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

[chibisu]

"Then I'd like to learn that," Ebisu says, undeterred. "Something different from what gods use... It sounds really interesting, after all!"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Hmm."

Could he take this god on as a disciple and corrupt him into a servant of evil in the course of his duties?

Maybe!

"It's difficult to teach directly, but it can be developed through experience. Especially in battle. Defeating foes is an excellent way to gain mana power for someone just starting to understand it."

[chibisu]

"Oh, then I guess it's not for me."

Shot down immediately. Unmi coughs into his fist, which definitely isn't something to hide his smile. Ebisu continues on plainly enough.

"I'm not a god of combat, so I wouldn't do very well in that area."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"That's a ridiculous argument!" Zetta scoffed. "God of combat or not, you have to be able to protect what's important to you, and often strength and violence are the only ways. Unless you're saying you wouldn't fight to defend something important!"

[chibisu]

"I mean, I can't fight at all, so." You know. It'd be a problem. Certainly, it seems his past incarnation was able to do well enough down in the Underworld, but he's nowhere near that level yet. He'd like to learn how, but.... Asking about anything to do with his past incarnation seems like it would be a problem, if not drawing Heaven's attention even more.

"Besides, doesn't that seem like it's incredibly limiting to say that strength and violence are the only ways to protect something?"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"You can learn. And you have shinki to help you, and allies, I assume." The way some people were around here, they'd drop everything to help a kid god, right? "There's no negotiating with ayakashi. Waiting to see if people showed up to negotiate the return of our kidnapped shinki would have gotten them all killed. Fighting's necessary sometimes."

[chibisu]

"That's why I didn't wait. I went to go look in as well." And then accidentally got lost himself, but, hey. That just happens with magic forests sometimes. "But I still wasn't able to fight very much." Quirking up one eyebrow, he tilts his head.

"Besides, if it's magic, then how does fighting help it exactly...?"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Hey, everyone starts at level 1. Even I did." Of course, he hadn't stayed there; he'd been level 500 by his 500th year. "And mana isn't magic. It's basically your ability to make reality bend to your whim."

[chibisu]

"And so... I get better at making reality bend to my whim... by punching things?"

Or slicing, or shooting, or whatever. He guesses the 'how' isn't really important in this kind of conversation. If he's listening to Zetta's logic correctly, they all lead to the same place anyway.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"By defeating foes, you assert your own supremacy," Zetta said, patiently trying to explain a very simple and straightforward game mechanic in ways that someone completely locked within the fourth wall would understand. "At first, the effect is small, but the more powerful foes you can defeat, the more firmly you solidify your own ability to change the world."

[chibisu]

"Asserting my supremacy over people to change the world..." Ebisu repeats the words carefully, looking thoughtful. For some reason, those words seem incredibly familiar. Well, perhaps not the specifics, but more like the idea of supremacy being important. It's just a matter of where-

"Oh!" Hit by the realization, he looks up at his two shinki. "Then, it's like when shinki casts spells upon each other!"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Yeah, a little bit, I guess. But -- hmm, for a comparison, what happens when your ordinary person or shinki gets shot with a gun?" Zetta said.

[chibisu]

"...They get shot?" He's not knowledgeable about gun wounds, he can't really say the specifics here. "Blood loss and shock, I guess?"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Exactly. Whereas a demon, who has a natural affinity with even basic mana power, loses hit points, but no more than a comparative sword blow or magic spell." Well, he was bound to descend into game terms at some point.

[chibisu]

"...Oh, so like a video game."

Anyone who doesn't expect Ebisu to just point things right out doesn't know Ebisu.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Well yeah," Zetta said, blank white eyes looking left, then right. "But we're usually not so blatant about it except when we get to the postgame and everything can be goofy."

[chibisu]

"Oh." Whups. After a moment, he reaches up to pat the arm of the minion holding Zetta. "I won't tell anyone."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Right. Anyway, now that you understand that, you get the importance," Zetta concluded with a logic that certainly made sense to HIM.

[chibisu]

"Yes, of course." Sure, his shinki might be exchanging dubious looks in the background, but Ebisu seems to be taking this pretty well at face value. "So I just have to learn how to fight better, is the basics of it?"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Sort of. Controlling your mana power like that is second nature to demons... and angels, actually. I'm surprised you gods don't do it by default as well." That raised some questions, honestly, that he felt needed to be addressed, but eh. "Learn to control your mana power and you can engage in battle without fear of a cheap and brutal death. You gain mana and experience from defeating your foes, and the latter will improve your fighting ability so you can take on greater enemies who give you more mana and experience."

[chibisu]

"Well, it may have to do where we get our power instead..." He cups a hand to his chin. "Since most of it is from the mortals who pray to us. Also, we have to take into consideration how reincarnation fits into the whole thing..."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"That's not too dissimilar to mana, honestly," Zetta said thoughtfully. It was like being an Overlord and drawing on the power of the world's denizens. Not something commonly done, but he'd heard rumors of that pretender Zenon doing something like that... "But you don't seem to internalize it. Reincarnation's not so different either -- we demons can do that if the Dark Council of the Netherworld agrees and we have sufficient mana power."

[chibisu]

"In that case, gods differ." Ebisu raises a finger. "Although needing sufficient power is a similarity. That's the only thing required, however. Heaven doesn't get a choice if an individual god reincarnates or not. A god dies, and then they reincarnate, and that's that. Theoretically, you could interfere with that... but one really shouldn't. Not unless they're thought to be that much of a threat. I don't think I've ever heard of such a thing happening, since reincarnation is thought to restart a god's important role."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Hmm, that sounds more like you guys are weirdly wired into the natural progression of souls more than anything. But gods always come back as gods?" After all, the Netherworld and Celestia both played an important part in the rehabilitation of sinners -- Prinnies had to do good deeds for free in Celestia, while suffering miserable lives for terrible wages in the Netherworld.