May Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: July 15
Where: Bishamon's temple, the Far Shore
Summary: Training and informational sessions for newly arrived gods (although there's none this time) and shinki



The product of many meetings and recommendations, at last it has taken shape. On this day, in anticipation of the new arrivals who appear in a recognized pattern, Heaven has partnered with the new gods and shinki to organize a very helpful informational reception.

The shinki arriving at heaven's meeting hall are, should they allow it, guided kindly towards Bishamon's temple. And in that vast complex they are brought to a traditional-style dojo.
Here the newly arrived gods are gathered, so finding their partner is more simple. The gods and shinki are free to take their time during this day to learn about the aspects of their new life from Amaterasu's shinki, or from the many veteran new god and shinki volunteers.




God Training

Bishamon herself, as well as Amaterasu's ever-present shinki and any volunteering gods, will be the foremost source of information regarding being a god and what is expected of them, such as prayers. It is encouraged that gods group up together to practice what they've learned and discuss their ideologies.
Newly arrived gods are still expected to communicate to their shinki the information* they themselves get oriented with when they arrive.

Shinki Training

Various volunteers are stationed around the building, passing out helpful informational pamphlets. There are many shinki, including Bishamon's and Amaterasu's, who will be more than happy to train in using the borderline and some of the basics of what is expected of a shinki. It is encouraged that shinki group up together to practice what they've learned and discuss their ideologies.
Bishamon's lead shinki Kazuma offers a lecture to new arrivals that will thoroughly cover some essential points about teamwork with both shinki and other gods.

Physical Training

The dojo is stocked with a wide variety of practice weapons, traditional and modern. There are volunteers here as well, willing to assist in basic training. (Or even more advanced sparring, depending on the volunteer.) Essential for gods who, for example, find themselves with a sword shinki but are at risk of cutting off their own toes.
Also useful for veteran new gods wishing to train with their current partner shinki.

Rest and Refreshments

There is a garden off the dojo that is free to be used for rest and conversation.
Should anyone wander outside the designated area, some shinki of Bishamon's will attach themselves to them and not leave them be until they return to the dojo.

There is a refreshments table provided. It is covered with light snacks and various kinds of hydrating drinks. There is a little sitting area set up for people to relax in after they have finished their training or if they're just taking a quick break to cool down. Even hand towels are provided by Bishamon's helpful shinki. The Heavens wants everyone to stay in good condition!

In Summary:

• Get all the information you can handle
• Veteran new gods and shinki are welcome to volunteer showing the ropes
• Get in some training
• Don't get dehydrated
• Spectate if you want
• Have fun~

Comments

[mithrarin]

I don't think it's been that long all told... Sure feels like a long time, though. [Especially since he has no memory of the passage of time to judge by before here.]

[Though he smiles again, sidelong at her.] Maybe I should say I've been here as long as I can remember?

[kagenonadeshiko]

[She chuckles again. That is pretty funny.]

I see. I wonder if it'll become like that for me, too.

[As it stands, Ayumu feels almost like a newborn. Maybe that'll change after she makes more memories in this world.]

[mithrarin]

Don't know. For now -- well, it probably won't make you feel any more full, but let's sit anyway, and you have some food.

[Dust motions to a little spot they'd come to, not far from the training ground at all, but sheltered enough that people who come and go won't be staring at them all the while.]

You're still looking for your god, huh?

[kagenonadeshiko]

[Ayumu nods and takes a seat on the grass. This does seem like a nice spot. Not too far to be isolated but far enough to give a little privacy.]

I - I suppose I am.

[In her confused state, escape and survival had been at the forefront of her mind but now, she supposes waiting for her god is the right course of action. Ayumu should meet them first, at least.]

But I don't know anything about them. Just that I'm their servant.

[And she'd been too out of sorts to ask for a name or description.]

[mithrarin]

It's not really like that. I mean, sure, we transform to give them power, but there hasn't ever been a servant-master sort of relationship to the interactions. Almost all the gods are just people like us, except they didn't die and lose their memories.

[Dust drops down himself, sprawling out on the ground in a fashion a little more ungainly than one would expect of him.]

But the Far Shore just doesn't tell shinki what's going on. I'm trying to find a way we can fix that, but...

[kagenonadeshiko]

Aren't we supposed to be their protectors? That sounds like a life of service to me...

[She doesn't sound the least bit put off by the prospect of it. If anything, she gives off the air of being completely comfortable with the idea. There is a visible hint of sympathy toward the notion of the gods being just as new to this place.]

More information would be helpful. The pamphlets are nice but a little overwhelming, I suppose.

[mithrarin]

We're supposed to be... their guides. Their moral compasses, I guess. [Which goes to show, in Dust's mind, that the 'old' gods here either don't have shinki or have corrupted their shinki over time to forget that morality. So much happens they ought to get stung over, but don't.]

I'm here to answer what I can. Ask away.

[kagenonadeshiko]

Moral compasses...

[So the position's a little more complicated than just a bodyguard. She reflects on that for a bit before asking.]

How do we know we're a good moral compass for them?

[She gets the idea of what it's supposed to do but she's a wee bit lacking in the morals department.]

