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

[declamando]

I wouldn't know how to contact her myself. I haven't spoken to the older gods and shinki much. [Bishamon she'd talked to all of once, and that was about the extent of it.]

Most likely. If they keep using them it'll come out one way or another.

[kokuyoyo]

...Well. It's not as if they talk to us much.

[They certainly are annoying that way.]

[declamando]

No, it's not. [Maria becomes somewhat more serious at that.] And even some of the ones that did have stopped nowadays. I haven't seen Bishamon in weeks, at least.

[Possibly months, though it becomes difficult to keep track of after a while.]

[kokuyoyo]

....She's.... a God of Fortune, right...? Or something like that.

[He's heard that phrase mentioned a couple of times.]

[declamando]

I think so? I don't know a lot about that particular part of the mythology, but I think I've seen her name associated with something like that.

[It would make sense that it was one of the higher gods making sure people had an understanding of the situation after the god conclave, at least.]

[kokuyoyo]

So the things she's involved in.... are probably different than for newcomer gods.

[Whether that's good or bad is up to a matter of guessing and opinion.]

[declamando]

Probably. Though I'd say that's true of a lot of the older gods we see.

[She certainly doubts someone like Amaterasu would be doing the kind of hands-on work they do, especially with a target on her back.]

[kokuyoyo]

But.... not to that degree. Different levels in a hierarchy... depend different things.

[He's quite familiar with that. Or at least when it concerns the mafia.]

[declamando]

I know. I just meant that I think a lot of the older gods we see are on a similar level to Bishamon, like Amaterasu.

[Who would be higher than Bishamon, and her advisors would at least have to be on a similar level.]

[kokuyoyo]

...And they probably do less work than we do....

[At least, that's what it feels like to him.]

[declamando]

It's hard to say when we don't see any of their work outside of special occasions. They definitely seemed to be pulling their weight in the lead-up to Tanabata.

[But she's also not going to say definitively that they do the amount of work that would befit that kind of station.]

[kokuyoyo]

...That was Orihime.

[Who Chikusa has decided is The One Exception.]

[declamando]

I know, but I'm fairly certain there were other gods involved from the amount of shinki they had working on it. And that merging of the Far and Near Shore for the event, or whatever it is they did, can't have just been her.

[It would take significant power and trouble to have that odd effect, where Near Shore residents were wandering into a part of the Far Shore without even realising it.]

[kokuyoyo]

...They were in white. And injured.

[So he can feel pretty confident that, really, it was only one god that was otherwise involved besides Orihime and maybe her husband. Boyfriend. Whatever.]

[declamando]

Amaterasu's, then...come to think of it, did any of the other gods' shinki get involved in her rescue?

[Maria mostly stayed pulling people out around the outside, and she doesn't remember seeing any differently coloured uniforms, but it's possible others saw something different.]

[kokuyoyo]

I couldn't say... [Since he doesn't have eyes everywhere.] But I only ever saw the shinki in white...

[declamando]

So probably not, then...I feel like at least one of them would have been seen otherwise. [Maria's never heard anyone mention it, but it is unusual.] I have to wonder why that is.

[kokuyoyo]

....If we're optimistic... [Since Chikusa is more than aware of what she's about, now.] Then whoever did it... probably could have distracted the older gods.... like we were distracted.

[declamando]

It's possible they had some kind of logistical duty that day. We were travelling all over the world, and the other pantheons knew we were coming, right? Someone had to contact them.

[And surely that would have taken a while and a number of people, considering how many groups are represented and how many people would've needed to be informed.]

[kokuyoyo]

They'd make their shinki do that. Amaterasu seems to have enough...

Besides.... that wouldn't take all of the older gods, even for that much...

[declamando]

That's what I meant, it could explain why their shinki weren't there. [Or perhaps there was something else they were busy with. It seems like an oversight to get all of the new gods out of the Heavens but not the older ones.] We don't see a lot of older gods outside a particular circle, though, do we? A lot of them seem to keep to themselves, even with matters regarding their own.

[kokuyoyo]

That seems... normal. Staying to their own thing, unless they want to curry favor.... or show off something of their own.

It's.... sort of like politics, I guess.

[declamando]

Considering things seem to work as a bureaucracy here, it's no surprise there's politics involved in their movements. [However exasperated Maria sounds with the idea, because her experience with political involvement back home is rarely ever good.] Then again, that makes it harder to tell what everyone's motivations are.

[kokuyoyo]

It's not even bureaucracy... Whenever there's power... politics always manifest anyway.

[For better or worse. Usually worse, in Chikusa's opinion.]

[declamando]

I suppose that's true enough...people are always going to want to gain that kind of power.

[It's a frustrating situation, and one Maria's seen all too many times by now. Still, it's not something they can theorise too heavily on right now with no answers to just about anything going on here, so she sighs and glances to the headless dummy they left aside earlier.]

I should probably try to put this back together for the next person.