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

soot sprites

[priforprince]

HUAAAGH!

[ WHERE DID ALL OF THOSE COME FROM

Hibiki is so busy blanking out at the sight of that many soot sprites that she completely misses the...larger obstacle...headed her way. ]

[ittenbari]

[Sakon is quick on his feet, but not quick enough, unfortunately. He manages to slam straight into her, leaving the sprites to zoom around them and make an even bigger mess.]

I'M SORRY!!

[priforprince]

"I'M SORRY" FIXES NOTHING!!

[ Someone just collided with her. That's strange enough, and she's only still standing because she's Shikyoin Hibiki (tm), but more to the point -

She gestures all around them, at the shirt that now has several distinct splotches on it from soot sprites getting caught between their bodies, then back at the sprites. ]

THIS IS A HEALTH HAZARD! DO YOU KNOW WHAT'D HAPPEN IF I INHALED SUCH FILTH?! MY THROAT IS AN INTERNATIONAL TREASURE, AND -

[ The international treasure has to cough into a handkerchief. But that is totally your fault, not hers for yelling while she's still surrounded by soot.

All yours. ]

[ittenbari]

Huh? Is it really?

[He's not quite sure why anyone's throat would be an international treasure, to be honest, but he'll roll with it.]

'Cause these little guys have been around here all day, you know, so maybe...

[Maybe important throats shouldn't be here?]

1/2

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki keeps coughing. She's giving herself a headache at this rate, so indeed, that hint may be taken sooner rather than later.

If not just yet. ]

Observation is nec--

[priforprince]

[ Oh, God (herself, naturally)

her voice is hoarse

she did inhale that stuff

she's losing her voice

Hibiki gasps and takes a frightened step backwards. A hand goes to her lips. ]

[ittenbari]

Huh? What happened?

[If her reaction is this extreme, it has to be pretty serious. It doesn't even occur to him that it's really not. He tries to think through what the problem might be, but there's only one thing that's occurring to him.]

Did...did you swallow one?!

[Because that really would be a problem.]

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki stares at him in frightened panic - don't even THINK that! - and then turns around, hunched over, to cough into her hands. Come back, voice!! Come back!

Her voice is one of the only sounds that don't disturb her tranquility! Without it, the world will be nothing but clamor! And her fans -

This is a disaster. ]

[ittenbari]

[DID SHE ACTUALLY SWALLOW ONE?! Sakon panics for a second, then rushes to her side and starts thumping her on the back.]

Don't choke on it! Hang in there!

[priforprince]

GWAK!

[ She wasn't expecting to be thumped.

Little puffs of smoke come out of her mouth as she coughs, though....better out than in? ]

[ittenbari]

Is that smoke?!

[This just keeps getting worse and worse! Why is this happening? How is this happening?! All he can do is thump her more vigorously in hopes that it'll fix whatever is going horribly wrong here.]

Don't die! Please don't die!

[priforprince]

S p ma hndl g me!

[ Or so rasps Hibiki, one hand caressing her throat as she looks up to glare at her would-be assistant. Another cough, another puff of smoke.

So now she's both "dying" and pissed.

Hooray. ]

[ittenbari]

Huh?

[It at least gets him to stop for a second.]

What? I didn't get that.

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki tries to jerk herself away from him, coughs into a fist, rubs her throat, loosens her tie.

Finally, raspily, and with great effort: ]

Stop manhandling me.

[ Her voice, her precious voice.....

How could this have happened?! ]

[ittenbari]

Huh? Manhandling?

[Sakon jerks back, looking completely befuddled.]

I was manhandling?

[A beat.]

I have no idea what that means, but I'm sorry!

[priforprince]

Does this entire primension require a dictionary?!

[ Blech, no good, her throat is still sore, her voice is still.....not Her Voice. Hibiki's mouth twists with disgust. ]

This situation is intolerable.

[ And yet she keeps talking. ]

[ittenbari]

I don't know what a primension is, either.

[Which, honestly, isn't a huge surprise and not something he's terribly worried about. If he remembers later, maybe he'll look it up on his phone.]

Are you sure you're okay, though? You sound pretty rough.

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki glares at him, making a grumbly sound in her poor put-upon throat. ]

I'm aware of that.

[ She looks around. These pathetic gatherings do usually have some form of refreshments table, so... ]

Where are the drinks?

[ If he knows, maybe she should have him fetch one. ]