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

[killercoat]

[ He believes he's been informed about blight, and that in most cases, washing the curse with holy water will alleviate it. However, they didn't go into detail about this particular occurrence. If the severity of the blight requires detaching the contamination from the body, then it must be quite serious.

Akutagawa hasn't seen Shun's shinki outside of its vessel form, so he has no idea if this mark will be visible on its person. He hasn't seen an injured shinki, but this makes him wonder if it's possible. It's clear that shinki and even gods aren't invincible. No one really states so aloud, but there seems to be an implicit acceptance.

Akutagawa looks over Shun's hammer once more. It's damaged it seems that this vessel can only handle a certain workload, which is unfortunate since it seems like an impressive instrument.]

Then you must have really pushed its limit with this. Is there a risk of it breaking completely?

[ As a shinki, it feels like something he should know. Though risking injury or even idea of his vessel form being broken apart doesn't scare Akutagawa. He accepts that he is a tool of his god, and fulfilling their desire to the best of his ability is what he strives to do. No matter the consequence.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[...Shun has to take a moment to quietly make a note to offer some kind of apology to anyone relevant about how he'd treated soulless shinki when he first came here, because this is the first time he's really appreciated how irritating it is to hear someone refer to a shinki as "it".]

"She", not it. She's no less a person than anyone else here. And I never plan to push her that far, though I'd say it's possible for a cracked shinki to be pushed to that point.

[It's not something he wants to find out, ever, because killing an ally in the line of duty is the absolute last thing he ever wants to do. He does have other shinki, besides, so a situation that desperate should never arise.]

[killercoat]

I meant no disrespect. There simply wasn't much to go on when identifying a gender.

[ The vessel form doesn't really give Akutagawa much evidence to determine the gender. Akutagawa hasn't seen the spirit's corporal form, since Shun arrived with her already transformed, so he lacked the knowledge to address her. However, he does acknowledges it wasn't the right word choice.]

Though I do realize my error, and I will refer to her properly from now on.

[Though this mild understanding does bring up another issue. Shun's reaction makes Akutagawa wonder why he would see his shinki as any less of a person. Was she a shinki by different means than himself and others. He decides to center the conversation on that since Shun pretty much answered his question about whether a shinki could be pushed to the brink of destruction.]

...Are shinki such as her, shunned?

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun waves a hand as if to indicate they can move on from the subject of address with that - Kotori seems more amused by it than anything, though Shun's the only one of them that can hear that anyway.

Akutagawa's follow-up question is a difficult one, though, because Shun's not actually all that familiar with the general status of cracked shinki here.]

I'm not sure, since it's not something I've talked to the old gods about. Considering their obsession with perfection and putting on an untouchable front, though, I'd expect it's a case of not accepting them even if they don't outright shun them.

[That gets a slight murmur of agreement from Kotori on Shun's end, so he figures it's a reasonable guess.]

[killercoat]

Not accepting?

[ He hasn't been here long, and so he hasn't seen for himself, the type of airs the older gods might put up. However, from what he envisions the heavens should be, it makes sense that they wish to exude perfection. A cracked vessel appears to be anything but.]

But you have? If it's something that the Heavens don't accept, how is it that you came into possession of such imperfection?

[He would think the gods would dissuade anyone from using such a shinki if it's such an eyesore to the image they are trying to uphold. Unless there are certain conditions where they allow the use of one.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun's eyes narrow slightly at that. It's making it very clear Akutagawa is a new arrival.] The newcomer gods do a lot of things that the Heavens don't accept - plenty of people keep nora, and that sort of thing. I named her because me and someone else saved her from the ayakashi that was trying to consume her.

[Nanako had not been the best option to fight the thing off once they'd dealt with the blight issue, so Shun had ended up doing the naming. Either option would've been better than leaving her alone again, though.]

[killercoat]

[ Akutagawa feels no need to hide the fact that he's new, it's something that he can't avoid and his ignorance will be only apparent if he puts on a front. If anything being new has it's benefits of encouraging people to offer information. He doesn't know why, but gathering as much knowledge seems to be instilled in him.

Shun explains that newer gods are more accepting than the Heavens are. It appears that the newcomer deities are more tolerant than the older gods.]

So you took responsibility for saving her and brought her under your care. I'm sure she appreciates being of use despite her current state.

[ Akutagawa feels that's something he can understand very well.]

[revolutionfalcon]

Nobody else was going to do it. [They were there at the time, and not handling it then would've meant leaving her to die. Shun isn't one to be soft and sympathetic, but he's also not one to let innocent souls, literal or not, die if he can do something about it.]

She can tell me that herself. But if you're wondering what the idea of a cracked vessel means for you, I've never heard of it happening to any of the newcomers.

[Akutagawa doesn't strike him as the type to be interested out of the goodness of his heart, to say the least.]

[killercoat]

[ Akutagawa shrugs. He agrees no one else probably would have done the same, but no one really had to either. The difference is the action taken, whether it be indifference or compassion. He doesn't really have an interest in whether the shinki's life was saved or not. Though Shun seems to pick up on the relevance the phenomenon has to him. There doesn't seem to be such a case that it happens to new shinki. He wonders why that was?]

Maybe because most shinki are assigned to gods almost immediately and if they remain in the Far Shore, the likelihood of being susceptible to an ayakashi is minor. A shinki must have had to endure the ayakashi feeding on them for quite some time in order to become fractured. That's only if a god discovers them and are able to save them.

[He's sure if his understanding is wrong, then Shun will correct him.]

