December Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: September 25th
Where: Bishamon's temple, the Far Shore
Summary: Training and informational sessions for newly arrived gods and shinki



Gods and shinki arriving at heaven's meeting hall are, should they allow it, guided to Bishamon's temple, where a reception area and a traditionally styled dojo and training ground have been made available for the day. 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 Western-styled reception hall within Bishamon's temple 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 shinki volunteers, both in the white-and-gold of Amaterasu's shinki and in Bishamon's red-piped black uniforms, are stationed around the dojo, passing out helpful informational pamphlets. They will be happy to instruct the newcomers in the use of the borderline as well as offering an explanantion 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.

Someone has brought two overflowing boxes of back issues of From Ama, the Heavenly magazine, which includes profiles of successful shinki and gods, historical tidbits, and the occasional magazine quiz to help shinki determine how well they're currently working with their god or what their greatest strength might be.

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.

This month, a clever shinki magician has created a dozen straw-stuffed training dummies, some with sword-length sticks and some with polearm-length sticks, that have been enchanted to really fight back. Unfortunately, the spell isn't perfect yet! They're good training partners, but sometimes they might go a little haywire and try to smack passersby.

Rest and Refreshments

Along with bottled water, there are several large boxes of energy drinks and vitamin drinks in small amber glass bottles, and an array of protein bars and meal bars. One particular shinki in white, a bespectacled twentysomething man, is explaining the health benefits of everything on the table (even the water!) with great enthusiasm to any guest who looks even a little confused. It takes great tact to discourage him.

Party games have been set up on the lawn near the refreshments table: Twister, Kubb, lawn Jenga, and more.

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
• Play some games
• Spectate if you want
• Have fun~

Comments

[letteropener]

[Yes, she's Equestrian! And also a pony. Some citizens of Equestria are not ponies, after all.]

[She takes her first step, letting him adjust to her pace as she leads them towards the gardens proper.] I am guessing your world, like other humans I have met so far, did not have intelligent ponies on it.

[recipeh]

[Ignis opens his mouth to answer, but he hesitates as a definite answer fails to come to mind.

He walks along with her being careful to match her stride.]

I'm not entirely sure. I don't have any memories of my world. I think it may be safe to assume the answer is no.

[letteropener]

You may not have memories, but some things are simply instinctive. For example, you don't find other humans surprising, even though, strictly speaking, you do not have any memories of them. ['Memory' is such a strange thing, after all.] That's something you can fall back on, here. Though you may have no conscious memories, you are still you.

[recipeh]

Hm...

[Ignis gives a nod in understanding at that. Memory is a strange concept even though he doesn't have any.]

It would explain why I can still speak with a high fluency without knowing where my vernacular stems from. Am I on the right train of thought?

[letteropener]

Very much so, yes! You may also find that you have skills that are so practiced into your mind or your muscles, you can recall them without specifically remembering them. Mind the steps!

[Just a couple, that lead out from the temple into the garden, and Celestia offers fair warning in both her voice and in her slight drop as her forehoof leads.]

Yes, this is much quieter.

[recipeh]

[Ignis takes care to feel out where the steps were with his foot before descending down them. The slight drop of her shoulder was helpful.]

Indeed.

[The silence was nice and he could hear the slight movement of the leaves brushing against each other.]

Now then, if you don't mind my getting straight to the questions, I'll start. Please stop me if it becomes to much.

A shinki is a god's tool, correct? What exactly are we used for? How are we a tool? Do we provide a certain use for the god we are assigned to?

[letteropener]

That is a phrasing I dislike. A shinki is a god's partner. [She'll die on this hill, metaphorically speaking. The inequality present in the 'tool' term is, to her mind, quite unacceptable.]

[Celestia takes a seat, with gentle dignity that practically radiates from her, and in doing so offers him silent permission to do the same.]

