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

[kokuyoyo]

[Please stop judging him with your horse eyes, Celestia.]

....I can't imagine that kind of thing. Getting strength from other people like that. [He shoves the rest of his cookie into his mouth, shoulders still hunched. It's uncomfortable to think about.]

[letteropener]

[She nods slightly.] It can be very difficult to imagine, before you truly experience it. But even here in the Far Shore, you undergo something a little similar. Gods and shinki must work together, after all.

[kokuyoyo]

That's not the same thing at all.

[....At least, not for him, he's found.]

That's.... someone serving another.

[letteropener]

I'm sorry you've experienced it that way. I personally don't believe it's meant to be that way, but if that's what you know, it's a bad example.

[kokuyoyo]

Why? [He blinks in about as much confusion as when she'd brought up friendship as magic in the first place.] It was good to have a purpose...

[letteropener]

Oh, I am not saying you shouldn't consider it to be a good purpose. But shinki and gods are, in my opinion, partners. Each contributes to their duty. If it was purely servitude, the god would not need a shinki.

[kokuyoyo]

....I've heard that before.... but then, that's not the same things as a friend, is it?

[letteropener]

No, not quite. But it is a case where the strength of two together is greater than the sum of their individual strength, so I call it similar for the purpose of understanding.

[kokuyoyo]

I can understand that, but even if it's similar to friendship... It still feels like the differences are too strange.

[letteropener]

It's true. Friendship is something you have to experience to truly understand. I do hope that in time you'll have the chance.

[kokuyoyo]

[Chikusa's only response is to take one last cookie before shuffling away. As he does so, now and again, he casts awkward and wary glances over his shoulder back at her.]

[He really doesn't understand at all.]