October Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: February 6th, 2017
Where: Outside the Meeting Hall, the Far Shore (and optionally, the 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 are five or six white-robed shinki present, who 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. Both Sabimei and his animated straw training dummies are absent from this training session, but standard, inanimate straw targets have been lined up outside, and a few rings are laid out on the frozen ground for friendly sparring matches. (Shinki characters who are interested in learning more about the borderlines or want to learn new shinki spells or songs may approach any of the training shinki for advice or instruction. Please remember to comment on the Shinki Spells page when your character begins to learn a new spell, excluding the borderline.)

Physical Training

There is still clean-up left to work on from the volcano's eruption. Two tengu (one of whom characters might recognize as the hot springs' proprietor) have volunteered to help transport any gods or shinki who are willing to help clear trees, dig or wash away ash on roads and roofs, and repair damage to occupied temples. The abandoned temples that were damaged by the earthquake and volcano are being left to decay, although anyone who's curious about them could take the offer of a free ride to explore some of those abandoned and damaged buildings as well. Some might contain old books or mementos of the long-vanished owners; others have nothing left inside but dust, mold, and curious spirits.

Back at the training ground, characters who aren't helping clean up the Western district have the option of playing sparring games to test their reflexes. The white-robed shinki are organizing them into pairs in the marked circles and explaining the rules: each participant is given 10 seconds on offense to score a hit with any weapon of their choice, from bare hands to sparring weaponry to shinki magic, while their partner is only allowed to dodge or defend. After five rounds, the person with more points gets to declare a penalty for their partner: drawing on their face with a marker, ordering them to do something silly or embarrassing, making them fetch tea... it's up to the winner!

Rest and Refreshments

After the gods' training lecture is finished, a few of the white-robed shinki bustle back in to set up craft tables and a buffet area. This time, the theme seems to be a sweet English tea: little cakes, scones, jams, cookies, tiny finger sandwiches and a vast array of chocolates are available, as well as many different teapots, with hot water dispensers and loose tea available to let everyone brew to their own tastes as they venture in to rest or talk to their new partners.

Over on the craft tables, there's all kinds of art and craft supplies available, from construction paper to calligraphy brushes, glitter to gouache. Signs on the tables encourage gods and shinki to show their appreciation for each other with a valentine letter or card. It's a bonding exercise! There is a lot of glitter. And glue. Hopefully, no one's wearing their nice clothes.

In Summary:

• Get all the information you can handle
• Veteran new gods and shinki are welcome to volunteer showing the ropes
• Explore damaged temples or practice sparring
• Enjoy a tea and make some valentines
• Have fun~

Comments

[badassfreakingoverlord]

What am I? Hyaaaaha ha ha ha ha! I am Zetta -- the most badass freaking Overlord in the entire cosmos!

[While the book laughs, one of the minions steps forward and proffers a pamphlet which reads, "So You've Decided to Meet the Overlord."]

[subconmodo]

[he scoffs at that, but looks amused]

Right. Of course you are. Look, bookworm, a few minions doesn't suddenly make you king of the universe.

[he does poke through the pamphlet, though, at least to sate his curiosity]

But I'll give you this: you've got the laugh down pat.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[The pamphlet outlines several salient points, such as "Zetta is a demon, the book is just a setback" and "The Overlord has graciously postponed his conquest of the Far Shore until such time as the other threat vexing it has ended". But he won't get too much farther before, at Zetta's glance, another minion stuffs a different pamphlet into his hands.]

[This one, entitled "So You've Decided to Doubt the Overlord", goes into different points, such as, "Overlord Zetta possesses the strongest mana power in the cosmos", "the cosmos is everywhere and everything including all universes," "Yes, stronger than Dragon Overlord Babylon in his prime," and "the extra B is for BYOBB". That's a typo.]

[subconmodo]

[He opens his mouth to continue, but now there's another pamphlet and WOW this guy is industrious, isn't he?]

[on the one hand, Snatcher's impressed. On the other hand, Zetta might as well slammed his non-existent hand down on the "BE A SHIT" button]

Wow, another one! Is it really okay for you to give away your children like this?

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[At the Overlord's glance, another minion offers up a pamphlet.]

[This one, entitled, "So You've Decided to Question What's With All These Pamphlets", unfolds to read simply, "BECAUSE NO ONE HAS AN ORIGINAL QUESTION".]

So, yeah.

[subconmodo]

[At least he's reading them. Or skimming them.]

Ha! No original questions, huh? How about this, then? How much of that nana power of yours is located in your soul? And what would happen if someone were to, say... remove it?

[it's a bluff. Probably. There's something different about the souls here, maybe even different enough that his usual magic won't work. Still, with the chance of a MASSIVE boost in power shoving pamphlets at him, it seems worth giving it a shot.]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[Oh, that's actually a new one.]

All of it is located with my soul, since here's my soul bound to this damn book and all of my power with it. But if it were that easy to get my soul out, you don't think I'd have done it by now? Believe it or not, I'm not actually enjoying the tomely life as much as I did having arms and legs.

Not that I'm sure you know about that. You got a genie thing going on back there? [The book tilts slightly to one side, trying to better assess shadowboy's physical form.]

[subconmodo]

[He looks a bit disappointed for a moment, but then he's all smiles again, features flickering and wavering like a candle's flame]

Not exactly. I could have legs if I wanted to, but it's less convenient than you'd think.

Too bad about your soul, though. I was hoping to have a little taste.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Better abominations than you have tried.

[Zetta isn't the least bit spooked out or bothered by all this. It's how things SHOULD be. Well, except for anything or anyone having the temerity to challenge HIM, but hey, he doesn't actually expect anyone to pay attention to the pamphlets.]

So what's your deal?

[subconmodo]

[Not afraid in the slightest... Not even complaining about the whole soul thing. This is uncharted territory for Snatcher, but definitely an interesting turn of events. Maybe this guy isn't all talk.]

The name's Snatcher--if that's what you mean by "deal". I'd say it's also my job description, but hey, looks like I got a promotion!

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Name's the job, huh? Seems kind of a depressing life if you can't control your title. [After all, imagine if his title was just 'Strongest Overlord'. How lame would that be?] 'God' was a downgrade for me, so I guess that makes you the lucky one here.

[subconmodo]

[He nearly suggests that the book was more of a downgrade than a god would be, but keeps it to himself for once. Three pamphlets is enough.]

Other way around, actually. Steal and eat a couple souls and suddenly you've got a reputation. I actually used to be a lawyer.

Still not as nice a title as yours, but it paid the bills.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Wow, the jokes write themselves.

[In fact, they're SO predictable Zetta skips them all. They're not funny if they've been made ten thousand times before, right?]

Whose time have they got you serving here?

[subconmodo]

Mephistopheles! Fitting, I'd say. Like a glove! You?

[...]

I was going to make another book joke, but honestly something like the Necronomicon would be kind of cool.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Yeah, that's not actually a god. Though there was a girl here a bit ago who had some sort of tentacle monster thing going on. Seemed like a total freak. Too bad she wasn't older. [Zetta muses on that memory for a moment.] Me, I'm Angra Mainyu.

[subconmodo]

[Doesn't ring a bell, but he nods sagely as though it all makes perfect sense to him]

Sure, if you're into that kind of thing. I'll stick to the bachelor life.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Hey, bachelor life can involve knocking some boots! ...uh, metaphorically. Well, there's other problems with that too at the moment but never mind. [The life of a book is a hard one.] But whatever floats your boat here, we've got tons of options!