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

[unlucky7]

With the need for secrecy over, Ginia turns back to text-to-speech. Her shoulders rise and fall, a sense of carelessness masking the seriousness of giving up her name.

"You might need it one day." For better or worse. It's a strange level of trust, giving someone the tools they need for your own destruction. But everything in service of her god. There, that's a good reason too. Far easier than admitting maybe, just maybe, Ginia is far more lawful and fair than she or anyone else realizes.

"Consider it a trade. My name in exchange for teaching me Umbra."

[kokuyoyo]

He might need it one day, huh...? That's not something a possible betrayer says to the person they plan to betray. At least, in most cases it's not, as far as he knows. Maybe it's just a trick, and she has a second name that she doesn't plan on telling him... Chikusa wishes he didn't have to think about such possibilities, but, still. Ayumu has reminded him of how carefully he has to.

...Well. He supposes there's one other reason someone could tell another their vessel name. But Chikusa won't ask about that.

Instead, he blinks at her for a moment before lazily pointing just one figure and deadpanning, "Shuuki, Silence."

He's not actually trying to cast; there's no will behind it.

[unlucky7]

A weapon is still a weapon when sheathed. For as content as Ginia is in her station, the fact it all could all end in an instant always lies under the surface. The next time it might not be soulless shinki impeding their way, but fellow gods and shinki. But her name could change by that day. So could Chikusa's.

She raises a brow as Chikusa "casts" Silence on her. There's a second or two before she slowly mouths, "Oh no. I can't talk."

[kokuyoyo]

Just a little bit, his shoulders twitch. "Horrible, right." Well, as long as they're both aware of the 'joke'.... He pushes himself up onto his feet. "Anyway, how long are you staying around here...?"

[unlucky7]

As it stands, Silence still has an effect on her, namely one that affects her ability to whistle. It won't stop all her other spells, but if she ever figures out that damn song spell, that would be a counter. Good thing she knows now than in a fight thought, even if it comes at the cost of someone else knowing her name.

Ginia gives one last long stretch before getting up as well, dusting her pants off.

"Didn't have much planned. I was going to see if there was anyone interesting around and what the food was."

[kokuyoyo]

"It's free food." Obviously. So that means- "It's food worth eating in that case..." As a child who'd had to scrounge for whatever food he could, Chikusa is confident in this statement. Heaven hasn't poisoned them yet, after all.

With that said... "So if you're going to food, I'll probably head there too..."

[unlucky7]

With a good portion of her life on a heavily restricted meal plan and surviving on handouts, Ginia is opportunist when it comes to free things while always looking for the catch. If there is a catch, it's probably their service to the Heavens. Get strong, break free, it's how it goes.

Ginia nods and heads toward where all the food is set up, watching her step as she types.

"Learning new spells. Song spells aside, the format is the same right? Spell, shinki name. If someone understands the outcome, what's stopping someone from trying to learn on their own?"

[kokuyoyo]

In contrast, Chikusa has a feeling that all the food has something to do with Japanese customs, so he doesn't feel nearly as paranoid... which means he's still a little bit paranoid, but not as much as he might otherwise be. After all, when he'd been told to thank Kazuma and Bishamon for just the idea of learning spells, it had been with the advice of offering a melon as well.

In other new, what is with fruit in Japan. He'd really like to know.

That's a question for another time, considering he's being asked a more relevant one right now. Eyeing the food set up, Chikusa makes a soft noise of affirmation under his breath. "Yeah, that I've found so far... And I haven't had a chance to ask Sabimei yet." You know, that pain in the ass he's learning from. "But I think... there's something more complicated to it that I just haven't learned yet. Or else people would be shameless with creating new spells, or variations of a spell, and you'd only need to learn the basic format... right?"

[unlucky7]

Hey, there's a good spread of food today. Grilled meat and vegetables is the best kind of food and as long as the trays keep coming around, there's no problem. Ginia eyes an open table toward the back and tilts her head toward it.

"I asked Caster how his spells work. Anything is theoretically possible with rune magic, but requires an understanding of how everything works in order to alter it." She smiles at his own ridiculous suggestion of making clouds rain apple cider. Ridiculous, but not out of the realm of possibility with understanding. "Maybe shinki spells are similar."

The spells had to begin somewhere, right? Of the ones she heard of, there's a logic too. Bind freezes a person in place. Silence stops someone from casting a spell. If Umbra turns someone invisible, is there a counter to reveal the hidden?

[kokuyoyo]

Certainly it's a lot better than the "protein filled" snacks that one of Amaterasu's shinki tried to shove on all of them that one point... Although Chikusa had still eaten them in the end anyway. Again, free food is never food to waste... Taking his own pile of meat and vegetables onto a plate, he listens quietly to the explanation that filters out from her phone.

"I think they have to be. I actually want to speak to Sabimei about song spells more... If I can use them in another language besides Japanese. If there's a specific kind of format they have to stick to, that might explain things as well... And understanding song spells can lead to understanding other ones."

[unlucky7]

Ginia's plate is loaded high and she begins to transfer the metal to the grill, the sizzle and smell of grilling meat making the pit of hunger that always exists growl. It's nice never feeling full, but it's also an annoyance when it gnaws on her at night. She listens to Chikusa, attention turning to the glowing pieces of charcoal under the grill.

Her lips purse together as she whistles a tune Chikusa is familiar with, notes rising and falling as she signs with the song. She focuses on the charcoal, willing them to cool down, the heat fading away under a layer of frost.

