October Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: September 4th
Where: Meeting Hall, 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.

It seems Bishamon's temple is unavailable this week due to business, although she has generously allowed a number of her shinki to go on with their usual tasks of passing out pamphlets and assisting the newcomers to settle in.

Gods and shinki arriving at heaven's meeting hall are, should they allow it, guided kindly towards a traditional-style dojo and banquet hall towards the back of the meeting hall itself. 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

Newly arrived gods are escorted into a banquet hall for an informational meeting covering the basics of proper god behavior, although the minor deity conducting the meeting is in too much of a rush to take questions afterwards. They are encouraged to discuss the information with each other and ask questions of more experienced gods, as well as instructed to guide their new shinki appropriately.

Shinki Training

Various volunteers are stationed around the dojo, 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 as well as offering a lecture on the basics of what is expected of a shinki and the importance of teamwork with other shinki and with gods. Shinki are encouraged to work together to practice what they've learned and discuss their perspectives.

The garden is available for borderline practice, and a few of the last training's slightly tattered crayon-drawn borderline targets have been brought back out and pinned to bales of straw to make a practice area. One of Amaterasu's shinki is drawing replacements with a large inked calligraphy brush. His targets are simple but elegant, but somehow, before they make it over to the target bales, they're ending up crayon-scribbled into much brighter colors. Maybe it's the child shinki who are in charge of putting them up? They do seem to be giggling a lot, and Amaterasu's artist shinki is looking more and more annoyed...

Physical Training

The dojo is stocked with a wide variety of practice weapons, traditional and modern, to offer some practice opportunity to gods who, for example, find themselves with a sword shinki but are at risk of cutting off their own toes. It's also useful for veteran new gods wishing to train with their current partner shinki.

There's an additional task that the hosts are more than willing to ask for help with. The Meeting Hall seems to be suffering an invasion of cute soot sprites. Although they're harmless little spirits, they leave smears of ash and soot wherever they go, and the shinki are running themselves ragged trying to keep the hardwood floors and white walls clean! They're handing out cleaning rags and flyswatters to squash the soot sprites flat and scrub the resulting smears away -- and, for the softhearted, butterfly nets: although they implore anyone with a net to be sure they let the soot sprites out again far, far away.

Rest and Refreshments

The meeting hall's facilities are less modernized than Bishamon's: there are rainwater barrels set out by the dojo with fresh towels for hardworking gods and shinki to wash their face and hands. The water is ice cold, so it's very refreshing, too-- brr!

By lunchtime, the banquet hall where the gods' informational session was held has been cleaned out and re-set with cushions to sit on around long, low tables. Gods and shinki who come inside for lunch will be served a plain but hearty meal, with soup, rice, fish and pickled vegetables to refresh them for the afternoon's training.

The hall will stay open even after the lunches and tables have been cleared away, so that those who want a quieter space to talk with their new partners can find somewhere in the room. Hopefully the occasional stampede of soot sprites won't be too distracting.

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
• Help catch soot sprite pests
• Spectate if you want
• Have fun~

Comments

[onehandsomeslickninja]

The point of all what? They told us we have to learn this, so I either spend ten hours trying to convince them all I'm good with my own skills, or one hour picking up a nifty new trick. What would you do?

[Knives, knives -- ah, here we go. Edge grabs a brace of throwing knives, then starts stripping them out of their sheaths as he turns to walk right back the way they'd come.]

[katanas_and_tea]

[Takuma follows the man around like a duckling. He has nothing better to do. Well, he does because he could be practicing borderlines, but he's purposefully distracting himself.]

I would choose C: Spend three hours reading a mystery novel.

So you're going to use those knives for a nifty new trick?

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Well, it's probably new to me, right? I guess I didn't know how to do this Borderline thing before, or else I would know how to do it now. [He might not remember anything, but he doesn't need memory to sense the power inside him just waiting to lash out the moment he calls upon it. Big dumb walls are definitely not part of that though.

[Edge hands the bracer over to Takuma without so much as a glance as they get back to the training area.] Here, hold this a moment.

[katanas_and_tea]

[Takuma takes it and holds it for him politely.]

I don't know how to do a borderline, either. However, there are a lot of things I am discovering about myself as I get the opportunity to do them. It's actually interesting!

[He stands there holding the braced he was given, his posture impeccable, though his face was brimming with curiosity similar to that of a child. All of these different kinds of shinki fascinated him.]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Well, watch this!