I'm not sure how to do that.

[Was morality covered in the pamphlet? Maybe she should check it.]

[mithrarin]

If you feel guilty, they get stung. That's really what it amounts to. So if your god tries to make you do something you would feel bad about, they pay for it.

That's the theory anyway. [He's not assuming she has no morals, of course.]

[kagenonadeshiko]

Oh, I see.

[It sounds a little too roundabout and indirect for her tastes but maybe she can pick it up. Making her god pay when he does something that makes her feel bad, that sounds simple enough. Ayumu's sure she can come up with ideas for that kind of guidance.]

Thanks. I think I get it now.

[mithrarin]

[Dust has no idea what she's thinking, and would be quite unhappy if he did. Instead, he leans back against a tree, nodding.]

Beyond that... this is where you start trying to make new memories. Hopefully good ones.

[kagenonadeshiko]

Making new memories to replace the old sounds like the best way to go about living here.

[The past is past and dead now, isn't it? Who and what she was no longer matters. Whatever life she'd lived before, Ayumu has a second chance at everything if she's brave enough to take it.

And judging from the scars on her body, Ayumu doubts the life she'd lived before was a happy one.]

[mithrarin]

[Dust has to agree on that latter point. Those don't look like the scars you get from wounds sustained in combat.]

[Not that he'd know for sure. He doesn't have any, and he's pretty sure he fought while he was alive. But who knows?]

The people here are generally pretty decent. All of them, not just the gods. It can be a little rough going at first, though, so don't get discouraged.

[kagenonadeshiko]

Thanks.

[She might be used to things being rough, she thinks. The concept of an easy, carefree life doesn't really sit well with her, but peace - a peaceful afterlife would be pleasant, indeed.]

I'll try my best to fit in here.

[Not giving into panicked, compulsive behaviors would probably be a good start.]

[mithrarin]

Do you -- well, I know it might be hard to say, but what do you think about fighting?

[He turns to glance backwards at the training grounds they'd left behind.]

[kagenonadeshiko]

Sometimes it's necessary and if a person plans to fight, they need to be prepared to finish it quickly through whatever means they possess. If one has to kill, they should do it carefully, with precision.

[The answer comes to her easily. It's a subject Ayumu feels she knows well though she doesn't consider herself a warrior necessarily. She's something else, something different. But maybe sometimes she's a warrior when necessity demands her to be.

She follows his glance toward the training grounds.]

But fighting is never something to be done lightly and never by someone with a weak spirit or weak control. And it's a task best left to adults, not children.

[She hesitates briefly.]

Why do you ask?

[mithrarin]

[...Yeah. An answer like that, she definitely has familiarity with fighting. Dust hadn't expected quite that much, but the philosophy coaxes a slight smile from him.]

Mostly because we have to do that, sometimes. Against the ayakashi.

[kagenonadeshiko]

I see. I think I read something about that in the paper they gave us.

[She recognizes the name, she thinks. They're... spirits? Something like that.]

How often do these fights occur? There seems to be a fair number of young people among us.

[Her tone doesn't sound entirely approving of this fact.]

[mithrarin]

Not that often. [In Dust's opinion, anyway. He has no way of knowing that his own brief life had been almost constant battle, and that the experience subconsciously informs his expectations. Though he has a hunch.] Still... a god and a shinki together are the only ones who can defeat them.

[kagenonadeshiko]

[So they're fairly low in frequency. That's something of a relief. She can't say why but the thought of all these youngsters being forced to fight doesn't sit well with her. They should be out enjoying their youth, not fighting monsters.]

I see. So teamwork is a necessity.

[It's good information to have, even if the idea of fighting together with a partner strikes her as very unusual somehow. Maybe she's unused to it. The concept of working in tandem as a pair in general doesn't feel quite so strange, however.]

[mithrarin]

Right. But shinki.. we transform. Change into things, weapons or objects for our god to use. [Which is apparently not limited to weapons, as strange as he finds that.] So we have to support in different ways than just literally fighting at their side.

[kagenonadeshiko]

Oh.

[Ayumu's not sure how she feels about this transformation business but duty's duty and it's not the place of a subordinate to question tasks asked of her like that.]

But how do we do that if we're objects?

[mithrarin]

Well... [And here they're getting into ideas that remain strange if not outright fantastic.] Magic, for one. Something every shinki can do -- or, uh, has the potential to do -- is create a wall called a 'borderline', for example.

[kagenonadeshiko]

Magic.

[Her tone's surprisingly neutral on the subject considering how firm she was in her skepticism of the supernatural in life. But now with her memory loss, Ayumu's more openminded and impressionable that she's ever been in her life.]

I don't think I know much about magic at all. And this wall... this 'borderline' - it is shinki magic? A wall of magic?

[Even if Ayumu's not sure she understands how magic works, this sounds incredibly useful to her.]

[mithrarin]

I don't know the first thing about magic anyway. When I actually heard that borderlines are magic, it shocked me. [He shrugs his shoulders with an equally slight smile.] But it comes with the territory. And yeah, borderlines are a wall we can make. Do it right and it can keep ayakashi from crossing it as long as you need them not to.