September Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: January 22nd, 2017
Where: Outside the Meeting Hall, the Far Shore / slopes of a recently erupting volcano
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 at least one unrecognized god who the Heavens believe to be attacking them, and another recent incursion by an unrecognized god ended in his defeat and the extinguishing of the volcano he had caused to erupt. 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

There are stacks of informational pamphlets sitting out on tables around the dojo. There aren't very many of the white-robed shinki around, but the few who are present will willingly answer any questions or instruct newcomers in the use of the borderline. They accompany their answers, or their 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 who appears upset and visibly distracted is keeping an eye on the training dummies, and will intervene if anyone tries to destroy one. He is wearing a slightly battered nametag that reads HELLO, MY NAME IS SABIMEI. (Sabimei is an expert in shinki magic and will assist characters who need help with spells or who want to learn a new spell. If you want a thread with him or have any questions about handwaving something, please comment on the NPC REQUEST thread below. Characters who want to begin learning a new spell from him do not have to thread it out, but should comment on the Shinki Spells and Songs page to begin learning the spell.)

Physical Training

There are no special obstacle courses or training areas set up for the newcomers at this welcome session. Instead, the white-robed shinki will invite any gods or shinki who are willing to help with cleanup in the Western District of the Far Shore. A recent volcanic eruption has left heavy ash fall on temple roofs and fallen trees or mud clogging roads. Some of them are singing in chorus to summon small rainstorms or winds to clear away the obstacles; others are just using brooms and ropes to sweep away ash or drag away trees, and help of the magical or physical variety will be appreciated.

Rest and Refreshments

Once it begins to grow dark, everyone helping to clean up the Western District will be brought back to the dojo to rejoin those who chose to remain there. Traditional public baths are available for everyone to wash off the mud, ash and sweat of their hard work and soak comfortably in a warm communal pool afterwards, and a generous banquet has been laid for everyone. The tables are full of beer and sake (or tea and soda for the non-drinkers), plates of sushi and sashimi, deep-fried vegetables and shrimp, and warm soups to counteract the chill of the January weather.

After dinner, a middle-aged woman sets up an open mic. She starts out the evening by turning on her karaoke machine and performing a few jazzy older songs, and turns the mic over from there to a man with very old-fashioned manners who recites a few poems. Anyone who wants to take time at the microphone is welcome, whether they're performing, doing karaoke, telling jokes, or delivering speeches or information.

In Summary:

• Get all the information you can handle
• Veteran new gods and shinki are welcome to volunteer showing the ropes
• Help clean up ash and clear roads
• Enjoy a welcome banquet
• Have fun~

Comments

[abgrund]

god training

[ In a contrast to his previous attendance at training events, Ain lingers near the new gods' training area instead. He is dressed in a surprisingly human ensemble, having shed the white sheet that he's draped over himself for so many months before. Utsushi is accompanying him, a young man with greyish hair who looks more than a little like him... though, the first thing that stands out isn't the resemblance but rather how he's adamant at hiding behind Ain's back.

Though, he still lurks as opposed to actively talking to people, seated near one of the walls with his soulless shinki. Occasionally he offers Utsushi a wrapped dango from hammerspace a pocket. He'll be lurking until he can find his newly assigned shinki, Ren. Once he's able to convince Utsushi to sit and interact with the newcomer, he'll be leaving the two shinki to themselves and asking around about the soulless shinki.

He might ask you questions if he knows you're already taking care of one, the most pertinent being how much they're really conscious ]

physical training

[ The cleanup this time reminds Ain of when he first arrived at the Far Shore and he was also asked to clean up the training hall. He has a lot more control over his abilities now, so it should be much easier than before.

He makes his way to one of the uncleaned streets and stations himself in the centre of the road, raising his (human) hands a little in a gesture reminiscent of a conductor. At first, nothing seems to happen, but then the shadow he casts begins to bubble and expand in an outflowing of fog. Shadow hands rise out of the mist, grabbing onto fallen trees and chunks of ash and tossing them into the centre of the road.

