27 - The Gods' Meeting

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: The Meeting of the Gods is here at last.
When: October 30
Where: Heaven's Meeting Hall
Summary:







Pre-Meeting

Guards at the front door are carefully checking each god who enters off on their list of attendees, and taking the names of each of their shinki attendants.

Once the participants are past the doors, they are guided down the hallway to a huge meeting room by one of the guards, who will announce them by divine title, and each of their shinki by whatever name they gave. It's an open question as to who's actually listening, though, because the room is swiftly filling up with gods and shinki. As well as the newcomers, old gods are here, some in human form attended by their uniformed shinki, others in stranger shapes -- giant bears, round-bellied tanuki, turtles, dragons, and more. There's even one tricolored tabby cat in a small blue cap, seated majestically in the arms of a uniformed shinki and chatting with another god.

Buffet tables bearing every kind of food and drink imaginable are set up at one end of the room, and a dais with a podium is at the other, draped in bright gold and white bunting and emblazoned with a chrysanthemum emblem.

Early Announcements

Finally, the socialization comes to an end, and the meeting itself begins as Ookuninushi grabs the microphone and steps up to the podium. The year's most popular gods are named first: Hotei, one of the Seven Gods of Fortune, is in third place, Tenjin in second and Ebisu in first place. Each steps up to bow and accept their accolades in turn: Hotei is a big man with a wide smile, Tenjin a tall, ascetic man wearing old robes and concealing his smug expression behind a fan, and a tired-looking younger man in a business suit announces himself as representing Ebisu, who is watching over the Near Shore during the event.

Next, the most popular new god is announced: Ookuninushi has to stop and wrinkle his nose at the name for several seconds before he pronounces it-- Nekhbet, a new arrival in the Heavens.

He moves on to call for a moment of silence recognizing the difficulties of the last year. Many gods have faced reincarnation and returned wearing unfamiliar faces! The Heavens can't yet explain the cause of these changes, but Amaterasu herself urges them to welcome their friends' new incarnations as brothers and sisters in the Heavens.

His final announcement is that, after the successful resolution of the trouble associated with some recent deaths, Orihime has been restored to her place among the eight million gods.

Fortune Weaving

Announcements finished, the main activity of the evening begins. The white-robed shinki bring in huge baskets filled with wooden prayer plaques, setting them down all around the room, and the gods begin to form into circles around each basket. The older gods will gladly explain to any confused newcomers that they're weaving fortunate connections between mortal lives as they spread the plaques out and tie strings off together with great care. All the plaques have names written on them; some are filled out with prayers, some just with notes, and others adorned with pictures of flowers, animals or favorite characters.

Gods and shinki are given blank plaques to inscribe with their own names, too, in order to give them the chance to make fortunate connections as well. (Not necessarily romantic, the other gods will assure them! There are many different kinds of fated connection.)

Help out, take the opportunity to chat, and make some fortunate matches for yourself as well as these hard-working petitioners.

Midnight Disaster

Just shy of midnight, while the gods are still matching up plaques, finishing the last of the banquet, and getting into drunken arguments over who to connect to whom, a shinki in a dark suit torn at the shoulder comes dashing into the Meeting Hall.

"Calamity!" he cries-- and tells the assembled Heavens that a mysterious blight has fallen across a sleepy residential community in the Tokyo suburbs. The blight, a huge circle covering about two blocks, is sucking the life out of everything inside it: plants are wilting, and people and animals have fallen into deathly slumber. As if that weren't bad enough, it's also attracting big, dangerous ayakashi. Ebisu and his shinki are there now, but there aren't enough of them to fight the ayakashi and move the people trapped inside the blighted circle to a safer place before they die.

Volunteers will need to fight ayakashi and rescue the mortals trapped in the blight -- once they're outside its edge, they'll begin to wake up and recover on their own.

In Summary:

• Enjoy the banquet before the announcements
• Hear about the most popular gods
• Help make fortunate connections for the living
• Respond to a disaster
• Have fun~

Comments

[priforprince]

Naturally.

[ If everything plays out as she plans it. Which, why wouldn't it, she's brilliant. ] The mortals are blessed to live in a world whose tranquility you guarantee.

[ It's not anybody's fault there isn't a PriPara. And she's going to fix that. Anomalies like the world's most popular new god will be fixed after the revolution. ]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

[She pokes her head out to find herself witness to a pitched fight in the middle of the street. Two ayakashi struggle desperately to get claw or fang on the ninja as he darts around them, swords lashing out to lick wounds across their sides and muzzles. With his agility he can run, or dodge at least, circles around them. Putting them down is out of the question, of course -- but he can keep them distracted and away from the innocents.]

