December Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: March 8, 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 midafternoon, once 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, which are spreading out even further with the onset of Spring. Strangely, there are many fewer flowering trees than might be expected.

Shinki Training

A well-appointed dojo has been prepared for newcomers to practice the 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 what look like old clothes and sheets rescued from the rag pile and hung from trees or stuffed with straw to serve as targets. Some of the children are trapping their straw-stuffed targets by dancing in circles around them, hands held as they sing the Kagome song; others are using cutting borderlines to bring sheets fluttering down.

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 interact with one of them or if you have any questions about handwaving an interaction.

Physical Training

The cherry blossoms that had begun to bloom across the Meeting Hall grounds seem to have experienced a mysterious mishap. Buds and half-opened blossoms alike have rained down from the branches, carpeting the fresh spring grass below with soggy brown and black rot. Several gardener shinki, with their sleeves tied back and sensible heavy aprons to protect their white uniforms, are raking up the fallen blossoms and trying to coax the trees back to health with powders and straw wraps to protect the trees' trunks from nightly chill. They need help: climb the trees and sprinkle the knots along the branches with invigorating powders to encourage fresh buds, or help the gardeners hold the straw in place around the tree trunks while it's wrapped with cloth, or just help rake up the dead flowers.

Besides the cherry problems, the gardens are beautiful and just beginning to burst into spring bloom. Tulips, crocuses and daffodils are sprouting everywhere, and once the borderline game is done, the child shinki are quickly organizing a garden-wide game of hide-and-go-seek. Find the best hiding spot you can, and make a break for home base as soon as you're sure the seeker is too far away to catch you! But don't run into anyone on the way.

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. A fresh springtime menu is available: lightly flower-scented teas, plum wine, and a variety of little savory or sweet snacks to nibble on while waiting for dinner. Dinner turns out to be okonomiyaki: bowls with mixed batter and a plate full of tasty add-ins are brought out, and griddles at the center of the table heated to let every guest set out their own favorite add-ins, pour batter over, and make a savory pancake. It's a little tricky to flip with the tiny spatulas provided, but it should only take a few pancake disasters to get the hang of it, probably!

After eating, a few doves will flutter into the room, dropping off scrolls to certain people, and the frazzled-looking adult shinki from the earlier training session dashes to the front of the room to try to keep everyone occupied. He's reading from a handful of printouts with corporate icebreaker ideas: pin a secret card to the back of everyone's shirt and ask whoever you meet for clues to figure out what it says! Fill out a bingo card with different skills or experiences your fellow gods and shinki have! Figure out how to stack every piece of furniture in the room onto just one table... play a game where you're only allowed to reply with questions... switch tables every five minutes and see how well you can get to know the other person there before your five minutes are up. Wait, isn't that speed dating? He seems to be running out of ideas.

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 some icebreakers
• Have fun~

Comments

on the road

[reloves]

[ Yes, Edge, you truly are lucky today. Maybe even a little too lucky, since he doesn't even have to make it all the way to the dojo to find her - even though Minako was definitely planning on going there diligently as well.

She was caught up by looking at the flowers for a moment too though, hence why she didn't make it all the way there yet. She's squatting by the side of the road and staring at a few particularly colorful ones up close. ]

Yeah, it's kind of weird, huh? To think that this place looked totally destroyed only a little while ago..

[onehandsomeslickninja]

[Edge is living his best life.]

[He practically skids to a halt to join her, which would be uncool if it didn't make his cape billow out dramatically, dropping one hand down to crouch next to her.]

I guess it's true what they say, about adversity breeding beauty and all.

[reloves]

[ She giggles. ]

So are you saying you've been through the worst hardships then back when you were still alive, your majesty? [ Yes, don't think she's forgotten about that one! Even though she's just using it now as part of her half-complimenting half-teasing remark. It's hard to not put a teasing part in it with his overdramatic cape. (She loves the over the top dramatics though.)

Minako looks back at the flowers. ]

I'm just glad since it feels like it means everything will always become okay again in this place, no matter what kind of bad things happen.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

My greatest hardship is trying to breathe in the presence of your beauty.

[Speaking of over the top!]

[But her second sentiment is so sincerely sweet and so very touching that it makes his heart twinge in a way that somehow isn't painful at all. With far less melodrama, he reaches a hand out for hers.]

Yeah, that's a really good feeling. And I think it's true.

[reloves]

[ It's obvious that she doesn't mind the over-the-top-ness going on here at all, since when he holds out his hand like that, Minako doesn't hesitate to reach back with her own to grab it. It makes it easy to use him as an anchor to help her stand back up, anyway, and she does so. ]

I want to believe that too. [ That everything will always be okay again in the end. ] Believing anything else would be really depressing anyway, right? This is already the afterlife, after all.. If there's no other place left for us to go, then this place better be great!

[onehandsomeslickninja]

[He doesn't relinquish her hand, so hope she's ready for it to be held a long time! (Or until she actually wants it back.) But he lifts his other hand in a determined fist.] But it's also up to us to make it true! After all, how would this place look if we hadn't worked hard to clean up after everything that happened?

[reloves]

[ No worries, that hand can definitely stay there for now! Minako doesn't seem to mind it, anyway - instead she seems to realise something from what he's saying. ]

Oh! Don't you think it's possible that maybe someone planted these here too? Or even if this happened naturally, it might be nice to plant more flowers around here..

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Well, it's the Far Shore, so... who knows? Maybe there's a god of flowers who took the opportunity? [All he can do is shrug.] But you know, we could make some really nice gardens out of these! Surround them with some picturesque walls and make them look pretty.

[reloves]

Pretty, huh..

[ Her tone is still a little more subdued than her usual excitement, but it's mostly since she seems to be thinking about it. She even hums a little as she glances back at the flowers. ]

That'd be nice! Do you know how to make.. [ .. Oh god, "picturesque" is way too big of a word for Minako to try and repeat, so there's a pauze. ] .. those kinds of walls?

[onehandsomeslickninja]

No, but we can learn that sort of thing! [They have the phone devices, after all, and Edge has learned that you can ask it questions and get answers.]

[reloves]

[ She giggles. ]

You think there's some expert wall builder here to learn it from?

[ Not that it's such a ridiculous idea in theory, especially since all kinds of people end up in this place. But she's never seen a whole lot of people busy with construction around here, and the idea of a wall or fence expert is just.. kind of funny. ]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

I think it's more likely than a love and romance expert, and we know where to find one of those, right?

[He nudges here slightly with an elbow, teasing but all in good spirits.]

[reloves]

[ Even though it's just playful banter, and even though Minako knows that as well, she still smiles with a hint of something fonder in her expression. It's just nice to know he'd still playfully appreciate that claim of hers despite her very awkwardly timed breakdown before. ]

That's just because every place needs one of those! Honestly, I don't know how the Far Shore got by before I showed up here.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

[That breakdown wasn't her fault! Something in her past has marked her soul, that's all, in a way she isn't able to simply put aside. What kind of cad would blame her or fault her for that?]

Darker, and gloomier, that's how.

[And he means that. She really is a sunbeam, even if that sunbeam must of necessity cast a shadow here and there.]