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

God Training

[reformedsinner]

[The young man sidles towards Hakkai with careful little steps. His eyes are very wide. His smile is unmoving.

After a few seconds of silence, Hakkai raises his eyebrows.]

May I help you?

Re: God Training

[creepface]

[ Oh shit--

He didn't really think this plan through, now he has to talk to strangers.

He flails for a moment before getting around to using his words. ]

Ah, um, y-yes! I have q-q-q-q... Is it o-okay if I ask you s-something?

[reformedsinner]

Of course it is! [Oh dear. Hakkai isn't quite sure if that's a speech impediment, or just uncontrollable nerves; he rather suspects that the answer is "both."]

What do you want to ask?

[creepface]

Th-thank you! [ At this very moment, most definitely both. ] Um, am, am I r-really supp-supposed to be a [ his face flushes at the last word; ] G-g-god? Wh-what if it's a m-mistake? Don't g-gods need to be... c-confident?

[reformedsinner]

[Both, indeed.

Hakkai blinks.]

No, gods don't have to be confident. Particularly not when they've just gotten the job! It's fine to learn as you go.

But we can't turn down the position, I'm afraid.

[creepface]

O-oh. [ If he could he probably would have. ] I c-can't just... b-be a nurse a...again? Instead? I'm s-s-sort of confident in th-that?

[reformedsinner]

Are you really? Ah, we do have a small clinic for those who might be hurt or sick among us. I'm sure the people running it would appreciate your help.

-- But no matter what else you do, you'll stay a god.

[He shrugs, smiling.] Have you been told your shinki's name yet?

[creepface]

Y-y-yes? F-for a while now... [ 70 years or so counts as a while, right? ] I, I would like to h-help with that? [ Maybe it'll help take his mind off the intimidating task of being a god. ]

Ah, I s-saw his f-face. H-his death. B-but I don't really know his n-name.

[reformedsinner]

Look for Sakura -- she represents the goddess Konohanasakuya-hime. I'm sure she'll be happy to have your help.

[His expression grows more serious at the change in topic.]

It's possible I might recognize them, but it's also possible that it's someone who's new here, too. May I ask what his face looks like?

...And-- you shouldn't talk about his death. It can be very dangerous for shinki to start wondering about their lives.

[creepface]

Th-thank you...

[ Hopefully she won't find him too troublesome. ]

Y-yellow and brown h-hair...

Ah. um, um, okay. I've al-already been d-dead for over 70 y-years myself so I didn't, I mean, I don't want to h-harm anybody...!

[reformedsinner]

Hmm... [Yellow and brown hair? Dyed, perhaps? Hakkai blinks, thinking for a moment before he shakes his head with an air of regret.]

I'm afraid I don't know anyone like that. He may be a newcomer himself.

You were dead before you came here?

[creepface]

M-maybe... I'll h-have to look...

[ He can't blame Hakkai for not knowing. ]

Y-yes, in w-w-world war t-two... I st-starved to d- I m-mean, yeah, I d-died.

[reformedsinner]

As deaths go... my condolences.

[Starving is far from the most pleasant way to go. He sounds, perhaps disturbingly, entirely undisturbed by the detail.

Does that make this young man a hungry ghost?]

Even among gods, you'll find you're not the only one who knows you're dead. I don't think many of us remember spending time as a ghost, though.

[creepface]

It w-was a long time a-ago.

[ Not really, it just makes it impossible for him to gain weight even if he were to try. And Hakkai not seeming disturbed by hearing of it isn't... too weird to Rasu, considering how long he's been in the afterlife. ]

Ah, um, wh-when you die where I c-come from, you come to S-Sheol and either r-reincarnate after a y-year or can ch-choose to stay, th-those who reincarnate don't r-remember but I s-stayed.

[reformedsinner]

I see. [He blinks, thoughtfully.]

... Well, perhaps it won't be so different for you to be here, then. The gods might not all be dead souls, but the shinki certainly are.

[And it's a much nicer place to live than this world's underworld.]

[creepface]

B-but I shouldn't t-talk to them about it r-right?

[ That's very different compared to how he's used to. ]

Because... b-bad things might happen?

[reformedsinner]

No, not about their lives or their deaths.

[He hesitates, then exhales, and inclines his head with an air of decision.]

A shinki who hears details about their life and death will be corrupted into a monster-- an 'ayakashi.' Their god is likely to die from the side effects, unless they release the shinki's name quickly.

Even then, the monstrous shinki usually kills others before being destroyed.

Even wondering too much about what might have been can set them on the path to destruction.

[creepface]

Ah, r-right, I think I might have th-that in my notes...

[ He flips through the papers, but there's... a lot. He needs to organise them. He might invest in a binder. ]

I, I don't w-want to h-hurt anyone... Sh-should I a-avoid talking about m-my death or the a-afterlife with shink-shinki entirely...?

[ Most of the actual living he did was in the afterlife though. While alive his life was miserable. ]

[reformedsinner]

There's no danger in talking about your own life or death, or your afterlife. The only danger is talking about theirs.

[He shakes his head.]

You'll... there's a sense of foreboding you'll get if you consider talking about those kinds of things. It's quite powerful.

[creepface]

I-it's impolite to t-t-talk about someone else's d-death without th-them wanting to s-s-so I think it'll be o-okay.

[ He probably won't even get to the foreboding, considering. It's just... disrespectful, but this sure makes him even less likely to. ]

[reformedsinner]

Ah, good manners save the day yet again.

[It's not so much disrespectful as it is actually fatal, but Hakkai will take whatever works.]

[creepface]

W-well, I mean, I don't w-want to hurt them either, I just, um, I mean I wouldn't do it, um, a-anyway...

[ He wants to make sure Hakkai doesn't think the only reason he'd keep from doing it because it's rude. He really does care about the risk talking about it can cause. He's a nervous little tall new god. ]

[reformedsinner]

No, I understand! Ha ha, the only difference is that it's as dangerous to talk about their lives as their deaths. With shinki, you'll have to treat them as though "their lives have just begun"...

Although that's not the truth. It's just all that they know, at first.

[And what memories might return later are a matter to deal with when and if they return.]

[creepface]

O-oh! Okay I won't. I mean, I'll d---do that. T-treat them like th-that, okay, I can d-do that.

[ It'll be no problem. He'll do his best to treat them as good as possible, too. ]

[reformedsinner]

[That's all assuming he doesn't pass out from nervousness before he ever gets to meet his shinki, of course. Hakkai offers him a reassuring smile and a small inclination of his head.]

In that case, I think you'll do just fine. Please let me know if you need any advice -- you can find my temple in the Central District.