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

[yasei]

"Sure, I can show you." Obi goes over to Ebisu and crouches down beside him so he more easily can show.

It's good he already has a a sachet in hand, he doesn't have to pick up one. If he'd had more of them he might have had to toss them at Ebisu's shinki and see if they'd have good enough reflexes to catch them. "For example if you hold it like this, and twist your wrist like this as you throw, it'll spin left to be more unpredictable."

If Obi knew about baseball, he would be very good at it.

[chibisu]

Hold and twist.... Ebisu leans closer to try and memorize exactly what's being shown to him. When he says it like that, it sounds like a very simple thing. So it should be manageable, right?

...Well, considering what just happened, he'll still look up to Obi. "Can I watch you do it first?"

[yasei]

In theory it's not difficult to do. Getting the hang of it can be a bit trickier and takes some practice.

"Of course! Look closely, alright." Obi makes sure that he doesn't do it too fast, and he could do it very fast if he wanted to. The throw is too slow to go very far, but he hits exactly where he aimed at the back of a participants head.

[chibisu]

If there's one thing Obi doesn't have to worry about, it's Ebisu looking closely. With his intense curiosity already at work, he peers intently at Obi's hand. That the shinki is going slower for his benefit is very obvious to him. That observation will have to be put into use at a later time...

For now, at the amazingly accurate throw, Ebisu opens his mouth wide in surprise. "It hit right in their head!"

[yasei]

"That's where they're supposed to go, after all." He waves at the person he hit when they turn to see who did it and Obi just sparkles innocently in retort to the glare. That person will probably try to nail Obi with several sachets later.

After a while he produces another sachet. "Do you want to try now or would you like me to show you again?"

[chibisu]

"Well... It's important to get practice..." So he'll accept the satchet after a moment, turning it in his hand. "You said... hold it like this, right?"

He's... a little bit off. But he is trying.

[yasei]

"That's right. Practice is very important." He looks at Ebisu's hand, and moves his own to shift his fingers a little. "More like this. Try holding it for a while to get a feel for how it's supposed to rest in your hand."

[chibisu]

"Oh, I see." With his fingers adjusted appropriately, Ebisu stares down intensely at his own hand. Then he'll just have to remember how this feels and looks... "This is a really handy skill to have. Do you play baseball, or some other game which requires good hand-eye coordination?"

[yasei]

That looks better--

whatball?

Obi blinks and tips his head sideways in bewilderment. "What's baseball?"

[chibisu]

"It's a sport." While it's a little impolite, Ebisu doesn't look up. He has to commit this hand position to memory, after all! "Stripped down to its most basic levels, you essentially have two teams which switch between offensive and defense. During the defensive, a team throws a ball towards one member of the offense team who has a piece of wood. The wood is meant to hit the ball, which is mostly good for the offensive team, so the defensive team wants to throw the ball in such a way that it can't be hit."

[yasei]

Obi does have a bit of an interest in sports.. But he does not recognize what Ebisu describes. "So why don't they throw the ball over the person with the piece of wood or in another direction?"

[chibisu]

"Because that's not how the rules go." Said in the simple bland tone of a child answering an obvious question. "You have to hit the ball to get points for your team... Or throw the ball so well at the person so that they can't hit it, and thus can't get points."

[yasei]

"Sports sure are weird." Not that playing games aren't fun, but he prefers this sort of game where you pretend-kill people and work to get better at fighting. "Is that it?"

[chibisu]

"I guess. I don't know too much about them." No one prays to Ebisu for winning a sports game, after all. They pray for their profits to win. "Do you want to see a video of it?" Finally, he looks up.

[yasei]

"You don't?" But he seems to know more than Obi. "I guess so, I wouldn't mind doing that." Obi slips the sachet from Ebisu's hand, and then offers it right back.

[chibisu]

"Okay, then, um..." He looks to his pocket, to the ball, and pauses uncertainly. Sure, he has another hand, but doing things with only one hand has gone badly for him in the past. That means the logical conclusion is to drop the satchet, but will he remember for certain after only so long...

Fortunately, Takami is here today, and he stops forward after a moment of Ebisu trying to make a decision. "Allow me, young master," he says gently, pulling his own phone out from his pocket. Carefully, he taps through it until he's pulled up a video of a game. Turning it around, he holds it out to the pair.