There's no discernible difference. Oh well. It was worth a shot.

[kokuyoyo]

Definitely familiar, and definitely interesting. Chikusa watches almost as intently as Ginia does, pale eyes focused hard on the coals, but his attention eases up after a few moments.

"...Any luck with it so far?"

[unlucky7]

Ginia shakes her head and glowers at the burning coals. Is she singing the spell wrong? Signing it wrong? Is the problem her? It'd be nice to have some direction to work with.

"What about you? Want to give it a shot?"

[kokuyoyo]

Immediately, Chikusa shifts back and his lips twitch down a little. "No." Simple and clean, all he feels he needs to say. At least, that's all he'd bother to say to anyone else, but he glances at Ginia for a moment before offering something else.

"...Singing in Japanese... is really weird. I don't care for it..."

[unlucky7]

Ginia nods, understanding his point. She knows and understands Japanese and Japanese Sign Language and it's what she uses regularly on the day to day because it's what most everyone else uses, but she thinks in English and the sign language she defaults to is American Sign Language. If singing for Chikusa is weird, it must be because it's not his main language.

A realization sinks in. Of course. She's using the wrong language. Ginia laughs and grins to herself as she flips over her grilling food.

"If I figure out how to sign the spell and make it work, how about I teach you?"

[kokuyoyo]

Huh. He doesn't really get why she's in suddenly such a good mood, but Chikusa won't question it. If she wants to tell him, then he figures she will. Instead, he watches the meat grill, waiting as patiently as he can.

The offer knocks him out of it, eyes flicking up to her. "...I wouldn't mind. It sounds like something that would be useful." Sign language isn't the kind of thing that everyone knows, after all, and so it would mean having a silent secret weapon.

[unlucky7]

Signing shinki spells comes with an immediate advantage; the target doesn't need to see the signs for it to work. As far as Ginia can tell, even taking all other usual traits of superiority, confidence, and focus in mind, the range is what would be a reasonable hearing distance were the spell verbally cast.

There is the question of whether someone can simply learn the signs for the spell though. She knows Kairi can sign the spells because Kairi knows sign language, but what about someone who doesn't know?

"I guess before I make that agreement, we should see if someone who doesn't already know sign language can sign a spell. I can give you the signs and you can try casting a spell on me or yourself and we can see what happens."

[kokuyoyo]

"That works for me." Even if it doesn't work for him immediately that way, at least it will give them new information, right? On that front, it's worth it. Either he learns a new way of spellcasting, or they both learn that full mastery of a language is required before such things can be accomplished. He nudges the grilling meat.

"Should we work on it over food, then...?" They're both already here, after all.

[unlucky7]

Good food, especially grilled meat, is too good to let go to waste. Ginia clears her grilled meat onto a plate and replaces it with some vegetables. She begins to eat as she types out a new message.

"Watch carefully, I'm going to show you the signs for my name. And give me the spelling for your names, I want to make sure I have them right."

Sign by sign, Ginia shows Chikusa the individual components to her vessel name.

[kokuyoyo]

At least if there's one thing to never worry about with Chikusa, it's him paying attention. He watches attentively as her fingers form the gestures, committing them to memory for when he has a little time for himself. When she's done herself, he sticks some food into his own mouth and writes out the kanji.

"These." He turns his own phone around. "One of them is simple, since it's just the first kanji of my name..." Hakkai is kind of dumb that way. It's really impressive.

[unlucky7]

Ginia was hoping for something a little more phonetic, but practicing reading kanji is always good. She huffs at the explanation for one of his names, the obviousness of it clicking in. What works works. Checking the kanji on her phone to confirm the spelling and signs she needs, Ginia shows him the signs for Chiki and Inki.

"Which spell were you going to cast? Bind and Silence have obvious signs, I'll have to think on some of the other ones."

[kokuyoyo]

Listen, learning kanji is good for her... For any of them, really, as far as Chikusa can tell. The names of shinki, after all, are based in kanji. If they're going to be practicing any sort of spellcasting, at least on this level, then Chikusa knows they need to have a solid grasp on it. It's a good thing that he's already become familiar with it himself, and has only made strides to become even better... He isn't going to fail on such a simple step.

At her question, he chews thoughtfully. "I think... Bind would be good enough, for starters. It's the one most useful on an immediately level." Stopping someone in their tracks? Always a good move. The 'shutting up' part he can figure out later.

[unlucky7]

The first spell everyone seems to know when they move past borderlines. It's definitely useful, though being able to turn invisible definitely has its perks. Ginia nudges her grilling food over and takes a few more bites of food before moving away from the grill. Even if bind will lock the target in place, she'd rather not risk anything landing on the hot grill.

She shows Chikusa the sign she's used for bind with success and then sets her hands on the table.

[kokuyoyo]

Watching is easy. Doing it is a little different, especially since he can't see how he looks from a frontal view. Chikusa still tries, positioning his hand a little stiffly as he's just been shown. For now, he's not trying to cast, merely get a hang of the movements.

"...I'll probably practice a little with this, first." He nods to the food she's just put down. "You can keep eating if you want."

Since she's doing him a solid, he won't spring a surprise attack on her. Well, right now. That's something.

[unlucky7]

All's fair when it comes to shinki spells and Chikusa is pragmatic as they come, but Ginia trusts he wouldn't needlessly hurt her. Which is something in itself, trusting him. She moves more food to her plate, happily eating away as she watches him, offering minor corrections to his signs.