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

[redotiertwo]

Yeah, though there are other ways to get people to not be fucks. [Davesprite does get the general gist of what he's going for there - at the least, the older shinki are probably much more deferential to any god.]

I say go for it, anyway, worst case scenario is she turns you down. [And best case scenario, they all know a hell of a lot more about what they can and can't learn how to do.]

[reformedsinner]

Indeed.

[It's not in any way a suspicious request, after all. Hakkai smiles a little.]

-- And in the meantime there are the spells we do already know!

[redotiertwo]

Which is like, three, by the sound of things, unless someone's hiding some kind of arsenal we don't know about.

[Which is entirely possible given the general lack of communication here on certain subjects, but still.]

I can't really shit on anyone else when I haven't even learned one, though.

[reformedsinner]

They're complicated to learn, and we come and go so quickly... [He's silent for a moment, and then shrugs.]

I doubt anyone knows much more than that. For now, focusing on spreading the knowledge of the basic spells seems more effective than listing all the more complex ones.

[redotiertwo]

Yeah, if that list idea happens it needs to go somewhere that's actually permanent, so it's not going to disappear the first time someone who has it fucks off. [Make all of the photocopies, distribute them to shinki, whatever else. As long as the information gets widespread enough to not be lost.]

I didn't even know there was complicated spell shit here, I thought it was just the one-word ones all the way.

[reformedsinner]

According to Kazuma, there are other spells that advanced practitioners can use. Ones you have to sing-- [He glances dryly at Davesprite] So it's lucky for everyone I can't cast them any longer at all.

[redotiertwo]

I don't know who that is, but yeah, that sounds kind of shit if you can't sing. [After a few moments, Davesprite hits on what's clearly a very important question on that front.] I wonder if rapping them would work.

[reformedsinner]

Bishamon's exemplar-- ah.

[He blinks, arrested by the question.]

... You could try, I suppose. I'm not sure how much of a melody is required.

[redotiertwo]

[Considering Davesprite hasn't even met Bishamon herself, he's not going to be too shocked about not having met her exemplar. Hakkai's reaction to that question is kind of funny, though, so it distracts him well enough.]

I mean, if it's a beat it needs, then there's nothing better than spitting some rhymes for that, but melody is kind of a different story since you'll probably have even rap connoisseurs arguing over how melodic it is.

[reformedsinner]

If it doesn't have to be too much more melodic than speech, even I might be able to sing enough for that -- although not being a shinki any more, I suppose I'll never know.

[He raises his eyebrows at Davesprite, smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.]

If we find someone who can teach a song spell, you will have to try it.

[redotiertwo]

Yeah, though I'm pretty sure being a god is still the better end of the stick there, and you probably don't even have to sing at all. [Do gods sing prayers? Is that a thing outside of Christianity? He just doesn't know.]

How many shinki are even that good with them, I don't really know my shinki big names.

[reformedsinner]

If I have to sing, no one's broken that news to me yet, no.

[He chuckles, and adds:]

As for song spells... the only shinki I know who have some advanced expertise haven't been teaching, to my knowledge.

There might be something in the library? I do recall a few spell books showed up, back when the books were getting out. [He taps a hand thoughtfully against his chin.] I still haven't found the next book in the series I got a novel from. Something about a chair competition....

[redotiertwo]

I mean, I probably wouldn't teach either if I might have to subject myself to someone else's shitty singing. Or my own shitty singing, depending.

[There is little else in the world more grating than shitty singing, so Davesprite can relate to that in some way. Or at least, that's what he's assuming the logic is until conclusively proven otherwise.]

Yeah, I'm thinking I'm not gonna risk the library unless I absolutely fucking have to, that place looks like a localised bibliophilic bomb hit it.

[reformedsinner]

That's not a bad analogy... except I think that the bomb didn't like books.

[If it did, it would have left them in a more sensible order.

Perhaps that's Hakkai's own innate sense of tidiness speaking, though; he half-smiles, shrugging.]

But it would be much more helpful to find a shinki who knows the spell, and has the time to teach it. Perhaps if someone owed you a favor....

[redotiertwo]

It only hitting books could be argued either way if you wanted to dedicate a week of debate club to it. [Do they have a debate club? No they do not, but that's not going to stop him from suggesting it.

Davesprite tilts his head a bit at the mention of someone owing him a favour. He hasn't really been thinking of it as owing him a favour, but...well, there is at least one person who probably falls into that category.]

I might have someone in mind then, I guess.

[reformedsinner]

[Hakkai chuckles.] You do have a point there.

-- Who is it?

[redotiertwo]

Chikusa. He asked me to teach him how I make music, so he owes me back, kind of.

[It still feels weird since he offered it initially with no intent of getting anything back, but...well, why not.]

[reformedsinner]

That's a good choice. He's done quite a bit of study of the spells.

[He tosses Davesprite an amused grin, and adds:]

Good luck.

[redotiertwo]

Yeah, well, if there's anyone who probably knows what he's doing. [Probably. Davesprite sure hopes he does if he ends up approaching him about it, at least.

With that covered, though, Davesprite raises a hand.] Yeah, should probably get back to business. See you around.