June Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: December 7th
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.

Once they've had a chance to have things explained, they'll have the chance to relax and enjoy an afternoon party.




Meeting Hall

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.

The speaker delivers her welcome speech with the intonation of someone who's practiced it many times. Newly arrived gods 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. They are allowed to remain in the room as long as they wish, should they want to discuss questions with each other or with more experienced gods who are here to help out.

Shinki Training

Various shinki in the white-and-gold of Amaterasu's hosuehold are stationed around the dojo, passing out informational pamphlets that have been freshly printed. They will be happy to answer any questions or instruct the newcomers in the use of the borderline. They also accompany their answers, or lessons, with 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.

The dojo is back to its old, fully functional self; a set of motionless straw targets line one wall, to be used by people practicing with any of the weapons spread out on tables or hanging in racks on the walls. Outside, six animated straw targets wait in an area marked off with red ribbons and warning signs. Anyone entering the marked area may find themselves in combat with one (or more) of the magical training dummies. Those who leave the marked area, though, won't be chased.

Physical Training

Beyond the dojo, a scavenger hunt has been set up throughout the grounds of the Meeting Hall. Brightly colored plastic balls are hidden in shrubbery, tucked into support beams, floating among reeds in the ponds, and lurking in even cleverer hiding places. When a god or shinki gets their hand on one of them, they will burst open to reveal a hidden prize, such as candy, small toys, or accessories. How many can you find?

As well as the scavenger hunt, the white-robed shinki are engaging in more serious physical training and will be happy to let new gods or shinki join them. Sparring matches with practice weapons from the dojo, jogging laps around the hall, sit-ups, push-ups... or, for the younger shinki, competing to see who's the fastest to climb a tree.

Rest and Refreshments

Midafternoon, once the last of the scavenger-hunt prizes have been found, the white-robed shinki will turn their hands to clearing away the training equipment and laying out a lovely buffet table. Bright lanterns are hung from the trees, and a few shinki even take up a station on one side of the training area and begin playing shamisen, koto, wooden flute and drum. Although their instruments are traditional, their music selection ranges from some very classic Japanese tunes to others that sound surprisingly modern. The koto player can really rock!

Old and new gods and shinki alike are welcome to circulate, socialize with their friends, partake of the buffet food and enjoy the music. There's even room for those who feel inspired to dance, and plenty of privacy offered by the extensive garden for those who would rather retreat with their new partners to have a serious conversation.

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
• Relax at a party
• Have fun~

Comments

[dredefulchilde]

[OOC: So I messed up the timeline pretty majorly. Is it okay if we handwave and say this happened after Joss meets his god at lunch and gets a name?]

Neptune, apparently. God of the seas. Also known as Nari.

[Joss lifts his trouser leg to show the other shinki the mark on top of his right foot: calamity. He smiles.] Though apparently it wouldn't be too very out of character for me to cause a bit of fuss.

[He sighs and faces the dummy.]

I still don't quite understand how to do the borderline thing. Do you?

[thevanguard]

[ (That's fine!)

Yata blinks at the name, looking surprised at the coincidence. ] Nari? No shit? Huh. He seems like a good guy.

And yeah. I can try and show you. Don't stress about it, it took me a while to get the hang of it, too. People figure it out in different ways, so there's no one tried and true way of having it perfected. For me, it helped to focus on the fact that I wanted to protect my god. And myself, but. That Borderline is sometimes the only thing that can stand between your god and an ayakashi. And trust me, those things are nasty. We can't even touch them without getting Blighted. And they're fucking persistent and annoying as hell. It's basically having a strong enough will and desire to protect them. When I started focusing on that, not letting that will falter when I was trying, I had an easier time of it.

[dredefulchilde]

[That earns Yata an interested quirk of the eyebrow.] Do you know him?

[Maybe he'll have some information about Joss's new lord and master.

As Yata keeps talking Joss looks more and more dismayed. He doesn't care about protecting his god--or anyone, in fact, except, perhaps, himself. He just wants to fight.]

Can it be used offensively or just defensively?

[thevanguard]

Yeah, he's, uh... [ Dating? ] A friend of my god. Izumo, or Xihe, I guess. He seems pretty interesting. I know my god respects him a lot.

[ Among other things, apparently.

Yata grins at that question, because that had been his concern as well. he's no good at playing things defensively, anyway. ]

Both, although you need to master the defensive angle before you can figure out the offensive end of it. I mean, I did? Maybe it's different for other people... Here, let me show you. The Borderline works like this, right?

[ Making the gesture to cast the spell, he states Line before erecting one between them and the training dummy, the barrier steady and unpassable, glimmering faintly in the air as if it was giving off heat somehow. He drops it again before holding up his hand to start it over again. ]

Using it offensively uses the same concept, except instead of anchoring it in one place, we throw it at whatever we're fighting. Like this.

[ Again the spell and again the "Line!", but this time the Borderline is flung at the training dummy in a slashing cut. One of the arms separates with clean precision, dropping to the ground at its base. ]

[dredefulchilde]

[Joss sighs.] I wouldn't call him interesting. He seems awfully dull to me. Won't let me go fight ayakashi right away. He--

[But then Yata is showing off his magic and Joss watches appreciatively. He walks over to the dummy and picks up the severed arm. He looks way more excited about this than he really ought to be.]

Yes! This! I want to learn to do this. Show me more.