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

[nopixiedust]

Well, you better hurry. I'm not sure how long this food will last with how fast it's going...

[Does Heaven not take care of its birds? Is that the problem here?]

[priforprince]

No respect for an elegant pace.

[ Hibiki reclaims her questionnaire and attempts to do the same thing for her focus. A questionnaire is, after all, just a written interview. She excels at those.

A moment's pause, and then the scratching of a pen on a paper....slowly. ]

[nopixiedust]

[Well, so long as any sort of progress is being made....]

[Wendy only has her job to do, and right now that job includes watching over doves. So she waits by her cart, stroking them gently. Gotta keep them occupied and all.]

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki takes silent advantage of Wendy's industriousness. This will be over as soon as she finishes the survey, correct? Simply managed. Of course. What a pathetic survey, though.

Eventually, she puts down her pen and surveys her answers: ]

What is your name?

How many shinki do you currently have? One

What are your areas of divine responsibility? Sun, performance, prophecy, medicine, PriPara

How do you see your duties as a god? More earnestly than those who send a clamoring messenger alongside a supposedly important form. But the Far Shore shall soon become a place that shines in tranquil elegance.

What traits do you most want in a shinki? Wendy is ideal.

Do you wish new shinki to be assigned to you? []Y []N I'll determine who is suitable to attend me.

[ ...Yes, that will do. Hibiki rolls up the survey around a purple lily, seals it shut with a red wax rose, and ties the whole bundle up with a purple ribbon she just had around, because why wouldn't she have that. There. That should mark this as the most important survey the shinki receive quite nicely. ]

Snacktime is over.

[nopixiedust]

[At least happily fat doves are content doves who don't start trouble or harass gods. That doesn't mean it's a free meal for long, however, and Wendy looks up when Hibiki begins to wrap up the survey with far more flourish than is seriously needed.]

Oh, alright. Well, c'mon, dove.

[Time to pick up a bird again.]

[priforprince]

I doubt they'll gather much other useful information.

[ Hibiki worked hard. She did her survey. That means it is time for tea. ]

[nopixiedust]

[Going over to the window with one bird in her hands and another on her shoulder, she glances back at Hibiki.]

You don't think it mattered to fill it out?

[priforprince]

The process could be improved.

[ She's not going to deny she warmed to the idea of telling people her opinions. Sip. ] Was the shinki version banal?

[ No, it's not the existence of the survey that she objects to. It's that she thinks the questions could use some work. And the messenger.

She has the discretion, at least, to not inquire about the content that Wendy provided. ]

[nopixiedust]

[Urk.]

[Wendy pauses at the window, glad to have an excuse of "watching doves fly off" while she tries to figure out how to respond. Lying is obviously the best course of action.... Still, jeez!]

Well.... I guess it basically had everything you'd probably expect. It wasn't really surprising.

[SUBJECT CHANGE]

What would you make different?

[priforprince]

Screen applicants before their arrival. [ And hire better doves.

Hibiki accepts the subject change, musing over her thoughts. ] As the current defective state of the Far Shore forbids that, however, the questions should at least be made more challenging. Self-evident queries are a waste of time.

[ How she sees her duties as a god. Honestly. Isn't that obvious by the way she chooses to fulfill them? ]