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

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Hey, you're some god's shinki and champion, right? They need you as a friend and ally!

[creepface]

Ah, um, n-no, not a shinki... A-and I don't know what I w-would be a champion of.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

You're a god?

[That's -- okay, wild and improbable. The guy's acting like he has no confidence because he has no idea what he can do...]

[creepface]

Y-yes, I'm s-s-sorry...?

[ Don't be mad at him? ]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Oh no, no! [Edge quickly waves a hand to banish that apology.] Entirely my misunderstanding. You just had a sort of -- but I was wrong, never mind. But if you're a god now, you matter to people for sure!

[creepface]

[ He deflates a little, air and stress going out of him. It does make him slouch an awful lot. Okay, that's okay, it's okay. ] It's, it's weird b-being c-called one th-though...

[onehandsomeslickninja]

If you've got the power and the nature now, it is what it is. You can complain about it, or you can own it. Think of all the good you can do!

[Not that shinki alone can't answer prayers or help out, but gods have it a bit easier.]

[creepface]

C-complaining won't ch-change it from b-be-being a thing, I g-guess... D-do you really think I'll be of any g-g-good?

[onehandsomeslickninja]

That all depends on if you're going to try. You won't be perfect, but if you work to fix your mistakes and always keep trying, there's a lot of good you can do!

[creepface]

I, I can t-try, I'll try... [ He's not sure he'll be any good at it, but he really will try, even if the prayers and all that will be extremely bizarre to him. He starts to undo his messed up braid so he can dry his hair more easily, glancing at Edge. ] S-so, a-are you a... g-god or a sh-shinki...? [ He can't remember if he's told him or not, it's been a bit hectic in his brain. ]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

I'm a shinki. I know, shocking. [He idly tosses his cape back so it flares, with a penchant for melodrama.] It's not a bad life, though, if you can call it life, so I don't mind.

[creepface]

J-just a little bit, but, um... I don't know e-enough to know if it r-really is or not...

It, it's a life! You d-definitely have a l-life! [ He suddenly looks surprisingly sure of himself when he says this. ]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Well, I am actually dead, right? But I don't think of it that way, so I'm on your side here. [A surprising side though it might be; that's the first solid opinion the guy seems to have any faith in this entire conversation.]

[A good thing to believe, though.]

[creepface]

It's, it's okay, I'm d-dead too for a v-v-very long time, so I kn-know!

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Wait. [Edge squints one eye almost shut as he looks at the guy, wondering if he'd heard correctly.] But you're a god?

[creepface]

Y-yes?

[ Oh, right. ]

I d-died more than h-half a century ago, I s-suppose they w-were too late to m-make me a shi-shinki? Th-there is nothing l-left after a sp-spirit like the k-kind I am to t-turn into one.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

But you didn't come back in some form before that? [His own god had died at some point, but then come back for reasons Edge isn't entirely clear on. So he had existed in some form before coming here!]

[creepface]

I'm n-not sure what you mean? [ He's really not. ]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

I'm not sure either, but -- well, how do you know you were dead? And how long you were dead for? [That's the obvious question.]

[creepface]

A-about 70 years. I showed up in Sh-Sheol, the afterlife in m-my universe. Wh-where everyone goes when they d-die. When my type of s-spirit dies, which, which we can, we just become n-nothing. Not just the b-body's gone but the s-spirit too. Most l-living people can't see me, even if the whole g-god thing hadn't been a th-thing...

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Oh, so there you go. You were in a different afterlife before you came to this one, except you ended up as a god here, probably because you literally can't become a shinki... [Interesting, though! So no one from his world could become a shinki at all? Unless they got taken straight from their death and never got to go to Shoeland.]

[creepface]

Y-yes. [ There's two worlds where he's from (well, mainly, the third is closed off (again) luckily), one for the living, one for the dead, and everyone in Sheol would be unable to become a shinki. ] Y-yes, no one f-from Sheol could become a sh-shinki, we're a-all dead.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

That's a pretty wild twist. I wouldn't have thought about that possibility. [Edge is pretty okay with all of this, as one probably ought to be after coming to the Far Shore.] Makes me wonder if there's some afterlife I'm missing out on by being here.

[creepface]

Ah, um, sorry, am I m-making you sad?

[ Since he was wondering if he's missing out and all, he has to ask. ]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Huh - what? No! [The question is so random from his perspective that he has to stop his ponderings and turn to stare.] Why would you be making me sad?