Gradually all the volcano-borne ash and dirt are gathered into a large ball, which he rolls along the street in some hilarious parody of a person pushing a vacuum cleaner composed entirely of hands. Once he reaches the end of the street, the hands retract to cover the dirt ball in a black mist.

The ball then begins to shrink... reduced to the height of a child from two metres in diameter, then to the size of a football, then a tennis ball. Eventually it is squashed into the shape of a marble, and Ain picks it up to peer at it in idle curiosity.

Feel free to bother him at any point in the cleaning process, he'll just be around dusting the empty streets. Don't want to vacuum up some person by mistake, after all ]

physical training

[ Ain joins the various gods and shinki currently taking a bath in the communal pool. There's a lot of dust on him, which is why he retreats to a corner of the changing room to clean himself first. He's careful to stand behind a screen to avoid alarming people but it's not hard to step to one side or catch a glimpse of what he's really doing...

... which is that a gash appears on his neck and his human illusion starts to 'peel off' from the neck down. It's very reminiscent of a shedding cicada or a snake, in the way that his clothes and the human appearance of his limbs disappear to reveal his actual body, a half-skeletal form with blackened skin. The shed illusion pools at his feet, which are quickly grabbed by the hands coming from his silhouette and presumably dragged through his shadow to god-knows-where.

After that rather disturbing vision, he'll pick up a white sheet on a nearby table and drape it all over himself, walking out from the screen as if nothing had happened. Hopefully you didn't see all of... that.

This isn't the first time he's been in a bath, so from prior experience he sits down at a corner and lets his white sheet float on the surface of the water, peering at the others in the bath. ]

If you wash yourself to become clean, does the water become dirty?

wildcard

[ hit me with anything and I'll roll with it! ]

closed to ren

[abgrund]

[ Ain receives his first shinki vision not too long after he arrives at the meeting hall. It isn't disconcerting, somehow - the images he sees are strange, but not incomprehensible. If anything, it lets him recognize the young man he's about to pick up... and outcast, just like him.

He sends one of his void eyes to look for Ren. The youth might feel like he's being watched for a short while as Ain moves through the building to find him. ]

Hello.

[ Hopefully the youth isn't too surprised. Ain has taken care to dress like a human ]

wasshoi

[phantomtrick]

[ Why does he get the feeling he's being watched? This is a little unnerving so Ren stiffins up. Hi Ain.]

....Nice to meet you?

[ What else is he supposed to say? There's a noticeably vacant expression on his face. He can't seem to recall anything about himself. All he does is fiddle with his hair awkwardly in turn.]

:V

[abgrund]

My name is Ain. I will take care of you here as a god.

[ Ren should know what he's talking about since everyone's had their introductions ]

Are you fine with that?

ive been waiting for this

[phantomtrick]

[ Yeah he's heard what's supposed to happen around here. Ren isn't questioning it.]

I don't mind.

[ Maybe that response is a little too informal. He is talking to a god. In response to that Ren bows down to Ain briefly. ]

Thanks for having me.

[abgrund]

[ That settles it, then. Ain raises one hand, holds it out in front of him. ]

My name is Hades. Grasping thy true name, I bind thee here. With borrowed name, I dub thee my servant. The name answers, the vessel to sound. I call thee as my divine instrument. The name, Akatsuki. The vessel, Kyou. Come, Kyouki.

[ He has to be very careful to pronounce the word as it is just one letter away from the name of his other shinki. After the naming is done, he calls Ren again so he can go back to human form ]

[phantomtrick]

[ Well that was interesting. Ren changes back into his human form. Of course he has questions but he figures that it'll all come together in time.]

We'll be working together from now on.

[ He feels more at ease knowing Ain's there to help.]

Um, you can call me whatever you want. Can I use Ain?

[abgrund]

That's alright.

[ Hades is just a title, anyway. ]

There's someone else working with me. He's a bit shy so please try to get along.

[ Nothing seems to happen for a moment, then Ain's shadow elongates and covers the nearby wall. Utsushi steps out of the newly-formed portal, looking around anxiously. ]

[phantomtrick]

I'll try my best, Ain.

