001 | The Welcoming Feast

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: A little bit of explanation, thank goodness.
When: Early morning. (February 15, 2016)
Where: The Heavens. Specifically in the Meeting Hall.
Warnings: Exposition is coming your way, sit back and enjoy the show!



The Heavens have summoned you. And there is no way to turn down a summons from the Heavens. Of course, some of you know where you are and what you are probably doing here, but most of you might be completely confused as to what is going on. All gods have been ushered into the meeting hall, where every person suddenly becomes anonymous and obscured, while every shinki has been gathered up outside in the hallway, both sets to listen to the same message sent by Amaterasu herself. And while you cannot see her properly or really figure out what her voice sounds like, you definitely know that it's her speaking:

'Welcome, one and all, to Takamagahara. There are many new gods and shinki here today, and I hope you all find your stay pleasant. I wish that I could explain to you exactly why you find yourselves here now, but I am unsure of the details myself. Please make use of the shinki dedicated to our services in order to make yourself more acquainted with your new position. You can find them by looking for my golden insignia.

As compensation for the trouble you are all being put through, I have had a wonderful feast prepared. I only hope that it is to your liking. Feel free to eat and drink as much as you would like, though please do not leave before the clock chimes midnight, for that is when your homes will be prepared.

I ask that all pre-existing gods please help those new to our ways. Let them know what is and is not acceptable and what duties will be expected of them. I am counting on your all to support the Heavens in this confusing time as we attempt to sort things out.

Thank you all for your time. And I am truly sorry that you have found yourselves in this situation.

With that, the figure that is Amaterasu bows deeply and disappears from their sights. The gods are released from their chamber and the shinki are allowed to roam. All exits are manned by a white-clad shinki, bearing a golden, embroidered Chrysanthemum on their chests. So, technically, there is no way out. You can't even seem to teleport out by any means.

All that's really left to do is enjoy the food and hope that you'll actually be able to leave after the clock chimes midnight. Though the clock doesn't seem to work on a minute-by-minute basis either...



Banquet Hall

There is food from literally every culture and walk of life here. Everything is prepared gorgeously and deliciously, no expenses spared. There are shinki bearing the Chrysanthemum carrying out new platters of everything as it's eaten up and nothing seems to go hot or cold as time passes - it always at the perfect temperature for eating and it never tastes anything but delicious. Maybe there's a little magic making it taste so good...

On top of the delectable dinner, there are plenty of desserts and every kind of alcohol available and constantly being refilled. The liquor is being offered to gods and shinki alike, no matter how old they are/look. Let's hope that you can hold your alcohol.

Counselling

In the main hallway, there is an innocuous door with a small, nicely written sign that reads "Gentle Counselling". Inside the door is a small room with a few sweetly smiling shinki inside who are willing to listen to your problems and answer any questions you might have. They are also here to help out any gods that are having a hard time dealing with knowing about how their shinki died and also any shinki that is having trouble coming to terms with the fact that they are dead.

Did Someone Say Games?

A large room connected to the back of the banquet hall has a wide variety of games set up for everyone to enjoy. There are old-fashioned board games (like chess and Othello) as well as newer ones (like Candy Land and Sorry!). On top of that, there is every kind of console available with every video game ever made - and plenty of handheld devices for everyone to be able to play. The devices don't seem to work outside of this room, though, so you'll have to stay there if you want to keep playing. Gaming is, after all, a great way to get to know new people!

After Midnight

Finally, the clock starts to chime. It seems like it's been days and yet only minutes at the same time. Time seems to work so strangely here in Takamagahara and it's hard to keep up with what's going on. But now that the shinki guarding the doors have left their posts, you are more than welcome to leave. In fact, the Heavens seem to want you to leave because all of the food has disappeared, none of the games work anymore (including the board games, which keep flipping over when you try to play...), and the friendly shinki are smiling as they usher you out the doors.

You are welcome to start wandering around Takamagahara, but it's an ambiguous sort of place and might just take you straight home anyway. Feel free to go home and start bonding with your partner. Or sneak home with someone else because your partner is a meanie-pants. It's up to you!



In Summary:

• Amaterasu says you're stuck here and she doesn't know why. Sorry!
• There's lots of food to eat, though! Eat your fill.
• Oh, and there's booze too. Try not to get TOO drunk.
• Guidance/Grief counselling is available, if you need it.
• Use gaming to get close to others!
• Try to start bonding with your god/shinki. Or just form new friendships. Whatever you feel best doing!
• Have fun!