[Edge hadn't quite counted on her plan. Jeez, he really hopes she's not doing this just because it's expedient, the way she'd been lobbing people into the truck!]

[Crap. Edge flicks a hand out, launching from it a crackling dagger that sinks into the pavement behind one of the ayakashi. The spirit freezes immediately, pinned as its shadow is, and Edge scrambles over to stand beneath her as he slams his swords back into their sheaths.]

Okay!

[Boy, he hopes he has this.]

[priforprince]

My patience for this farce is over.

[ Hibiki tosses the doll back into the box, then turns to grab the plaques she had remaining. ] I'll finish this at my temple.

[ The ones she's already done she leaves here. Cleanup is not her concern. ]

[priforprince]

Farewell.

[ Feeling like, despite the unorthodox appearance and aura of their new audience, they were able to make a deep and important impression, the amazing god of the sun swings their way off into the....

Well, you can't even see the moon, so they go off to look for their shinki. But. Gracefully. Magnificently! Trailing red lily petals in their wake!

It's the principle of the thing. Now, a god's duty calls! ]

[nibelungvalesti]

Before we engage -- do you require arms or armor?

[They cannot defeat ayakashi but they can harm them and defend themselves. That is important, and this girl seems ill-equipped to do either.]

[mithrarin]

...Aren't you still missing a doll?

[She'd lost three and they'd found two... right? Being around Hibiki makes Dust question reality sometimes.]

[trademark_skull]

[It is true, running a government is hard work. If Emizel had taken control of the Netherworld right now he definitely wouldn't have time for stuff like this.]

[Can't really say anything about ruling over the sun though.]

Somebody else could always take over the Heavens if you wanna do other things. I'm sure there's someone that would be willing to do it.

[That's how it sometimes goes right? Besides battling them of course.]

I mean, how are you supposed to keep followers anyway if you can't answer any of them?

[lionhearrt]

[ Not basically. They are fundamentally different. His answer in opposition of the other. It might be the same to him, but to Suoh, it was the difference between a failed King and one who wore the crown. In other words, slight, yet monumental. ]

I knew the first time, too.

[ A confession? No. A statement of truth. Back then, he knew where his actions would loud lead him, knew exactly where they were leading him now. Death had been stalking him even before he was crowned and he'd long ago grown bored of the wait. ]

[shutupnail]

[Chikusa needn't have bothered with the flare-line as Piccolo had already spotted the other shinki's initial borderline and was calculating the angle and length it would need to be in order for this plan to have any merit. He had a unique vantage point for such measurements, too, as he floated above the ground and gazed at the entire area.

He dropped closer to the ground however as he went to form his borderline. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about the Namekian's borderline other than its size and strength perhaps. It looked strong. Piccolo was nothing if not indomitable in will and spirit and his borderline reflected his determination.

His aim was mostly accurate, too. He managed to line it up with Chikusa's far end at least--the rest was up to the final shinki waiting back at the starting point. Hopefully it would finish the triangle properly. And hopefully that perimeter would do some good inside where all the trouble was taking place.]

[hellskitchen]

Oh,they don't?

[ He just assumed all temples had something like that, but only Add wanted to tampered with it. It makes sense if it's only within their temple and why his god was able to access it. Probably why Zelda and Lenneth accompanied him as well, since it could only be done there.Rin doesn't know how he missed that detail.

At the mention of Ain not seeming human, Rin supposes that's a good observation to make. It hasn't been confirmed, but there is something otherworldly about the shinki.]

I don't think he's dangerous though. [He's just not aware of how murderous Ain can be.] I just think he needs to interact with people more, and he'll be all right.

Roxas seems really careful, but I can tell that he's a curious person. Maybe he's a little shy, he just needs to get out of shell a bit more.

[hellskitchen]

[ Rin certainly has more than an appreciation for food besides eating it. He likes to cook a lot, and he's pretty good at it too.]

Yeah I cook, but I'm not a chef. I think it's something I was really good at back home. Maybe I can cook something for you,one day.

[trademark_skull]

[Has Rin even looked at the other gods' plaques? Emizel still blushes nonetheless though, before going back to work.]

I never had to tie so many knots before... [Although slowly but surely, they were getting a bit more consistent. Not quite as tight so you can actually see the intricate weave - Emizel's done it so many times he had it mostly memorized now.]

[water_meebo]

[ Mikleo signs at her response but he couldn't blame her. Being put under stress wasn't his cup of tea either but they needed to work together if they were going to get the people help in any way they can.

He's not an imposter, nor did her ever claim to be her. Honestly, sometimes he feels like he's fighting a losing battle with her. He's glad that she was able to get the family to safety. On Mikleo's end he's going to have to keep those things at bay until a god and shinki pair can take care of them.

