July Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: December 22nd
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 more experienced god and shinki volunteers.




Meeting Hall

God Training

Newly arrived gods are escorted into a small meeting room, with tatami floors and a stage 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. Paper and pens are provided to all the attendees as an unsubtle suggestion to take notes on the information they're given.

The speaker delivers his welcome speech in a rather bored tone, occasionally stumbling and checking his own notecards. He particularly dwells, towards the end of the speech, on the fact that an unauthorized god has recently tried to access the Heavens, and any contact from other gods asking to access the Heavens through their temples should be immediately reported. 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.

A variety of weapons are available in the dojo for shinki and their gods to practice with, and a row of straw targets are set up along one wall. Outside, in an area carefully roped off with red ribbons, are six animated training dummies, also made of straw and dressed in plain cotton jackets and trousers. They will immediately engage anyone who enters the area marked with the ribbon, but will not pursue opponents outside it. A white-robed shinki nearby keeps a sharp eye on the animated dummies, and will intervene if anyone tries to destroy one.

Physical Training

A race track has been laid out, winding through the gardens to a towering pole, 9 meters in height, planted in the center of a pond with a cluster of pretty ribbons tied at the top. White-robed shinki are standing by with stopwatches: anyone who wants can race their friends along the path, with the first one to return to the starting point with a ribbon winning the challenge, or solitary racers can recruit a shinki to time them and try to beat their own speed. But be careful not to fall off the pole! The pond isn't dangerously deep, but the bottom is very muddy, and in late December, it's also very, very cold.

On the lawn near the dojo, a wide circle has been marked out in white paint, and big baskets set around the circle are filled with sachets full of chalk dust in a rainbow of colors. Pick your color, grab a handful of sachets, and join the fray! Anyone inside the circle is a fair target to have one of the sachets thrown at them, and on impact, they splash out enough brightly colored dust to mark the spot they strike. Head or torso hits are an automatic out, leg hits mean the target isn't allowed to move from their position, and arm hits mean they can't use that arm. Borderlines -- and any other magic -- are allowed, and the game can get intense.

Rest and Refreshments

The weather outside, although not freezing, is quite chilly, and in the middle of the afternoon, the shinki will invite everyone into a prepared banquet hall for food and to warm back up. Charcoal braziers set in the center of square tables radiate warmth, and are covered by grates; other shinki bring trays of fresh ingredients, both meat and vegetable, that can be grilled over the hot coals.

After the meal is finished, one of the white-robed shinki, a middle-aged woman with her hair cut in a fashionable modern bob, enters the room with an expression of great, if restrained, delight, pushing a cart with a portable karaoke machine and speaker on it. She sets up the karaoke machine at one end of the room, and begins encouraging others -- both her fellow shinki and the newcomer guests -- to join in with a song. Whenever there's a break, she puts in music selections of her own; she has a trained, jazzy voice and a great fondness for midcentury enka.

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, sing and barbecue
• Have fun~

Comments

[nopixiedust]

A - Shinki Training

Amaterasu's shinki aren't the only ones who are hard at work spreading information around. Wendy is also bouncing around in a cute sweater, skirt, and patterned tights, smiling up at any new face, or anyone who didn't reply to her network post.

"Hey! Just so you know, if you ever need another place to go for whatever reason, there's a Shinki Sanctuary! We also do god-shinki match-ups so you don't have to rely on Heaven!"

Hey, word of mouth is good as anything else, right?

b - Physical Training

She might be dressed cute, but Wendy is also wearing sneakers... which means they're more than good enough to run in. So she skips over to anyone who's eyeing the race course or the pole at the end of it, fingers laced behind her back and an innocent smile on her face.

"Do you want to race against me? I'm looking for someone to do it with!"

C - Refreshments

Are you going up there to sing? Don't mind Wendy using her phone to film the whole thing, grinning behind it.

"It'd be great if we could find some really great singers besides the one that work with Hibiki~."

B!

[myblueskies]

"I'll race against you!" Romeo had been looking for someone to race against himself and he grins as he sees someone close to his own age. Not that he'd mind racing against an adult either, but it was always nice to meet other kids.

"It looks really fun!"

[nopixiedust]

Perfect! Wendy grins widely, eyes sparkling. Meeting someone her own age and size is definitely a rarity. It means she'll be able to do this race fair, not by cheating.

....Which, admittedly, she had been perfectly willing to do if she couldn't find anyone.

"Great, then lets go!" With a spring in her step, she begins to head over to the starting line. "Are you good at climbing things?"

[myblueskies]

Romeo grinned and skipped over to the line with her! This was going to be so much fun!

"I really like climbing things and I beat some bigger shinki up the tree last time!"

He knows that bragging wasn't very nice but he's caught up in the fun of the competition.

"Are you a good climber?"

[nopixiedust]

"Yep! I do acrobatics-" Oh, but maybe she should explain. Some people who've come to the Far Shore have needed to have it explained, and he is a kid, after all. "-so I do things like cartwheels, and flip through the air, and things like that."

So she's pretty confident in her chances of winning as she starts to stretch by the line, waiting for the shinki in gold there to get ready to set them off. Are there names for people who help start races? Wendy's not sure, but she guesses it doesn't matter. "So have you done the race before then?"

