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]

[think think think think...]

....I guess, but you're still useful, so....

[A comp...li...ment...???]

[revolutionfalcon]

[That just gets a rather flat look out of Shun.]

So obviously it's not that weird to you to mostly interact with someone when it's useful to you.

[Which is essentially the manner of Shun's relationship with Hakkai, aside from Hakkai's occasional passive-aggressive baskets.]

[kokuyoyo]

I guess, but wasting time over hating you seems...

[...a waste.]

[Chikusa still also doesn't get being angry over food, either.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[It takes "wasting time over hating you" for Shun to guess that he's probably still talking about the business with Hakkai.]

If you're talking about things Hakkai's stupid baskets, we have a shared friend he expects me to pass them on to. He just seems to think it's funny to convince me to take them.

[And occasionally include jerky for the vultures, apparently.]

[kokuyoyo]

Probably because you get worked up over them like this...

[Chikusa huffs a small sigh.]

Just stop reacting...

[revolutionfalcon]

This isn't "worked up". And not everyone is you.

[Or, not everyone is lacking emotions or concern to the point it takes more effort to react to something than it does to not react to it.]

[kokuyoyo]

Ah.... I can't tell if that's a good or bad thing...

[On one hand, he'd understand people better. On the other hand, they'd all be messes who don't like to move.]

[revolutionfalcon]

Definitely a good thing. [Shun doesn't even need to consider that. If the entire world was people like Chikusa, it would've been destroyed a while ago, assuming they all didn't just end up killing each other for petty reasons.]

[kokuyoyo]

If you say so.

[At least Shun is honest that way.]

Anyway.... I guess it only matters if anyone learns anything.

[revolutionfalcon]

Probably. And that's going to be hard considering things like what the library's like about giving out information. Have you even found anything about what's gone on here before we were here while you've been going through it yet?

[It'd be nice to know, and Chikusa's in there often enough that he should have more of an idea, but he doesn't get the impression he's hit on anything yet.]

[kokuyoyo]

Not particularly.... but I know that Lavi has said that some books have had pages torn out of them. I also found a stray page, but it was for a spell...

Bear in mind... I haven't exactly been looking for that kind of thing.

[revolutionfalcon]

[That first thing absolutely sounds suspicious enough to get Shun's eyes narrowing.] Did he say it was history books that had the pages torn out?

[If Chikusa's bringing them up here, he'd assume so, but he'd still like to have confirmation.] You're still in there often enough to see things in passing.

[kokuyoyo]

He said it was things specific to Amaterasu.

[So, close- and even more worrying.]

Anyway, not yet.... There are a lot of different books scattered everywhere even with what we've worked on. [He's essentially working in the largest library in the world, after all.] But I'm sure if I try looking, I might find something.

Want me to try that then....?

[revolutionfalcon]

[That's even more suspicious than it just being historical things in general, and Shun grimaces slightly. He's already been trying to broach the subject with some of the outer old gods, but hasn't been getting much in the way of answers.

At Chikusa's suggestion, he nods slightly.] It's the kind of thing that'd be useful if we can get more information on it, and the library stands a chance of having things we won't get out of the old gods. Even books they might not've gotten to "edit".

[He puts that rather dryly.]

[kokuyoyo]

Then I'll see what I can dig up.... Or even if that room in the back becomes available...

[And by "available", he means "broken into". He's not going to fucking let it win, alright? He doesn't care what it means but he's fucking doing it. Still, that's for the future. For now, he blinks at Shun.]

....In return, bring me lunch. Since I'm doing work.

[revolutionfalcon]

Has anything even changed about that room? I spoke to Lavi about it once, but neither of us could figure out how to get in. [Shun had even tried his powers, as doubtful as he'd been that they were actually going to work. Predictably, they hadn't.

He looks somewhat less impressed by Chikusa's exchange suggestion, though.] If it's information that benefits you to know as well, then it's hardly going out of your way.

[kokuyoyo]

Someone's in it.

....They steal any paper I poke under the door.

[So, needless to say, he's been experimenting.]

Me and someone else are thinking of using a camera thin enough to go under the door to see if we can get anything better on that front... We just need to get the equipment. [So that's his plan on it.] Anyway, bringing me lunch with how much you move around... is also hardly going out of your way...

[revolutionfalcon]

Sounds like he'd probably just steal the camera as well. [A camera that thin isn't going to be easy to keep hold of, assuming they can even get it under the door in the first place.] And I move around to do things that are actually useful. It's not my fault you're as lazy as you are.

[Coming from Chikusa, "how much you move around" sounds more weirdly judgemental than anything.]

[kokuyoyo]

Even if they do... So long as it's on, we'll still be able to get a look at who it is... And it's not like we'll be paying for it, so it's a net gain in the end..

[A pause.]

...It's fine if it's from a big company and for something like this, right... [Don't harass him over his criminal ways again...]

[revolutionfalcon]

I'd say someone that secretive would probably know enough to break a camera. [Even if most of the Heavens is about a hundred years behind technology-wise.

As for the question, he shrugs.] As long as nobody's livelihood is getting ruined over your inability to pay for anything, I don't really care.

[kokuyoyo]

We still may get something. So... again... net gain.

[Besides, it's a toss up pin the air if they'll know enough to break it, or just get curious about it. Some people are more knowledgeable about this kind of thing than others, and you never know who is which.]

[At least Shun won't get on his ass about it. That's all he needs.]

[revolutionfalcon]

"Might" isn't really saying much. [Doing anything just on the basis that it might produce a result isn't something Shun finds particularly convincing, but it's Chikusa's problem to deal with if he wants to stick a camera under the door.]

[kokuyoyo]

Bad news.... "Might" is all we have to work with, at best, when it comes to investigating.

[Shun is free to tell him otherwise, of course.]

[revolutionfalcon]

From the sound of things, you've been less investigating and more throwing things at the door to see what sticks.

[Both figuratively and literally. Shun can't imagine whoever's behind the door is going to be terribly pleased with Chikusa even if he does get it open eventually.]

[kokuyoyo]

...That's basically the same thing.

[Trust him on this.]