[revolutionfalcon]

Not necessarily. The Western District gets ayakashi routinely enough for it to be a risk, otherwise we wouldn't have a need for the Shinki Sanctuary. Though there is more chance of someone being discovered before it gets that far here.

[On the Near Shore, it's the opposite - someone in that state could be completely overlooked if they didn't have the luck or knowledge to track down someone to help them. But to Shun's knowledge, a shinki without a name wouldn't be able to travel between Shores without permission, unless they had some familiarity with abandoned shrines and the rules surrounding them.]

[killercoat]

Shinki Sanctuary? There's something like that.

[ The Western District getting ayakashi is news to him. Although, he's sure that the white-robed shinki probably doesn't want to scare the newcomers. At least, there's a resource for shinki without a god.]

Is there a reason that there are more occurrences of ayakashi in that area?

[revolutionfalcon]

It's a place on the Near Shore where shinki can stay while they have no god. One of the newcomers started it.

[Wendy had always been fairly vocal about her discomfort with the lack of safety of not having a god, so Shun certainly hadn't been surprised she was the one to start that particular resource.]

It's more wild and less protected, basically. It's where the less-followed gods live, so it's further out from the centre of the Heavens, where most ayakashi avoid.

[killercoat]

It must be difficult for a shinki to be without a god, then. It's odd that there wasn't a better system in place before a newcomer had to step in.

[ Akutagawa is slowly seeing how flawed the Heavens are. If Gods need Shinki in order to eliminate ayakashi, why isn't there a better way to handle a shinki without a god? It seems like a regular occurrence, but despite knowing the issue, they don't try to resolve it. Only a newcomer thought to do something about it? That seems unacceptable.

The disapproval is still visible on his face as Shun goes on to speak about the Western District.]

So even that doesn't concern them? To have ayakashi running around, just because a lower caliber of gods dwells there? The Heavens should be an impenetrable fortress. If they allow even the vermin to enter, then they mind as well leave the doors open.

[revolutionfalcon]

It's not just difficult, it's dangerous to them. That's why they called it a sanctuary. [Being protected from being eaten by random roaming ayakashi is a strong draw for a lot of people, somewhat unsurprisingly. Though Shun also knows some just go to live with gods they know instead, it's useful for the ones who didn't really get attached or didn't have time to sort out another option.

He gives Akutagawa a bit of a flat look at that last comment, though.] While I can agree the Western District shouldn't be treated any differently than anywhere else, the rest of that sounds like the same kind of elitist garbage the old gods like to spout.

[killercoat]

[ Akutagawa has only been in the Heavens a short while, so he doesn't understand the danger that Shun is trying to explain to him. Though he gets that he's a tool to be used and discarded.

He's also unaware of the opinions of the old gods, but he does have his own expectations of what Heavens should be. Like any society, there's a hierarchy. Those at the top and those at the bottom. That's just how things are and he doesn't wish to challenge the system even if it's unfair. It's a necessary evil to force people to overcome their oppression and succeed.]

You said it yourself, the Western District is where the less-followed gods are. Just by where they live I already understand what Heaven's opinion of them are. Those who have more to contribute have more access to a better environment. And I also know my place as well. As a shinki, I must aid my god in greatness, but I am also very expendable. I could be left abandoned to fend for myself, and unless I'm re-assigned, I will perish. Despite its name, the Heavens are no paradise, but it's reality.

[revolutionfalcon]

[Honestly, of that Shun looks more derogatory as soon as the point of "knowing his place" comes up. There's enough gods with that attitude without shinki buying into it as well, and while Shun can usually understand being realistic, there's a limit.]

See if your god agrees with that if you decide to tell them you're expendable. Most of us here are human, we form connections and value people we work with just like anyone else, so don't foist the old gods' garbage about "knowing your place" on the rest of us. There's a difference between being realistic and buying into their ridiculous attitudes when you've barely been here a day.

[Shun doesn't quite sound irritable, but he does sound rather curt. This is a topic he's had to argue a fair few times before now, and it never gets any less grating to him.]

[killercoat]

[ He's heard of that before. Most people he's talked to have said it depends on his god, that dictates what sort of shinki he'll be. It's possible that his god might not share the same opinions of his, and might even be considerate of their shinki as Shun says.]

You're right, I haven't been here very long to get a total grasp of the situation. So, what I understand can be wholly inaccurate. However, in the same way, you are imposing your ideas on me. You value life and you treasure the connections you've created, that's fair. Though, not all of us can thrive in such harmony.

The reason why I accept the "garbage" is that it's a greater motivator than the nurturing you endorse. I am not blind to the distinction between those who are strong and weak. I accept it because it makes more sense in how I should proceed.

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun gives a rather dismissive snort at the way Akutagawa chooses to phrase his position.] If you consider caring about other people in any way "nurturing", then I think that says enough about your position. If you really don't give a damn how someone wants to treat you, then I certainly don't care enough to give a damn for you.

[At this point, though, the beach is basically clear of people, and with the ayakashi gone, Shun has no real reason to linger. He also isn't particularly fond of what he considers navel-gazing conversation like this, so at this point, he shrugs and turns his back.] Do what you like, as long as you're not stupid enough to get anyone else tangled up in it.

[killercoat]

It's not necessary for you to care.

[ This man is not his god, and he doesn't have to answer to him. From the way Shun turns his back on him, it's clear that he's done with the conversation. Akutagawa has no reason to remain on the beach as well. He starts walking away, but not before saying one last thing.]

Even if we have different opinions, I still appreciate the knowledge you offered. It was also a pleasure to fight alongside you. I wish you a good night.

[He then carries on, walking in the direction to exit from this world.]