Comments

ota

[darkduelist]

Banquet Hall

From the outside, Yuto looked like he was taking this well. He was leaning against the wall, in silence watching those who gathered in the room. He didn't even glace at the table, completely disinterested with food no matter how delicious it would be. He crossed his arms, frowning as his eyes drifted from one face to another, as if looking for someone.

On the inside, Yuto was far from calm. He was dead, he did not remember anything, he didn't even know what he had lost. Just like all those shinki gathered here. The sadness Yuto felt now made him want to cry. But he could not allow himself to do that. Crying was not going to help, after all. It would not give him back what he had lost. It would not solve anything.

So Yuto kept his face serious, not betraying the sadness of his heart. And he continued to watch people.

Perhaps a part of him was hoping to find a face that looked at least a bit familiar in this crowd full of strangers.

Games

At one point Yuto made his way towards the corner with board games. He wasn't even interested in playing anything, but his attention was caught by some plain playing cards. He took the deck in his hands and started shuffling it.

...Odd. It felt like he had done that thousands of times before and yet he couldn't really recall how to play any card games.

He sighed a little as he absent-mindedly continued to shuffle the deck.

Games

[roeh]

It's the shuffling that catches her interest. It's not that he's been standing there quite a while looking almost forlorn. She watches the way the cards move in his hands with a kind of skill that speaks to great talent in some uncertain respects. Eventually, curiosity gets the better of her.

"You gonna play or do you just know a few tricks with that deck?" From the sound of it, she'd be okay with either.

hello! ヾ(*'▽'*)

[darkduelist]

Yuto stops shuffling and immediately looks at her. Then his gaze shifts back to the cards in his hand, staring at them in silence.

"I don't know any tricks" he says eventually. "I... don't really know any card games either."

He furrows his brows, trying to remember if he had ever played cards before, but to no avail. It's not surprising though. After all, he has no memory of the time when he was still alive.

He looks back at the woman and offers the cards to her.

"Do you know how to play?"

He thinks to himself that if he hears the rules or tries to play cards with someone, then maybe, just maybe he might remember something. And even if he doesn't, it's still worth trying. Especially since he doesn't have anything better to do right now.

Sup man. Gotta get in my daily dose of card games.

[roeh]

Ah. A Shinki then. Perhaps that's why she doesn't rush him. She's even starting to wonder who really made out worse; those that remember and have reason to resent it? Or those that don't. But it doesn't change what's happened either way and she can be angry for the both of them. Though not at him.

Nodding, she takes the proffered cards. "There's a lot of games you can play with cards like this.". Idly, she begins to shuffle them herself, the cards slapping against each other, staccato and satisfying, although she clearly lacks the practiced finesse that Yuto displayed.

"Skyllian Five's a favorite back home. That's a kind of poker." She purses her lips almost as soon as the words leave her mouth. He'd already admitted that he didn't know any after all. "I could show you."

[darkduelist]

Yuto is watching how the woman shuffles the cards. He doesn't comment and looks up at her face only when she begins talking about a card game from her home.

It's a kind of 'poker', huh? He's pretty sure he's heard about a card game called like that, but he doesn't know how to play it. Is his memory loss to blame for that? Or maybe he had never known how to play? Who knows.

Yuto nods, accepting the woman's offer.

"Then show me."

[roeh]

"Alright then have a seat." There's a small table and a few chairs nearby and Shepard takes up residence in one of them. She leans back with one leg crossed over her knee. "It more interesting with a few more people but all you need is two."

The cards fly back and forth in her hands a few more times before she straightens the deck and places it on the table, halfway between them. Then she gestures, palm up. "Cut the deck."

Maybe it was unfair to ask even that much of someone suffering amnesia, but maybe she was curious just how far it extended too. And certainly why she remained unaffected.

[darkduelist]

Yuto sits down opposite of her and watches her in silence. When she asks him to cut the deck, he hesitates a moment, then takes the top half of the cards, sets it down on the table and puts the remaining half on top of it.

Then he looks at her.

"Like this?"

[roeh]

"Right. So the dealer can't stack the deck." Not that she had that kind of skill to begin with but she did have to wonder about him.

