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

[defensivematrix]

But in the end, answers are limited to what cards you get.

[ That's harder than expected, mostly because some of Satya's cards are pretty descriptive and just not fitting within the question. "Self-identifying as DJ" is absurd enough to be a good one, but not in this context. Not in this sentence! If the question was "What are you doing in Heavens" or something like that-

Her face does drop a bit, but she finally gives up. "Bananas" would fit because of being a noun. But it lacks any kind of punchline. Perhaps she has to sacrifice some of the sentence structure for attempt at humour- since it is the point of this game.

"No longer being alive" is the card the she slides towards Iskandar ]

[towards_okeanos]

[Iskandar reads both cards. Then reads them again. Either he doesn't understand this game or ...]

This game supposed to be funny, right?

[The previous round clearly was. This one? Not exactly. No one really can blame him that anything explicitly called 'squirmy' brings to him a mental picture of a mass of writhing tentacles he once battled. And that's certainly not funny, not at all. He shrugs the memory away but it already managed to ruin his mood.
Satya's answer is no better. Are you trying to tell me something, girl?
Maybe it's only his problem but Iskandar really doesn't like being reminded that technically speaking all shinki are dead people.]

Because I'm reading the answers you chose and they are rather ...

[His puts the cards down.]

Sad.

[defensivematrix]

[ Satya blinks in confusion, and tilts her head on a side as her metal finger taps her chin. ]

My apologies, I had a poor hand and went with something that made most sense in the context of the sentence. [ A beat ] So I take morbid jokes are a "no"

[ She probably shouldn't be taking that note aloud, since finding what is funny - and what is not - is part of the strategy of this game. ]

[kokuyoyo]

...At least, not for him.

[Chikusa might have picked it, honestly. He's the shinki who has a beanie with DEAD written on it in big bold letters, and named his owl after a pun that combines 'corpse' with 'owl'. No one should trust him on humor, although he's somehow managing to succeed here.]

But I guess that's part of the difficulty... Dealing with the chance aspect of it. There's only so much cleverness or humor can do...

[towards_okeanos]

[Iskandar is not above morbid jokes himself. Just not in THIS particular context, all right?]

So what now? Do I still have to choose or what?

[Sorry, Chikusa, you have just been appointed authority on this game. Rejoice. While you can.]

[defensivematrix]

An alternative would each of us taking another card from the pile, and hoping it offers us possibilities-

[ That's still what they have to do anyway ]

Or you picking next question. [ She turns to Chikusa the Authority on CAH ] How would the game rules answer to such an impasse?

[kokuyoyo]

[He's kind of bewildered why any of you would think he's the authority on anything here, when all he said was to play a game, but, hey, sure. Chikusa considers the cards for a moment.]

...I think you're just supposed to pick whatever is closest to something you'd like... in the same way that me and her are stuck with picking whatever we can from our hands.

Although if you want to just pick neither, giving no one a point... I guess we could do that.

[towards_okeanos]

I'll take dead people then. If these are the options.

[Because why not add to the confusion he already caused with his previous move.]

[defensivematrix]

[ So a score, yes? Is someone keeping a tally of that? Maybe she should. Still, in those circumstances, it doesn't really feel like a success. But she acknowledges the score with a slight nod and then turns her head to Chikusa. ]

Well then, your turn, boy.

[kokuyoyo]

[Darn. Still, he'll accept it, and reaches over to lazily slide a card from the top of the stack. Let's see...]

This year's hottest item is.... blank. By blank.

[Oh, a two card sort of question.]

[towards_okeanos]

[Iskandar feels he's in dire need of better cards. He hesitates for a moment but then decides to just wing it. That's a good moment to make use of his I-have-no-idea-what-this-means cards. He slides the one with "Heteronormativity" towards Chikusa.]

That's for the first part.

[There goes "Justin Bieber".]

And the second.

[and I have absolutely no idea what I just did. Not a hint even. He should be better prepared for this.]

[defensivematrix]

[ Satya masters the poker face as she throws with "Self-identifying as DJ" for the first one and "The North" for the second one. Though a sign that she is not entirely satisfied with her choice is her covert complaining ]

Mmhm, I do wonder how the game would look like if we were allowed more cards at hand.

[ The choice is limited, that's the point ]