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

[sweetdeath]

You'd think the paperwork alone would convince the Heavens to go digital. [He shakes his head.]

Anyway, yeah, sure it is. You've got to have enough spiritual energy to get them to work, and it has to be the right kind, but anybody can learn spells.

[revolutionfalcon]

They probably like the paperwork. [Shun says that somewhat dryly. Dusty, inefficient bureaucracies seem to be fond of that sort of thing.

That answer from Tsuzuki was about what he was expecting, but it gets a rather flat brow raise from him.] I didn't think I'd need to say learn and use to get the point across. If I can't do anything with it, then there's no point in learning it.

[sweetdeath]

Nobody likes paperwork. -- Well, you're a god, right? You've got to have some spiritual energy.

[Tsuzuki tips him a wink, and slips his phone back into his pocket as he turns to consider Shun more seriously.]

Do you want to learn?

[revolutionfalcon]

Doesn't mean it's the "right kind". [Shun has very little idea of the inner workings of magic and similar sorts of things, and it's pretty clear from the mild irritable note in his voice.]

But if there's a chance it'll work, then I might as well learn what I can. [He likes to have as much ability as possible at his disposal, whether magical or combative, to deal with things here.]

[sweetdeath]

Sure, there is. I can run you through some basic spells and see if you're able to get any of them working, if you want.

[It's true that most gods here seem to use their magic a little differently than Tsuzuki'd expected gods would, but who knows what he'd thought about divine magic when he was alive? He hasn't found himself remembering anything, so far. So it's hard to say.]

... Uh, did you want to do that now or set something up for later?

[revolutionfalcon]

[Well, it's better than leaping right into it with no guarantee it'll work. Shun considers for a moment before nodding slightly.]

Better to do it later. I wouldn't be throwing spells around here when they're trying to reinforce their defenses. [Also when they have work to do. Shun doesn't usually ditch work he's in the middle of, even if it's for more work.]

[sweetdeath]

[He laughs, rubbing the back of his neck.] Good point! I wouldn't want to bring down any negative attention.

Let me give you my number... [He taps at his phone screen and holds it out.] I work afternoons and nights, usually, but if you text me we can set up a time to meet later?

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun's pretty sure everyone has each other's number anyway, but in case Tsuzuki's is different from what's recorded, he pulls out his own phone and takes it down regardless.] I can do mornings after I patrol, or early afternoons. I train with others on some afternoons anyway, so I wouldn't be available later either.

[Ren for the most part, but Chinatsu and Fubuki have approached him previously for it as well, so he has to keep time available for all of them as much as he can.]

[sweetdeath]

Late morning or early afternoon's fine for me. [He nods amiably.]

-- Anyway, I should let you get back to patrolling. Let me know if you find anything interesting!

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun isn't one to hang around any longer than he needs to, especially when he's otherwise occupied, so as soon as Tsuzuki indicates his presence isn't required, he turns and starts to head off.]

I don't think there'll be much of it here. [The wards of themselves are "interesting", but staring at them isn't really, and they haven't had much activity on the patrolling front either.]