[Edge flips into the air, snapping out his wrist as he does. The knives shoot out in a nicely straight line, thunking into the floor and quivering to a halt. Edge drops into a perfect three-point landing, then rises with a dramatic point of his fingers.]

Line!

[Sure enough, the borderline erupts into the air right along the path laid out by the knives. It had all been a matter of focusing his willpower in ways that seemed instinctively familiar to him.]

[katanas_and_tea]

[Takuma watches as he performs the stunt. He gives him a golf clap after putting the bracer under his arm.]

Ooooh. Very cool! It's very shounen anime. You're really going to do all of that every time you need to perform a borderline? I mean, it's only supposed to take a swipe of the fingers.

[ He points two fingers out and actually attempts it himself. He imagines himself as one of the characters from one of his manga creating a magic spell necessary to stopping some evil force.]

Line!

[It only let's out a soft glow, but it's there.]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

I have no idea what that is, but if you mean that it's skilled, slick, and completely admirable, I'll accept your compliment!

[Edge folds his arms, satisfied utterly. Not only did he achieve his goal, but he helped someone else learn too. An accomplishment utterly befitting whoever the heck he is!]

The more I practice, the easier it'll get to do it without the props. But results are all that count on a battlefield!

[katanas_and_tea]

[Takuma nods in agreement]

That's very true. Even successful flukes are okay, right? Though, you wouldn't want to make it a habit. Hahaha.

My name is Takuma Ichijou, by the way! I'm the shinki of Adonis and Satan! I know that brochure says that belonging to more than one god is frowned upon, but I don't see the problem in helping more than one god.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

I don't know enough about that to judge, so. [Shrugging, he then flicks his cape back in a way that makes it snap way too melodramatically.] The name's Edge! And... that's, uh, about as much as I know!

[katanas_and_tea]

Your god or goddess will find you soon enough.

[He nods reassuringly.]

At least you know that you're able to use a weapon, too! You just used those knives instinctively, so that had to have come from somewhere. I think the best way to find out what you already know is by doing a lot of things. Tokyo is great because it has just about everything to try!

So far, I've learned that I have an affinity for manga and tea and nice things and that I can use a katana.

You should definitely try it!

[onehandsomeslickninja]

So one great adventure, huh? That sounds like my kind of thing. What about monsters and danger, though? [He gets the idea of ayakashi being bad, thank you pamphlet, but is the rest of the region safe?]

[katanas_and_tea]

It's quite the adventure. As for danger, there are the ayakashi and that's about it as far as I know. People will also pay you no mind, so you can explore as much as you want and no one will stop you.

[He places his hand to his chin in thought.]

What's really dangerous is how much time gets lost when you're in Akihabara. There are just so many things to do and see.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

I... wait. [Edge lifts a hand to stop that.] You're saying the real danger here is that we'll get... distracted?

[katanas_and_tea]

Well, the obvious danger is the ayakashi, right? I haven't witnessed anything else that's as dangerous.

You could count getting distracted as something that's dangerous, couldn't you?

[onehandsomeslickninja]

There's no distraction so great it'll keep me from my duty. [Edge flips his cape back to punctuate the point.]

[katanas_and_tea]

Have you ever heard of something called "The Internet"?

[Because duh, that is the ultimate distraction once you discover it.]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

How would I know? I don't remember anything!

[He's just sayin', man.]

[katanas_and_tea]

I would definitely try it out once you get the chance! You'll find out how dangerous a distraction it can be.

[He wiggles his fingers ominously.]

It's all of the world's truths and lies at your fingertips.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

What, is it some giant hideous brain in a jar that sees all and knows all?!

[katanas_and_tea]

Oh no. Nothing as science fiction like that.

[He waves a hand.]

It's more like a...hm...how to describe it. It's like a giant library all contained in a small space about this big.

[He makes a square motion about the size of an average laptop.]

It's hooked to wires and everyone in the world is connected to it! So if you think about it, anyone who wants to can put whatever information they would like into this connected knowledge space. So you have people that are researchers and doctors and other professionals and enthusiasts posting things and then you have people that like to make up information as pranks or jokes.

It's better if you saw it for yourself!

[onehandsomeslickninja]

As what fiction...?

[Edge starts looking around, curiously but also with a little alarm, trying to figure out where this monstrosity is and how it has a connection to him. He doesn't SEE any wires coming out of himself somehow...]

I didn't sign up for this...