August Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: January 6th, 2017
Where: Outside the Meeting Hall, the Far Shore / the Ryukyu Islands
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 her welcome speech in the monotone of someone who's practiced it far too often. Hopefully no one's feeling sleepy! She adds that gods should be cautious of anyone on the Near Shore who might ask to use their shrines to visit the Heavens, and should instruct their shinki to be cautious as well. There is an unrecognized god who the Heavens believe to be attacking them. 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. Each of the shinki is wearing a brightly-colored sticky name tag reading HELLO, MY NAME IS ________, and all of their names appear to end with the syllable "mei."

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. The white-robed shinki appears to be a particular expert in magic, and will occasionally offer to help out anyone who's practicing a spell more challenging than the Borderline, especially if they look quite lost. His nametag reads HELLO, MY NAME IS SABIMEI. (To interact with Sabimei, please comment on the "NPC REQUEST" thread below! If you prefer, you may also handwave his assistance or advice with your character learning spells.)

Physical Training

Two of the white-robed shinki, whose nametags mark them as Toumei and Kimei, are standing off to one side of the training area near a pair of large, curtained tents. They each have an enormous wicker basket full of clean, folded beach towels, and a rack of what appear to be wetsuits and swimsuits in a variety of styles and sizes. Once suited and toweled, new and veteran residents of the Heavens alike will be handed a pretty white-and-gold cockade that can be pinned to their suit or tied around their wrist by its ribbons, and either Toumei or Kimei will escort them to a beautiful, but rocky, Near Shore beach. Tropical plants, palm trees and high grasses surround the area, and although the sounds of cars are audible from a road not too far away, the only sign of human presence on this beach is an ancient, rotting fishing boat pulled up well past the high tide mark.

It's quite chilly, with a brisk sea breeze, but there's room to run up and down the beach, a net set up for beach volleyball, younger shinki building sand castles, and showers for the brave souls who venture into the water. The surf is impressive today, so swimmers will get the chance for some serious exercise. There's also the chance to climb through the wreck of the old fishing boat; inside, piles of old seaweed and drifting sand host curious crabs, and a curious explorer could even find treasure... although nothing more valuable than large seashells, old one-yen or five-yen coins, and bits of weathered sea glass.

Rest and Refreshments

When sunset comes -- early, at this time of year -- the shinki bring giant picnic-sized bento boxes with five or seven layers of carefully packed foods, and pile wood for bonfires that leap with flames edged blue-green from the salt. The bento boxes contain a wide variety of traditional foods, many in the style of traditional New Year's dishes: sweet potato and chestnut, slivered carrot and burdock, whole fish, toasted mochi, sliced lotus root and more. A fireworks display starts over the ocean once full night falls, fountains and bursts in every color imaginable, some so ornate that it's hard to believe they're not helped along by a touch of magic. The display lasts half an hour.

After the last fireworks, the shinki will guide everyone back to the Meeting Hall to return to their homes. The wind is getting chillier, and gods or shinki who stay too much past the firework display will notice the tiny, creeping forms of glowing ayakashi no larger than a fist, looking like little jellyfish on land. They don't seem hostile; instead, they're fixated on the boat, and will climb on it and settle onto the rigging and wood of the boat, chirping quietly to themselves and snuggling in so that the whole boat seems to glow with an unearthly blue-white light. They can be fought and defeated, but if attacked, will fight back: and be careful! Those jellyfish tentacles spread blight instead of stinging, and they're longer than they look.

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 at a beach (isn't it winter?!)
• Relax and watch the fireworks
• Have fun~

Comments

[declamando]

How long has all of this been happening? [Maria's a little curious - six months is a long time in some ways, but in others, not very long at all.] I suppose you're right about that, though, "real life things" do usually take a while to get done.

[nopixiedust]

Um... Longer? [She has no idea.... Although, after a moment, she remembers something and tries digging through her jacket to find her phone.] Oh, but a guy made a list of everything that had happened since he'd been around! So, I think that would be a good place to start.

[declamando]

[That's not a very helpful answer, but Maria looks interested at the mention of someone making a list of events.] Really? How much of it does that cover? I'd think something like that would take a lot of work.