Retrieving the deck, she starts to deal the cards, placing a set of five face down in front of each of them. Then she lifts the edges of her pile to peek at the numbers and suits hiding beneath.

"You can look at your cards and place your bet." Then, something dawns on her. "Do you remember anything about scoring?"

[darkduelist]

Again he is watching her in silence. When she tells him he can look at his cards, Yuto takes his pile off the table and holds them in his hand like a fan. Then he takes a good look at the cards and frowns. The suits and numbers don't tell him much, or at least not as much as he would want to. Right now he is more than sure he has never played this game before.

At the question, Yuto looks at her and shakes his head almost right away. He puts his cards face down on the table.

[roeh]

"Right. So." She's grabbing a second deck -- no sense in messing up what's already been started -- and after giving it a quick shuffle she fans it out in front of him. "Poker is all about matching numbers and suits. There's four suits, hearts, diamonds, spade and clubs."

She gestures for clarity, tapping at four of the cards with audible emphasis. Then she starts to slide certain ones out of the pile. Starting with a pair of twos. "The more cards you have with the same number, the better. This is a pair. You can also have two pair, or three and four of a kind." As she names them, examples of each appear upon the table before Yuto.

"You follow me so far?"

[darkduelist]

"Yes." he says with a nod.

He again glances at the cards on the table. This game doesn't sound complicated and now for a brief moment he thinks back to the cards he has. He doesn't pick them up to look at them though. He remembers what he got, so his cards remain face down on the table.

Then he looks at her again, waiting for her to continue the explanation.

he is like the ultimate poker face :|

[roeh]

In that case, she makes quick work of the rest of the explanation. A full house, flush, straight and straight flush all appear on the table before him and then she shuffles them around in order of their ranking. She doesn't waste her breath on bluffing or any strategy though. That's just something everyone has to learn on their own.

"I think that about does it. Now we just need to place our bets." It seems she's going to leave the cards where they are for reference but next to the cards there's a case for chips. She flips a few his way.

"If we were playing with an ante, we'd bet before dealing but it's kind of pointless if we're not using real money."

yeah. Also we talked about handwaving so how does this sound?

[darkduelist]

Again Yuto is listening in silence and merely nods at the explanation.

"Let's play already then." While it doesn't sound too hard it's best to learn by actually playing the game.

As expected from someone who plays the game for the first time in their life, at first Yuto isn't doing too good. But he's learning fast and the fact that he can keep his expression unchanged quickly proves to be an advantage. Of course, it's not like he's winning all the time, but after a while it's clear he's pretty good at these kind of games.

But this still doesn't bring back any of memories.

games~

[jyajyaaan]

The moment Vector saw the cards move through Yuto's fingers he knew that he had found a person from ...well, not home, but close enough. From the dimension he had helped to destroy a bit, for no better reason than having nothing better to do and wanting to stay alive.

(Which had apparently been a horrible offense, because Vector hadn't waited for Nasch's order to do the very same thing in far more stupid and collateral damage-happy steps. Figures.)

At first he didn't feel like approaching the kid, but soon the constant shuffling started to grate at the corners of his nerves and his resolve falls short.

"Hey, kid" poking Yuto's shoulder he made an effort to at least show a neutral face. "Playing all by your own is pretty sad, isn't it? Let me take a card."

[darkduelist]

The poke made Yuto instantly look at the other. At first he didn't say anything, staring a little at the face that seemed less human the longer he looked at it. Was this guy a god? But it wasn't like it mattered all that much in the end.

"I wasn't playing" he corrected the other and then, after a brief moment of silence he offered the cards to him, adding: "I can't even remember how to play."

But Yuto wasn't even looking at the strange guy when he said those words. His gaze was fixed at the deck, as if hoping that staring at it for long enough would make him remember everything from the life he had lost.

[jyajyaaan]

"Hmmmmm~" Nimbly drawing a card, he held it up between two fingers before turning it over with a flick of his wrist with a flourish. "But does that matter?"

Giving the card a look, he turned it once again. "Ah, the four of hearts. Here, you can have it again." Returning it into the pile that was still in Yuto's hands, he let his fingers rest at the back of his hand while making sure that they were having eye contact.

"Don't worry about the nature of a game. What matters is whether you choose to play it or not."

[darkduelist]

Yuto looked at the other frowning deeply. The way this guy was talking made it sound like an invitation for some really dangerous game. But that thought seemed almost ridiculous in Yuto's mind. After all, how could a simple card game be dangerous?