[myblueskies]

"Wow! I can stand on my hands but flipping through the air would be really fun!"

He bounces at the start line, ready. He's really excited. He's been watching people race and he's glad he's found someone to race with him!

He shakes his head, "No not this race but last time there was training," He shakes a hand to indicate that it was ages ago. "We had a tree climbing competition."

He glances at the shinki who has held up a hand to signal them to be ready.

"Get to the position, ready, go!"

And they are off!

[nopixiedust]

"Oh, right. I think I remember that."

But there's not a lot of time left to reminisce. The signal goes off, and Wendy bolts forward. She might be short, but she's more than fit. Dancing and singing means having a lot of stamina, after all!

It's just a matter of seeing if her opponent keeps himself in the same condition.

[myblueskies]

Romeo might be quite small but he is definitely fit. Mostly because he never stays still for long. He runs as fast as he can, keeping his eyes on the pole at the end. That's where they need to get to!

[nopixiedust]

It looks like they're a pretty even match, when Wendy bothers to glance over to him to see just where they are in position to each other. It makes her grin wide, although she can't say anything about it, running as she is. She only slows down when they get to the pole, not wanting to smack right into it.

"Here!" And now to just jump up!

[myblueskies]

"Here!" He is seconds behind her but he's not lost yet! He jumps up the first part of the pole with confidence and begins to climb. He's stronger than he looks, especially when it comes to climbing. His look is one of concentration as he inches up the pole, his eyes on the shiny ribbons at the top.

[nopixiedust]

He'd said that he was good at climbing, but Wendy hadn't expected him to be actually good. It catches her off-guard as little as she climbs up, and maybe that's what gives him the lead here. Still, stubbornly, she does her best to catch up, teeth grit together.

[myblueskies]

He focuses on climbing. Poles are definitely harder than trees but he is making steady progress to the top.

Once there he grins as he plucks one of the ribbons! Now just to get down and back to the start!

[nopixiedust]

Right after, she grabs a ribbon of her own. While getting down without falling flat on the face would be a problem for other people, Wendy doesn't have such a thing. That's because she plans on taking the easy way out: attaching her wire to the tap and spinning down with a gleeful cackle.

She'll win this part of the race, at least!

C

[smilingbullet]

Wendy surely filmed D2's happy disaster. He is so tone deaf but he loves singing despite that.

"Yeah, maybe she'd cool down a little. Or maybe she'd burn up with passion." He'd bet on the latter.

[nopixiedust]

Oh, she absolutely filmed it, and definitely has it saved. Despite that, she's glad that he seems pretty happy with how things have gone for him up at the machine. There's something almost envious to that kind of joy.

"Oh, definitely the latter. But then, sometimes it's more fun having someone to compete against, right?"

[smilingbullet]

If you know and accept your skill level you won't be disappointed when you can't do something as good as all those other people who are actually good at it.

"I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised to see that happening. Having a rival or two might light a healthy fire of motivation- though I doubt she'd need it, it could be fun to watch too."

[nopixiedust]

"Well, she does have something she's aiming for as it is..." Whether or not it will succeed is another story entirely, but a goal is a goal. "Still, more people to share that kind of passion and antagonize each other can't hurt."

Whups, did she say antagonize-

[smilingbullet]

"Doesn't she always." She would surely have a lot of things to aim for no matter what. "Surely they can't, it's too much energy and all that stuff that comes with some good old-fashioned antagonizement."

Antagonize is just one of those synonyms, anyway

[nopixiedust]

"Exactly!" You're exactly on her same train of thought, D2. Still, enough of that. She waves him over, gesturing for him to sit down besides her.

"Here, want to see the video of you singing?"

[smilingbullet]

That can happen if you're on the same wavelength. He plops down in the seat next to her with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"If you want to suffer through my poor abilities even more than sure, I don't see why."

[nopixiedust]

"It's fine." Concentrating carefully, Wendy starts to go through the phone. It's still a little difficult for her to use, for anything besides the basic texting features and her making videos of herself to put on the BBS.

"I mean, it could have been worse. You could have been drunk, too!"

[smilingbullet]

Modern phones are terrible, they're difficult even for a guy with only 10 years time difference so he can't imagine how hard it must be for someone from further back to get used to them. But she's getting good.

"Hmm, I wonder. I don't really get drunk easily. But you're probably right."

[nopixiedust]

She's stubborn and patient, is what she is. That can get people places. "Oh, are you a heavy drinker then?" she says, teasing him even as she keeps trying to figure out the phone. "Am I going to be left in the dust when you take me drinking?"

[smilingbullet]

Indeed, it's a pretty good personality trait a fair amount of times. "Rather than heavy, I'd say I'm a strong drinker? Perhaps." He grins at her and shrugs. "If that happens I'll make sure to help you back home safely. Not that I wouldn't make sure you do either way."

[nopixiedust]

"You better, or I'd make you regret it." Finally figuring it out, she holds the screen up to him and turns up the volume best she can. "Ta da!" Enjoy your horrible singing, D2.