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

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Sure thing. Oh, hold on.

[In response to an unheard command, one of the minions pops back over with a bright wave, yanking the Overlord's phone out of the massive leather belt that is apparently what she thinks qualifies as a shirt.]

Why not pop your number in there in case one of us is running late?

[unlucky7]

[Fashion is a very personal and subjective thing and Ginia does not judge the tastes of others. She regards the phone with a brief flicker of suspicion, but he has a fair point. If he ends up being obnoxious later, there's always blocking him. When she finishes, she returns the phone to the minion.]

I'm going to get back to work, I'll let you get back to your cackling. See you later.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[Hmm. He'd kind of been expecting her to weasel out of that. Maybe she's actually serious about this whole thing?]

[This doesn't seem like something that should have worked...]

Right. See you later, then. [More puzzled than arrogant, as he scrutinizes her in an effort to figure out her game.]

[unlucky7]

[Her game is simple: even if he's an evil, giant floating book, a free meal is a free meal. And the more you know about someone, the better off you are. And if he was lying about dinner and it was just a ruse to get her number, blocking him is easy enough.

So when 5:50 rolls around, Ginia stands outside the Meeting Hall, smiling to herself as he browses the internet on her phone. She's dressed no different from earlier, save perhaps her jacket is a bit dustier and her boots a bit more covered in soot. For such a nice place, they really don't dust it enough.]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[Zetta is a little more precise; up he wanders a few minutes later. Or to be more precise, up he comes a few minutes later, carried by a minion who seems utterly inured to the task.]

[He's briefly surprised to see her, but quickly breaks out a grin.]

Well hey there again, G. Work up an appetite?

[unlucky7]

[Ginia glances up from her phone and waves. Hey, he actually showed up. She flashes a smile as she types. With how much work there is to do, she's been busy all day. Dinner is definitely welcome.]

I'm starving. Where to?

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Near Shore's a pretty busy place -- what grabs you? Me, I could go for some hot wings. [She looks like the type of girl who'd go for hot wings, though he's totally guessing on that. Kind of a tomboy, he figures, especially compared to a lot of the teens around here.]

[unlucky7]

Whatever you want, I'm not picky.

[Not picky, not used to making decisions, either or. Food is food and if he's the one paying it makes sense for him to choose anyway. Though his assessment of her being a tomboy isn't far off. With her hair back in a ponytail and wearing black cargo pants and a black leather jacket, she certainly gives off that impression.]

As usual, DW image uploading doesn't work right :(

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[There's nothing wrong with black and leather. She definitely rocks the look, enough to make Zetta regret the lack of a body. Still, no one ever accomplished anything by bemoaning setbacks!]

Grab on, then. I'll get us on down to the Near Shore.

[unlucky7]

[Instant teleportation, a nice perk of being a god. Ginia lightly sets her hand on Zetta's spine. Do your thing.]

((ooc: Jacket link!))

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[Smug in how so far everything is going his way, Zetta drops them down to the Near Shore. No fuss, no muss; they're simply there, on the sidewalk in a less crowded part of the city, unnoticed by those who walk around. The Overlord remains propped up by a minion, but beyond that it's just her and him.]

[unlucky7]

[Good to go unnoticed, especially in the company of a book and his minion. Not that it's an issue, but also...]

Do your minions order for you if you need something or do you have some kind of shape-shifting ability?

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Naw, people just... look past me. It's weird. [And a little insulting, but it probably beats being gawked at and provoking confrontations that would end up in violence and chaos.]

[The minion shrugs as if to reflect the Overlord's statement, even as they turn to head towards a small little restaurant that even from here seems to heat the air around it.]

[unlucky7]

[Well, if it works. There's a lively atmosphere to the restaurant, already busy with the after-work crowd. Still, it doesn't take too long for them to get seated--the server doesn't even blink with Ginia requests seating for two--at a booth.]

What do you recommend?

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[Don't ask him how it works, but it does. Pretty handy, he has to admit, and it spares him a lot of grief. He might need to remember this sort of trick when he gets himself properly settled back in.]

What's your spice tolerance? They have some pretty sweet heat here.

[unlucky7]

I don't know. [She hasn't had a chance to try spicy food since starting her life as a shinki, and if she knew in the past, it's all clearly moot. Ginia glances at the menu, noting the different levels of spiciness.]

I'll start with the mild one and go from there.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[That's a little disappointing, but hey -- nowhere on this world has he found something to compare to his preferred selection of Netherdactyl wings so spicy they distort the air around them.] I'm going hotter, so you can have a taste and see how it does for you.

[unlucky7]

[Sure, sure, works for her. After mulling over the menu a little longer, Ginia settles on a basket of wings with fries and waves down a server to put in her order.

After sitting for a few minutes, Ginia takes her jacket off, bits of soot falling to the ground as she folds it up and sets it aside. Zetta's earlier guess was right; she's in excellent shape. Her arms have the muscles of a rock climber and in a fitted t-shirt, her torso is looking good too.]

How'd the heist go after I left? Did you end up buying anything with the money?

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[...Well, damn. Zetta can totally approve. And that approval may in fact influence his answer a bit.]

So far, dinner for a cute girl. [He grins across the table at her.]

[unlucky7]

[Ginia looks back with a light pout.]

Cute? I was hot earlier. I've either been downgraded or you took someone else out for dinner before me. Which one is it?

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[Oh, now this is a little more like the adversarial struggling he'd been subconsciously expecting the entire time! Strangely, this seems to give Zetta even more energy.]

Neither! You can totally be both at the same time! In fact, there's a LOT of good adjectives for you!

[unlucky7]

I want to hear the adjectives you have in mind for me.

[Her pout turns into a faint smile, slightly challenging. Whatever he's about to say, Ginia has a hunch it'll be no different than their earlier conversation.]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Ripped.

[Bet that wasn't the first one she had in mind, but after she'd taken off her jacket, it's pretty high up in Zetta's.]

Seriously, have you got a six-pack going under that shirt?

[unlucky7]

[It wasn't, and her eyes widen slightly for a second, her smile a bit more real. Ripped. Huh. But it's true,and at his question, serious or not, Ginia stands, lifts her shirt just enough to show off and maybe a bit more to tease, and tightens her muscles.

Damn right she does.]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[Damn.]

[Good thing for the Far Shore cloak of being unnoticeable -- that would have drawn the eyes of every guy and probably a few girls in the place.]

[The Netherworld is an interesting place. A lot of girls there run off the Gothic-lolita sort of imprint. Then you have succubi and catgirls, who are almost comedic in their, uh, feminine proportions. Zetta had historically favored women who were both elegant and curvy, whose strength came from their mana power rather than sheer physical might.]

[So damned if he isn't surprised to find Ginia's mixture of curvy and powerful is really something else.]

[He lets out a low, appreciative whistle at the sight.] Yeah, that added a few adjectives to the pile. Or uh... adverbs? You know, going from 'hot' to 'damn hot'?