April Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: November 6th
Where: Outside the Meeting Hall, the Far Shore
Summary: Training and informational sessions for newly arrived gods and shinki



Gods and shinki arriving at heaven's meeting hall are, should they allow it, guided to the rear of the Meeting Hall, where a traditionally styled dojo and training ground have been made available for the day. The gods and shinki are free to take their time during this day to learn about the details of their new life from Amaterasu's shinki or from the many veteran new god and shinki volunteers.




God Training

Newly arrived gods are escorted into a much nicer room than the warehouse where the last set of new gods got their informational speech. It's a smaller meeting room, with tatami floors and a small dais at the front of the room where the speaker stands. A minor deity is giving the speech, and none of the white-robed shinki enter. They are encouraged to discuss the information with each other and ask questions of more experienced gods, as well as instructed to guide their new shinki appropriately.

Shinki Training

Various shinki in the white-and-gold of Amaterasu's hosuehold are stationed around the dojo, passing out helpful informational pamphlets. They will be happy to instruct the newcomers in the use of the borderline as well as offering an explanation of what is expected of a shinki and the importance of teamwork with other shinki and with gods. Shinki are encouraged to work together to practice what they've learned and discuss their perspectives.

Butterfly spirits are swarming the flower garden to one side of the dojo, fluttering across bright pink late-blooming cosmos. Shinki who want to practice more precise borderline aim can try using them to gently herd the butterflies one way or another, or, if their borderlines aren't quite that good yet, they can try to catch one with a net. Just be careful! It would be a shame to hurt them.

Physical Training

The dojo is stocked with a wide variety of practice weapons, traditional and modern, to offer some practice opportunity to gods who, for example, find themselves with a sword shinki but are at risk of cutting off their own toes. It's also useful for veteran new gods wishing to train with their current partner shinki.

The animated training dummies are missing this week, although the mundane ones are still intact on their stakes; the white-robed shinki who has previously been seen looking after them is wandering among the mundane training dummies, muttering, making notes to himself and swearing under his breath. Anyone who stares at him for too long, god or shinki, newcomer or established, is going to find him marching over and assigning them a task. Measure the air temperature in each square foot of the dojo, determine the exact height of each dummy and the location where it's most likely to be hit by opponents of different heights, hook an accelerometer to someone's sleeve while they smack a dummy around -- there seem to be hundreds of little, fiddly measurements he needs, and he's not taking no for an answer.

Rest and Refreshments

There are casks of fresh, cold water near the dojo to make sure no one gets dehydrated, and a fresh autumn-themed lunch will be served a little after noon. Rice with mushrooms, salt-grilled fish, roasted sweet potatoes and fresh fruit are on the menu; the shinki will try to accommodate any special dietary requests, and both the new arrivals and more experienced volunteers are welcome to partake.

One of the white-robed shinki has a whole pack of half-grown puppies that she seems to be trying to train. A few have mastered sitting, a few have figured out how to fetch, and all of them are young and excited enough that they're dashing off in all directions at the least provocation. Watch out! Dog incoming! Maybe she needs some help with that?

In Summary:

• Get all the information you can handle
• Veteran new gods and shinki are welcome to volunteer showing the ropes
• Get in some training
• Play with the dogs
• Spectate if you want
• Have fun~

Comments

[chibisu]

I can't speak for any other god. [He can only speak for himself, and, well, they should both be aware that he can only speak so much even there.] Oh, but if you want to speak to a god that interacts a lot with humans, then you should speak to Yato!

[revolutionfalcon]

I've spoken to him a few times, but as far as I know, he and Yukine have been busy with something for a while. I haven't seen either of them in a few months. [He's not giving any more details than that out since Yukine had been fairly secretive about it, but the main gods he'd been talking to who seemed decent about that sort of thing have both been absent of late, like Bishamon.]

[chibisu]

Yato is a small time god who doesn't have as many followers, I think... but that means he works very hard in the Near Shore for it. I think we're friends! [He seems really pleased about that.... However, being reminded of Yato sets of a lightbulb, and he pauses in the way he'd been rocking on his heels.]

Oh! That reminds me, I made a mistake, Kurosaki-sama. I've definitely been on the Near Shore and spoken with humans. [He presses his hands together, smiling.] Yato took me down there shortly after I reincarnated, to a restaurant he said my previous incarnation wanted to go back to.

[revolutionfalcon]

I've heard about that. [Yato had actually once revealed to him his concerns about not being reincarnated for lack of followers, so Shun knows that much about him, at least.

He does raise a brow a bit at Ebisu's choice of example, though.] So only once, and what would've had to be almost a year ago now.

[If not more. All Shun's heard about Ebisu's reincarnation was that it happened "shortly before" newcomers started arriving.]

[chibisu]

Mm, yeah... But my shinki haven't wanted me to go out too much. We've had too much work to do anyway, so it might not have been particularly possible anyway...

[revolutionfalcon]

What kind of "work" do you end up focusing on, anyway? [Shun's never heard a lot of detail when it comes to what the old gods are always so busy with, other than the fact that they're supposedly always too busy to actually interact with the people they're supposed to be helping.]

[chibisu]

[A glint starts to shine in Ebisu's eyes.]

Would you like to come see?

[revolutionfalcon]

[...On one hand, that look gives Shun the distinct impression that he's about to get dragged into something he's probably going to regret. On the other, he can't say he's not somewhat interested in how the old gods operate, and here's one actually offering to show it.]

Once I'm done here. [He is still halfway through both training and measuring this straw target.]

[chibisu]

I can arrange a meeting that's more ideal for my temple! We weren't intending to invite any guests over, so I'll have to make arrangements.

[They're still so busy, after all...]

There's also a couple of other people that may be invited, so I will have to make sure everything is taken care of.

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun doesn't really like overly formal gatherings, but if it gives him a bit of a look in on how the old gods function, he'll deal with it.] It doesn't make a difference to me how prepared it is, but if you wanted to bring other people then it might as well be all at once.

[Not much sense in explaining the same thing ten times over.]

[chibisu]

It's much more efficient that way, and doesn't interrupt our work as much as it would for different groups repeatedly.

I'll look forward to you visiting, Kurosaki-sama.

[revolutionfalcon]

We'll see how it goes. [Shun isn't really the type to say he's looking forward to much at all, really.

In any case, it seems like they've come to about the end of things here, so he turns his focus for the moment back to the straw dummy and its various measurements.]

[chibisu]

[Oh. Well. Ebisu guesses that's that, then. He stands there for a moment longer, just watching Shun, before he nods to him.]

I will see you then, Kurosaki-sama.

[Now to wander elsewhere! And see how long it takes for his shinki to catch up with him...]