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

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. ]

Matt Byrne. Indra Crestrage. Nyna Dilant. Liam Dunbar. Stefan Salvatore. Rocket. Amy Pond. Sylar. Dean Winchester. Regina Mills.

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. :) ]

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 Matt Byrne. Sir Indra Crestrage. Sir Nyna Dilant. Sir Liam Dunbar. Sir Stefan Salvatore. Sir Rocket. Sir Amy Pond. Sir Sylar. Sir Dean Winchester. Sir Regina Mills.


[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.

Peanut Gallery

[wynn]

[ ONLOOKERS/GAWKERS/WHATNOT]

[undealt]

[you can't hear it over the music, but

someone in the back may have just awkwardly dropped their cane.]

[uncurse]

[ The only reason Emma's here is because Wynn was weird about moving everyone back to the castle for this. A yawn comes out of her as she settles back against the wall, listening to the ceremony begin, but she goes ramrod straight the moment Wynn calls one of the later names.

Looking around, she has to double check, ] Did he just say Regina Mills? [ Spoiler she's not double checking with Gold because she would not stand anywhere near him. ]

[beatupgrass]

[there's a raccoon in full armor walking down this red carpet. your argument is invalid.

he's not totally bad at it either (dex 13)

he still thinks he looks like a massive tool though. EVERYONE STOP GAWKING OKAY. HAVEN'T YOU EVER SEEN A SMALL WOODLAND CREATURE IN A TIN CAN BEFORE.]

[unlost]

[Guess who just so happens to be standing across from the two of them on the opposite side of the red carpet.

Too bad she rolled a bad spot check. She's focused on the ceremony, apparently.]

[watchmaker]

[dex 20 total while he ... breathes down dean's shoulder. WHAT IS HIS CHICAGO BFF (read: only ff) ALSO DOING HERE. IT'S NOT LIKE THEY WERE DRUNK AND DECIDED TO GET MATCHING TATTOOS TOGETHER.]

[uncurse]

[ Well someone rolled a 19 so as she's looking around for someone to affirm what she heard, she ... sees Mary Margaret instead.

What

the

fuck.

Stares awkwardly. Her life is a fucking mess rn. ]

[watchmaker]

[wis 13 so ... he prob doesn't fuck anything up. much. he says all the things. pretend i c/p'd.]

[familybusiness]

[This Moose is just fucking staring.

Talk about an emotional rollercoaster. He isn't sure whether to be relieved, happy, confused, or offended. What the hell happened in the last week, and why is he always the last person to find out?

He still doesn't know anything, and Sam is not good with patience sometimes.]

[autorevive]

[loudly, with no sense of indoor voice] Yeah, he said Regina Mills! Are you deaf?

[ex_boning176]

[Liam is way too distracted by the raccoon decked out n full armor (and, to a lesser degree, the crowd of onlookers) to really notice the Wynn's but he still manages to make it the whole way without stumbling or looking too awkward (dex: 10). He's more nervous than anything tbh.]

[unhand]

[Hook's standing near Emma because tbh that's his favorite place to stand in any room and he squints out at the new squires.]

He can't mean the Evil Queen, can he?

[A beat as he realizes Emma is... not listening anymore.]

...Emma? [He follows her gaze and... that can't be who he thinks it is.]

[daredtobelieve]

[Hi, Sam. Helen is here. And fairly quiet. But as the squires emerge, she does look to him, checking to see if he's going to pass out or something.]

[keptbiting]

[ what if... amelia pond made a scene in the middle of the squiring ceremony and didn't give one iota of a fuck about it? well, it would be tuesday then, wouldn't it? or wednesday as the case may be. because as she is walking down the carpet, and doing well, mind you, she spots a certain bow tie out of the corner of her eye and whirls on the spot like a ginger amazon tornado. ]

Oi! Doctor! [ sorry about your alias. also sorry wynn, because she up and turns around to shout at him over the music. ] You don't you move a muscle!

[ okay, guess she should finish that walk now. /rocks the red carpet like a fucking model. (dex 16) ]

[likedillinger]

[ dean looks

a little awkward. (dex... 9) let's attribute it to doing a fucking doubletake at creeper mcgee over his shoulder here who turns out to be

sylar????????

as much as dean's inner cosplay enthusiast might enjoy wearing this armor, it's weird and it chafes and he tugs at it as he whispers fiercely to sylar, while amy makes a great distraction: ] The hell are you doing here?

[consequence]

[Hayley is there, with baby in arms and glances around at the name 'Stefan Salvatore' being called. Her head cants, scanning the crowd. It's not a very common name -- but considering when everyone else seems to opt to duck out of Mystic Falls and drop through the veil, she wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't know her.]

[ex_boning176]

[And with his wisdom check of 5, Liam probably responds with, "What?" a little more often than he should whoops. Look some of that old school phrasing probably went right over his head the kid is fifteen and on the spot cut him some slack. But he gets through it. Eventually.]

[uncurse]

[ A will save of 22 keeps Emma from tearing across the aisle and interrupting the ceremony, but her eyes do get watery. ]

Mary Margaret.

[ Not mom. She'd never gotten the chance to be that, not really. Blinking herself out of the dazed state at Nathan's tactless shouting and Hook's reply, she looks up at the pirate at her side, searching his face. ]

What the hell did we miss?

[doubletake]

[Someone else nearby sure perks up at that name, too.

It's familiar and it brings a set of emotions that Elena isn't sure she's...entirely comfortable with.

She steps up on her tiptoes, glancing around, trying to get a good look.]

[familybusiness]

[Sam turns his head, noticing her.

He's got nothing more than an awkward shrug of his shoulders to accompany his rather lost look.

No, really, what the hell?]

[keptbiting]

[ it's okay y'all, amy is here to make you guys look gr8. because she crit failed so she just does... something else. ]

I solemnly promise and swear to govern the Peoples of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon, and of my Possessions and the other Territories to any of them belonging or pertaining, according to their respective laws and customs.

[ and she is now the queen of england. ]

Also all that stuff you said, yeah. On it.