All New Gods Conclave

[godsoffortune]

Who: All new gods. Every single one, including new arrivals. Attendance is mandatory.*
What: An all new-god's meeting, featuring one important announcement.
When: May 17th, 11 a.m.
Where: The Meeting Hall on the Far Shore.


[*OOC: You do not have to tag in to show your attendance. However all the gods are brought to the meeting. This is to make sure that the information is IC-ly shared fairly with all the god characters.]

---Invitation--
Today, every single new god finds one of Amaterasu's messengers at their front door in the morning. No matter your condition from the banquet the night before, the messenger insists on handing their message to the god personally and directly. Gods not at home will find themselves found anyway, although it's now a bit later in the morning. The new shinki are absolutely forbidden to take the message for the god.

The message, written simply in black ink, reads:

"You are invited to attend a conclave of the gods, May 17th at 11 a.m. at the Meeting Hall.
The agenda comprises of one item: to give a meaningful and informational announcement in regards to your shinki. As this information has literal life-and-death consequences for the shinki, we expect your attendance.
You will be brought to the Meeting Hall promptly at 11."
At the bottom is an official-looking stamp of Amaterasu's name in red ink, and beside that a stamp of Suijin's name.

The messenger will make sure that the god understands the message, and if they don't they should ask one of the other new gods, because they aren't allowed to look at the message either. Sorry, they can't answer any questions.


--Conclave--
Promptly at 11, you are teleported to the Meeting Hall, to the inner room where the gods meet. It is dark, but when you blink your perspective shifts, and you find yourself in the midst of bars of light, in a bar of light yourself.*

A voice speaks, but you cannot quite tell if it is even male or female, let alone any other distinguishing feature about it.

"We will bring this meeting to order.
You will at once notice that you are completely anonymous here. Unless you say something to give yourself away, no one will be able to discern who you are. However, I request that you remain silent, as what you are here for is an announcement. To show that this is all done in good will, I shall reveal myself."

The golden light around the person speaking diffuses, and the speaker is revealed. In an ornate kimono she stands with her hands folded in front of her, a wide-brimmed veiled hat upon her head obscuring her face. Despite the veil you can see that her face is painted as white as her hands. Her face seems to have a completely neutral expression as her bright red lips part to speak again:

"I am the Mizu no Kami, Suijin, and today I speak for heaven.
"It has come to our attention that, as you new gods were almost all formerly human, you have some unique challenges upon you in this situation you have been thrust into. One of these challenges has to do with the God's Greatest Secret.

"The instinct that you should be following to not divulge anything of a shinki's past to them seems to be weakened in the face of human curiosity and the fact that some of you knew your shinki in life. Therefore we come before you today in order to announce to you in no uncertain terms: the way of this world is that if you reveal even the slightest piece of your shinki's past to them, they will fall.

"As most of you have already realized, the new shinki are quite different in many regards, including their name. However, the ability for them to fall is the same. A shinki's past becomes negative karma that devours them and immediately turns them into an ayakashi. There is no saving the shinki from it- no reversal, no recovery. The formerly-shinki ayakashi must be killed. Recently there was an incident of a new shinki falling, and the details of that incident are on your BBS, posted the morning of May 8th.

"In regards to the memories that some shinki have reported recovering on their own, they are still an anomaly. However, as was unfortunately proven, it remains certain that speaking to a shinki of their past will still cause them to fall.

"Telling a human to 'not think of something' will at once make them think of it, and therefore a desire to wonder about the past is very contagious among shinki. It will be up to you to curb your shinki's curiosity away from the danger. We implore you to be cautious, and for gods alone to keep the God's Greatest Secret.

"This concludes my announcement in regards to the God's Greatest Secret."

For a moment she pauses, dark eyes looking to the side for a moment.

"Although it was not on the agenda, I do have one further announcement. The heavens have been conducting our own investigation into how you all have come to be here. We would share this piece of information we have found with you: Whomever is doing this is not in Japan.

"This concludes the meeting of the gods. You are dismissed."


--Afterwards--
With the meeting concluded, you exit the dark room and return to the Meeting Hall.

[OOC: Feel free to use this post for discussion and mingling!]

Comments

[declamando]

[Maria smiles back, though it's a little wan with how much she still has to take in. It's remarkable that something like this would happen so soon after she arrived here, and she hadn't expected any of the true gods to have stayed to answer their questions, either. So when Bishamon introduces herself, Maria looks surprised for a short moment before bowing politely.]

It's an honour to meet you. I'm Maria Cadenzavna Eve, reincarnation of Nuada Airgetlám. [She's not sure if that's how gods typically introduce themselves to each other, but it seems appropriate here, at least.] I only came here yesterday, so I only really know what I was told then and by a few of the people I met during that relief effort.

As well as that, my own shinki is...rather different to the ones I've spoken to so far, so I'm not sure what this would mean for them. They're certainly not someone I knew in life, but is that really so common for us reincarnated gods?

[dominatriarch]

I see... this must be quite a lot to take in for you.

[ She can't help but worry though. But on to business. There's a shake of her head at that. ]

No. It doesn't seem to be all that uncommon for you. But then, this entire situation is certainly strange. From what we know, these gods and these shinki are taken from different worlds. Even if you might not know who your shinki was in life, there can be a possibility someone might arrive who has.

[declamando]

[Maria nods in agreement, but also gives a look that's a bit more forgiving.]

It is, but I've dealt with some very strange things and ideas before. I'm sure it won't take long to figure myself out.

