Knightly Muster

[Elisabeth]

Pages, squires, paladins, and knights just:

I invite ye all to join and gather for a day of
discussion and fellowship among peers. Time will be
allotted for the purposes following. Suggestions on
added activities or specific topics are welcome.

• Introductions and remarks opening
• Sharing of news and ongoing/upcoming activities
• Test of squires' lessons (gifts/prizes awarded)
• Open forum, knights to field squires' questions

We shall convene in the great hall of the Halls
of Justice. Food and drink will be served. Any who
are denied entry to the Halls may contact me or an-
other knight to request escort.

Yours,
Dame Elisabeth Marshall

OOC: Here is the proposed time. Let me know via whatever means is most comfortable if you would like to attend but cannot make this time.

To be clear, this is intended to be as much an opportunity for squires, pages, and even PCs who might have interest in becoming a page to meet up with established squires and paladins and get a start on their own RP, as for paladins and knights to chat up other paladins and knights. So do not feel as though your PC might be too new or unsettled to attend.

[Alinor]

I think I should be able to make an appearance for this.

[Benorf]

I -might- be able to make this. Will do my best.

[Elisabeth]

For any interested in part 2:

Anyone who wishes to do so will be given some time to share news, give heads-up about and potentially request assistance with conflicts, upcoming quests, tasks, or events (I have a couple of the latter in mind to bring up), or what have you.

For any interested in part 3:

This will be a bit of a contest among PCs, but also a test of a PC's individual knowledge. Pages and squires alike will be welcome to participate. Elisabeth will have questions of varying difficulty on varying topics ranging from (but not necessarily limited to) coded squire lessons, religion, heraldry, secular knightly orders, tourneying, hunting, history relevant to knights and paladins, and (maybe) more.

Depending on the number of pages/squires taking part so we're not there all night, participants will be given somewhere between three and six questions each to answer, each correct answer being worth one point. Squires will be asked ahead of time which lesson they last attended so that questions will be asked roughly respective of the PC's individual experience. Pages will not be asked things only learned in coded lessons, squires will not be asked things learned in lessons not yet attended, and so on, though everyone is subject to those broader topics mentioned. This will hopefully give everyone a fair-ish chance to win and hopefully enjoy doing so.

There will be an elimination round to resolve any ties at the end, and the PC with the most points will earn something that will remain for now mysteriously unnamed. Knights and paladins should feel free to suggest specific questions to Elisabeth if they feel so inclined.

Barring unforeseen levels of activity, I expect this will take maybe an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Looking forward to it.

[Harroghty]

Sounds like a lot of fun. That's an iffy time for me, but I will do my best to bring Sir Harroghty.

[Stigr]

Not a bad time for me, thankfully with time opening up to play I will get to bring Stigr along.

[Elisabeth]

Sorry this went a fair bit over the time I'd estimated. But congratulations to Mairenn for earning the win and big prizes in the contest!

For those who were unable to make it, I wanted to post here that I would like to start holding regular squire training events, starting with this one today. I think it will be best to start modestly, so as to evaluate interest and not flood us with a lot of stuff now and burn ourselves out.

So, barring any widespread preference to the contrary, I would like to do something small maybe every two months or so. These might be archery competitions, jousts, wrestling matches, races (on foot or horse), social-type things like we did today, or whatever else might be fun, not exceedingly time-consuming, and relevant for squire training. If anyone, squire or knight, might like to do something in particular on one of these occasions, I will welcome suggestions IC or OOC, be willing to turn hosting over if someone wants to do something themselves for an event, and will be more than happy to work with squires if they don't feel comfortable putting something together alone.

So we will see how it goes as far as interest and timing. The next will be sometime in September and will likely involve competitive combat of some sort, finer details to come.

[Elisabeth]

As promised, I'll be looking to do the next gathering in September, specifically within the first week or two. This event will be combat related, and based on teams if we can get enough squires in the same place at once.

So, I'm looking for suggestions on best days/times in early September. 4 Sep is definitely out of the question for me, as I'll be at dad's for his birthday, but pretty much any other day/time is fine for me. Unless I've miscounted, I believe we've six total active squires right now. Hoping to get you all involved!

Edited to add: We'd also like to have a field cleric or two present for this one if possible. Volunteers (who should be of good alignment) will be payed well. PM, reply here, or find Elisabeth IC if interested.

[Benorf]

I would -very- much like to be able to make this on Formyndare. The first week of september, Monday the 3rd, Wednesday the 5th, and Thursday the 6th would work best for me. Otherwise all upcoming weekends aren't very good for me.

[Andreas]

Labor Day weekend is out for me. I have classes on Tu/Thu 1400-1545 CST (I think that's the end time, I'll double check this week). M/W/F i work from 1100-1400 CST. Weekends are best for me, though such times are questionable with family obligations. Any night from 2100ish until 0000ish CST is perfect for me. Please don't hinge everything on my attendance, though.

[Elisabeth]

How is this?

[Benorf]

Perfect!

[Elisabeth]

Squires, knights, and paladins:

We shall gather once more upon the date provided for fellowship and ed-
ucational exercise. Squires and pages wishing to participate will this
time need bring their best arms, armor, and spirit, for war is the name
of the games to come.

Participants will be split into two teams, both being charged with the
defense of a marker given and with the seizure of their opposing team's
marker. The rules of engagement will be thus:

• Combattants will, AT ALL TIMES, be in a mode to STUN only.
• Combattants will, REGARDLESS OF TEAM AFFILIATION, administer aid to any other combattant fallen AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
• Defeated foes, as well as spectators, healers, and knights, are NOT to be engaged for any reason (combattants will be clearly marked).
• Combattants may not move or otherwise tamper with their own team's standard unless it has been taken from its starting place by the opposing team.
• Individual combattants may bear only one standard at a time, not both.
• Combattants bearing a standard will find it difficult to hide the fact that they do so and should not try [i.e., wear/hold it so others can see it, please don't put it in a container or leave it in your inventory--we don't have peek].
• Combattants defeated while bearing either standard will drop [not give] it immediately after being aided, and all defeated combatants will return to neutral territory for the remainder of the round.

Remaining details will be explained at the time of the event. The venue
is the grounds of old Malagan's tower, north and east of Berdusk along
the Reaching Woods' border. As usual, pages and any having interest in
the path of the knight or paladin are also welcome to observe or take
part. Dame Elisabeth can provide fuller directions or escort to the
tower upon request.

Yours,
Dame Elisabeth

OOC: The time will be as above, given that no objection has been raised. Still looking for a cleric willing to walk around and help avoid accidents (though worst case, I can do so).

[Mairenn]

Yaaassss...!

[Elisabeth]

Congrats to Squire Formyndare for earning the win and big goodies this time! And many thanks, as always, to all who came out.

I think it will be best to start modestly, so as to evaluate interest...

Judging by the outcomes of these first two gatherings, however, I think I'm going to forgo any more musters for now. Despite our having the numbers, interest for things like these seems to be somewhat less than expected; and while I very much (probably a little too much) enjoy putting them together, I think efforts are, for now, better made in other areas.

I will be keeping eyes out for a more active time to which these might be better suited, and of course, if players of squire PCs have any ideas or suggestions that might make squirehood more enjoyable for you, I'm always more than happy to hear them and see what we can get going.