February Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: October 15th
Where: Meeting Hall, 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 the Meeting Hall, 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 traditional reception room within the Meeting Hall for an informational meeting covering the basics of proper god behavior. A minor deity is giving the speech, and none of the white-robed shinki enter. 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 in the white-and-gold of Amaterasu's hosuehold 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 explanation 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.

A training game has been set up through a section of the Meeting Hall gardens, with little cut-outs of ayakashi hidden in the landscaping, tucked into bushes or taped under bridges. Prize ribbons are being offered for every ten "ayakashi" a shinki (or team) discovers.

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. Several magically animated straw-stuffed training dummies, many of which have been carefully mended and patched with neat black stitching, are set up on the lawn with a white-robed shinki hovering nearby to watch over them. They make good training partners, although anyone who comes too close risks being targeted for a sparring match whether they wanted one or not.

The pond behind the dojo has had dozens wooden poles sunk in it, spaced a few feet apart, with a bunch of brightly colored ribbons tied around the pole in the very center. Some of the white-robed shinki are practicing scaling the poles and leaping from one to the next, until they get close enough that they can snatch a ribbon from the center pole, and several have fallen in and are being teased by their fellows.

Rest and Refreshments

Instead of snacks being served at the training session, this week, white-robed shinki with little flags are conducting groups of newcomers and volunteers down to the Tokyo Daijingu shrine and into a street festival currently being held in Tokyo. Traditional dance troupes are performing on street corners, and vendors have every kind of fall street foods, from barbecue to takoyaki, chocolate-dipped bananas and red-bean pancakes. New arrivals will get a white-and-gold envelope with spending money for the fair, although gods and shinki who have had some time to settle in will have to handle their own lunch expenses.

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
• Go to a festival
• Spectate if you want
• Have fun~

Comments

[unlucky7]

[If you're going to make an appearance, you might as well do so with style.

Ginia watches the scenery and people pass by in a blur. They take no notice of the purple horse and his two riders, but that's okay.

This has been a weird, weird day, but this is pretty cool.]

[priforprince]

[ The festival approacheth. Hibiki begins reigning in Maxie, too, so as not to skid the horse back into the busiest areas. ]

Your god should find you soon. [ Ugh. It's gotten noisier here. She'll drop this shinki off and go find somewhere more elegant. ] Waiting by the shrine might be best.

[ Everyone needs her opinion. On everything. ]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

You want to teleport to places you've never been? That seems like a recipe for a telefrag to me.

[Anyway: teleporting! The two whisk away in an instant, deposited a moment later in front of the massive shrine to Angra Mainyu: a castle in the highest and starkest of Gothic styling, grim and foreboding, meant to impress the viewer with their puny insignificance.]

[kokuyoyo]

It was just annoying.... and I don't particularly want to talk about the specifics with strangers.

[Reaching up, he nudges his glasses up closer to his face.]

I'm not like Ken...

[nopixiedust]

[SHE DOESN'T NEED TO BE TOLD TWICE]

[and Hibiki is the kind of person to do ridiculous stunts]

[priforprince]

[ What's ridiculous? This steed is a mode of transportation. Therefore, he shall transport them to their destination, with a panache worthy of a majestic god and her shinki. There is a pleasing economy to teleportation, yes- ]

Haah!

[ But what's the point of a horse you don't get to ride through city streets, regulations governing the lesser mortals be damned?

Enjoy the breeze, Wendy. Maxie is the one thing about Hibiki that moves fast. ]

[nopixiedust]

Mmmm... [Finally, she shrugs.] Well, whatever. You're just a different kind of person.

So you're not going to stay much longer, then?

[nopixiedust]

[After a swallow of her latest bite, a sly grin flickers onto her face and she stands on the tips of her toes to get closer to him.]

You'll probably be able to recognize a lot of people from the Far Shore because so many of them are weirdos!

[nopixiedust]

Then I'm gonna be a kid for eternity, so you better be prepared for lots of bullying!

[Wendy no]

[nopixiedust]

Hmmm.... [She taps her chin thoughtfully.] Maybe... The older gods, the ones who've always been here, seem to be pretty hands off with us.

So if we have problems, we have to solve them on our own. That means don't keep secrets if there's an issue, okay?

[artificialrose]

That's right. Although the very large and powerful ones tend to be a little bit more rare. If you ever see one that looks like it's really large, or comes in a lot of numbers, you'll want to run as fast as you can until you can get a shrine or find a god that will help teleport you out of trouble.

