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

[kokuyoyo]

....My god.... sometimes.... but it's mostly for Ken. My partner.

....and Hakkai as well, I guess. Our current god. [Since Axel isn't here anymore, a fact which never fails to sting a little.]

[unlucky7]

[It must be nice to have someone to cook for. Ginia wonders if Chikusa means partner in the romantic sense or in a more general way, but it's none of her business to ask.

'Current god' also doesn't go unnoticed.]

What do you think about him? Your current god.

[kokuyoyo]

He's an idiot.

[There is zero hesitation.]

....But... he makes more sense than a lot of other people... which makes it more annoying when he's an idiot.

[unlucky7]

[His immediate response is surprising and she huffs at how easily it comes, but his follow up is the kind of thing said if there's some fondness. Generally.]

You don't mind serving him then?

[kokuyoyo]

....I have to serve some god... at least if I want to use magic.

[Which lets him protect Ken.]

So.... I'd rather it be him.... He understands the important parts.

[unlucky7]

[Better a god than no god. Ginia looks at her hands as they step into a line for the cash registers. The unfinished survey sitting in her room comes to mind. Right now she can use borderlines and protect her god, fulfill her duty. But at the same time, there hasn't been much need for either.

What good is a weapon that's never used?

She mulls on her thoughts and carefully picks her words.]

If he didn't understand the important parts, would you have found another god?

[kokuyoyo]

[That's a good question. Would he have found a different god? Chikusa pauses, gaze drifting while they wait for the line to budge forward. Eventually, he finds his answer.]

I might have gone somewhere else with Ken.... but I would have kept the name. [Ah. Right.] If someone wants to cast a spell on you... At least with shinki magic... Then they need all of the names you have.

So.... it's useful, in that aspect.

[unlucky7]

[Ginia knew about the concept of nora from the guide, but the fact a spell needed every name to stay effective is new, very valuable information. Was that why nora were looked down upon? Not just for divided loyalties, but because of the potential they held?

Though a god could have multiple shinki. Why couldn't a shinki serve multiple gods?]

Thank you for telling me.

[She's in no rush to run out and get herself named by another god, but it would be nice to fulfill her purpose all the same.]

How long should a shinki stay with a god before finding a new one?

[kokuyoyo]

As long as they want, I guess.... [It's not really something he's ever thought of, after all.] A lot of people don't have a choice....

It's just a matter of finding one to name you, I guess.

[unlucky7]

[Choice. A blessing and a curse. It's easier when there are set orders and routines, things she can focus on and follow to a t. She can be a good shinki--she wants to be a good shinki--but when there are no orders, nothing to do, no way to serve...

...then it's her chance to make a choice. Find a god that can put her to use.

But that's disloyal to her current god. Maybe it's a matter of time.

Her feet feel heavier as she pushes the cart forward and loads the basket onto the conveyor belt, lapsing into a withdrawn silence.]

[kokuyoyo]

[....Well. That's a level of silence, although Chikusa isn't sure if that's because she's done speaking, or because she's thinking. Either way, he falls into silence as well, watching her hands move dully.]

[Fortunately, there is a chatty cat more than fine with breaking up the silence.]

This distresses you, then?

[unlucky7]

[Ginia looks back at the cat and lifts her shoulders in a shrug. Being mute means no one can force you to talk, but sometimes it's because she doesn't know how to say what's on her mind.

But simply saying nothing is rude too, so Ginia makes a guess and deflects.]

Were you closer to your previous god?

[kokuyoyo]

[...Oh, it's back to him again. Chikusa glances up again, blinking a few times. With the cat being the one to start up the conversation again, he hadn't really considered himself a part of it until now.]

....Yes.

[Quiet and simple. There's a lot he could say about his feelings towards Axel, on the positive and simple side alone, but he's hardly sure where to start.]

[unlucky7]

I'm sorry.

[Ginia doesn't know what the apology is for, but it felt warrented. She's quiet again as the cashier rings up her basket, turning the cart so Chikusa can get his basket, paying and moving to the bagging area without another word. But she'll wait around for him to finish his transaction.

She's lousy company, she knows, but if they're headed in the same direction, no sense splitting up now.]

[kokuyoyo]

[It's fine; Chikusa isn't particularly great company either. He merely shrugs, and accepts his basket when she hands it to him. It's only as they're stepping back into the fresh air and daylight that he speaks up.]

Gods disappear here... constantly. So do shinki. Finding out the reason.... has been difficult so far.

[unlucky7]

[She's heard that from a few people now. It seems cruel, unnecessary. Mostly, Ginia wonders what happen to shinki. Where do you go after you die if this isn't an afterlife?]

The older gods don't know either? Or do they know the reason?

[kokuyoyo]

They tell us nothing.

[Reaching up, Chikusa adjusts his glasses, sliding them further up his nose.]

Even when shinki and gods were being murdered... New ones... I know they were investigating, but they didn't address the issue with us at all... Our own had to track down who was responsible.

The old guard... is unreliable. [As far as he's concerned.]

[unlucky7]

[Hold on. WHAT? Ginia adjusts the bags hanging off her arms, unfiltered surprise.]

Murders? When? Who?

[It's understandable that's not the kind of thing covered, but hearing about the lack of communication from the old gods, a trickle of annoyance runs through Ginia.]

[kokuyoyo]

[Not an unusual reaction to have, honestly... Chikusa pauses, letting the nekomata on his shoulders adjust and Ginia herself take in the sock.]

They stopped.... around mid-August. So only a couple of months ago now... And they started in July.

[So, clearly, they went on for quite a while. And as for 'who'...]

At least seven people.... as far as I could tell. Mostly shinki.

[unlucky7]

What happened to the people responsible? And how many did they kill?

[It's troubling to hear, but maybe more so to know she could have gone on not knowing for who knows how long. Understandable they don't mention such things on the onboarding documents for shinki, and maybe everyone wanted to move on, but it's frustrating not knowing recent history too.]

The old gods really didn't help?

[kokuyoyo]

Around seven, maybe more, in that time... At least from what I could tell.

[It wasn't like Chikusa really cared until the numbers started getting too high... And even then, it was mostly for Ken's benefit that he did anything at all.]

Anyway, he was captured, began to turn into an ayakashi... and was killed before the transformation could be complete. The entire time... If the older gods did help, they didn't get involved except with one or two crime scenes.... and they didn't talk to us at all about it.

[unlucky7]

[Ginia lets out a shaky exhale, her teeth grinding together. It's saddening and frustrating to hear, that it happened, but also the older gods did so little or were so detached. If she was there, Ginia knows what she would have done.

If it happens again, Ginia knows what she'll do.]

What happened to the people that were murdered?

[kokuyoyo]

...They didn't come back.

[Slipping one hand into his pockets, Chikusa tilts his head towards her. That's one of the more mysterious aspects of the whole mess.]

There are people who've died somehow... but since they're gods, or already dead, they return... Just without their memories. But the ones who were murdered during all of that... and the murderer himself... None of them have returned, as far as I know.

[unlucky7]

[So it's possible to come back from death, but not those few for some reason. Layers upon layers of weirdness and details.]

Are there any reports about the murders I can read? The investigations, the results, anything? Or even more generally, other notable things that have happened?

[kokuyoyo]

Ah... I'm not sure if there's anything official.... but if you went through the BBS...

[And... hell, fuck it.]

I probably still have some notes... since we were the ones to hunt him down in the end...