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]

....Is it?

[That doesn't sound quite right to Chikusa, but he guesses it doesn't matter in the end. One shoulder sort of rolls upwards.]

Anyway, even that little bit can help....

[sweetdeath]

Yeah, it's lonelier.

[He shrugs, and manages to recapture a smile, rubbing the back of his neck.]

Anyway, like I said, it's not like I can't deal with getting hurt. I heal fast.

[kokuyoyo]

But obviously not dying.

[Chikusa raises an eyebrow pointedly. All shinki, after all, are dead.]

[sweetdeath]

I haven't found anything that can kill me yet. I mean, there's obviously something, but.

[Evisceration with a chainsaw didn't do it. He figures anything people try at close range is gonna be survivable.

A little awkwardly, he shrugs.]

But, also, not everybody who gets within a couple steps is going to try to kill you.

[kokuyoyo]

How do you know?

[That's Chikusa's problem with it, after all. And the only solution is constant vigilance.]

[sweetdeath]

[Tsuzuki actually laughs at that.]

Because I let people get inside a couple of steps all the time!

[And almost none of them try to kill him.]

[kokuyoyo]

....Then.... You're different.

[That is to say, Tsuzuki's life and death have clearly been different. Then again, Chikusa guesses he can't be surprised. It seems so stupid to him, but.... Other people haven't lived his kind of life.]

[sweetdeath]

Apparently. You can relax about it, too, I swear!

-- but I mean I won't make you. As long as you don't pinch my ear.

[He has boundaries, see.]

[kokuyoyo]

I don't think so.

[If anything, his position in the Heavens is even more perilous. Unlike the mafia... it's a lot harder to tell who his enemies are here.]

....So I can pinch other things then...

[sweetdeath]

No pinching. No pinching of anything.

[He glares. It's not very intimidating, but he's trying.]

[kokuyoyo]

[Definitely not intimidating. Chikusa blinks again at him.]

....Or?

[sweetdeath]

Or you're not getting any more advice about magic from me. You're the one who asked me for a favor!

[And ear pinches are not the right way to convince him to give it.]

[kokuyoyo]

...Oh, you remembered.

[good to hear he didn't get sidetracked at least??]

[sweetdeath]

How stupid do you think I am!?

[He doesn't really want to know the answer to that.]

[kokuyoyo]

[Chikusa doesn't say nothing.]

[He says not a thing.]

[He only stares.]

[sweetdeath]

I'm the one who knows more about magic than you.

[HE WON'T JUST SIT HERE AND TAKE THIS...

...though, okay, he sort of is doing that.]

[kokuyoyo]

[Oh. Oh is that what he's going to say, is he? Chikusa blinks at him again.]

...Your god named you, right?

[sweetdeath]

I was assigned to her when I got here, but yeah, sort of, I guess. Why?

[Man, there are so many changes in this conversation that he just can't keep track.]

[kokuyoyo]

What was it...?

[sweetdeath]

Ask her.

[He might not have studied shinki magic much, but he's not dumb about it.]

[kokuyoyo]

[Dammit. Chikusa huffs quietly.]

....I bet I'm better at shinki magic than you...

[sweetdeath]

Probably. I haven't studied it much, outside of borderlines. I've been pretty busy working on the magic I remember.

[Ha, he thought you were trying to get him with that, Chikusa.

He's grinning outright now.]

[kokuyoyo]

[Shut your face, Tsuzuki.]

Magic like those strips...

[sweetdeath]

Just like that. It's not the same as whatever they're using here, but it's similar, I guess.

[kokuyoyo]

...Even though you don't need a name....