[and it's a small world, the Far Shore. Either is just as likely.]

[kokuyoyo]

You should complain to the magician who made them about it.... He'd probably eat it up anyway.

[Or complain. One or the other. Chikusa doesn't care.]

[kokuyoyo]

[At least it's some sort of metaphor. Chikusa shrugs, taking another bite.]

I like food. And Japanese.... isn't that bad. I'm used to it now.

[Especially with some of his memories back, adding even more of a background.]

[kokuyoyo]

Okay. Then... I'll let you know.

[Because the pony uses her phone more than his own partner does, he suspects.]

[royaltyloyalty]

[He shakes his head.]

I wouldn't know either. At this point I'm more amused than anything that our names all end with the same character, -ji. That's where the similarities begin and end, though.

[Sure, Ma and Me are similar, but that doesn't unify with his name at all, though.]

Then again...

[He thinks about when Kougaiji brought him in and gave him his name.]

You could always choose a name you aspire to. I know that's a hard thing to ask of a shinki, but a word that makes you inspired rather than depressed would be a start. I have to call this name when I need your help fighting off creatures that would hurt innocent people, so think of it as a rallying cry?

[shiitan]

[He stared at the temple once they arrived. Gintoki and Ayumu's temples had been a lot more homey, for lack of a better word, and it seemed he was getting farther and farther away from that as time went on. Granted, it was still an improvement over the last temple he lived in.]

You're an old-fashioned guy, aren't you.

[He let go of Zetta and began wandering toward the door with his hands in his pockets.]

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[Okay that is... definitely one of those pieces of information that was dumped on him that left him with a lot of questions. Bringing it up with anyone trying to help earlier felt kind of ridiculous, but having it mentioned first makes it seem a little easier to ask about.]

How, exactly, does that work, anyway?

[hedgehogsdilemma]

That's a pretty interesting coincidence. [It's interesting enough to get a small tug at the corner of his mouth, the tiniest smile you can imagine.

But, something to aspire to... It does sound like the best way to go about picking something as important as a name out, though he does have a point with it being, perhaps, a bit of a tall order for a fresh new shinki. The time he's spent waiting for Dokugakuji to show up hasn't been particularly helpful in finding out much about himself, though that much isn't supposed to be easy by design, so he can only feel so self-conscious over that fact.

A name for when he's being relied upon for help, huh...?]

I'm... kind of worried that I won't be much help in a fight. [It's a feeling he can't really put his finger on why, other than a solid gut-feeling, and as much as it is an upfront admission of his own concerns, he can't help but wonder if it would be some kind of place to start when it comes to narrowing down a suitable name.] Making it sort of like a rallying cry is probably for the best.

[revolutionfalcon]

That's a stupid way to put it. [Everyone's a "different kind of person", so as far as he's concerned, he's certainly not the only one who wouldn't feel comfortable trying to think in that kind of situation.

As for the question, he nods slightly.] I mostly just came to figure out where the hell they kept leading people off to. Hanging around is just a waste of time.

[redotiertwo]

You'd want to be fucking used to it, how long have you been here now. [Not as long as Davesprite, but it'd have to be a solid few months by now. In any case, it doesn't feel like all that much of an excuse.]

But I'm holding to the fact that you're currently a far more prime example of stuffing face.

[unlucky7]

[When they come to a stop, Ginia slides off Maxie's back, giving the horse another fond pat. Good horse. She nods and smiles up at Hibiki.]

Thank you for your advice and thank you for your time. I hope you have a good day.

[priforprince]

Don't forget my invitation.

[ This was fun. Hibiki is rather considering them almost even, here - Ginia got to experience life as a Celebrity and Hibiki spent her time more pleasantly than she would have at the festival. She winks. ]

Au revoir.

[ Maxie huffs a breath, which is probably also the same sentiment. ]

[letteropener]

[Celestia is pretty good at keeping in touch, yes.]

All right. I'll look forward to hearing from you.

[Suspecting he's an inch from wandering off, as he does, Celestia inclines her head with a warm smile as essential permission to do so.]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Appearances are important! The Overlord's Castle is a traditional part of Overlording.

[From an undefined point up in the sky, a minion crashed down with a power and fury that looks like it ought to spatter her on the street, but doesn't. Said minion scoops up the book, then, following behind Ross.]

[kokuyoyo]

Ah.... Probably a year, now, I think...

[That's when he took on the "Chikusa" name, right? Oh, sorry, were they talking about being dead-]

Anyway, you should see Ken doing it...