[nopixiedust]

I think... Up until November? Someone I know picked up on it... Ah, there it is. [Shun post found, and she hands her phone over to Maria. Just because she's an amnesiac doesn't mean there's any reason she has to be oblivious about how this place can be.] It's obviously been a couple of months since then. I don't think anything too major has happened...

[And then a volcano happened but listen.]

[declamando]

[It's still quite recent, considering - it depends a bit on what part of the month it ended at, but November to January isn't a huge gap. Maria takes the phone when Wendy offers it, scrolling through the information and noting the sheer volume of it there seems to be - and this is only half of it, judging by the note and link at the top of the post.]

That's still a lot to go back over...and November is recent enough that it should give me a better idea of what things are usually like here. I might have to find it myself later, since this looks like a lot to go through.

[And that's if she only read over it rather than took time to really consider the information.]

[nopixiedust]

A lot of people talk about mundane things on there, usually.. So it should be pretty easy to scroll through until you find something obnoxiously long.

[A pause.]

Besides that love story, I guess...?

[declamando]

[That makes Maria raise a brow somewhat disbelievingly.] A love story...? Surely people have better things to do with their time here than post love stories online...

[Maria sounds a little exasperated with it - it's not without humour, but still, really?]

[nopixiedust]

I mean, it depends on the people. You have all sorts of weirdos here, or people with lots of spare time. [Wendy giggles a little.] It wasn't my thing, so I haven't really kept up with it much!

[declamando]

I suppose...still, there are better ways to use a lot of spare time... [Maria feels things like that are a little embarrassing to talk about too much, though, so she shakes her head as if to dismiss it.] Though that means it'll be easy to tell apart, anyway.

[nopixiedust]

They go on anonymous and use a fake name all the time, so it'll be very easy. Anyway, a lot of people use it for dumb stuff. I guess that's just how people are!

[Stupid and silly. Ah, humanity. Or whatever other people fall under.]

[declamando]

[Well, she's not exactly wrong about that, and Maria gives a little laugh in answer.]

I suppose. It's the internet, after all, even if it's the Heavens' version of it, so it'd be surprising if things never got a little bit silly.

[nopixiedust]

Yep. It's honestly kind of funny, to see what people will do when they think no one will know who they are. You get all sorts of weird questions.

Anyway, it's still useful even with all of that.

[declamando]

It's certainly better to have it than not. If nothing else, it lets people get information out quicker when there's disasters, which I'm hearing aren't exactly uncommon here.

[Not common either, it seems, which is a relief, but still something to be prepared for.]

[nopixiedust]

Yeah... [Wendy frowns and shakes her head.] This place just attracts trouble...

...Even without any help from all the weirdos who end up here.

But on the bright side, some of those weirdos can be pretty helpful.

[declamando]

Is there anyone you'd recommend talking to? I'd rather figure things out as quickly as I can so I can start focusing on what's important.

[She needs to know what's important before she can do that, though, so she'd like to get information from as many sources as possible so she can make the best decision.]

My god explained a few things, but I feel like it's better to get a range of opinions.

[nopixiedust]

Well, this Hakkai guy runs a school, so I guess there's a lot to learn over there. [Wendy only goes there occasionally.] Shun puts all what he knows on the BBS...

Oh- [She snaps her fingers.] And apparently there's some old god who's been hanging around a lot! So maybe talk to him?

[declamando]

[Well, it's a bit vague, but Maria can probably still work with it.] Did anyone mention a name for the old god...? I'm not that familiar with the gods here, I don't think.

[There's nothing of real significance coming up when she just thinks on general knowledge she might have about the gods here.]

[nopixiedust]

Ebisu. He's the only one I've seen so far whose name is short to say.

[People's names are too damn long here.]

[declamando]

[Maria looks somewhat relieved that the name is easy to remember, so she might have had a few of the same experiences already.]

Well, I suppose I can't ask for any more than that. I'll keep an eye out for him.

[nopixiedust]

He shows up sometimes, although I haven't really met him yet. [He's a busy little kid.] And you can come to me for anything, okay?

[declamando]

Alright. Thank you for the information. [She gives Wendy a polite bow of the head. She's learnt some useful things here.]

[nopixiedust]

It's no problem. [After a moment, she reaches over to squeeze Maria's hand.] I'll look out for you if you need it.