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

[yousaytron]

Nah, it and another one like it just showed up at my last god's place a while back.

[Bringing in such a big tag-along sure would have caused quite a ruckus, that's for sure. It's still kind of a mystery how something so big would have just... popped into existence, but it's been invaluable so far so he can't really bring himself to question it too much.

As for the sword question,] I think so. [It's mostly an assumption, but a fairly confident one.] Feels natural, you know?

[revolutionfalcon]

[That piques Shun's interest, but if this guy is a shinki, suggesting that they came from the same world isn't a good idea, even if it might seem obvious. It's not a train of conversation he ever feels comfortable leading a shinki down.

He can, however, relate to the weapon feeling natural, and he nods a little.] I've heard a lot of shinki say that. It's as good a way as any to figure it out.

[And the only way they have at hand, usually. As the half a straw dummy tries to flail its arms at him again, Shun spins the polearm and plants the blade (and dummy) against the ground.]

Didn't get your name last time. [He likes to know who he's dealing with.]

[yousaytron]

[His own natural curiosity about himself and his origins is only being held back so far by better judgement, so the consideration to not chase where he may have come from would absolutely be appreciated.

Keeping his own dummy soundly pinned to the ground, Keith pays close attention to the way Shun works. The situation was a little too tense to really appreciate his combat skills much during their last encounter, but he really does look like he knows what he's doing with that weapon.]

I don't think I got yours, either. [Not that there was much room for it, but, you know.] It's Keith.

[revolutionfalcon]

[The polearm is actually the least familiar of his current repertoire of weapons, but he's had the advantage of being initiated by someone who very much knew what they were doing, and being the kind of person who practices intensely. He's never going to outmatch anyone here who's been training in their weapon for years already in a fair fight, but he'll take being able to hold his own.

Giving him a brief, sweeping look up and down, Shun nods slightly as if committing the name to memory.] Kurosaki Shun. Nekhbet when I have to be. Kotori had some trouble figuring out what exactly it was we were getting help from during that fight.

[It's not as if she can see in her vessel form, so what would've otherwise been a very obvious giant robot became very confusing for her.]

[yousaytron]

I can't imagine that's the kind of thing that would be normal to end up next to in a fight.

[So, yeah, some degree of confusion is totally understandable. And, hey, getting his name as well as his shinki's was a little more than he expected. Nice.]

Let Kotori know I appreciated the help.

[Just in case his original thanks never reached her.]

[revolutionfalcon]

There's not a lot here that people would consider normal to end up next to in a fight.

[People have a huge variety of powers at their disposal here, and Shun's ended up fighting alongside several with weirder ones by this point. He's used to it.]

I think she figured that out. Though she was wondering how you got that many on your tail in the first place.

[It had been an impressive number, even for just sitting there and looking interesting to the amassed evil felines.]

[yousaytron]

[There are a lot of unexpected powers at work in the Far Shore, for certain, but he can imagine that giant robots are their own kind of surprise.]

I wasn't expecting a fight, and they snuck up on me. [Ayakashi in heaven isn't exactly... a normal occurrence. That's not too dodgy of an explanation.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Apparently it's still a dodgy enough explanation for Shun to be side-eying him a bit.] I could understand that for a handful of them, maybe, but there were more than that by the time we ended up there.

[Just a few more.]

[yousaytron]

[Ah, the full story will be dragged out of him yet...

He hesitates for a second, but then relents with a small, dissatisfied noise.] Probably something to do with ayakashi finding unnamed shinki more appealing targets.

[There we go.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[That certainly does make a lot more sense, and Shun raises a brow.]

Someone's setting up a shinki sanctuary if you need somewhere you won't get mobbed by ayakashi. [It's unusual that he sees unnamed shinki who don't at least choose to stay with a friend, though.]

[yousaytron]

It's not a problem anymore, hopefully it won't be again.

[Though, who can really tell with this place? People come and go so frequently, all he can really do is set himself up for finding someone else in case his current situation is upended again.]

Thanks for the tip, though. [Genuinely, even if it really doesn't do much about the situation now that it's passed.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[That figures - it seems like a lot of people have been getting soulless shinki lately, which to his knowledge means there's a dearth of actual shinki for the newcomers. It wouldn't be hard for someone abandoned to find another home.

Shun gives a rather dismissive shrug at the thanks.] It's useful to know just in case. It's not that common for gods to stay longer than a few months.

[This has been happening for long enough now that they have a reasonably-sized group made up of the rare few from each batch of newcomers that made it longer than those few months, but it's taken a while.]

[yousaytron]

It's not the first time a god of mine has up and disappeared like that. [You don't need to tell him about the typical longevity of the residents here, he's familiar enough with the concept.] I suppose I'll have to check the sanctuary out if things don't work out this time, either.

[revolutionfalcon]

I know I don't meet a lot of shinki who haven't lost at least one god. [Off the top of his head...Reisi, who's one of his own anyway, Eric, Archer, possibly Lavi, and maybe some of the ones who've been here less than a month as well. It's not a big list considering the number of people he's met in his time here.] The one running it is a shinki named Wendy, if you've met her.

[yousaytron]

Can't say that I have.

[But, that doesn't sound like too much of an issue. If he ends up needing to find her, he's sure that won't be an issue in the future.]

Things get shuffled around here so much, I think it'd be more unusual to find someone who hasn't had a partnership fall apart, really.

[revolutionfalcon]

She's short, looks like she's around twelve, and usually wears fancy clothes. [Or at least, clothes Shun considers fancy. In any case, it's about the most distinctive combination of descriptors he can come up with for her on short notice.]

Probably. I can remember most of the shinki I've met who've only had one god, but I'm less sure about gods who've only had one shinki. It gets more likely to change the longer you're here, obviously.