November Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: February 21st, 2017
Where: Outside the Meeting Hall, the Far Shore
Summary: Training and informational sessions for newly arrived gods and shinki



Gods and shinki arriving at heaven's meeting hall are brought into small one-on-one meeting rooms as they appear, with a white-robed shinki offering them an explanation of their current role, the name of the god they will represent or the god they will serve, and directions to the temple that will be their new home.

They are cordially invited to a training session beginning in early afternoon, after they've had the chance to return to their homes, meet their new partners, and have their questions answered.



Morning/On the Road

New gods and shinki are being packed off to their new temples for the morning to settle in and meet their partners -- this is also a good time to visit with new neighbors or explore the area! What does your new temple look like? Are you headed straight there, or taking the scenic route to get a better sense of your new surroundings? The Western District is still scarred from the aftereffects of a recent volcanic eruption and earthquake, with fissures in some of the roads and burn scars in the wild landscape. The volcanic ash, though, seems to be serving as fertilizer for vast swaths of unfamiliar and colorful wildflowers that line the roads despite the fact that the weather is late-February chilly.

Shinki Training

A well-appointed dojo has been prepared for newcomers to practice their physical or magical arts. Outside, there are two impromptu target practice areas: one is for long-range weapons, with targets set up against hay bales at the other side of a wide, grassy area and a line drawn for the weapons' wielders to stand behind. The other is for borderlines, and a number of young children wearing short coats marked with Amaterasu's golden chrysanthemum on white are dashing around practicing their own borderlines against scary paper masks tied onto bushes or other haybales. The game seems to require a cutting borderline that will cut the mask without damaging the gardeners' hard work on the bushes.

Inside the dojo, there's room for several pairs to spar, and weapons are set up all along one wall, everything from polearms to rifles, chakrams to broadswords. They're all meant for practice, with edges dulled or padded to avoid any accidental deaths, but sparring partners will still have to be careful to avoid injury. Although there are many fewer white-robed shinki here than usual, except for the children, there is one adult shinki keeping an eye on things inside the dojo and one keeping an eye on things in the yard. They are willing to answer questions, help with borderlines or teach shinki new spells on request. Comment to the NPC REQUEST form to request a thread with one of them or if you have questions about handwaving an interaction.

Physical Training

The last vestiges of winter have melted away from most of the Heavens, but one section of the Meeting Hall grounds appears not to have gotten the message. Snow is piled waist or even shoulder high, the trees and bushes show no sign of fresh leaves, and an ornamental pool is frozen as hard as a rock, with the drifting shadows of koi barely visible under the thick ice. It's the perfect opportunity to play in the snow, and many of the shinki children are already taking advantage of it, sliding on the ice or throwing snowballs.

For those who brave the heavy snow, they may discover an an old woman in the center of the frozen area. She's wearing heavy white makeup and a straw coat, and humming cheerfully as she pounds rice into mochi. Anyone who finds her will be offered freshly made mochi and a cup of warm sake to fortify them for the snowball fights!

Rest and Refreshments

Gods and shinki who are finished with their training can step into a large room in the Meeting Hall that has been set up with comfortable cushions and low tables. Tea, liquor and a wide variety of savory dishes are available, with the drinks already set out on the tables and the savory dishes set up in chafing dishes on a buffet table along one wall. Guests can help themselves, settle in, chat, and make new friends. There's even a dessert table, well-stocked with plenty of chocolate, most of which seems to be mysteriously heart-shaped.

After eating, there are a variety of board and card games available for guests to play. From classic games like shogi, go and mahjong to more modern ones like Trivial Pursuit or Pictionary -- or Cards Against Humanity -- there's something for everyone.

In Summary:

• Get all the information you can handle
• Veteran new gods and shinki are welcome to volunteer showing the ropes
• Practice sparring or shinki magic
• Enjoy a buffet dinner and party games
• Have fun~

Comments

Road up the Mountain

[unlucky7]

[With the format for the day's training a little different, Ginia is out making a loose lap of the Western District to visit friends in the area and keep an eye out for new arrivals. The landscape shifts in subtle ways, but the temples stay in the same spots, so when there's a new mountain in the district, she can't help but pause and admire.

