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

[letteropener]

That may perhaps be true. But even if I had such power, would I not be competing with several other sun gods for dominion? And that sets aside the fact that the Sun appears to obey quite reasonable physics here.

[chibisu]

Ah.... You would have to ask for the specifics on that sort of question to someone who can remember much farther back. I'm sorry...

[But he is tiny and recently reincarnated.]

[letteropener]

Oh, I am sorry. I didn't mean to pester you for answers, only to voice the questions that I have. [Celestia bows her head in apology.]

[chibisu]

It's alright. I want to help! The more we understand things, the more we can figure out more about the unique and interesting circumstances that have brought you here.

[letteropener]

Then let us say that we are looking for the answers to those questions together, then.

[Celestia makes a mental note to do more study of how the gods reincarnate, or whatever it is precisely that they do. Perhaps she will find some answers there, or at least some venues of pursuit.]

[chibisu]

[A bright smile stretches across his face again.]

Yes! I look forward to working with you. You should come visit my temple sometime, although we'd have to make arrangements for a proper visit.

[letteropener]

Oh, must we? If it's all kinds of formal and proper, that makes it very hard for me to bring cookies.

[chibisu]

Ah, but.... You're my guest! I would have to treat you.

[letteropener]

Why, as a guest it would be my privilege to bring a hospitality gift.

[Celestia glances around, then puts a hoof to the side of her mouth to convey a great secret.] Besides, I get enough formality at home. I am actually enjoying interacting with people without titles getting in the way!

[chibisu]

Really? [That's sure a new one, and he stares up at her with wide eyes.] Is there no one else like you back at your home?

[letteropener]

My sister, but we were separated for a thousand years -- and she is Princess of the Night, so our paths cross less often than I might like. Other than that... there are two other alicorns, but both of them are of the latest generation, so they still think of me as "the Princess" rather than "a fellow Princess".

[That, she thinks, he can understand -- even if god reincarnation seems to complicate things immensely. In honesty, she has more in common with some gods here than she ever did with ponykind, simply because of the age.]

[chibisu]

I see... [His head tilts to the other side.] Then... A little bit like how I think Gods of Fortune are viewed by smaller deities.

[letteropener]

Yes, that might be very fair. Except for all your life, as long as you ever knew, there has only ever been one God of Fortune, and every day you saw what they did to keep the world going.

And of course, being alive and not a god, I had no shinki or anything similar. Servants and advisers and so forth, of course, but relatively few friends, and even then formality could get in the way of friendship. So coming here and being treated as nothing special has been really quite wonderful.

[chibisu]

So there's never been anyone equal to you besides your sister...?

[letteropener]

'Equal' is a difficult term. On the one hand, just because we are alicorns does not make us better than anypony else. We are different in many ways, but not inherently superior. So in that respect all ponykind is my equal. But if you talk in terms of being an alicorn, only very very recently have others appeared in Equestria, and if you talk in terms of long-lived, only my sister and I have been around that long.

[chibisu]

[For a long moment, Ebisu seems to roll that in his head, deciding on how he feels about it.]

...I don't think I would like that.

[Especially as one with a tendency to reincarnate.]

[letteropener]

It has both its upsides and its downs, as all things do. [And she isn't just saying that; she believes it with all her heart, having lived it and seen its truth.]

[chibisu]

Would you mind explaining? [He has nothing but time, after all.]

[letteropener]

[Not a difficult question. One Celestia can quickly and easily answer, as it happens.]

The downside, of course, is that I have seen many friends and people I care about pass on. Growing from fillies to venerable elders, while I remain. But the upside, of course, is that I have met so very many wonderful ponies in my time -- far more than anypony else could ever have hoped to.

[chibisu]

That sounds like what a healthy god would go through... but shinki never age, either. So as long as you take good care of your shinki... Then you'll never be alone.

[letteropener]

A god is more apart from their worshippers than a Princess is from her subjects as well, though I do see the similarity. But we do not have shinki, of course. My sister was with me, and we were happy to rule together, but then we were separated for a thousand years.

[chibisu]

...Have you thought about getting some? If you could bond with one here, after all, then there's a possibility you could do the same back in your home.

[letteropener]

It may indeed be possible in theory, but ponies who have passed away do not linger around in Equestria in any form, and I think if they did it would cause a lot of unhappiness and uncertainty. I am active in Equestria itself, not on a separate level the way the Far Shore is apart from the Near.

[chibisu]

Because they wouldn't be able to go on to their life before...?

[letteropener]

Equestria is a very magical land. The presence of shinki among us would not be as readily secret as it is in the Near Shore here, where people struggle to detect those of us from the Far.