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

[cloakedinruins]

"I don't think I really earned the title 'god' even if they seem to think so," he said drily, the corner of his mouth quirking up. It was almost like before, when they use to banter about small things - he marking student papers, and Yunlan going through case files. Relaxing and familiar and another reason why he really should not be doing this.

He read the pamphlets. He listened to the lecture. He should not be jeopardizing Yunlan's life in this place by spending time around him longer than necessary.

The ruined painting turned into a lotus flower, the lines of ink staining the petals, turning each one into a fracture point of beauty. Shen Wei held it up for a moment or two, and then, looking over at Yunlan, he delicately set on top of his head.

"The ideal, though my mentor always lamented that he could not read my mind nor know where my thoughts bent until I presented my work. I'm sure that even if they may not have had a child like me, your parents would still have been proud of your life."

[wildguardian]

"Honestly, I couldn't... say--"

There's a flower on his head. Yunlan's banter trails off, and he reaches up to pluck the delicately folded lotus away from its perch, blinking at Shen Wei.

That's-- that's really fucking cute, is what it is. He breaks into a helplessly charmed smile, balancing the flower in his palm. It fits well there, ink-stained petals and all. It's his now. He's not giving it back.

"-- but hey, here, I just have to worry about keeping my god happy with me, right?"

[cloakedinruins]

"I know, but you seem like you have a good heart, and that's what really matters, right?"

Shen Wei couldn't help it. There was something in him that just could not help but do something ridiculous to Yunlan, and since he had a flower in his hand, the idea took root that it should go on Yunlan's head. But now he has to deal with Yunlan grinning at him like that and he could feel the tips of his ears starting to heat up.

A pity he had no way to take a picture of it... but no, wait. He did, didn't he? They gave him a phone with a bunch of contacts on it.

Searching for the phone in his pockets was a good enough excuse to look away from Yunlan, right? At least he was going to do that even though once he did take it out, he was going to look at it helplessly.

"I think that is part of it, but it might be more? I think safe is another thing you're suppose to help with... why is this blinking?"

[wildguardian]

"Yeah, well, he sets off explosions in his bare hands all the time, how the hell am I supposed to keep him safe--"

Why is the phone blinking? Shen Wei's giving it the confused stare of a technophobe, and Yunlan brightens at the sudden realization that it might be his turn to show off. He holds out a hand.

"Here, let me see."

[cloakedinruins]

"Because as strong as we gods are, we cannot damage evil spirits without our shinki's help. Didn't you learn that?"

Yunlan was smart, he could have found out about their roles already. Though knowing Yunlan, he might just be not at all happy by such a system. He hadn't been happy by the system that set up SID when they decided to interfere in how he really wanted to run things.

Scrunching his nose at the phone, Shen Wei looked helplessly over at Yunlan and held it out to him. "Please. I never had one before and they said I was going to need it."

[wildguardian]

"When he transforms me, I'm a gun." He accepts the offered phone, setting the lotus down carefully on his knee and prodding at its screen, and... what the fuck, it's recording?

How long has it been recording? Yunlan stops the recording, then closes down some of the apps that are running, most of which have no reason to be running at all (the stopwatch function? Five tabs on the browser, four of which are pop-up advertising?)

The video is all of the inside of Shen Wei's pocket. He deletes it, and starts to offer the phone back before he's suddenly seized by inspiration.

"Smile," he insists, throws his free arm around Shen Wei's shoulders, holds the phone out at arm's length and snaps a selfie.

[cloakedinruins]

"A gun, really?" It couldn't be the Guardian's gun, could it? That would make some sense since it could only hurt those that had the dark energy of Dixing or Yashou. "Does it shoot bullets?"

He watches Yunlan as he easily tapped away on the phone, trying to get an idea on how it's all down, but only managing to figure out that some how one can type at stuff and make it work right. He briefly wondered if there was somewhere he could learn this magic when Yunlan was leaning in close, an arm around his shoulders and saying 'Smile'.

The look on Shen Wei's was not a smile, but a mix between a frown and frozen indecision. "What?"

[wildguardian]

"Sort of bullets! Black energy-- things. Bullet-ish things."

They're not, as far as he can tell, really all that bullet-like at all: among other things, they don't seem to come from real ammunition. But they do make quite a dent on ayakashi.

"The thing about guns is," he adds, considering the photo and the frozen half-frown on Shen Wei's face in it, "they're not great defensive weapons, which is not to knock my offensive capacity, but while it's true that a good offense can be an effective defense it's also true that a good defense is a good defense. I already know you have a better smile than that, Professor Shen, one more time-- for the memory?"

