thenearshore | [closed]

Entry tags:

[closed]

Who: Elfnein & Iskandar
What: there is some research to be done
Where: Elfnein's Temple
When: Jan. 12th
Warnings: none

(they say Big Data is all the rage...)

After some reconnaisance Iskandar finally finds his way to Elfnein's temple. As he doesn't know what kind of goddess she is he stops at the entrance. Still it all looks fine. Seems like no riddle doors or hellish hounds are going to attack him. So he enters and tries to to find anybody who could help him locate the goddess.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Elfnein heard the front door open and gave a quick wave from the help desk that was off to the side. ]

Hello!

[Iskandar looks around when he finally notices her a wide grin appears on his face. He comes to her desk and produces a small box neatly wrapped in ornamental paper. Shall Elfnein inquire it contains a tin box with selection of cookies. A small gift, yes, but one does not come visiting empty handed. Especially to a fellow god.]

Hello! So where we can sit and talk about your research? First, tell me, did I come at right time?

You've come at a good time, I just finished putting away all of the new donations from New Years finally.

[ Elfnein's followers had left boxes and boxes of unneeded books so she's been slowly adding them to the temple's collection. ]

We can talk in my lab if you want? It's in the back of the temple.

[The look on Iskandar's face is just pure amazement.

SO. MANY. BOOKS.

He certainly came to the right place! It takes him a moment to collect himself.]

Absolutely! Lead on then!

It's ok if you want to take a look around first?

[ Elfnein can't help but notice how Iskandar's face is just a state of pure amazement. Plus talking can wait, looking at the rest of the temple for a bit wouldn't take that much time. ]

If I may then I would absolutely love too!

[Iskandar is positively beaming. He's the guy who could live in a library. If he wasn't running around Asia conquering stuff. He would probably want to do both of those things ;) Simultaneously...]

The general layout is really easy to navigate, the reference books are near the front, and upstairs has an entertainment room for movies. I think I have a map somewhere that might be useful.

Surely you must have every book in existence here!

[He's not exaggerating. He really thinks that. It might be a bit silly but give the man a break. He just walked into literal heaven for bookworms while still in a bit of the modernity shock phase. It will take him time to get used to. He has over two thousand years of progress to catch up to. Because having a brief stint in the early '90s doesn't count. It just couldn't prepare him for anything at all.]

I don't have that many books here, but my goal is to keep this library as up to date as I can with help from the heavens.

It's still a lot. You have a true treasure here.

[Iskandar could probably spend a week here if allowed just reading anything the caught his eye. Still it would be rude. He didn't come here for his personal entertainment only. There is work to be done.]

You have indulged me enough. Let's talk about how I can help you with your research.

Oh right, there is a lot to talk about!

[ Tours of the library can be paused for now, after all the project comes first. ]

In my last round of surveys I ran into the issue of people not wanting to give out a lot of information. So fixing that problem is where I want to start.

[Iskandar nods. He can personally attest that sharing information may not be the smartest move in many circumstances. Yet none here and now is to gain anything from them all staying in the dark because they're too paranoid to trust anyone.]

I can understand where the hesitation may come from. Still I believe we all would benefit from more understanding of our current situation.

What kind of questions did you ask?

I asked temple location, the amount of people living there, the amount of prayers taken on to please followers. Along with how long they've been here in the heavens.

That are some very reasonable questions!
Though I admit that as for the third one I could provide only some estimate since I wasn't actually counting any of those.
Still that's not exactly private information. Not very personal either. You could know answers just by walking through districts and maybe some asking around. I wonder then why others have qualms about telling you something simple as that.

I tried to make the questions vague enough so it wouldn't be that private, and the last question was the one people struggled with.

[ She gets that no one really keeps track of that sort of thing. ]

Walking through the districts isn't something I did, I left a few signs with information and where my temple was to fill out the forms.

[Iskandar nods. That's odd. He doesn't have trouble remembering how long he's been here.]

If you show me your list I can add the temples I know of that you are missing. Shall there be any. I hardly know everybody but I tend to move around quite a lot and I notice things.

I would be really grateful if you did that, the extra copies of the survey forms are on my desk I can grab them before you leave.

I will then. Were you able to gain any insight from the information you did get?

The one thing I was able to figure out from the information I got was that most gods move at least once during their stay here.

They do? But how? And why? What about their temples?

[Iskandar is trying to picture how that could work.]

Do they move the building? What about the surrounding areas like gardens?

[Please forgive him this onslaught of questions, he clearly wasn't expecting any of this.]

The buildings and whatever is connected to their temples.

[ Elfnein starts to draw a little diagram in the air with her power, the letters and shapes start glowing as a visual aid. ]

A good example would be my temple, it moved a few months ago and this new location made the building and area around it bigger. This was after I sensed that maybe more people were impressed with the actions I had done.

You think it was connected? As far as I was able to observe the temples are bigger the closer one gets to Central district.

[He immediately thinks about Ebisu towering skyscraper and Hakkai's temple. Both in Central district.]

All the most prominent gods have temples in the Central district. That would mean that as one's power grows their temple would move. Hm, I never thought about it but it makes sense.

It would be the most logical answer based on the little information I have.

[ Hibiki's temple is slowly growing and moving, same with Nanako's. Based off those two it's somewhat easy for Elfnein to connect the dots. ]

[There is just one thing that bothers him in the whole move-my-temple affair.]

How did you know that your temple has moved? Were you inside when it did?

I was given a gift basket by the heavens.

A basket? Any explanation came with the basket why the move even happened in the first place?

[He thought Heavens are not exactly best organized court from the start. Yet this kind of thing? That's not lack of organization. That's just plain damage control. They have no idea what they're doing!

Either this or they are trying to appear so for some unknown reasons. And Iskandar has hard time deciding which option he truly considers worse.]

No, just a welcome note for the new temple location and some nice baked goods.

[ It was a nice gift basket at least. ]

I only wonder if it's common knowledge among the local gods. That one's temple would change location. Maybe that is why they didn't bother to give any explanation. Still, I find it odd.

That would be one reason, though I think it might be an unspoken rule? If you tell people right away that if they do so much they get a bigger temple it would cause issues.

Indeed it might. Probably add to the confusion as well. I can see why they might not be eager to share this detail.

[It seems reasonable. Still, Iskandar can imagine himself teleporting to his temple only to find it is now in a totally different location. That would be quite a surprise.]

I think it's something people should know about but maybe not right away. The question related to it might be confusing for new gods answering the survey?

Hm. I believe it might. I didn't know that. Some people may be unwilling to admit they don't know about it or that they don't understand the question. So they would prefer not to take the survey at all.

What would be a good question to ask in it's place then?

I don't think there is a need. You are already asking about all the basics. Shall any new question appear, either from the person answering the survey or springing from the answers they gave, you can always do a follow-up interview.
At least that's what I would do.

That is very true, offering a follow up with people would allow me to ask more questions and give a better set of data.

As well as give them time to reflect on their answers. Maybe even amend or add something to them. Sometimes it's difficult to give a correct answer on the spot.

Having time to reflect is something I didn't really account for.

That's why it's always good to have someone to bounce your ideas off. Very often even just trying to explain a thing helps.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[closed]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject