January Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: March 24th, 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 (God or Shinki), the name of the god they will represent (Gods) or the god they will serve (Shinki), and directions to the temple that will be their new home, regardless of role. During these initial meetings for Gods, paper and pens are provided as an unsubtle suggestion to take notes on the information they're given. For Shinki, there are stacks of informational pamphlets sitting out on a table inside the room, and which new shinki are offered as they are leaving the Meeting Hall.

Gods and Shinki alike are cordially invited to a training session beginning in early afternoon - several hours later - after they've had the chance to return to their homes, meet their new partners, and have their questions answered.

This time, it is implied that the Training Session will have a different purpose, so it is highly encouraged for ALL new gods and shinki to attend, no matter how long they have been in the Far Shore.



Divine Service

New gods are assigned a time to meet with an attendant in white robes with a chrysanthemum on their robes bearing a notepad. Gods can request a changed time slot, but they are not given an option to avoid the appointment entirely. Unless they are bullied into allowing multiple gods in one interview session, they insist on one god per time slot. All meetings take place in private rooms similar to those for New God and New Shinki meetings.

The interview consists of questioning the God's commitment to serving the needs of their followers, the Far Shore, and in turn Amaterasu herself. There is the matter of "A God's Actions Are Always Just" and The Gods' Greatest Secret as well, to see if the God believes these are true and important. Do they espouse these opinions to other Gods? Will they respond to a summons by Amaterasu to defend The Far Shore? (If prodded, the attendant will admit that they are in fact an Old God, despite wearing clothing similar to Amaterasu's shinki. They will claim it an honor to do a favor for Amaterasu during her preparations.)

The second round of questions are about their shinki. What vessel forms do they take, in order starting with Exemplar? How do you use them in combat? What sort of opponents have you faced with your shinki in vessel form - human, ayakashi, or other? Do you have any plans to personally train your shinki for battle ahead? For wielders of multiple shinki, when was the last time you used all of them working together?

They insist that all questions are answered. Afterwards, the God is dismissed.

(An OOC breakdown for you characters IC answers to the God Interview...)
On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being low and 10 being high, what is your commitment to serving the needs of...<blockquote><b>1. Your followers?</b> ## <b>2. The Far Shore?</b> ## <b>3. Amaterasu herself?</b> ##</blockquote><b>4. Do you believe that A God's Actions Are Always Just?</b> ... <b>5. Do you protect The Gods' Greatest Secret?</b> ... <b>6. Do other Gods know your opinions on the above matters?</b> ... <b>7. Will you respond to a summons by Amaterasu to defend The Far Shore?</b> ... <b>8. What vessel forms do your shinki take, in order starting with Exemplar?</b> ... <b>9. How do you use them in combat?</b> ... <b>10. What sort of opponents have you faced <i>with your shinki in vessel form</i> - human, ayakashi, or other?</b> ... <b>11. Do you have any plans to personally train your shinki for battle ahead?</b> ... <b>12. For wielders of multiple shinki, when was the last time you used all of them working together?</b> ...

Tempering the Vessel

Shinki are assigned time slots to meet with the white-robed shinki as well. While their sessions are shorter, the conversations are similar, and likewise held in private meeting rooms.

What is your vessel form? How many battles have you been in while in vessel form and what were your opponents? Do you have any opponents you would resist fighting alongside your God and fellow temple shinki? What have you done to increase your resilience while in vessel form? If you have other shinki at your temple, how often have you fought alongside them in vessel form? What spells do you know? Do you have any plans to further that training?

The shinki are then dismissed after all questions are answered.

(An OOC breakdown for you characters IC answers to the Shinki Interview...)
<b>1. What is your vessel form?</b> ... <b>2. How many battles have you been in <i>while in vessel form</i> and what were your opponents?</b> ... <b>3. Do you have any opponents you would resist fighting alongside your God and fellow temple shinki?</b> ... <b>4. What have you done to increase your resilience while in vessel form?</b> ... <b>5. If you have other shinki at your temple, how often have you fought alongside them in vessel form?</b> ... <b>6. What spells do you know?</b> ... <b>7. Do you have any plans to further that training?</b> ...

Shinki Training

A well-appointed dojo has been prepared for newcomers to practice their physical or magical arts. 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.

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. (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

While each month the Far Shore attendants try to adapt the physical training to the Near Shore's weather and holidays, the weather is fair and any festive impulses have been subdued. This time, Physical Training encourages pitting a God with one or all of their Shinki against another God with one or all of their Shinki. This is touted as a benefit to the Shinki, so the white-robed shinki make clear that certain Shinki need this training more than others. For example, the ones who answered their Interview questions saying they hadn't spent much time in their vessel form, or fought in many battles, or hadn't fought with their fellow Shinki much - if at all.

There are Old Gods (NPCs - not run by a mod) who can be targeted as opponents, allowing the temple residents to gel as one fighting unit. (OOC: So that your multi-person thread can be limited to as few players as possible, if you choose.)

