Squire to Knight

[Heathen72]

One of my players has just become a squire of a knight errant in a realm of Arthurian Romance. He intends to play an old school paladin. We are going to play through some short background scenes together (as he grows from boy to knight). I'm looking for some prompts to help me flesh it out.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I recall as whacking the squire on the shoulders with a sword was part of it. Also, the swearing of holy vows, and a night spent in fasting, prayer, and quiet contemplation before the knighting.

You might also make a small quest out of earning each part of the knightly ensemble: spurs, sword, shield, armor, horse, saddle, & barding.

Plus iconic knighting questions:

What is good in life?
Whom do you serve?
What is your name?
What is your quest?
What is your favorite color?
What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

 

[Raven Crowking]

Include a Vigil (Where the knight remains awake and vigilant all night), a blessing, a ceremony of some sort, ending in dubbing the knight, and a buffet from his liege lord. Remind the young knight what the knightly virtues are that he should aspire to, the duties he is undertaking, and the rights he is gaining.

 

[RedTonic]

You can also check out the legends of the younger knights of the round, like Sir Parcival, for some inspiration. I also like the story of the Green Knight...

 

[Thunderfoot]

And even though the movie wasn't all that historically accurate, "The Kingdom of Heaven" got the whole knight's code dead on.

The squire had a lot of duties other than observance that they had to perform day to day for the knight as well. Like typical military "crap jobs" they were designed to teach attention to detail.

Caring for and polishing the knight's armor and weapons
Care and feeding of the knight's mounts (actual knights usually had three, two to ride and a war horse to charge into battle with that was cared for like a sports car.) and any pack animals the squire uses (a donkey, mule or light riding horse)
Helping the liege ready for battle (dressing him in his armor, saddling his horse, etc)
In hostile areas, tasting the liege's food
Carrying the liege's shield and weapons into battle (shield bearer/weapon bearer)

 

[jbear]

Paladins can be pretty hard line about their code. You could have a scene where he is called to deal out justice according to the code. A good example that springs to mind is the first episode of The Game of Thrones where Ned Stark beheads a young man who had deserted the Wall. His young son watches, without looking away. Ned then explains to him that if he has passes a sentence that he should be the one to carry it out.

I like the quests for his gear, piece for piece, idea. It makes for a nice little reward at the end of each scene. Also depending on how he plays it he can receive the award or not, or the item can be better or worse, so there is an actual goal to each episode.

 

[Mark CMG]

Read up on some early Prince Valiant -

Prince Valiant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(There and elsewhere.)

 

[Heathen72]

Thanks for this, guys. Any other thoughts, anyone?

 

[Bullgrit]

Have the squire bitten by a radioactive holy knight.

Bullgrit

 

[Gryph]

A holy vision of some type is a strong component of the Holy Grail type Paladin or even a mysterious supernatural patron(ess) like the Lady of the Lake who gave Arthur his sword, Excalibur.