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

[creepface]

[ Okay, headache it is. At least she's been trying to drink something, that's good. Though in her state a bottle is probably easier, especially after that spill.

He pulls out a water bottle and holds it out to her. ]

H-here. Water. Do you want p-pain medication?

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki raises that head enough to notice the water being offered to her. Then, she closes her eyes and sits back further in her chair. Calm. Calm.... ]

I drink nothing directly.

[ Here comes yet another spygoat. It has a fancy empty glass on it. It and teagoat exchange places, then both look at their tall new friend. They brought a cup!

They're being helpful. ]

[creepface]

B-but you sp-spill.

[ He's normally scared of everything, but he takes his job seriously. And she already made a mess. ]

It's s-safer.

[priforprince]

Rgh!

[ That wasn't directed at him so much as...a grunt of exertion at the way she just popped a vein in frustration. As much as she'd love to teach him his place - she can't deny she spills.....

In so doing, however, she has automatically curved her fingers into the perfect contours for holding onto something. This is his chance. For better or for worse. Cup, or bottle? Which will he choose? ]

[creepface]

[ Aaaand into her hand the bottle goes. ]

D-don't worry, I wash the b-bottle even when no one's used i-it. It's c-clean and the water's f-fresh.

[priforprince]

Ridiculous.

[ But she has to fortify herself somehow, so she chugs the bottle (get this over with quickly and then she never has to think about it again), then chucks the empty bottle at him.

If you consider that she could have discarded it, she's actually being quite considerate......When seen from a certain angle. ]

Are you quite done making a mockery of butling?

[ And yet, look who's 1) upright 2) focused 3) forming whole sentences.

It worked! ]

[creepface]

[ He's very torn - happy to see she's doing better, kind of embarrassed about hew words. ]

I'm n-not a butler though...

[ Now that she seems much better though, maybe holding a cup will be easier. ]

D-do you want a fruit?

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki waves a hand. ] Declined. Return to your tasks.

[ Why did he come over anyway? It can't have been out of concern for her.

Can it? ]

[creepface]

[ Well, at first he just wanted to be alone, now it's definitely concern. ]

A-are you feeling better n-now? I'm s-sorry that I made a m-mess of everything.

[priforprince]

My recovery is complete.

[ Hibiki stands up, adjusts her costume. That is a concerned look he's giving her. They're barely acquainted.

It still gives her a start, sometimes, to meet people like that. She'd lived most of her life believing they couldn't possibly exist. ] Make no fuss.

[ Soon she might have to demand an apology for all the apologizing and that would just be absurd. Let's just. Put the afternoon. Behind ourselves. That is a fantastic idea. ]

[creepface]

G-great. I'm g-glad.

[ He puts his bottle so he can clean and refill it later on. He's not sure if he should offer to leave or not at this point, since his presence had been part of the chaos. Maybe he should ask. Should probably introduce himself first though. ]

I'm R-Rasu, I, I a-always carry first aid kits a-and stuff like this s-so if you need anything l-let me know? I'm a n-nurse.

[priforprince]

A nurse?

[ Hibiki looks Rasu up and down, not sure what to make of his claim. The sad thing is, she supposes, that she's seen worse nurses....

But, if this is what the Far Shore sees fit to supply as first aid, she will make sure he's stocked to fill her needs. ]

Stocking antidotes to sentence enders would behoove you.

[creepface]

[ He nods. He knows he looks like he'd be pretty bad given how insecure he is, but he's actually pretty good. ] S-sentence enders? [ He doesn't know what that is, but he will look into that. ]

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki nods, still finding this a normal thing to tell a health professional. ] I possess preventative measures, but undoing accidental exposure may occasionally be necessary.

[ The world is, after all, a harsh and unforgiving place. Joshima Ken is behaving - for now - but Minami Mirei is still at large. To say nothing of the Prinnies -

She shouldn't have thought of the Prinnies. ]

[creepface]

W-what are sentence e-enders, exactly?

[ Because he's either thinking of what just happened to her, and he wouldn't quite call that... a sentence ender, or his own stuttering, and that, well, he's tried getting rid of it, but he can't. ]

[priforprince]

A boorish, absurd way to conclude a statement.

[ Hibiki either just dissed the word "exactly" or defined sentence enders. One of those two things. ]

[creepface]

I d-don't understand.

[ Please be less floral with your explanation. ]

[priforprince]

Make sure you stock elegant medicines and classical music.

[ She can't do it. Even for the sake of preparation...the world would be better off if no one knew what a sentence ender was. She is not about to spread them herself. ]

Provided you have those on hand, you won't need to know what sentence enders are to treat them.

[creepface]

Th-there is no m-medicine that makes you elegant. I c-can do classical m-music though.

[ He's going to google sentence enders when he gets home, what will he even find? Anything relevant or is this canon specific? Rasu doesn't know yet. ]

[priforprince]

[ He will learn that a "sentence ender" is a little suffix, like -nya or -byon, that people append to the ends of their sentences when they're trying (perhaps trying a little too hard) to be cutesy or quirky. If he has ever encountered Zetta and the Prinnies, he may recognize this as what happens when Prinnies speak: they have a sentence ender, dood. ]

That will have to suffice....

[ A sigh. ] Once again, this puniverse is lacking.

[creepface]

I w-will look into it.

[ He's never going to come up with what she meant on his own, she does realise that, right? ]

P-puniverse?

[ Does she know principal Midou? ]

[priforprince]

[ Whether she realizes is unclear. Whether she cares is less so. The munagement deeply and sincerely apologizes. ]

Primension.

[ STILL UNHELPFUL, STILL UNREPENTANT.

In any case, she's still not feeling her best, and her actor turned stagehand is actually a medic. She knows what that means: more abrupt changes of plans! ]

Filming's concluded for the day. I'll have you on call for set emergencies.

[ Congratulations? ]

[creepface]

[ Rasu looks like question marks are going to start popping out of his head at this point. Hibiki, you're ridiculous. ]

S-set emergencies? Like wh-what?

[priforprince]

If I could predict their occurrence, they wouldn't merit the name.

[ Obviously. She knows that fellow geniuses are few and far between, but, goodness! ]

[creepface]

I, I know you might not know wh-when, but, c-can you give examples of th-things that I'd h-help with? B-because I don't know if I'd e-even be able to help depending on wh-what it is.