And yet he couldn't shake off his uneasiness. He did not allow it to show in his expression in any way, though.

"...I can't agree to play when I don't know the rules." He said eventually, setting the deck down on the table. "Why do you want to play with me anyway?"

[jyajyaaan]

"Rules are something that are agreed upon once the game starts." He shrugged his shoulders. "After the decision to play was made."

Watching the cards be set away he crossed his arms in front of his chest and sighed with a little huff. "And I don't really want to. You just looked like you might need one less you shuffle forever."

[darkduelist]

"Is that so?" Yuto responded, eyes closing for a second. "In that case neither of us is interested in playing."

Though maybe if this was someone else, Yuto would actually tried playing. Maybe that would help him remember something? Or maybe not.

Yuto didn't notice when he stared staring at the cards yet again. He shook his head lightly and looked at the other.

"So who are you? One of the gods?"

[jyajyaaan]

"One of the gods." Vector looked at the cards as well and then subtly shook his head. It would take a while before he felt like playing card games again. "One of the new ones."

"If you want to know what my profession is, call it police. Light and chaos, finding the right path. Making sure that no idiot messes with the balance of the worlds and those things." Of course, he liked to mess with those things himself, but then again Vector was everything but an idiot. Playing up the Guardian persona in a way he'd feel comfortable maintaining for a longer time seemed the best route in this place.

[darkduelist]

Yuto raised a brow. The other certainly didn't look like that kind of god, but then again it was not like the boy knew that much about gods in the first place.

"And your name is...?" Yuto didn't know why he was asking. He just needed to know, or maybe he just didn't have anything better to do. Either way, Yuto did not appear in any way impressed with the other and kept looking at him with his cold grey eyes.

But weren't humans supposed to show some respect towards deities? Well, Yuto wasn't exactly trying to be rude. Though, maybe it was actually rude to ask someone's name before introducing yourself. But then again, shouldn't the gods know everything? Or something like that.

[jyajyaaan]

Looks could be deceiving, and like most living beings Vector only had a limited amount of control over how his body looked. His was nowhere near the colorful and often fancy designs some other Barian's sported, but he didn't feel like his monochromatic looks were anything to feel bad for either as he calmly returned the look the other gave him.

(Not that anybody wearing a dog collar out of their free volition had the right to say anything about the looks of others.)

"Vector. A former Barian Emperor."

[darkduelist]

Looks could be deceiving - Yuto agreed with that. But perhaps he thought that different rules applied to gods.

"Barian?" He asked, furrowing his brows slightly at the unfamiliar word. Had he ever heard this word before? Maybe he only forgot about it? He closed his eyes for a moment in an attempt to recall something, but again he found nothing. Not even the tiniest memory.

He opened his eyes, a sad disappointed frown showing for a second on his face, before he focused on Vector. A former emperor now a god, huh? That sure was something, but hardly any amazement showed in Yuto's expression.

"And you remember everything from your life?" He asked suddenly. It felt a little unfair that shinki did not have any memories of the time when they were alive but gods did.

[jyajyaaan]

"It's a different world." He made a throwaway gesture to indicate that the details didn't matter right now.

"...and you bet I do, although I wouldn't recommend it. Zero out of ten stars, wouldn't do it again." Not that he expected having a say in that. Huffing lightly, he directed his attention back at the shinki.

"Why do you want to know that much, anyway? Things are usually forgotten for a reason, at least if it happens in such a big ...extend? Is that the word for it?" His voice was a perfect mix of light briskness and honest curiosity, touched up with a pinch of empathy for good measure. If one forgot that much getting it all back usually spelt heartbreak and worse for them, unless they were a person like him.

[darkduelist]

A different world? For some odd reason Yuto wasn't too surprised to hear that. Maybe it was (again) because of other's appearance.

At the other part though, Yuto answered without any hesitation.

"I don't remember anything from my past, but I want to remember. Even if those memories would be painful."

It was better to have painful memories than no memories at all. He wanted to know what kind of person he had been. He wanted to know if he had family, friends. He wanted to remember faces from his past life. And even if there was nothing but sadness when he was still alive, he wanted to remember it too. So he could say to himself that it was all in the past and no longer mattered. Though of course, he did realize that last part could not be easy.