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

[bakusatsuo]

I don't have however many centuries of knowledge and experience on the subject as you do, so it's not like I know how it would work either...but hauling mortals out of worlds these heavens don't even correspond to and making 'em gods doesn't seem like it's any less insane a feat to pull off, and we know that shit's going down. I've got the memories, I've got a quirk from a world full of quirks that no one else here has gotten. I know how fucking out of place I am, and I know where I should be, and where I should be isn't even on this heaven's version of the Near Shore.

[He cocks a skeptical eyebrow at Ebisu.] You really saying that whoever's pulling this shit has the power to bring someone like me here and make me a god, but they can't mess with how gods and shinki interact? 'Cause at this point I don't know what I'd put past them being able to fuck with. Shinki don't have memories so it's a lot harder to confirm, especially when we gods only get small glimpses into their deaths that might not even even be trustworthy, but "it sounds crazy" sure as hell doesn't seem like grounds to rule it out. It's all fucking insane and outside anything that's ever happened in the heavens before, right?

[chibisu]

Well... If we go with the theory that there is an individual or group capable of altering the connection between god and shinki, then what is there to say that they can't alter the memory of a spirit?

[Which all gods are, in the end. At least, that's the Japanese version of it all. Ebisu can't say he's ever spoken with other gods in other pantheons on the subject, although he thinks he'd rather like to.]

I think at this point, we have far too little information on this sort of subject to be able to do anything but make blind guesses which have no degree of substance to them. All we know is that "it's highly unusual and has never happened before", and that doesn't tell us too much. There are only a few things we have to go on, and it's hard to say how much of a lead we can make any of them.

[bakusatsuo]

Are we talking about altering the memories of gods or shinki? Or both? [Bakugou's eyes narrow slightly.] Either way...what kinds of memories do you think might've been altered?

[He doesn't bother responding to Ebisu's assertion that they don't know enough to draw any conclusions, because there's nothing to say to it. Ebisu's definitely not wrong. But Bakugou would prefer to at least spitball theories based on what they have than sit on his hands waiting for more information to come to him.]

[chibisu]

I can't say for certain, and that's the problem. However, once we start touching on the subject of memories, don't you think there's no limit? I think what you would want to do is look into how people arrive here, and maybe that can help give us a clue.

Have you met a god by the name of Add, yet? His more traditional name is Henrir.

[bakusatsuo]

I think there's some limit. [Bakugou looks down at his hands.] I've asked myself if a god's memories could be tampered with, too. And I can't say for sure that they can't. But I don't think mine have been, and I'll tell you why.

My memories match up with my body, and what it can do. I have my quirk, and quirks aren't even something people have here - not in the Far Shore, and not in the Near Shore. Not in this world. And I've got a shinki who I knew back home - he's got scars in the same places I remember them getting, even if he doesn't remember where they're from. Scars he got because of his quirk, which he still has.

If you want to get really far-fetched, you could say that they fabricated our memories to match the bodies we've got - or you could even go all in and say that they created our bodies from scratch, that we're constructs from the ground up. But I don't fucking buy it. Why create us as being totally different from everyone else in this place? They didn't have to. It'd be a big expenditure of time and effort for fucking no return. And if we only needed memories to go with these bodies and abilities we've got, why not just chalk my powers up to my godly abilities? But instead I've got this whole convoluted narrative that doesn't even make sense in the context of this place. Who the hell does that benefit?

My memories are real. If they were gonna be faked, they could have faked shit a lot better if they'd wanted to. And Deku's quirk, my quirk - they're proof that we brought these bodies from home, and that the memories that explain them are real. Nobody benefits from trying to fake anything about them.

[It takes a few moments for Ebisu's question to register, and then he glances sidelong at him.] Who's he?

[chibisu]

[It's all very logical, the things that Bakugou is saying, yet Ebisu does wonder. What would be the benefit of giving alternative memories to gods? What would be the point? It's his turn to fall silent, thinking carefully on what it means.]

...The memories of the new generation, along with their personalities and way of viewing things... They're all extremely different from those of my generation of gods and shinki. [A pause.] Perhaps not shinki, but definitely some other things about them...

[With their ability to remember things from supposedly their past life, all on their own, and without turning into ayakashi...]

I understand that this has caused tensions more than once... I wonder if that's on purpose?

[He shakes his head.]

That's more theories with no strong basis to it. We'll put that to the side for now. Add-sama is someone who has been looking into the disappearances of gods and shinki. He has some things written on the BBS. Hold on...

[Ebisu digs through his pockets for his phone... Only to immediately drop it. There's a pause before he leans down to try and grab it. It... takes a second, since it seems he has trouble getting a good grip off of the floor, but he. He manages. Eventually.]

[With that done successfully, he starts scrolling through his favorites. There are three.]