Of their first meeting. Zhao's not sure if Shen Wei is about to repossess his phone in a snit, but if he's not, it's worth a try.

[cloakedinruins]

"Then it must be something that can harm spirits only; that's good then, considering."

Bullets were not as easily directed as were a sword or a spear. A bullet only travels in the line it was fired in and if the target moved, than anyone else could be hit instead. It also sounded exactly like the Guardian's gun. It was fitting, knowing Zhao Yunlan.

"You forget that once you manage to create a borderline, you can then switch to the gun and he will be completely safe that way."

Shen Wei was tempted to just give the phone away, but considering that the white-robe shinki had practically shoved it at him, he wasn't certain if that would be breaking a rule. At Yunlan trying to get him to smile, he just snorted, a smile unwillingly spreading across his face.

"Zhao Yunlan..." His name came out with a level of fondness that he quickly tried to repress.

[wildguardian]

"You know, that's what I thought, but I'm not about to tell Bakugou to go wing a mortal and see."

This one -- this one's a much better picture, and Yunlan looks up with surprise at the soft note in Shen Wei's voice. He says 'Zhao Yunlan' like it's important, like it means the world to him.

Yunlan finds his own smile faltering, unaccountably shy.

Pull yourself together, Zhao Yunlan, he scolds himself, and promptly texts a copy of that second photo, with the better smile, to his own number so it'll be in Shen Wei's recent contacts.

(It's much easier for both of them to find that way, and he'll know which god Shen Wei is.)

"There," he says, and lets Shen Wei escape his grip, offering the phone back. "Apparently I can cast borderlines in either form, by the way, but mine aren't all that strong yet."

[cloakedinruins]

"Who knows; you might accidentally do so while trying to hit the right target."

Not all spirits were giant slow moving creatures, right? In battle, things happen that cannot be anticipated and while they can hope no one else but the target gets injured, sometimes it was inevitable.

If he remembered him, if there wasn't a stupid blank where the memories laid, that moment of shyness on Yunlan's face would have resulted in Shen Wei leaning in close to steal a kiss. As it was, he found himself released and the phone handed back to him. He doesn't drop it, but he still looks down at it like he expected it to spark and fall apart on him.

"Thanks. That takes practice, like with all skills. You just don't learn how to ride a bike by looking at it." Never mind his own powers which were capable of picking up the tricks of any Dixing power tossed at him.

[wildguardian]

"That's why I'm hoping the bullets don't hurt mortals," Yunlan admits, smile a little crooked. It's true that it's hard to completely avoid bystanders, especially when they can't see the fight happening and don't realize the need to run. He'd rather not kill any innocents.

He absently brushes a bit more glitter from his sleeve (Shen Wei's phone sparkles now) and picks the lotus back up with a possessive air.

"And I'm working on the borderline. You'll have to pick up some cell phone skills too, you know, Professor. There's a forum for the gods and shinki too, and some useful stuff winds up posted there."

[cloakedinruins]

He blinks at the glitter on the phone, turning it way and that as the sparkles moved around. A few stick in place, and even a careful brushing with his sleeve did not make them move. Glitter, he decided, was the stuff of evil.

"You can call me Shen Wei if you want. I'm not a Professor here."

Though he wondered if he could become a different sort. There seemed to be a lot of people from a lot of different worlds, and he wasn't sure if anything was being taught to those younger than him. Well, younger than the age he had been faking, rather. And he could always see if the rules of science would also have answers for what they were dealing with. Spirits and gods didn't all have to rely on just faith.

[wildguardian]

"Shen Wei, then," Zhao tries: it's a nice name. Very powerful. He likes it, and he'll have to come up with nicknames to go with it just as fast as he can get away with them.

The glitter seems to be sticking on his phone. Zhao reaches over, trying to pry a fleck loose with his fingernail. It really is amazing how stubborn that stuff is.

"So," he says, and flashes Shen Wei a smile. "Not that I've been here long, but-- anything I can help you with? Directions, how to open the forum app, which of those desserts over there are the best...?"

[cloakedinruins]

Hearing his name from that voice did interesting things to his heart. Shen Wei tried ignoring that, keeping his focus on the phone and the glitter that really doesn't want to move. Whatever it was keeping it there, it didn't seem to impede any use he may have from it, so he was going to ignore it. Though, having Yunlan just reach over to help remove the offending bit of glitter made Shen Wei feel his cheeks heat up.

