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

[nopixiedust]

"Excellent!" Grinning widely, Wendy does an energetic little fist clench. "The nore thing might put some people off, since I don't doubt they'll gossip, but Hibiki has such a big name now that they can't just ignore it!"

Her eyes are sparkling as she looks over at Ginia.

"Not unless they want to actually deal with Hibiki!"

[unlucky7]

May someone have mercy on the poor shinki tasked with dealing with Hibiki. And if they have the force of will to withstanding dealing with Hibiki? Hell, maybe the shinki deserves an interview or something.

"This feels like we could leverage Hibiki's name and money for a lot of things. Heaven might even overlook two nora starting a magazine if it's backed by a God of Fortune or two."

[nopixiedust]

"They can overlook it or not all they want~." Apparently the mental image of forcing some poor soul to deal with Hibiki has put Wendy in a good mood, considering how light her voice is. "But they can't stop us from doing anything. What, like Heaven owns printers?"

They can disapprove, sure, and they can judge all they want. Wendy knows they'll do that anyway. But they can't really do anything about it, not without starting up a fight they might not want to deal with.

[unlucky7]

"Imagine the uproar if Heaven tried to shut down an independent publication." Ginia's mouth curls into a cat-like smirk as she imagines the furor. It'd certainly win them no supporters and likely further fuel underground publications. In most likelihood, like so many other things, their hypothetical magazine will be ignored.

"I guess all that's left is putting a few pages together. Can you think of anyone that might want to help in any way? I'll get something about the school from Hakkai. See if him or any of the other older gods want to write an info page for gods."

[nopixiedust]

"It would raise hell~." And what a great mental image that is. Wendy laughs a little more, enjoying the daydream. Well, that's all it will be in the end. Heaven obviously has more important things to focus on than this sort of minor thing.

"Anyway, if it's this kind of thing, I could ask D2. He seems to know a lot about this sort of stuff."

[unlucky7]

"He's pretty sharp, his input would be great." If he wants to give it, that is. Only volunteers here. Who else would be good to ask...

"Kairi might be willing too, especially since she wrote the new pamphlet." Her optimism might also add some nice cheer, especially given the most pessimistic and cynical outlooks around. "Shun is professional enough I could probably get him to answer some questions."

[nopixiedust]

"Oh, Shun would be really great. He has so much criticism of literally everything, I'm sure we could get gold of out of him." For all that Wendy finds it frustrating to deal with him sometimes, well, she does like and appreciate him, and this is one of the rasons why. He's reliable when it comes to matters like this.

"I guess we'll ask around and see what we can do, huh?"

[unlucky7]

Shun is acerbic, but it's why Ginia likes him. He'll definitely give good information given how long he's been here. A pity they probably won't be able to get any fluffier questions from him like favorite food or how he styles his hair.

"I think so. I'll do some research on the publishing side of things and see what we need to do to get something printed."

[nopixiedust]

"And I'll start writing down a list of different things we could put into it. I'm sure there'll be a lot." Her hand flicks dismissively through the air. "Especially once I start talking to other people. If there's on thing the Far Shore has plenty of, it's opinions and questions, right?"

[unlucky7]

"These training days happen every two weeks or so?" Often enough to be a regular thing even if the format changes. It certainly puts into perspective how quickly things move here. "Let's come back in a month or so and see what we have and how we feel about things."

[nopixiedust]

"That works for me. Assuming this whole place is still standing in a month, even..." Almost unimpressed, she glances out at the people who are gathered and practicing.. Along with those who've clearly just had to leave the interrogation session.

"Sometimes, I half wonder if other people won't burn down Heaven before the cult does, with how annoyed they are."

[unlucky7]

Between the private meeting Amaterasu called and everything going on today, Heaven certainly has given a lot of reason for them to rebel. But for all those openly vocal of Heaven's idiocy, there are just as many plans happening behind closed doors.

"I wonder that too, but we are at a disadvantage when it comes to number. If any kind of rebellion was to happen, it'd have to be covert."

Ginia looks around the place and sighs heavily.

"And for all the things that suck, a lot of us do like this place. Mostly for the people, not the leadership."

[nopixiedust]

"Well... It's not like some of us have anywhere else to go anyway, I guess." Wendy gestures to herself as a matter of fact. Shinki are dead, after all. If all the gods figured out a way to get back home, well, what would happen to them? Would the afterlives of wherever they came from still accept them?

Wendy would rather not find out. It feels like it's asking for trouble.