The Far Shore and the Near are both plagued by dark spirits known as 'ayakashi'. They are the source of grief and trouble for the living, the gods, and shinki alike. Only the combined powers of a shinki and a god may destroy an ayakashi for good, using the spell 'Rend'. Beyond that, a shinki is a reminder to their god of what it is like to be... Well, the usual phrase is 'human'. [She chuckles softly.]

[recipeh]

[Ignis hears the gentle shuffling in place and wonders if it's safe to assume she has taken a seat. Since he can't hear anymore hoof beats and he feels a sort of relaxed presence, he takes that as a yes and settles himself onto the ground slowly. He sits with his legs crossed in a pretzel.

At the slight joke, there is a slight upturn of the corner of his lips right before it falls again with the weight of thought.]

So then you favor the concept of camaraderie. Is it safe to assume that other gods may not share the same views then? The concept was presented to us as being more or less "owned" by our gods.

And what sorts of powers are we bestowed as shinki?

[letteropener]

There is a cultural difference, I think, between the gods who have always been here in the Far Shore, and those of us who appeared lately to take on the roles of gods. The 'old gods', as we often call them, are more conservative, set in their ways, and distanced from mortal life -- as should be no surprise, considering they are not mortal, as we 'new gods' are.

[Celestia makes a thoughtful noise deep in her throat, her wings shifting the tiniest fraction so that her feathers rustled. (That probably is not the least confusing noise he's heard.)]

When named by a god, shinki can master spells such as the Borderline, which you heard others practicing. When their god speaks their shinki name, they also transform into a vessel, and grant their wielder power.

[recipeh]

[Ignis also makes a noise in his throat in understanding. He hears the feathery noises, but passes it off as perhaps a plant's leaves rustling.

He makes a note that these gods are "new to their jobs", so to speak. That certainly makes things interesting and even a bit dangerous if these new gods don't know exactly what they're doing.]

I am to be gifted a name by you then, yes?

[letteropener]

That is correct. I've been considering one for you, and when you are ready, I will grant you that name and you will assume your vessel form for the first time.

[No hurry, of course. Celestia is nothing but patience and serenity; it practically radiates from her.]

[recipeh]

Alright. This name seems to be special, so it would only make sense that it takes some careful consideration.

[Ignis understands the logic in patience and careful thought. He is also in no hurry if she feels it's necessary to wait.]

You mentioned that my other purpose is to..."humanize" you for lack of better word. Is being a shinki a sort of advisory position as well?

[letteropener]

It can be, but the Far Shore means that fairly directly. If you feel negative emotions, I too will feel them. If you feel guilt, then I will actually suffer the same sort of ailment that ayakashi can inflict on us, a corruption called 'blight'. So in this way, a god who makes a shinki act in ways that would cause him to feel guilt is punished for doing so.

[Though she expects this not to come up at all. What at all could she do, being her, that would cause him guilt?]

[recipeh]

[Ignis's eyebrows raise at that. To think that the bond between them will run that deeply once he is named. So far, he doesn't sense any malice from her. In fact, she radiates a kind of serenity that puts him more at ease given the circumstances. It's no wonder that the naming will need a careful mind.]

I will do well to keep myself in check then. I wouldn't want to burden you with a plague of ill emotions.

[Though, he finds himself to be calm even in this situation, so perhaps neither of them have anything to worry about.]

A lighter question: What are you representative of as a god?

[letteropener]

A literally lighter question, as here I am Inti, a goddess of the sun.

Though that actually involves much less work with the sun than I am used to. [She chuckles softly, and then hastens to explain.] Where I am from, the land of Equestria, ponykind is responsible for many things that happen by themselves in the world. The weather, the seasons, and in my sisters' and my case, the rising and setting of the sun and moon.

[recipeh]

[Ignis can't help but find the irony in that. Here he was a shinki to the goddess of the sun, yet he was so far spending his afterlife in the dark. He lets out sort of a noise through his nose at that before brushing away the sort of bitterness that he had felt momentarily.