Wow. Impressive. Ginia takes her time moving around the grounds, trip hastened by the long, bounding leaps shinki can do. She eventually comes up to what is the front if only because there are stairs and two people staring up the path.

The candy horn-colored horns and the grey skin are noted, but Ginia doesn't judge or even balk. She offers a friendly wave and lands a few feet away. Taking out her phone, she types up a message and plays it through a text-to-speech program, the voice on the phone a digitized alto.]

You could, for the sake of visitors, but you'll more likely teleport in and out unless you like the hike.

[virtuousdogma]

[Tyzias acknowledged this with a nod of her head.]

Yeah, I'mmmm just thinking about emmmmergencies and the shinki.

[With how big her new hive was, if she were to have any amount of people over, gods and shinki alike, she'd need to be prepared in the event that teleporting in, out, up and down may not be the best option, even if it was the quickest.]

[unlucky7]

Emergency slide. Fast, fun.

[The suggestion is a little factitious, but it's not as if there aren't buildings that don't make sure of such escape routes either.]

I've heard the temples fit the will of the god to some degree. Maybe will a smaller mountain?

[virtuousdogma]

[Maybe she could Will a slide into existence. Maybe she could Will the mountain to be smaller, or at least faster to travel through and easier to navigate. However. That may take some time and planning on her part. It’s one thing to come up with a good idea. It’s another to find a way to implement them in ways that are both fun, in the case of the slide, functional, and also safe. If. For no other reason than Tyzias not wanting someone getting onto her about it later.]

I’ll take the slide into consideration. [Maybe have a shoot for laundry disguised as one of the slides. Residents and favorite guests would know ahead of time and be warned. Regular, or more likely Unwelcome Visitors would have to find out through trial and error or by simply asking. Hey. Got to get your fun where you could.

[unlucky7]

[There is plenty of time to decide and shape and form. As she's heard from network chatter, not ever god ends up staying in their own temple, opting to live with others. Others find ways to make the place work.]

New, I take it? I heard the new gods and shinki were sent out to find their temples and each other.

[Ginia offers a light smile.]

I'm Ginia, shinki. Been around for awhile. Feel free to ask questions if you have any.

[virtuousdogma]

[Tyzias ends up sliding her phone over, which notepad was pulled up and has several questions on it. One were about teleportation, and it's limits in, say, taking other people with you, god and or shinki (if there was one). Another was more on what was considered rude or not, when teleporting and with both god-to-god, and god-to-shinki (other than your own) interaction (again, if there is anything). Another, the last one on the list, was what might seem like an odd question.

Does everyone here sleep on a loungeplank?

Because her matesprit had gotten one in her temple yet Tyzias got a recuperacoon in her own. So, she's wondering if they're supposed to be the norm here. Know what to expect and plan ahead and the like.]

[unlucky7]

[Ginia takes the phone and looks over the questions, typing up her answers directly under each one and handing back the phone when she's done.]

One person can teleport one other person and an animal and any items on them.
-Direct contact is needed to teleport with someone/thing.
-I've traveled in a group of three, seems to work if everyone is holding on in a way. Have not tried more than three.
-Shinki can only teleport between Near and Far using a shrine. Does not have to be their own, but permission is needed if it isn't.
-Gods can teleport at will, not sure on specifics. Ask Cho Hakkai (Li Tieguai) or Shun Kurosaki (Nekhbet) for information. To my understanding gods can teleport directly to someone if they're talking on the phone. Same with looking up a location on a map.
-Generally polite to ask before teleporting someone, but situations may vary.

Loungeplank?
-Accommodations vary temple to temple. Most come with something to sleep on for the regular inhabitants plus guests.

[virtuousdogma]

Thanks.

[That was faster, and more information, than Tyzias had been expecting. This does mean though that it was my chance that she'd gotten a recuperacoon in her temple, and she could have just as easily gotten a loungeplank instead.

Those were, though, the only questions she's had in her think pan that she felt needed to be answered right now.]

[unlucky7]

No problem. If you don't have any other questions, I'll leave you to ponder your temple.