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

[hedgehogsdilemma]

['Get a bit more of a spine' sure is one indelicate way of putting it, but he's in no mood to push back against the slight.]

R-right. Thank you.

[He'll take the offered treat, pulling out the payment he would have been using for it to reimburse her.]

I... guess I just wasn't expecting it to be quite this intense.

[nopixiedust]

Ah, yeah... It's pretty weird, right? But the good news is that when you get their attention the first time, they'll remember you're around for a little while.

And it's only really noticeable when you're trying to buy things like this!

[With payment given, she turns away from the stall and chomps down hard on her banana.]

[hedgehogsdilemma]

Will they?

[That much, at least, is good to know.]

That's... probably not too hard to get used to, but it still sounds like it would be kind of troublesome.

[nopixiedust]

Yeah, I guess it can get pretty troublesome.... [Chewing a few more times, she shrugs.] But people ignore other people all the time.

At least we still know each other on the Far Shore.

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[Mostly, imaging trying to fulfill duties like 'answering prayers' might be tricky with the set-up, he imagines, but she does have a point when it comes to people minding their own business more often than not.]

That's true... It's probably more important that we can recognize each other easily, anyway.

[Gods and shinki forgetting each other constantly would be a disaster, can you even imagine... He'll go ahead and take a bite of his own snack now. Finally.]

[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!

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[As Wendy inches up closer to him, Shinji leans himself back to try and keep the distance between them a little more... comfortable. Is she ? talking about herself? About him? Just in general, and the intention is to get him to wonder who exactly here is a weirdo??

Mysterious.]

What do you mean, exactly...?

[There's a part of him that's pretty sure he's being baited for some kind of reaction, but even so, he can't help but be curious.]

[nopixiedust]

[The answer, Shinji, is "yes". Wendy laughs a little when he leans back, amused at the reaction.]

People with no self preservation, for starters! Like that guy who was trying to bait a serial killer on the BBS a while ago.

Or you'll get lucky and just meet guys like Dust, who are covered in fur and have tails.

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[He's not exactly... ignoring that serial killer statement, but there's a very big part of him that feels like asking about it would be rising to some kind of bait, and he doesn't want to figure out where she may be going with it right now. Not after he's only just gotten here.

That'll be something to dwell on later, apparently.]

Dust... sounds an awful lot like a cat. [Are you just trying to get him on edge by talking about some kind of cat... god? Shinki? Some kind of heaven-bound cat.]

[nopixiedust]

I never asked, but he's pretty tall for a cat.

[Griiiiiiiiiiiin.]

He's like a person and a cat all in one~!

[Hey, she's not lying, either!]

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[So like. A furry.]

I... can't imagine someone like that would be very easy to miss.

[At least he'll know that it's someone from heaven and not some kind of odd monster if he spots this 'Dust'.]

[nopixiedust]

[Absolutely a furry.]

That's right! And even if you don't realize he's covered in fur, somehow, then you'll definitely notice his bag hat. He never takes it off!

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[A tall cat... in a big hat. You could probably write a whole children's book on the subject.]

Are there other people like that around? [He hasn't exactly spotted any particularly fuzzy Far Shore denizens yet, but maybe that is just a matter of 'yet'.]

[nopixiedust]

Hmm... Now that you mention it, I don't think there are too many. I know there's a talking unicorn with wings around, 'tho.

[Welcome to your life, Shinji.]

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[It's not like he has any meter to really be judging what may or may not be weird in a place like this, but that still sounds a bit like you're pulling his leg there.]

That... doesn't sound normal. [To put it mildly.] Just the one?

[nopixiedust]

Welcome to the afterlife.

[Nothing is normal here.]

But yep, there's just the one so far!