[OPEN] these answers that come into my mind unbidden

[bussounoshima]

Who: Sharak Sanzo, others
What: Hanging out at various locations with Sharak Sanzo.
When: June 12th-13th
Where: Temple of Aditi, Far Shore Library
Summary: A little known requirement of being a Sanzo priest is being a huge nerd.


A. - June 12th
[An overcast day is probably cause for concern at the Temple of Aditi, what with the giant hole in their ceiling, but it's pleasant enough out that Sharak isn't too worried about rain. Instead she's reclined on a throne of cushions on the stone floor, a cigarette in hand, a few books strewn around her and one open in front of her. She's reading a spellbook right now, with avid interest. She has her own magic, of course, but the mechanics of shinki magic are nevertheless interesting. She can't quite figure out what's stopping anyone else from performing it...]

... Well, there's easier ways of getting someone to fess up to something anyway.

[Sharak, don't mumble to yourself. Well, someone might hear her. The barrier around the temple stops any uninvited guests from letting themselves in, but there are still other people living here. Besides, people can always try to stop by.]

B. - June 13th
[Well, since her previous reading material was so rudely taken from her, Sharak figures she needs to find some more. The morning of the 13th she stops by the library and it's several hours before it occurs to her that she had other things she wanted to do that day. She claims a quiet corner of the library to herself and begins her reading with some books on Aditi. There are less of these than she likes, so that quickly expands to other Hindu gods, particularly Aditi's children. At least Vishnu seems more popular than his mother. Right now though, Sharak is preoccupied with some Vedic texts concerning Indra.]

... Wonder how hard it'd be to track him down.

[Again, Sharak, stop mumbling to yourself. Apparently without thinking about it, she rolls an unlit cigarette between her fingers, probably getting a judging look from whoever the librarian is as they wait to pounce on her for lighting it.]


C.
[Wildcard! Anything we've discussed oocly that doesn't quite fit any of these. Feel free to hit me up to plot something.]

Comments

B

[smilingbullet]

[ Since he learned that apparently he's got some prior knowledge in various languages, D2 has hit the books to see if he can figure out which ones that he knows exactly. German, English, Spanish, Japanese, Hawaiian, Arabic...are a few of the languages that he apparently knows.

He doesn't, however, know Swahili, it turns out, and he ends up getting distracted from his current mission and went to search for any books beyond the dictionary he has in hand that he may borrow to learn the language.

Which is when he overhears someone talking to herself. ]

Are you looking for someone?

[ Not that he can help, probably. He's only been here for just about a week. ]

[bussounoshima]

[For what it's worth, Sharak is reading in Sanskrit. There's an old, intimidating dictionary on the table near her, but it doesn't look like she's touched it yet. Her eyes flick up from the text she's reading when D2 speaks.]

Perhaps. Indra, one of the old Hindu gods. We apparently have a family connection.

[So if R2 is in touch with any of them... But it isn't likely.]

[smilingbullet]

[ His gaze passes over her material momentarily. He has not tried that one yet, since he's pulled out dictionaries on random rather than going at it systematically. But he knows it. ]

Oh. Indra is one of the most important gods in Hinduism, isn't he? Consort to Shachi and king of first heaven?

[ How he knows that...eh, whatever. He doesn't know the god personally yet, as far as he knows. Maybe not everyone introduces themselves by god name. ]

What kind of family connection is it?

A

[shadepossessed]

[fuckgremlin has uploaded a new picture.

it's some chick with long hair looking over a book from behind with the description #nerd.]

[bussounoshima]

[No matter how many videos of chickens she uploads, arhat28 still does not get hashtags. But she also doesn't have her phone set to notify her when fuckgremlin uploads something, because that would be a little much, so she doesn't even glance at it. She doesn't need to.

Without looking up from the book, Sharak addresses the room at large:] You know, you might find this interesting yourself.

[shadepossessed]

[why is she like this!!!]

Kinda doubt it.

[But she'll still push off the beam and saunter over. When she leans over Sharak to see the books, the other woman will notice that she's still looking through her phone's viewfinder to read.]

Some kinda magic bullshit?

B

[slantedcross]

[Youji leans around from the aisle next door. He smiles dryly to demonstrate his answer is not particularly serious.]