[ Ren's not being ungrateful. He was given a place so the could just behave himself while he's here. ]

Is this your friend?

[ Hm...that's an unfamiliar face. Everything is unfamiliar and it's filling him with a sense of uneasiness. ]

physical training

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki, atop Maxie, watches this display from a few paces back, intrigued. Then fully interested. Then invested. ]

At last, those ominous powers have found their optimal use.

[ Just. Just speak up out of nowhere to address the guy with the reality-bending void abilities, Hibiki. You do that. ]

[abgrund]

[ Being fully focused on his task, he hasn't noticed Hibiki at all - which is a little out of the ordinary for him, given how he usually has more than a pair of eyes that he uses to see. But of course, there are exceptions for every circumstance, and he figures that Hibiki wouldn't appreciate it if he appeared to know what she was doing.

He peers up at the other god while the eye ball vacuum cleaner continues rolling down the street ]

I figured I should try something new.

[priforprince]

Do you plan to clean the entire Far Shore?

[ THAT WOULD PLEASE THE PRINCE.

SO THE ANSWER IS YES, YES? ]

[abgrund]

[ Ain hums. He's Learned. ]

I did consider. But I would be far too tired if I did...

[ Plus, he'd probably alarm more than half the population by employing a wave of sludge-hands. ]

[priforprince]

I see. What a pity.

[ Hibiki watches Ain's cleanup at work. All of the inconvenient things that would otherwise require disposal are simply....disappearing.... ]

The elegance with which you dispose of unseemliness is soothing.

[abgrund]

[ Is that a compliment? He'll take it as a compliment. ]

There are ways that the world should be and ways that it should not.... I merely correct the imbalance.

[ The excessive energy can always be stored and withdrawn for later use ]

[priforprince]

[ Is that so? Hibiki sniffs. ] Not a displeasing philosophy.

[ As long as Ain continues to only roll up debris, Hibiki finds she could watch this all day. The restoration of harmony is almost (but not quite) as pleasant to behold as her own reflection. ]

[abgrund]

[ He'll let her stand there for a while, before: ]

Are you going to help me?

[ — quietly amused ]

physical training. the second one.

[heptagram]

[Patchouli catches sight of that... weird display, but does not comment on it. Hey, deities of darker concepts exist. She already knows about that.

But also, cut ahead to a little later on and that same guy talking.]

Kind of, but it usually isn't so big of an issue unless you're washing yourself in something very small.

... heck I forgot to re-title the second prompt I'm sorry

[abgrund]

[ Given how he both is a void entity and the god Hades, he's a little surprised that people haven't commented on it too much. But then again, this place is full of oddities. ]

There are a lot of us, though.

[ He tilts his head in a circular motion, apparently indicating the entire pool ]

oh, things happen sometimes

[heptagram]

Well, see, there's a lot larger of a volume of water than there is a volume of bathers' bodies, and relatively little of it ever actually touches anyone's body... but if you're still worried, I guess wait for it to become less crowded and see if the water looks too dirty.

[abgrund]

[ Ain hums. ]

I'm not worried. Merely curious. [ A pause, before he adds: ] Though I may have quoted the statement incorrectly... it was either water, or towels.

[heptagram]

Well, if that's the... er, I guess "concern" might be too strong a word.

[Screw it, she's going forward with it.] Well, if that's the concern, yes, the towels will get dirty. There's enough for everyone, though, aren't there?

[abgrund]

[ Concern, worry. Stuff like that. Interesting nuances to words. ]

I suppose so....

[ This probably warrants more context. ]

I heard someone say that statement. I think it was supposed be a joke but I don't really... understand it. Is it funny?

[heptagram]

Oh.

Well, I guess it was. People will sometimes say things like that to point out the irony associated with it, which is... similar, at least.

[abgrund]

[ Ah, irony. One of the great mysteries of wordplay, alongside sarcasm... ]

I see. Thank you...

[ That's something he's learned today. ]