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

[hedgehogsdilemma]

Shinki Training
[Despite all the... everything that's happened, Shinji's making the effort to show up at training day like normal. Having something normal and scheduled to stick to feels like an anchor among the mess that heaven's been for the past few weeks, and more than that, he knows he needs to keep honing his skills if he wants to feel like he's actually contributing something to being here.

Speaking of honing his skills, there's something in particular he's been working on that he needs some extra practice with, and in order to do that effectively, he'll need someone to practice with... Are you hanging around the training grounds? Are you working on spells of some kind or another? Have one tired, nervous looking kid approach you.]

U-um, excuse me...?


Physical Training
[Shinji is. Not very physically adept. Regardless, he's doing what he can to help with the cleanup efforts, though it's less hauling debris around and more washing ash off of whatever he can reach. Still, it's awfully cold, and even with the exertion of it all, trying to wash things down isn't helping him warm up very much at all. In between bouts of working he'll be trying to warm up, mostly by carting around whatever supplies might be needed to anyone who might need them.

Otherwise, the abandoned temples have snagged some of his curiosity. When he's not busy, he'll also be prone to wandering through the ruins, not really touching or picking up anything, but examining as much as he can with a quiet, almost melancholy air to him.]

There are an awful lot of these empty temples... [It's kind of sad, honestly.]


R&R
[More than anything, after all that's happened recently, the opportunity to relax with a cup of tea in a low-stress environment is probably the most appealing situation Shinji could find himself in. Mingling and doing crafts doesn't have the kind of appeal that a warm drink and a few minutes of quiet do, so once he's managed to fix himself a cup of tea, he finds an empty spot to sit, eyes closed and simply trying to... decompress.

Which means he's prime for being bothered, so have at it.]

R&R

[hakingitup]

[Well that's a familiar face he hasn't spent too much time with. They had an adventure a little bit ago that he didn't mind too much now. Moving closer to him, he took a seat beside him and looked carefully at him for a moment.]

I never asked. How did the job go?

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[As Hak moves in to sit next to him, Shinji doesn't seem to stir at all, completely unaware that he's being joined. When he speaks up, however, he's shaken pretty abruptly out of his efforts to relax. Thankfully, none of his drink is lost with the startle, but it's close.]

Th-... the job...? [Give him a second, between dealing with the Near Shore's particular brand of mayhem and the time it's been since the two of them last saw each other, Shinji doesn't quite recognize him immediately. This is... oh!] That was... recording those temperatures, right? [Yeah, okay, he's got this.] He seemed pretty happy with the information.

[hakingitup]

That's good. [Maybe he should have said what he was talking about sooner rather than just surprise him like that. Ah well.] You had other jobs then? Such as?

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[No, it's fine, it's not like he's putting up any kind of fuss over it just yet. It's Fine.]

Oh, well, nothing really like that. Just... getting used to working with my god, trying to learn a spell... things like that.

[So, still part of a shinki's overall job, just not, you know, anything particularly out of the ordinary.]

[hakingitup]

I see.

[Him being a shinki does make sense, as he was roped into this sort of thing. Making him think, and rubbing his chin a bit.]

What sort of spell?

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[Surely there's some kind of advantage to holding that sort of information secret...? Ah, but, he's also unsure if he'd even be able to use it against Hak in the first place. He hesitates for a second before deciding... that it probably couldn't hurt.]

It's called 'Truth'. [Which should be self-explanatory, really.] I'm not sure just how well I'm getting the hang of it, though.

[hakingitup]

Truth?

[He thinks for a moment. Ah, probably, he thinks he knows what that must be. Interesting.]

How do you tell if you've got the hang of it?

[hedgehogsdilemma]

Mmm, test it out with someone, I'd imagine?

[Less 'with' and more 'on', but phrasing it like that sounds a little more impersonal, and he's not a fan.]

[hakingitup]

...Have anyone to test it on?

[There is absolutely nothing about this that screams 'bad idea'. Not a single thing.]