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

[mithrarin]

[Ah-ha.]

I'm thinking that might be it. The Borderline is an extension of your willpower, so to start with, you want to extend your willpower the way you understand. I'm used to a sword, so slicing makes sense to me...

This is going to sound a little crazy, but try and make a borderline like you're trying to punch somebody in the face with it. Someone you really, really want to punch in the face. [Dust jabs one hand out, fingers extending but otherwise managing to look much more like he's throwing a legitimate punch rather than making a slashing gesture out of it.]

[erogappa]

Okay, I think... [ He readies his fist, but wait, Dust's got his hand in a blade, not a fist. Gojyo adjusts his hand into a blade. ] Like this?


[ Like he's going to jab his fingers through somebody's face? That's creepy and disturbing, but okay! Can't hurt to try.

He draws the blade back to his ribs, concentrating on the perfect blue-white line it's going to make... then jabs it forward, imagining sending that perfect blue-white line right into the face of a certain idiot blond. ]

Line.

[ And there's a line. A nearly perfect line, solid and bright and unwavering. It only lasts a second, but that's mostly because Gojyo actually stumbles back when it happens, eyes wide with shock.

The laughter comes a second later. ]

Did you see that? Did you fucking see that!

[mithrarin]

[Oh, good. If that hadn't worked, Dust wouldn't even have begun to know what the problem was.]

I saw. [Dust is always more subdued, but his voice holds warm amusement and a little pride as he folds his arms back over his chest.] That was good. Practice that and you'll be able to use the cutting form when it counts, no problem.

[erogappa]

[ He doesn't need to tell Gojyo twice! In fact, Gojyo's not even listening -- he's too busy creating borderline after borderline, jabbing them out in rapid succession. He'll exhaust himself eventually, but for now he's a kid with a new toy. ]

Huh? ...Oh, yeah, sure, but did you see that one? Ha! How 'bout that one!

[mithrarin]

[Well, really, what can Dust do but enjoy the show? He almost envies the guy... Dust can't think of anything he'd taken such pride in accomplishing. But he'd done well with borderlines himself, hadn't he?]

[Dust glances down at his hand, remembering the ablution, and the Borderline he'd raised for what felt like an eternity. Yeah, he decides; he's done a few things here worth being proud of.]

Whatever ayakashi you run into next is going to regret it.