thenearshore | August Training

Entry tags:

August Training

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: August 15
Where: Bishamon's temple, the Far Shore
Summary: Training and informational sessions for newly arrived gods and shinki

In anticipation of the latest round of new arrivals, Heaven has partnered with the new gods and shinki to organize a very helpful informational reception.

Gods and shinki arriving at heaven's meeting hall are, should they allow it, guided kindly towards Bishamon's temple. In that vast complex they are brought to a traditional-style dojo. The gods and shinki are free to take their time during this day to learn about the details of their new life from Amaterasu's shinki or from the many veteran new god and shinki volunteers.

God Training

prayers

Shinki Training

informational pamphlets

borderline

Physical Training

Rest and Refreshments

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~

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Once. I'm afraid I've recently lost the ability to employ them myself, but I have a technical understanding.

[He returns the polite bow.]

Have you had a chance to meet your god yet?

[ Once. Meaning, according to that pamphlet, he had either lost his name or was no longer a shinki. Though if it was the former, it seemed like there was nothing stopping him from getting a new name and regaining that ability. ]

I have. He's placed here as the goddess Ma'at. Though it seems I'm at a disadvantage for being considered suitable, or acceptable, to his particular tastes.

[ Nothing about her thoughts or opinions towards the situation. Not exactly. Whether or not he was happy with their arrangement, she was his to command. That was the burden William had to deal with. ]

Goodness. And you've just met, too.

[Hakkai's eyebrows flicker upwards. He hasn't had the chance to meet the current 'Ma'at' yet, but that does seem to be a ... quick judgment.

He can't help but wonder if it's a situation of a shinki who was known to the man from her time among the living. Those can be more difficult.]

What objection could he possibly have?

I could only make unfounded guesses, and not many.

[ With the situation of being a fresh shinki, she lacked the context or understanding of how some things were seen. For now, all she had were observations from that first meeting. Yet here was (theoretically) another god, with the history to have been in her shoes (to a degree,) and did not have a similar reaction. Was it related to how he smelled different from William, or something else? ]

Are there any objections that you can imagine after having just met me?

[Hakkai gives her a thoughtful once-over.

There's a hint of something about her: it's not quite youki, but it's similar enough to hint that she may not be as human as she looks. He certainly can't suggest the possibility of connections going back to her time among the living, and he's not sure, without knowing her, whether that strangeness in her energy is also a dangerous topic.

She isn't his shinki. He'll play it safe.]

Nothing that springs immediately to mind. Some gods aren't as open to the concept of having a shinki as others, though. Perhaps it's your role, not you personally, he objects to.

[With a tiny shrug, he dismisses the question, and adds:]

But if things are too difficult, you can always ask him to release you and let you find another god. Shinki aren't bound to stay with the one the Heavens assign them to.

[ That was the trick with various worlds, wasn't it? Unless yours had a blanket statement to what defined demons, or put those and youkai under that same blanket, a lot of things didn't line up quite right. Especially when you were as old as Hannah really was.

She holds her tongue at a small objection- Hannah was quite sure that the disgust was towards her and her very existence. Perhaps it was her existence as a shinki, but the man seemed open to the idea of receiving one until she had addressed him directly. However, she was more than comfortable enough with sharing her thoughts on Hakkai's additional comment. ]

If I were to be released, I would have it be the complete decision of my god. If he will hold nothing but disdain for me, but continue to keep me on hand, then I can accept that in my entirely.

[ How's that for an odd amount of loyalty. She's certainly too chatty and personable to be one of the soulless. ]

[She's obviously not a soulless shinki. So, she's just self-destructive, then.

Hakkai hums, thoughtfully.] That's your choice, of course.

I'd recommend finding a god that appreciates you, rather than one who is merely willing to use you, though.

[He shrugs, glancing back at her.]

Shinki are vulnerable to their gods. It's not safe to serve someone who holds nothing but disdain for you.

[ She simply has an aesthetic that she can't question the origin of, and the need to not break it. Which is why she can have such a calm and pleasant expression. ]

I'll keep your advice in mind, thank you. Though even if I find one who fits such a criteria, and serve them as well, it'll still be up to my god to decide if, or when, he wishes to release me. No matter his feelings, my safety is both his decision and responsibility to decide.

[ As loyal as she seems, can you see the kind of wiggle room she's already allowed herself, Hakkai? Unwavering to orders and accepting his fate, but clearly this subject of being a nora doesn't concern her. Hannah seems to also interpret this advice (concern?) as a sign that if William chose to treat her poorly, while she'd accept it without problem, others would have their own concerns about it. ]

[Definitely self-destructive as opposed to loyal, then. Loyalty wouldn't so easily consider splitting allegiances, and, for that matter, would not likely be so strong before she's had a chance to get to know anything about her god other than that he dislikes her.

Hakkai smiles, and spreads his hands in a sketch of a shrug.]

Well, it is your decision, of course. I won't argue.

[He's not promising not to intervene if it becomes too unpleasant a situation, but, on the other hand, he has no reason to personally concern himself with her business.

He'll have to find an excuse to meet this 'Ma'at,' though.]

Apart from that difficulty, I hope you've been settling in well?

[ Only about as self-destructive as a youkai that serves a violent priest, but doesn't hesitate to sell him out for various profits, no matter the consequences of both. She'll always be loyal to the decisions and orders her god makes, just as it's not her place to question them.

Funny enough, the idea of being a willing nora to those who wished it didn't come to mind until Hakkai suggested.

It's really quite hard to break an aesthetic that's part of your nature. Which is why there's a look in her eyes and smile when Hakkai said it was her decision. Because with that fact, it really wasn't. It was merely the nature of both the situation and her. ]

It'll take time to settle in before I can answer that. There's still a lot to learn and understand, both of myself and this situation.

