Winter Solstice Dance

[King Uther Pendragon]

Uther does love a good feast, and as the festive season is upon us, yet another lavish spread has been cooked up for the inhabitants of the castle. All of the Lords and Ladies of Camelot, nobles residing in the castle, knights and mages of the Guild and Army are invited. There is a lot of meat, cheese and wine on offer, and the dining hall has been especially decorated for the occasion.
The majority of the servants have been called upon to fetch and carry plates, pour wine and cook and clean in the kitchens.

All of the nobles are dressed in their finest, for after the feast the dining hall is cleared to make room for a dancing floor and a lively band is set up.

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur had already had his fill of food and wine, which for once was not so much that he could hardly move afterward. The real reason behind his apparent lack of appetitie was the dance that was to follow the feast, which he had been looking forward to eagerly for months. Winter solstice was always one of the most anticipated festivals for peasants and nobles alike, and the air was full of joy and laughter.

A group of servants entered the great hall, hurriedly gathering plates and dishes, while another band collected goblets and jugs of wine. The dance was about to begin, and slowly the lords and ladies of court began to move out of their seats, allowing the servants to begin packing away the furniture.
Arthur brushed a few crumbs from the breast of his finest tunic. It was madeof the finest silk Uther oculd get his hands on, and sewn with an expensive gold thread. Usually Arthur found it too extravangant to wear, even to important feasts and court gatherings, but it was the time of year when everyone donned their most expensive clothing and so he felt right at home.

The band was soon playing merry tunes, and Arthur caught the eye of a girl who was dressed in a beautiful blue gown. He grabbed her hand and the pair began to dance, others follwing suit.

[Lady Morgana le Fey]

The Winter Feast was one banquet that Morgana looked forward to. It was an annual feast celebrating the shortest day of the winter. Of course the castle was chilly but thanks to the fires and the warm clothing it made it a little more bearable. The afternoon of the feast arrived and Morgana, with assistance from Gwen, had donned a dress of black velvet with a gold inset in the skirt and sleeves. She was grateful that the gown was of heavy velvet as that was the only way she would not be shivering throughout the night. When the time came to affix jewellery, she chose a woven gold/silver/black onyx gemstone necklace. She then picked up the matching circlet and looked in a mirror towards her hair. The decision to leave her hair down was an obviously simple one. Once the hair was brushed, the woven circlet was placed gently on her hair and held in place with one or two pins and a black ribbon under her long hair.

Later at the feast, she of course sat on the King’s left hand side and Arthur sat on his right. The meal was elaborate and there was as much wine to complement the food as requested. She was careful not to get overly drunk, but at the same time she was not going to hold back. As usual there was more than enough food and it seemed like literally as one plate of food was emptied another plate of food would arrive to be picked at, same with the wine...as one goblet was emptied a servant was right there to fill it up again. Sooner than most people Morgana reached the point that if she ate anymore she would explode and rather than test that theory, she simply put her napkin down and waited for the remainder of court to finish.

Once everyone had their fill of food, she followed the King’s cue to vacate the tables so that the floor could be cleared and once that was done the dancing began. She smiled as Arthur took the hand of a lady standing nearby him and initiated the dancing. Morgana let her gaze wander over all the guests assembled and noticed who had paired off with whom for the dancing.

Dress: www.hist.umn.edu/~schulman/MDBlkGold1.jpg
Circlet: www.medievalbridalfashions.com/catalog/images/Sabrina-circlet-1.JPG

[Sir Tristan de Braose]

Tristan had never been one for attending banquets and balls, but the Winter Solstice Dance was something he always looked forward to. Noblemen and Noblewomen from all around Camelot were invited to attend as well as soldiers, like himself and mages from the Magicians guild. He normally didn't have much time to mingle with other citizens of Camelot, but this proposed a perfect opportunity. He had the chance to sit down, relax and fill his stomach with fine food and wine whilst striking up a conversation with whoever happened to sit near him. All previous worries and thoughts of training soon disappeared and it didn't take him long to get into the christmas spirit.

After he and the court had finished eating, he watched intently as all the furniture was removed from the floor and a clearing was made in which to dance. In all honesty, dancing wasn't one of his strongest points as as a child he focused on combat and fighting skills rather than the necessity of learning to dance which he was required to do once in a blue moon. Still he had small understanding of the topic yet even if he wanted to; he had no one to dance with. It seemed everyone had their close group of aquintances, were already paired as a couple or had someone of some sort except him.

Tristan stayed in his sitting position and watched as people rose to dance. He sub-consciously began playing with the sleeves of his tunic as his eyes wandered over the rapidly filling dancefloor. Tristan was fairly proud of the tunic he was wearing as it wasn't often that he got to stray out of his soldiers uniform. It was an expensive tunic but he didn't much mind forking out for it as it was Christmas after all and he didn't feel overdressed. The tunic he wore was black, encrusted with intricate patterns of gold around the collar. He also wore a long black waiste coat baring the same pattern as his tunic. The buttons were made of solid Onyx giving him a rather eccentric appearance. Finally as a finishing touch, he wore his normal black belt around his waiste holding his sword; ball or not he sill wouldn't be seen without his most prized weapon.

