26 - The Gods' Month

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Helping the Heavens prepare for the yearly Meeting of the Gods
When: October 20 - 21
Where: Around the Heavens (and maybe some mortal shopping trips, too!)
Summary: Amaterasu has been told that the newly arrived residents of the Heavens want to take a bigger part in security and administration, so she's convinced her shinki to let them help with preparations for the big yearly gala. It's also time for shinki to rate their gods and gods to find out what their shinki really think of them....







Security Precautions

The white-robed shinki guards are working hard to secure the Meeting Hall for the arrival of all the gods of Japan. Hard-working shinki are scurrying everywhere! Despite Amaterasu's orders, they're still a little unsure of and standoffish towards the strangers who they're supposed to work with, but there's a lot of work to do, so they're happy to hand out jobs to small groups of newcomers before returning to their own duties.


• Help clear out any small spirits who might have sneaked back into the Meeting Hall after the spring cleaning, from sootsprites to nekomata, animal spirits from the park or well-camouflaged plant spirits.


• Check the magical writing worked into art or inlaid in wood all over the building to protect the Meeting Hall from attack, and make sure none of it is scuffed or damaged.


• Join in on the patrols around the building or spend some time guarding one of the gates. It's boring, but the shinki appreciate the help.


• Test the integrity and extent of the magical protections with glass balls that turn purple outside the protections on the Meeting Hall and clear inside them. But don't drop your glass ball! They're fragile.

Event Preparation

It's not just security that the shinki are asking newcomers to help with. They also have plenty of work to do getting ready for the festivities! The Meeting Hall floors need to be swept and scrubbed, the gardens need to be trimmed and tidied, artwork needs to be dusted, flower arrangements arranged, damaged furniture repaired and rafters cleared of cobwebs. Anyone with particularly good handwriting can help write out invitations and name cards, too.

Besides cleaning and calligraphy, there's lots of food and beverages to purchase! Grab a shopping list, a wad of cash, and head to the Near Shore to pick up the necessities. (Don't forget to keep the receipts.)

Rate Your God

Shinki have the opportunity to submit surveys on their life with their new gods before the big event, and even request a transfer if they want one. Early in the morning, every new shinki will be visited by a small white dove carrying a scroll that, when unrolled, reveals the following questionnaire:


What is your name?

What is your god's name?

How do you see your duties as a shinki?

What is your favorite part of life with your god?

What is your least favorite part of life with your god?

What advice would you like to give your god?

Do you wish to be assigned to a different god? []Y []N


Fill it out, discuss it with your fellow shinki, forget about it until you find it under a pile of junk mail in two months: the choice is yours! Gods will receive a copy of the answer that their shinki submit to "What advice would you like to give your god?" -- there's no name attached, but they might be able to guess.

Heavenly Record Keeping

Gods don't get to skip the paperwork entirely! Although the Heavens aren't asking them to rate their shinki, new gods don't have all of their vital statistics on file quite yet, so they get a questionnaire too. The same white doves will drop their scrolls by in the morning, with the following set of questions:


What is your name?

How many shinki do you currently have?

What are your areas of divine responsibility?

How do you see your duties as a god?

What traits do you most want in a shinki?

Do you wish new shinki to be assigned to you? []Y []N


Unlike the doves attending on the shinki, the doves who drop off the gods' scrolls will remain close by and chirp loudly until they finish and submit their questionnaires. If a god is particularly lazy about it, they might even start pecking.

In Summary:

• Help protect the Meeting Hall
• Lend a hand cleaning and shopping
• Rate your gods
• Help Heaven keep its records up to date
• Have fun~

Comments

[declamando]

[Thankfully, Maria has quick reflexes, and though she's going too fast to actually stop, she jumps the swing of the broom and lands on the other side unscathed. As she straightens up, she glances out the window with a slight frown.]

Hopefully they didn't end up in the garden. [As for the question of more, Maria points with her broom back the way she came.] There's a little group hiding out in a corner that I couldn't get while I had so many of them packed together.

[hellishrabbit]

[Nice dodge.

With Kamui’s swing, they probably ended up further.]

It’ll be fiiine. [He shrugs nonchalantly.]

We should go round the rest up, no?

[Broom in one hand, he picks up his umbrella which he left against the wall earlier before joining in the soot pursuit.]

[declamando]

[Maria has trouble being that blase about even this sort of thing, but she supposes whoever's cleaning the garden gets to deal with it now if that's the case anyway. There are still ones left to round up, so Maria nods a little and heads back the way she came, broom looking like a deadly weapon in her hand.]

I don't know how on earth they let so many of them get in here if this is supposed to be an important meeting hall. How hard is it to shut doors and windows?

[hellishrabbit]

Maybe you can file a complaint later.

[Broom and umbrella in hand, Kamui followed along next to her. Both were on a mission, and possibly a little too into it.

Without warning, he stabs the broom across the front of Maria's face, smashing the bristles against the wall. He pulls back, revealing what was left of the black soot.]

Excuse me.

[declamando]

[There may not be any verbal warning, but Maria sees the broom move in the corner of her eye, and manages to duck such that the stab of the broom just ruffles her hair with the speed of it. When she straightens up, even if she can see he was going for a soot sprite, she doesn't look very pleased.]

I know people say "it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission", but if you actually hit someone that hard I don't think they'd be very ready to forgive you.

[Though he didn't actually hit her, so for the moment, she's just mildly annoyed.]

[hellishrabbit]

They say that?

[Somehow that makes him brighten up, like he'd learned something convenient.]

I trusted that you'd be able to dodge.

[declamando]

Please don't get any ideas. [Maria says that rather sternly. She doesn't get the impression this guy is the kind of person "it's better to ask forgiveness than permission" was made for.]

So what would you have done if you didn't trust I could dodge? [It might be a fair point in this case since she'd dodged the first time, but she's curious.]