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. Moreso than other Training Sessions, there is a wide array of international alcoholic options this time. If you've heard of it and you can get drunk by imbibing it, it's probably here in a bottle or glass. Guests can help themselves, settle in, chat, and make new friends.

The Old Gods in particular will begin to regale the crowd at the end of the afternoon with War Stories from the ages past, speaking of their great deeds they performed as prayers for their followers, miracles to convert the unbelieving, powerful ayakashi they fought, and other amazing feats, especially if they involved a shinki at their side - who it was and the form they took. After many Old Gods have spoken, they turn to the New Gods as if in challenge to tell better stories, mocking words exchanged that imply the New Gods could not possibly have done anything so impressive in their short time in the Far Shore.

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
• Answer Interview Questions
• Tell the truth - if you dare - or lie through your teeth... if you dare
• Tell War Stories
• Have fun~

Comments

iii

[reloves]

[ At least Mirei and Minako can agree on one thing here: it'd be better if Hibiki made it all about herself instead of these old gods making it all about themselves. The only difference being that Minako would be very fine with that even if it really did end up happening.

But even though she might have taken the mantle upon herself to start some dramatic story about herself, the confidence has been knocked right out of her due to all of today's events. Which means even listening to these people hyping themselves up feels pretty miserable.

It's why her tone is more muted than usually when she hears Mirei speak up and replies-- ]

Do you want to? I'd listen. [ Anything is better than these bragging old gods at this point, honestly. Take that stage for yourself, Mirei!! ]

[disciprined]

I'd love to, pri, but I'm not sure how the old guys would take it. Probably try and smite me for it or something, pri!

[No, Minako, you are not the only one who's feeling a bit off-step right now.]

If SoLaMi Smile were here we could give them a show that'd knock their socks off, pri! It's just not the same by myself, pri.

[Plus, my solo number...

[Well. Perhaps uniquely, she wants Hibiki at the absolute peak of her powers.]

[reloves]

[ There's one good thing about the other's reply - if there's anything that can give Minako some energy back after being stuck in self-doubt all day, it's seeing someone else doubt themselves. Because while Minako is totally fine with tearing herself down, there's no way she's just going to sit there and watch someone else do it.

So some light returns to her eyes as she quickly shakes her head with much more energy than a moment ago. ]

That's not true! You look so cute and pretty, you'd be amazing even by yourself!

[disciprined]

[She blushes, just a little. The flattery is definitely welcome.]

Thank you, pri! But it's all so much more fun with friends, too. There's just something that's super-sparkling and special about singing and dancing with your friends, pri I suppose I do have a solo, pri... but I'm not sure how good it'd sound acapella, and it might not be so suitable it'd be for our audience, pri.

[Pricifically, the Hibiki portion of same.]

My song is very me after all, pri. And sometimes... well, sometimes you just know that a crowd really needs something different, pri!

[reloves]

Well, I'm not going to deny that.. [ Minako sure likes singing and dancing too, despite not having any memories of actually doing that together with friends. But still, she can grasp the idea enough to see how that could make it even more fun.

The other things that Mirei says make her glimpse in the direction of the Old Gods though before looking back at the girl. ]

But I don't think there's anything this crowd really wants to hear. It kind of feels like they'll make fun of us no matter what we show them, right?

[disciprined]

[There's that, too. Definition of difficult audience, this...

[Newly-returned, without so much as a karaoke mix of Dream Parade, there's only so much that Mirei could ever do to turn this tide. They'd probably just laugh at that, too - as if there was anything laughable about the climax of a year's hard work, of the hopes of thousands of young girls! It really is too bad, pri!]

Exactly, pri, it's awful! And super-unwelcoming, too! Just think of how the newbies must feel, pri!

[No, what this crowd needs--

[--no, what this crowd priserves?

[Hibiki.]

[reloves]

[ Right, the newbies. Minako's been so busy thinking about this situation here and the interview situation before that she hardly even realised that this is the day new people show up.

It makes her think of something else too, though-- she glances over at Mirei. ]

Isn't today kind of weird compared to how these days usually go? First those interviews, and now these guys acting like this.. I've never seen any of that happen before on one of these days.

[disciprined]

Me either, pri! Maybe they're all out of ideas for how to keep things fun, but that doesn't mean they have to make things boring and weird. It's like they're trying to put people off, pri!

[It's like they're trying to foster disloyalty.

[The quickest way to stop people trusting you is make it obvious that you don't trust them.]

I must have missed something big, pri. What's gotten into these guys?

[reloves]

Whatever it is, I hope it's over soon..

[ She lets out a sigh. Minako doesn't know just how much gloating she can tolerate from these gods that aren't from their own group. And though she doesn't have enough spirit left in her to deal with them today, even on another day she'd be hesitant to really start something with them since she's trying to not drive her goddess crazy by doing something reckless. ]

Rather than it all escalating and only getting worse from here on out.