Well, speaking for myself, I'd come if called, but I'm guessing you tried that?

[bussounoshima]

[Sharak doesn't look up from her book, lip curling in disgust just a little. She better not be getting hit on in the library, of all places.]

I'm not interested in dogs.

[slantedcross]

[...not even curious enough to look up? Well, that's disappointing, but that's the thorough sort of shut-down that convinces him not to try again. Even so, he's still interested in whatever is making her talk to herself.]

He's been known to do it himself.

Good thing they're not allowed in libraries.

Option two is to figure out if there's a god who specializes in tracking people down. I don't think we can expect our own prayers to be answered, but they might be willing to figure out an exchange with you.

B

[kokuyoyo]

Get a dog.

[Enjoy that helpful contribution from the nerd nearby, also trying to search through the books for something in particular. He's hoping to find the old book on Italy again, but he'll accept anything, really.]

[...Oh. Right. And also-]

Don't let a book catch on fire...

[bussounoshima]

No.

[Not looking up from her book. Which thing was she answering? She holds up the cigarette for him to see.]

It's not lit.

A

[sonofson]

[One bonus to having a giant hole in the ceiling is that it makes it even easier for Goten to come and go through the temple as he pleases. He really has to figure out a way to thank Sharak properly for letting him stay with her, again. This is his second time he's ended up staying at Aditi's temple. He's already spent the last two nights in the room Sharak gave him the last time.

Though this time around, he isn't trying too hard to find a new god. With Archie and Hazel disappearing as they had, he's a bit worried about finding a third, liking them and having them vanish to. Even if it wasn't long, Hazel was a really cool god. Hopefully she's okay where ever she is...

Goten comes dropping down through the giant hole. With grass and dirt staining his clothing and face, there are also a few white chicken feathers standing out against his dark messy hair, clearly showing what he was doing prior. He just can't leave those poor chickens alone. There's no malice intent but it has become a bit of a game to chase some of them. He still can't befriend that big rooster though. That's the one game of chase where he isn't the one doing the chasing either. Something about that rooster is scary.

The young shinki floats just over Sharak so not to land on her. He blinks at the books and leans down a little more to get a peek at what she's reading. He's not particularly interested in the page full of text, so it's only a handful of seconds before he speaks up]

Fuss up to what?

[bussounoshima]

[Goten is always welcome at the Temple of Aditi, even when he does manage to find himself a god. Sharak already thinks of that room as Goten's. She did contemplate naming him herself, the second time he turned up on her doorstep looking abandoned, but that's... a little too much responsibility, under the circumstances. An adult shinki is one thing, taking in a child like that would feel like adoption. This is an acceptable middle-ground.

Without looking up from her book, Sharak reaches up to ruffle Goten's hair.] Whatever I feel like. [Looks up, one eyebrow raised, when her hand picks a feather out of Goten's hair.] ... Been playing with the hens?

B is for Books

[fontechnician]

[Guy isn't the librarian, so he's not going to get on her for having or even lighting a cigarette in the library--unless things start catching fire--he just heard her mumblings and decided to go say hi.

He's carrying a small stack of books--a few DIY texts and several books on religion--since most of the library books he had had either disappeared when Ni's temple did, or by entirely unknown means. Hopefully the former group had returned to the Near Shore library he got them from.]

Lose someone?

nerd party yeah

[bussounoshima]

[Guy's voice does merit Sharak marking her place with a scrap of paper and closing the book. Feel special, Guy.]

No one I'm in a rush to find. [LIES well, maybe Ukoku. Checking her phone this morning and finding his god name missing was surprisingly uncomfortable.] You?

[bussounoshima]

[Sharak glances down at Anderson with an unimpressed look.]

Enough. [For her.] How old are you, kid?

C - June 12th

[royaltyloyalty]

[Dokugakuji's been to Goyo's temple - or what's left of it - and spent a fair bit of time getting the most of his anger out. Of course he wouldn't have been told by anyone - the rest of them are shinki and don't remember that he's Gojyo's brother, nor could he have told them. Save one - Sharak. Even she doesn't actually know about that bond, he's pretty sure, just that she would be the only other god he could talk to about what's happening, enemy or not. They'd already agreed on a ceasefire here.