It seems as though time and space are things he's rather knowledgeable about.

[bakusatsuo]

If they wanna cause tensions between the new gods and the old ones, let's be fucking real - they didn't need to give anybody fake memories for that. [Bakugou snorts.] It doesn't matter just how different we think or act from you guys - the fact that we even get created differently is enough. The fact that we weren't created within this heavenly bureaucracy, that we don't automatically conform to it 'cause it's not built into our bones, that's fucking enough. The tensions between the new gods and the old gods didn't need to be engineered by specifying anything in particular about the new gods; all they ever needed to create tension between the new gods and the old gods is for the old gods to be pompous and set in their ways. After all, what kind of consistent theme do you fucking see in us new gods? There isn't one. The only thing that all of us have in common is that we aren't the old gods. That's all they ever fucking needed us to be.

[Bakugou watches Ebisu fumble with his phone, sizing him up.] You sick or something? [Sure, Ebisu's a kid, but that still seems to be kind of a lapse in motor control that seems...out of the ordinary.

He leans in while Ebisu is scrolling through Add's entries, studying the screen. After a moment, he grunts.] Send me those links. [He wants to peruse these for himself. At length.]

You think I can help Add, or just that he can give me info?

[chibisu]

[In Ebisu's opinion- perhaps not experience since he can't remember 90% of it right now- things can always be made worse. Still, that's a whole fascinating talk for another time, and he should try his best to stay on track. so instead he focuses on the comment about his ability, merely shaking his head.]

Oh, no, I'm merely clumsy.

[To the point that it would be a danger to any normal person's health, if his own luck didn't keep him safe from the really fatal encounters. As it is, he smiles up at Bakugou even as he begins to send the links over.]

Either or would be beneficial to what you're hoping to look into, right? If he was able to give you more information than what he's already posted about, you would be a step closer. If the two of you could help one another, then I imagine it would be even better. After all, no one goes to this much work for no reason, so I'm sure he could use the help.

[If Bakugou can deal with Add's personality or vice versa is an entirely different conversation. Ebisu will let them come to their own conclusions on that. After all, they're both grown gods, right? Ignoring the fact that Bakugou is a teenager and Add is himself.]

[bakusatsuo]

[Ebisu, if a meeting between Add and Bakugou goes well, you can talk about your luck for the rest of your days because nothing but amazing luck could ever make that work out pleasantly. Neither of them have anything even approximating emotional maturity.]

He's at least thinking about this. Working on it with some kind of fucking method, some kind of logic. That's worth looking into. I want to get home.

[As gruff as he keeps his voice...there's something about a teenager like Bakugou saying it - and the particular emphasis he puts on it - that feels plaintive, like a verbalized ache. As tough and surly as he is, he's still a kid far from home or anyone he knows(except Deku, who doesn't even remember him, so even the one familiar thing he has is strange to him). There's no appearance of vulnerability, but there's an awareness that somewhere underneath all the bluster it has to be there.]

[chibisu]

[Oh. Ebisu lapses into a brief moment of silence, tilting his head as he looks up into that awkward teenage face. There are a lot of delicate situations in which he hasn't quite adjusted to yet, as a reincarnated god still relearning about other people and humanity. What can he do in this situation? He's not particularly sure, and he'd rather not draw his shinki into this conversation without being very careful.]

[So, after a moment of silence, all he does is slowly reach out and press his hand against one of Bakugou's arms.]

[bakusatsuo]

[Bakugou (who'd turned his face away only moments into Ebisu's scrutiny) gruffly shrugs off that hand, but it's not a particularly violent gesture - especially from someone who seems to be the kind of person to only speak in violent gestures. Without words, Bakugou somehow seems to communicate grudging gratitude for the concern, but also a refusal to be perceived as wanting or accepting it.]

[chibisu]

[Oh, alright then. Ebisu lets his hand be shrugged off with little issue, blinking up at the teenager blankly. This is about where his comfort skills end, for the time being, and he patiently looks back to the chocolate. He'll wait for a minute or two, allowing Bakugou to collect himself, before he starts to patiently place more of the candy near to the war god.]

There is still an entire unknown future ahead of us, so let us work well with one another. I will go check on my shinki now, and see where else I am needed.

I look forward to meeting with you once more.

[bakusatsuo]

[Bakugou grunts.] You're probably one of the old gods who'd say shit like that and mean it, but at least there's one of you.

[chibisu]

[All that gets is a smile.]

I only say things I mean. Then, I look forward to speaking with you again.

[With that, he slips from where he's seated himself and begins to leave.]

[...Ebisu only gets halfway across the room before he nearly pitches forward for a face plant, but at least his shinki are near enough that they manage to catch him by that point.]

[Somehow still reliable.]