Right now all he could really do was push them away from the people that were in danger. They needed a clearer area to keep the ayakashi at bay. That meant someone had to move the rest of them to another location. ]

Can you relocate the rest of the people here? It looks like they're determined to harm them. I can't do much on my end but I can slow them down while you get them to safety.

[water_meebo]

[ He can't deny that but as long as it is harmless right? Mikleo doesn't have any true ill intentions at the very least. He's just a bit more curious than others by nature and he knows it can be a handful to deal with. He tries his best to not go over the top sometimes.

For someone he's only spoken to once or twice, it makes sense. He won't be able to really figure out what Tatara is thinking at this point. He's got a strong front. ]

You seem to enjoy that aspect a lot don't you?

[ He can't help but stifle a small laugh for that. ]

Indeed, I suppose it has something to do with what people can recall more vividly, huh? In this case, a violent and fearsome god would be more memorable like you said. They incur a sense of uneasiness among those who aren't so violent...

[ It really isn't their business but Mikleo's curious about the workings of the mind as well. You can never stop learning! ]

[redotiertwo]

You can't both be independent and founding your identity on someone else, dude, that's not how that works.

[Mutually exclusive, and all that. Davesprite is happy enough to keep the ayakashi between himself and Chikusa for the duration of this conversation, so he's mostly just watching the carnage for now.]

[redotiertwo]

Nope. Right now I'm learning a thing about hiding myself, all that fuckery of the senses sort of business. [Which does not involve finding other places to put a sword, sadly, but it is potentially pretty useful otherwise.

That definitely sounds like there's been a bit of an upheaval in Rin's temple, though, and Davesprite just stares at length for a moment.] Christ, what the fuck did your god do to land that. The only time we've had that big a change in my temple was when two of my god's shinki vanished just after I showed up.

[Which was decidedly less good, but at least it's been quite some time now.]

nw!

[abgrund]

[ ain peers down at the plaques, a slight frown crossing his eyebrow ]

You can tell? How?

[ he shakes his head at the question, his hair trailing behind them ]

....... do I have to?

[welcome_home]

[ She follows him, glancing out the window as she pauses at his side and then down at the street. ]

Chikusa... what if the ayakashi sees it too?

[priforprince]

Someone will be sent for it later.

[ Wendy, or that bird who's started hanging out and doing servant things...Multiple options exist.

The plaques clatter into the box, which Hibiki does at least deign to pick up herself. ] I'm leaving.

[priforprince]

[ Back from saving the family, the masked savior moves right to the next cluster of victims. ] Don't let even a single one pass.

[ You're being. Entrusted. With a mission. And if someone this amazing is counting on you, surely you will not let them down.... ]

[mithrarin]

Well... I won't tell your haunter that it's actually getting to you if you don't. That might encourage it, after all.

[This is Dust's subtle and clever way of pointing out that she's definitely rewarding the -- the whatever it is, by getting in such a huff and stomping off. Since he's concluded that if he points it out any more directly, he'll just inspire her oppositional attitude even more.]

[declamando]

[It doesn't make a lot of sense, but Maria can catch the general gist of what he's getting at, and she doesn't get the impression it would make any more sense than if she tried to explain her world to someone else. Still, she gives a somewhat doubtful hum as she thinks about it.]

I've never met a human mage - or alchemist, I suppose, since that's what most of them are in my world - powerful enough to pull someone across worlds, or universes. There are relics that can open doors, but only to a single specific place. I think it might well be a little more complicated than just that.

[declamando]

I don't think it would be too hard, no. [Tie it to her ego somehow and it should be a piece of cake. Maria seems faintly amused at the thought.]

I think there's a few people I wouldn't mind being tied to, but I'm not sure how eager or not any of them would be to write their names down. It's their business whether they choose to in the end.

[declamando]

[Maria looks over that way, changing her course a little on the buildings to get there quicker. The ayakashi can still be heard skittering and crunching along the ground beneath them, occasionally sounding like it's trying to leap up onto the side of the building but slipping down each time.

Once they get to the last building before the intersection, Maria sets Elfnein down on the rooftop, where she'll have a good view of the whole area.]

I'll head it off before it decides trying to go at the building again is a good idea. [With that, she moves to leap down to ground level once more.]

[declamando]

[Maria purses her lips a bit, because there's a lot of potential answers to that.] Possibly. Or other than both of those, it could have been orchestrated. This isn't the first time we've had an attack conveniently timed to us being preoccupied with something else.

[Amaterasu's temple fire is the most obvious example she can think of, but she's also not discounting the possibility it's happened before or since.]