Tristan's Tunic: www.realmcollections.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/M/e/Medieval_Tunics_MEDIEVAL_TUNICFLAX_LI_AR8_7283.jpg

[Jared Tempest]

[ Feel free to delete this post if I'm not invited <_<' ]

Never in his life did Jared Tempest expect to be attending an event like this. The luxury and extravagance of the nobles' clothing astounded the boy to no end, as did the scale of the feast that had been laid for the guests. King Uther truly spared no expense when he threw a party - and if the winter solstice called for such celebration, Jared could only imagine the grand scale of feasts held for more prominent holidays.

He'd eaten his fill more or less wordlessly, so humbled by the presence of the King and other nobility that he was almost afraid to speak up lest he say something to make His Majesty look down upon him. Usually he wouldn't care much for the opinions of the nobles, but in company like this, and with his new obligations as a warrior of the Army, he knew he had to make very sure not to do or say anything that would lose him any favour with the King or Prince.

Realising that in dressing for the occasion it was not his place to outdo the nobility (not that he could afford to outdo any of them even if he wanted to), Jared had opted for an understated look. He was garbed in a black shirt and pants, as usual, with a black hooded mantle bearing intricate silver trim drawn around his shoulders. His boots, bracers and gloves matched the mantle. The bracers in particular were an impressive sight; black leather with decorative steel plating, polished to perfection. Upon his belt lay his new sword, sheathed on his left, and his ever-present dagger on his right.

Once he was done eating, having gone rather easy on the wine, he waited for the rest of the assembly to finish before the real festivities started. Servants milled about in all corners of the room, clearing away the food and furniture to prepare a dancing floor as the band readied themselves. Jared rose from his seat with the other guests, a sudden wave of anxiety washing over him. He didn't know the first thing about dancing; and even if he did, who would be his partner? He could hardly just avoid the dancing floor all night, nor could he turn down any prospective partners.

He debated with himself on this matter for a good minute or so before coming to the painful conclusion that there was nothing he could to but grit his teeth and suffer through it. In that knowledge, the boy remained pensively silent, eyes slowly sweeping the room as the dancers paired up.

Jared's sword

[Selphia Dek]

Winter feast. One could take it to mean several things. Selphia could never have thought it was a celebration. She was not use to such things, at least not in her vast memory. So many things all thrown together, memories mixing with others making it hard for her to know just what ones were her own. As of late she had been dreaming and wandering, two things that frightened her when they were brought together.

She was coming along in her training. Which enabled her to come to this glorious feast. As for the dancing component of the evening she was fearful. She did not think herself a terrible dancer; it was just that she did not like to remain in the confines of a room with all those voices. A few times it lead to the assault of their toes due to her lack of concentration and marking of where her steps were to go. But as for actually dancing, Selphia was held with much praise from those about her as a fine dancer, with grace and poise.

As a member of the magical guild she found herself at one of the tables nearest the back of the room. She had risen once they were all done with eating. She pressed her spine against a nearby wall hoping to meld with it. Her hands curled under then relaxed as she tried calming herself down. It was at this time she heard the odd voice filter through her head.

~Block it out. ~

She struggled and would struggle until she managed to get a firm grasp upon herself. But that was nearly impossible as she could hear whispers about her. Though not spoken aloud she heard them all the same.

~Pale, sickly, ghostlike ~

Why always the same judgements. But it was then that she could not think of a single word that would describe her in a better light. She looked down at the gown of her choosing for the evening. It had belonged to her mother sometime ago, or so her brother had told her. The memory was old and she could barely acknowledge that it belonged to her mother; a woman was the easiest way to describe her, then her flesh and blood. Selphia did not think colour was the wisest of choices for her gown anyways.

The gown she wore was snow white. Cap sleeves, and a plunging neckline that fitted her rather snugly, and dipped low in the waist, making it easy for her to have dressed herself. Two stripes of sheer fabric fell from the sleeves and down to the side matching the length of her gown. The skirt of the gown fell to the floor about her feet like the ripples of a waterfall. A belt of the same colouring fall about her waist to the front. An intricate design hand sewn in gold thread rested upon the front of her gown.

Her pale locks she had pulled back and tied in a firm tail, braids into two braids and cast them over both shoulders and down the front. Her pale features looked even paler and yet they seemed fitting here at this Winter feast.

Her pale gaze danced across the dance floor as people choose partners and started to take up space. Selphia watched and listened to those about her as they rushed to find their partners. She remained against the wall watching.


Selphia's gown (belonged to her mother, bridal dress if one wishes to be picky ~Smiles~)

i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr176/stewart_025/medieval_wedding_dress.jpg