After awhile of searching - the Far Shore is a big place, it took him a day or two - he finally comes upon her temple. He didn't want to call out to her on the BBS because what if the others heard them talking? It's not worth it.

So he starts to walk towards there and then... can't. What the heck? It's that barrier of hers, isn't it? Well, just great... And he's been avoiding these chickens the whole time, but yelling may get their attention as well as hers. Nothing else to be done for it.]

SHARAK! PRIEST SANZO SHARAK!

[... Because maybe formality will offset yelling, who knows.]

[bussounoshima]

[It doesn't.]

WHAT?

[The shout comes from the entrance to the temple, high atop the hill. Sharak can be spotted leaning against a pillar, glaring down at Dokugakuji. The barrier might be annoying, but considering that a strong gust of wind makes the curtains surrounding the temple billow out dramatically, it's presence might be understandable. The temple is very pretty, but not exactly secure.

Sharak doesn't move from her spot by the entrance, continuing to just glare at Dokugakuji. Huh. There's an unexpected guest, after all this time, but perhaps she shouldn't be surprised.]

B

[skepticstarbuck]

[Dana has a heavy stack of books on Shinto, with a kanji dictionary balanced on top, as she heads for another of the armchairs in Sharak's corner of the libary. The mutter, though, catches her attention, and she darts a curious look at the older woman and her pile of books.

Those are... she's not quite sure what language they're in. Something South Asian, she thinks, but she'd understood the woman's mutter perfectly well.]

Who?

[So it might be rude to try to jump onto someone else's train of thought like that, but hers is still stalled at the station.

Why not work together?]

[bussounoshima]

[Very rude, Scully. Shame on you. Sharak is used to having a shadow nearby to turn her mumblings into a conversation though, so she's not particularly bothered by anyone stepping up to the plate.]

The Vedic god Indra, responsible for lightening, thunder, storms and river flows. [Closes her book with a dramatic snap.] He gets involved in a lot of different things. Sounds like an interesting person to talk to.

[And also one of the Adityas most likely to chat with their mother.]

B

[twin_star]

[ Hokuto is most vexed by the book thief. She has decided to find the book again if it's the last thing she does. Mostly she was interested in the Fuujin book. She loves reading about gods -- especially ones with sass. The spellbook was interesting too. Fortunately, she did take a few notes, since it seemed important enough to learn. The library is kind of a mess though, and she has yet to find the specific books that had been stolen.

She's found other things in the meanwhile. A book about a talking owl and his warlock friend named Merlin. Or a story about a group of young people who dive into the world of virtual reality to solve a mystery left behind by an eccentric billionaire. She turns down an aisle and browses through some books on a cart. They've been stacked rather haphazardly. Really, how is anyone supposed to find anything in here? ]

Not as hard as finding a specific title in this place, I'd think! [ she answers the question, even though no one is asking her. ]

[bussounoshima]

I'm not so sure. [Sharak answers as she turns a page in her book. Man, there are a lot of interesting stories about Indra... No matter the faith, gods get into some real shit. She's almost glad everyone is pretty tight-lipped about Aditi herself.

She glances up to see Hokuto browsing.] ... You'll have better luck with the spontaneous approach.

B

[revolutionfalcon]

If they're not one of the gods that's been replaced, more trouble than it's worth.

[The voice comes from the mouth of one of the rows of shelves, where a golden-eyed boy is eying the spines of the books one-by-one. It might be basically impossible to find anything in this godforsaken (ha) library, but Shun's made a point of browsing it when he has the time for any heavenly documents and legends that might even have a chance of being relevant to their situation right now. He hasn't had much luck, but it still tends to be productive in one way or another.

Every so often, he glances over to Sharak, out of what seems to be instinctive need to know she's still in the same place. His eyes pass over the cigarette with no more than the slight shadow of a grimace - while he finds smoking a pointless habit, his bigger problem is honestly the potential smell interfering with his ability to catch wind of anything else.]

Then again, getting chased out by some busybody for smoking sounds like it'd be more trouble than it's worth as well.

[bussounoshima]

Maybe the busybodies should mind their own business.

[Sharak has apparently been ignoring Shun up until now, but she's noticed his glances anyway. She finally looks up at him with an amused glint in her eye, despite her frown.]

Relax, kid. It's not lit.