[Being as self-destructive as Hakkai is a very dangerous thing to be, but he can recognize it in others -- and he knows better than to try too hard to talk them out of it.

Smiling mildly, he inclines his head to her.]

Of course. I can't help you understand yourself any better -- that's something you'll need to do on your own -- but perhaps I could answer a few questions about the situation?

If you have any that the pamphlet hasn't helped with, that is.

I admit being curious about these spells.

[ While they're sort of glossed over, the fact that they were has caught her interest just as much as her curiosity. ]

I understand you'll need a good handle of borderlines before learning, and that you require a shinki name to cast them, but not much else is said. Such as what kind there are and how they're performed.

[ Hannah... You haven't even tried casting a borderline yet. ]

Ah! Now that I can help you with. Spells are performed differently depending on the spell, but they do have some things in common: there's a short incantation and hand gesture that go with each spell, and you'll need to know the shinki name of the person you're casting it on.

There are a few simpler spells I know of, such as Bind, which prevents a shinki from moving, and Silence, which would prevent them from making a sound.

[He adds, tapping a finger against his chin:]

There are, I believe, quite a few others. Some of the new shinki know them; some of the experienced shinki are experts, and may be convinced to assist in our studies.

So, without that branded name, it's just nice words and gestures.

[ But that does sound quite interesting- It could be handy to know, even if these spells were limited to be used against other shinki. Then again, even that was something. A tool to keep in mind for the future.

Which has Hannah turning her head, with the slightest of tilts, in curiosity. ]

I suppose now that you're a god, you've also lost all ability to teach these spells, even if you knew how to cast them?

That's correct. One of the old gods' rituals for polite introduction is for shinki to give their proper, god-given names in every form.

As a new shinki, please feel free to act as though you're not familiar with that particular tradition.

[Since, after all, giving a formal name makes a shinki vulnerable to use of those names against them.]

-- I can teach, as long as you don't need a demonstration.

I'll keep that in mind, unless urged to do otherwise.

[ Its no question who would do that urging, or ordering, either. His orders were going to be treated as absolute, no matter the emotions behind it all.

Ah, but that has her smiling a little more genuinely. ]

I might be tempted to approach you in the future about these spells, then. When I have a better handle on these borderlines.

I would be happy to help. I teach several days a week at a formerly abandoned temple...

[He produces a business card. It has his name and title embossed at the center, and a phone number just below them; he turns it over, though, pulls a pen out of his shirt pocket and sketches on the back. When he hands it over, there's a quick, sketchy map to the abandoned temple there, as well.]

In fact, I've been hoping to get together some practice sessions for shinki, so they can practice borderlines and help each other learn spells. You would be welcome.

That does sound like something I would like to attend.

[ Accepting the card, Hannah looks at the sketched map that was added to the back. Apparently gods had business cards, which wasn't surprising so much as a different kind of amusing. Was it amusing? In some way, though she suspected not many would share in how it was for her.

Pocketing it in the apron with the brochure, her head dips for a moment as a small bow.]

When you were able to do these yourself, how long did it take to get a proper handle on making borderlines?

[Sadly, gods don't have business cards provided, but Hakkai's found himself telling enough new arrivals about the school that he's had some printed.

They prove useful. He returns the small, polite bow.]

I found that the learning process went faster when I cast it against a small ayakashi. The visual aid helps.

[ Congratulations on bringing godhood to the modern era, Hakkai.

Meanwhile, as Hakkai had offered and was clearly knowledgeable on this and many other subjects, the new shinki was going to take clear advantage of it. ]

Are there known instances of other... abilities interfering with the learning process? Either in your own case or others that you may have come across.

[ It may be a relevant concern. That or a convenient excuse if something else happens and she wanted to claim a mix-up. ]

Yes, in fact, there are. In my case, I didn't have any difficulty -- my own abilities are different enough not to interfere, it seems.

It's happened, however. Do you have other abilities that might cause a problem?

[He blinks at her, all innocent curiosity.]

[ Would they be a problem? Hannah looks to be properly thinking on it, though she already had her answer. Most of them didn't even work closely with borderlines. Yet she could make it seem like one in particular did. For a good show, her gut said that it was possible to play around.

Yet what that was completely, she wasn't sure. Not yet. ]

... Perhaps there is something. For the most part, I would say no, but my instincts say that there's a good chance of something else manifesting in the line's place.

It's worth practicing. You may discover something interesting in the process.

[He tilts his head, smiling.]

And I'd be interested to hear what you find out, of course.

You almost sound like you'd have to wait. This gathering is to figure it out, correct?

[ She turns so that her back is to Hakkai, now facing a far more empty area. Which is safer. The hand, gesture, and even her calling out 'Line!' was solid and with a calm confidence, almost ideal in form as if she watched others doing it a few times before. (Then again, that's very well likely as she had, having had to wait for her god and being named before even having the ability to try.)

Except there was no real thought of actually casting it, or of protecting someone, or keeping something out. So instead of that bright light forming a barrier, there was a wave of flame that appeared in its place, disappearing almost right away.

Hannah doesn't turn to face Hakkai again, not yet, but there's a tone of acceptance and amusement as she seems to stare at the scorched line in the grass. ]

I suppose I'll have to be careful in my practice.

So you will!

[Hakkai sounds just as mild and amused as Hannah does; he chuckles, stepping around her side to crouch and examine the damage to the grass. How deep does that scorch go? How hot is the flame?

To scorch wet grass that quickly, it must already be remarkably hot.]

A very interesting ability. I'm sure you'll find good use for it.

August Training

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