But he did find her own world interesting. To think that physical beings were responsible for the natural happenings of their world. Wouldn't that deem them all to be divine in their own way?

And does that mean that they are all from different worlds? How did they end up in the same afterlife if they're from different worlds? It was starting to become a lot for his mind to wrap around, no matter how smart he was.

Ignis had fallen silent with his own thoughts for longer than he had intended.]

[letteropener]

[Celestia allows him a fair time to think, well understanding how many thoughts must be in his head. But before too much time passes, and he risks getting too deep into thought, she breaches the silence once more.]

Tell me... and I understand this might be difficult to answer, given your situation. But I have found that many humans wield magic or other curious powers, and they remember them instinctively as shinki. Do you think you might possess any?

[recipeh]

[That certainly pulls him out of his thoughts and sets him onto some new ones. He allows his head to tip with the weight of his thinking.

He flexes his gloved hand as he thinks about that.]

I can...imagine a weapon...

[He starts to turn his wrist a little.]

Yes...There's the muscle memory you had mentioned before. I can imagine a weapon and perhaps some sort of magic. I'm not entirely sure of what, however. I would need to test it out, I suppose.

[letteropener]

I have some skill with magic. Perhaps I can help you there.

[And to that end, she channels power into her horn. Not for any purpose other than to make magic -- like a beacon, if he can sense it. If not, he likely won't notice anything, and that too will be informative.]

[recipeh]

[Ignis had spent his entire life around royalty with powers. Powers that could be bestowed upon others, but had taken their toll on that royal family. His best friend, his comrade, the person he lived for had these powers.

He himself was able to imbue magic with his weaponry. But his lack of memory left only the feeling within him.

He might have not been able to see anything, but he lifted a hand and pointed to where Celestia was concentrating her magic.]

There. You're doing something there, yes?

[letteropener]

Ah, you can sense it! [Excellent! Celestia smiles, and it is audible in her voice as well. The Princess wields her emotions masterfully.] This may be putting the cart before the pony a bit, but are you able to summon up any magic yourself? It's quite all right if you cannot.

[recipeh]

[Ignis couldn't help but find the little colloquialisms that Celestia had been using to be charming. Of course if one comes from a world where the population contains or is made up entirely of ponies, one is bound to have variations of phrases.

Back to the topic at hand. Magic.]

I can make the attempt. Excuse me if I look a bit foolish while I try.

[He held out his hand and tried to concentrate on it. Something...anything...but unfortunately nothing. There was no Crystal or King of Lucis present to bring out the magic within him. He had no catalyst and nary a clue.]

Alas.

[letteropener]

[She doesn't particularly understand how humans use magic to begin with, when they lack the proper anatomy to do so, so she has little advice to offer.]

That's quite all right. I was simply curious. I have a lot to learn about you, after all.

Though I wonder...

[Celestia lowers her head, then lets a brief flash of magic pulse out of her horn. It is akin to a finding spell, but one that seeks nothing specific -- it washes out in a wave, reflecting off the ground and the trees and plants of the garden and the walls of the temple. He can sense magic, but she wonders how clearly he can sense it...]

[recipeh]

[Ignis waits for the follow up to the musing and sure enough he gets one. His head perks up and he "looks" all around him. Through the magic bouncing off everything, it paints a picture for him in his mind.

Trees, plants, the walls of the temples. Everything that his mind could capture in that brief moment.

The good thing about Ignis is that when he can see, his sight was excellent. It also occurred to him that he knew what these things were by "seeing" them. So perhaps he wasn't always like this.

There is a slight smile from him. His face was normally set as if he never smiled, but there it was.]

Clever. Did you use some kind of sonar method with your magic?

[letteropener]

Just that. A reflective pulse. This way, I can aid you, when you are with me. [She makes no promises about anything beyond that, though her mind is already devising the spellcraft necessary to fill a crystal with power and enchant it to release a pulse on command. Well within her power, she thinks, but she wishes to promise nothing she might prove to be unable to deliver.]