[Honestly, she's still more concerned about why she was considered worthy of godhood, but perhaps it's not a question of worth. What Bishamon says only seems to reinforce that, and Maria gives a thoughtful frown.]

I suspected there might be something like that occurring, but not that it was so uncertain. My shinki didn't seem to have a name before I gave them one, though, so I'm not even sure that would be the case for them - I've spoken to shinki here who knew that much already, and didn't the god speaking say something about names of new shinki?

[dominatriarch]

[ There's a nod at that. ]

I've heard of some gods being given shinki who didn't come from another world.

[ Given shinki. How things have changed. All these assignments, all these shinki being carted to gods who didn't name them. It demeans the bond gods and shinki have. These newbies don't understand. This is why there are so many rebellions lately... so much blight. But she lets out a breath at that. ]

Those names are what set the new shinki apart from the ones we have named before the first newcomers' arrivals. Those who arrive from other worlds remember their names. Those from this world do not. Were they to remember, it might cause the gods' greatest secret to be compromised. That is how sensitive this information is.

[declamando]

[So rather than having a shinki from another world, let alone her own, Maria has one natural to this world. It's a slightly odd thought, given the other shinki she's met, but perhaps she should be grateful for her own shinki being at less risk.

Bishamon's seriousness on the topic means Maria's taking it seriously before long as well, and she listens with open interest at the new information, though not without a hint of worry as well.]

So the new shinki are remarkable from the very beginning compared to what they can remember...especially since something was said about regaining memories on their own. So did gods think they might be safe from the "gods' greatest secret" because of that, and turned out wrong?

[dominatriarch]

[ Again, a nod. At least her present company is a quick study. ]

It could be. After all, this is an entirely unique situation.

[ A breath. ]

There was a shinki who was here a while back. Her name was Yuuki. Up until then, we had believed these shinki were the same as those we had... but one day, Yuuki had reported to the network that she had a dream of her previous life. Nothing had happened to her afterward. Odd as it is, I believe these shinki have the ability to regain their memories... but these must be memories they regain on their own.

Forcing memories on them triggers their transformation.

[declamando]

[It's hard to imagine what it must have been like to adjust to something like this when everything else they'd experienced with shinki before had pointed to something else, so Maria's full attention is on the explanation. This isn't a story she's heard before, and though she still looks a little worried, she also looks a shade hopeful. It seems cruel that these people can't remember their past, but maybe there is something to hope for.]

That must have caused a huge upheaval if it was the first time that had ever happened. But it is something to hope for in all this, that some people will be able to remember things without the ones they care about having to fear for their lives.

[Whether that be people from here, or people who once knew them.]

[dominatriarch]

That's certainly what it seems to be pointing to. However...

[ And there's a small sad look on her face here. Her mind is on Kazuma and her other shinki... at least those she knows personally. ]

I'm certain you understand how this could affect the shinki from this world, in turn. I fear there being a rift between the newcomers and our shinki because of this.

[declamando]

[Admittedly, that's something she hadn't considered, and that slightly uplifted note in her expression becomes something much more serious at the thought of it.]

Do the shinki of the gods like you interact with the newcomers much? I haven't been able to learn about those kinds of details yet, but those ones that explained things to me in that temple yesterday were shinki, weren't they?

[Not "my temple", not yet. Even if it's certainly not what she would've pictured from that word anyway. She might not be sure if those informative beings were shinki, but it can't hurt to ask.]

[dominatriarch]

They were, yes. Some of them were possibly Amaterasu's. As for everyone else...

[ She can only hold herself responsible for her own shinki. Yato does his own thing and so do the other gods. ]

I charged mine to help as many newcomers as they can. My exemplar, Kazuma, has taken it upon himself to train the newer shinki if they have need of it. Yukine, the shinki of a god named Yato has also been making himself available when needed.

Why do you ask?

[declamando]

Nobody had mentioned it yet, and I was wondering how big a problem that kind of rift could be. [There's no reason to be anything but honest in her answer, even if Maria was the kind of person to hide truths, though she still looks deeply captured in thought. Would a rift like that really be a lesser or greater problem if the new and old shinki were in close contact?

One other thing she's curious about just came up, though, and it's almost hard to believe she forgot to mention this when the chance came up with an older god.]

What is Amaterasu like? I haven't seen anything of her except those notes we were given to order us to the town yesterday.

[dominatriarch]

The rift may cause some shinki to feel jealousy... perhaps anger. At least in the worst case scenario. These feelings may cause blight or in turn cause a shinki to be overwhelmed and turn into an ayakashi.

[ She trusts herself to be able to dissuade any of hers from feeling this way but... what about the other gods. But she's grateful for the change in topic. ]

Amaterasu... means well. Her intentions are for the betterment of both shinki and god so I doubt she aims to do any of us harm. It's only recently that she's been communicating with us and I can't help but think she's as lost as any of us are.

[declamando]

[Right, the "blight" she'd heard briefly mentioned in that initial explanation. It's a sad thought in itself that even something that relatively minor could drive a shinki over the edge into becoming a monster, and Maria bites her lip a bit.]

If that kind of risk is there, then I understand why it's a concern more than a good thing. I suppose we can hope for it not to reach that level.

[On the other hand, that view on Amaterasu explains a few things Maria's heard since she's come here, and her expression softens a bit.]

So people expect her to know what she's doing because she seems to be the one giving us orders, but this is just as new to her? I could see that. I've worked with large organizations before, and something about that way of administering things yesterday didn't sit right with me.