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

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun gives a still faintly annoyed hum of assent to the remark on it being a lot, so it's...probably better to leave the explaining until later, at least. Shun's generally willing to do it, because the more people who are informed early, the less idiocy and ignorance he has to clean up the results of later, but that doesn't mean he has to like it.

As for the question of training, he shrugs slightly.] Depends on what you're interested in learning. If you're not going to complain about taking a beating, I can start you on hand-to-hand, but I'd have to point you to others for any other weapons, since I'm still learning those myself.

[Some of them, like swordplay, he's been learning for almost a year now and has gotten quite good at in that time, but he wouldn't stack that up against people who've been doing it for years.]

[stormaccess]

[Yusaku takes a moment to think that offer over.]

Something somewhat easy, for start would probably be the best.

[There's no point in starting training with any weapon he has no aptitude for, if he can't even hold his balance properly or something like that.]

I think, I can take a beating if I need to– [Chikusa had helped him figure out that much at least.] –but I'm not sure if I'm cut out for anything actual hand-to-hand fighting. You'd have to teach me a lot.

[How to dodge, first of all probably.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun shrugs slightly at that, as if it doesn't matter much to him either way.] You wouldn't be the first I've had to teach from scratch. But I will say that it's a lot easier to pick up a weapon if you've learnt enough hand-to-hand to know how to move in a fight.

[While Shun hasn't been learning any of the weapons he's learnt here long enough to front up against someone with actual experience and win, his existing agility has given him an advantage against people who are about equivalent to his level. Shun eyes Yusaku up and down briefly, as if gauging his build.]

You definitely don't look like you're built for this sort of thing, but looks can be deceiving. It's useful to keep that in mind here. [He's met way too many waify magicians and such like in his time here to judge on appearances. Shun would usually not be able to talk on that front since he doesn't look like much under his coat, but when he's got it off it's much more visible that he's built in that lean, wiry way similar to what gymnasts or similar athletes end up with.]

[stormaccess]

[A nod.]

That makes sense.

[If he knows how to move in a fight, he'll be more of an asset to whatever god he ends up with. That seems to be desirable for now.

Though, that "looks can be deceiving" comment… while Yusaku resolves to keep that advice in mind, he can't help but wonder…]

Are there that many different kinds of people here?

[revolutionfalcon]

There's people who've come here from all kinds of worlds, which should say enough. [It doesn't for some people, though, so Shun elaborates despite sounding like he feels he shouldn't really have to.] Places with different societies, different kinds of magic and technology, different states of war and peace. There are some completely harmless people here, but there are also some that look that way yet are far more powerful and dangerous than the ones you might think look like a threat.

[Amaterasu herself is probably one of the best examples of looking harmless but being powerful and dangerous here, honestly, and she's not even a newcomer, so Shun doesn't limit the remark to the newcomers besides noting that people come from different places.]

[stormaccess]

'Don't judge a book by it's cover' is what you're saying.

[/adding this to the list of helpful advice-slash-life lessons that he's been told so far. It's common sense, really, but it's useful nevertheless. Between this and the earlier advice, Yusaku knows now to watch and wait before he makes any judgments about the people around him.]

I was told about the Ayakashi… that we are supposed to help the gods fight them.

[We as in the Shinki, he means.]

Why would the Heavens call someone like me then… someone with no fighting skill?

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun gives a faint hum of assent to that basically being the point he's trying to make, but when it comes to the issue of ayakashi, his response is a rather dismissive sound through his teeth.]

One part is that shinki are meant to work with their gods to fight ayakashi, since you do it in vessel form. But that would be the answer if they were bringing people here in any kind of logical pattern. There's plenty of non-combatants here - there's a god who's a mundane six-year-old kid, if you want a sign of exactly how unfit for combat some of the people here are.

[There's something very sharp in his tone at the mention of someone so young being dragged here, as if he takes some sort of personal affront to it. Shun likes Nanako plenty, but to say she's suited for a role that's supposed to involve combat would be far too much.]

[stormaccess]

A six-year-old?

[Even without the clear disapproval in Shun's tone, Yusaku would have frowned. If they are supposed to fight those ayakashi, then you'd think the Heavens would call someone more suited, indeed.]

Well, I guess I shouldn't complain then.

[He is definitely better suited to do any kind of fighting… to choose to do that kind of thing, than a kid that age.]

[revolutionfalcon]

Right. Or seven now, since she's been here that long, but that's hardly any better. [While Shun does know how much Nanako has managed to do while she's been here in the realms of things that aren't combat, his distaste for the fact that someone that young has had to become involved in this at all is very clear.]

Most people adjust. It's just a matter of how willing you are to do it. [The phrasing of that is akin to a challenge, almost. Shun is the type who was already used to having to adapt before he got here, but he thinks he's still doing so, in some ways.]