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

[yoshinocherry]

[At least she's not some judgmental oldbie, right? Just a couple of people trying to get their bearings in an admittedly strange place, here!]

Marinette, that's a really cute name! And, Fortuna, that'd be the god you are, then? [Not one she's ever heard of, but a pretty safe bet, she'd assume.] Mine's Shinju, but my real name is Yuna! Yuki Yuna! [A far more comfortable alternative than the mantle of her world's deity, for sure.] It's nice to meet you!

[doodlebuginette]

Aw, thanks! I love it~ And yea. Fortuna is the Roman goddess of fortune and personification of luck. [She still couldn't get over the irony there.]

Shinju. [It didn't sound familiar...] I'm afraid I've never heard of you! Oh, but Yuna is a cute name too!

[Marinette is smiling brightly now.] It's wonderful to meet you, Yuna!

[yoshinocherry]

Oh, that must mean you're a pretty lucky person, huh? [Whether on her own, or through her newly acquired title, that's probably the case.]

Shinju... I think is kind of a unique god. I've been getting the feeling that most people here won't have heard the name before. [But, it's not like it's her fault or anything, so she puts on a winning smile to finish the thought off with,] So I'm just gonna have to do my best to make sure everyone learns it, right?

[doodlebuginette]

I'd like to think I'm pretty fortunate, yea. [She wasn't sure how to go about explaining that she didn't really believe that luck was something out of one's control.]

Unique could be good. [She's smiling and nodding a little.] That seems like a good idea. I'm sure there are people who know all about Shinju, but spreading the word, so to speak, could be a good thing. Do you know how you're going to do it?

[yoshinocherry]

[She's not sure that unique is necessarily a good thing in this case, but the circumstances aren't the kind of story she wants to dump on a a newbie, nor on someone she just met.]

Helping out all sorts of people in need, of course! Shinju's an ally of humanity, so that's definitely going to be the best way to make sure everyone knows.

[doodlebuginette]

That sounds like the best way to do it, yea!

[Not that she was any sort of expert in trying to get people to know she existed. But it certainly seemed like a solid plan.]

I'm sure that everyone will come to know who you are.

[yoshinocherry]

Right! That way, people will know that I'm here, and that I'm ready to help out!

[Surely there's a measure of divine intervention that should be minded, but that's something she can deal with as she encounters it.]

However you make your presence known, I think it's important to work as hard as you can.

[doodlebuginette]

I think that's the most important thing. To let people know that you're around and willing to give help to those who need it.

[Yet here she was, with no real idea of what she was doing. But she found it was a lot easier to try and pep up someone else than to do the same with herself.]

Yea! I believe that if something is worth doing at all, it's worth pouring all your effort into it. Otherwise... why bother, right?

[yoshinocherry]

Right!

[Maybe with some exceptions, but it's a good mindset to start out with, regardless.]

But, I know it can all be kind of intimidating when you first get here, so there's nothing wrong with taking time to get settled in, either. There are a lot of helpful people around, so if you need help, chances are good that someone can give you a hand, or any information you need.

[That may be a subtle hint to feel free to open up with any concerns, should you have them right now...!]

[doodlebuginette]

[Oh, she was right about that.]

It's downright overwhelming at first. Finding yourself in a new place, not knowing who to talk to or where to go or what to do. There are so many unanswered questions, and every answer seems to lead to more questions. It's kind of crazy!

[By the time she's finished speaking, her eyes are a little wide and she looks slightly more flustered than when she'd started.]

I just... how did you figure out how to make sense of it all?

[yoshinocherry]

[She definitely understands how overwhelming it can be, and how getting more information just leads to even more information needing to be found. She offers up a sympathetic smile, taking the tense string of thoughts in stride.]

Honestly, it feels like there's still a lot that I'm trying to make sense of. [She's not been here for much longer, after all, and though Yuna seems pretty composed over it all, she's got her own background with weird, supernatural happenings. However, she knows that's not very useful for someone who may not.] It might not be the same for everyone, but I feel like learning as you go is the easiest way to go about it, and when things become a little too much to get just from experience, there are plenty of people around who can explain things.

You don't have to get it all right away, I don't think anyone really expects us to take to these roles naturally.

[doodlebuginette]

[She couldn't decide if that was a comforting thought or not.]

I think it's just one of those things that we have to accept. [She's no stranger to weird, supernatural happenings, but even she can understand that things here are quite a bit different than they were back home.] Yea. I think you're right about that. [Learning as she went would definitely be easier than trying to work out everything at once, that's for sure. And the fact that there were people here who could explain things was comforting.]

That's a good point. I feel like everyone that comes here probably starts off at the same place, as far as that goes.

[yoshinocherry]

[At least keeping in mind that a lot of people are just as lost and confused should take some of the pressure off the situation, right? That's a kind of comfort on its own.]

Probably. I think, even for the people who do have a little more natural experience, there's going to be some kind of adjustment. [Heaven might not run quite the same way for everyone, it sure isn't what she'd imagine out of her own reality, after all.]

Try not to worry over the finer details, and just do your best while you're figuring everything out. Things might not always go smoothly, but will be easier when you're trying hard.

[doodlebuginette]

[That was putting it mildly of course.]

You're right. [She supposed that there would have to be an adjustment period for everyone who found themselves here.]

That's brilliant advice. Thank you very much! I'm going to try to do that. [At this point she's just glad to meet someone who's willing to share their knowledge.]