And it was worse when he looked up and catches that smile on his face. He would be a liar to say that it didn't affect him, especially when it sounded like Zhao Yunlan was going to start his infamous act - and there it was as he started offering more. Directions and food, and Shen Wei took a moment of looking at him with wide eyes before blinking, swallowing hard and looking a little away from his face and his smile to try to regain some composure. He couldn't let him hook him again. It would be bad if he did something to endanger him after all.

Even if the urge to hold him would never go away.

"There is a forum app?" Blinking furiously, he looked back down at the phone.

[wildguardian]

The tips of Shen Wei's ears turn red when he flushes: it's too cute. Yunlan's smile widens to a grin as the flustered professor swallows and looks back at his phone.

"Yeah, there is. See that icon there?" He points it out on the main screen. "Tap it, and it'll show you the posts to look through."

[cloakedinruins]

Not very many people got close enough to notice that his ears went pink. It was half the reason why he started the whole mask and hooded cloak costume way back when; it covered the tell-tale flush and shadowed his eyes and made him look really scary. But right now he wasn't the Black Cloak Envoy, he was the professor and the professor was trying so very hard to not let his flush spread any further with mixed results.

"Ah.. this one?" He delicately tapped at the icon, and almost loses his phone as the app opens up and shows a bunch of posts. "Do our names get used on here?"

[wildguardian]

"That one," Yunlan agrees, and reaches over to demonstrate how to swipe back through old posts. "Here, swipe this way to see the older stuff, and this way for the newer. Tap on them to see the whole conversation.

"It uses shinki names," he adds, "but gods get to use the name of whichever god they're taking over from. My god's Mars, for example."

[cloakedinruins]

"So if I post something, it will come up as my god name."

On one hand, it might be useful. It was another cloak to hide under, another persona to play if he really did not want to get involved with the politics of the world around him. On the other hand, it would make tracking some people on the app a little harder.

"Thank you, for the advice and the help."

[wildguardian]

"There's an anonymous option, too." He shrugs, and adds, "But if you're using that, no one can follow up with you."

In other words: there's good and bad aspects. Some subjects it's easier if no one can follow up; others, it's pointless to bring up on the network if there's no way for knowledgeable responses to go to private conversation.

Personal topics, he supposes, are the easiest to discuss in a forum where they might be watched and can't talk honestly about serious things-- which might explain why so much of the forum is full of wedding announcements, lost and found advertising and philosophical questions.

[cloakedinruins]

"It might be useful for some things, I suppose."

It sounds almost like the message board that the Dean kept on trying to get him to use. Shen Wei had many reasons why he did not like using a lot of electronics, one of the biggest being that his energies always seem to mess them up after a length of time. It was just far safer to keep to more traditional tools when he was pretending to be a teacher. But it looked like he was going to have to bend to this new place and new ideas just a little.

"I suppose I will need to learn a fair bit more to understand this." He held up the phone and smiled. "Thank you yet again for your help."

[wildguardian]

"My pleasure," Yunlan assures him, and finds himself without any excuses to drag out the conversation any longer. He's showed off the message board, he's flirted, he got a photo and a folded lotus, and he's gotten the guy from stricken to blushing and smiling.

It's probably about time to declare the meeting a success, and follow up later.

"So, Shen Wei, I should go see what my god's up to -- we've got a new shinki in the household, he could probably use a hand. It's been a pleasure meeting you."

He can't resist the temptation to say pleasure in a meaningful tone, sidelong glance and all, but he doesn't linger on that too long.

"And my number's in your phone if you think of anything I can help you with," he adds, scooting his chair back and standing. He keeps the lotus cradled in his free hand.

[cloakedinruins]

Yes, Zhao Yunlan, you're work is done - you turned Shen Wei's head yet again and torn down pieces of his resolve to not have anything to do with you. He was going to try to keep his distance, because he knows it could end badly between them.

And he totally expected that look with that word considering the flat expression on his face in response.

He stood up with him, bowing a little in farewell. "I will keep it in mind. Thank you yet again, Zhao Yunlan."

[wildguardian]

Yunlan laughs, easily, and returns the little bow.

"See you around," he says, and turns to go.

[cloakedinruins]

As soon as his back was turned and he was moving away, Shen Wei reached over to his chair and gripped it hard enough to make the wood crack. It was like that time again, looking up at the window of the school and seeing a friendly face without a hint of recognition in his eyes. The only problem was this was not in Haixing where they had heartbeats. This was the Far Shore and they had different rules to live by.

He took a deep breath and held it, looking over the people around him before exhaling and turning on his heel to find his temple. Maybe there he will mourn the loss of a life he loved.