slowly, shaking her head. ]

[wanttobeahero]

[ Wise words, and they mitigate some of his uncertainty. There's this hope kind of building inside of him, too, alongside some of the other emotions. Depending on what the Veil took from her, this could be a real second chance for them. It's what he has with Emma now, so...it could work out again.

He smiles faintly, nodding his head once in agreement. ]

I just...wanna talk to her.

[ And he's really hoping she remembers him. ]

[uncurse]

I don't know, Henry …

[ Her lips press together, waffling. Looking up at Regina over there, she … seems pretty damn prickly. Then again, when isn't Regina prickly? Emma's certainly never seen a softer side of her. She squeezes Henry's shoulder. ]

This is Regina we're dealing with. One wrong move, and there's no telling what she pulls. Let's just take a step back, and think about this … rationally. [ She blinks, shifting her weight, obviously not sure about what constitutes rational here. She looks up at Hook. ] Maybe you should talk to her. You worked with Cora, you must have known her daughter.

[ Throws Hook in front of the cannons to protect Henry oops. ]

[unhand]

[Wow why are you dragging him into this. Hook blinks a bit then glances back at Regina.]

We've met. I wouldn't exactly call us close.

[unlost]

[Snow is just...watching them talk to one another, her brow creasing with worry about the conversation that might be going on. She's trying to read lips, but only catching a word here and there (int(?) 12).]

[undealt]

[snickering quietly over Regina getting tripped.]

[wanttobeahero]

[ He wants to protest, he really does, but there's a better way to do what he wants to do without being completely transparent about it. Although it kind of depends on how the after party goes, and whether or not his mom is planning to watch him like a hawk. Not that he doesn't see the wisdom in her line of thinking but...this is Regina, and he's missed her, as complicated as it all is. ]

I know it's not like she's going anywhere so we don't have to figure out something right now. I've just missed her.

[ He glances back across the crowd, looking at his grandmother and smiling faintly. No wave, though, because there's no need to confuse her more. ]

[uncurse]

[ Something behind Emma's eyes darkens at that. Her gaze drops a moment, and she casts a look back up the aisle at Regina. Pulling her hand away from Henry's shoulder, she puts a cap on the side conversation by noting. ]

We'll deal with it when the ceremony's over.

[unhand]

[Killian reaches for Emma's shoulder, quietly offering support. He hopes Wynn knows what he's doing, though honestly, he's not sure how much hope he has after Peter Pan showed up.]

[wanttobeahero]

[ Uh oh. Hopefully this goes okay. No, it will. Somehow. His gaze flickers between his mom, his grandmother, and then Regina, and he just...takes a deep breath and hopes for the best. ]

[untethered]

[ meanwhile belle is here in the amnesiac corner, just watching gold's reaction like honey... ] You... know this Regina?

[undealt]

She's the mayor of Storybrooke.

[seriously what

the fuck.]