Open!

[unlucky7]

Who: Ginia and YOU!
When: April 11th - April 14th
Where: Around the Near Shore
What: Work never ends when you work for a God of Fortune. Come help out (or not) Ginia with prayers all around the Near shore.



[A. Maid Mayhem]
[A popular maid cafe is putting on an event for tokyo's Deaf community with all of their regular services provided in Japanese Sign Language along with Japanese. With multiple prayers begging for the event to go well, Ginia and some of her coworkers are keeping an eye on things and lending a hand. However, with the cafe crowded as ever, news stations covering the event adding to the crowd, and tensions running high, plenty of help is needed.

1) Help out at the cafe. You don't have to don a maid outfit; there's also cooking in the kitchen, making sure the light and sound equipment is ready for the stage show, and helping the media crews with filming.

2) Fend off ayakashi. The place is a hotbed for minor ayakashi seeking to cause some trouble. Throw up some borderlines, rend some ayakashi, just keep the place going without making a mess!

3) Or maybe you're here to enjoy the cafe. The food and drinks are cute and great, Ginia is happy to greet with a smile and a heart made with her hands as you're seated in her section.]

[B. Baker's Dilemma]
[A bakery in a shopping district is struggling with a new bread. Everyone who has tasted it either thinks it's the most delicious bread they've ever had or the most disgusting, inedible thing with no middle ground. Sometimes disagreement comes from two people trying the same loaf!

Ginia and her coworker, Hidemi, stand a few feet away from the store. They're wearing matching black suits with dark green ties. They're having a quiet discussion, Hidemi holding a loaf of bread that's had a few pieces torn from it. A third opinion is desperately needed and they're quick to flag down anyone that feels like they're from the Far Shore. You! Yes, you! Come over here!]

"Excuse me, can you try a sample of this bread and let us know what you think?"

[Delicious or disgusting? There's no middle ground.]

[C. A Horse of a Different Coat]
[Spring is a great time to go to the zoo and Uneo Zoo is hosting some mini programs aimed at children. When the person originally assigned to help with the zebra program falls sick, Ginia quickly steps in to help. There's only one problem. While Ginia, dressed in a zebra costume is busy entertaining kids, it means she can't focus on borderline duty like she intended. With mild ayakashi swirling around, drawn by children and shinki alike, Ginia looks around for anyone who can help out. Wrangle those ayakashi as the program continues, but don't let the kids see!]

[D. Wildcard!]
[Have something else you want to thread out? Contact me through PM or at cordially!]

Comments

[unlucky7]

[Warm but not burning. It's not surprising there's some kind of sensation as she's putting a borderline (and thus an extension of her energy) into the wound. What she'll have to figure out once the spell is in the hands of more people is whether that feeling is universal or tied more into the specific caster.

Ginia smiles at the feedback and nods. She wipes her brow with her forearm, feeling a bit warm herself. It reminds of her the early days of maintaining a borderline, of how even a few seconds felt draining and hard. It'll get easier with practice, but maybe the energy drain is a good reminder. She's pouring her energy into someone else to heal them, it should be a bit difficult.]

I was browsing the library and found a journal written by a shinki from centuries ago. They had a theory about molding a borderline to fill a shape. I thought if I took that that theory and combined it with the mechanics of Kimi's vessel ability, I could make a healing spell out of it.

[towards_okeanos]

You've got good instinct. If I am to judge it looks like you succeeded. The question now remains will you be able to teach it to others?

[There's another question Iskandar does not ask. Are you willing to? He doesn't have to. He's pretty sure the answer would be yes.
There are people who prefer to hoard knowledge instead of sharing it. To keep for themselves even the tiniest scraps of it. As if they, themselves, would be diminished if they let even the smallest piece go. He met such people. Quite a lot of them actually. He even agrees they were right in recognising knowledge as power that can give one a considerable advantage. It is. He just never agreed with their attitude.

One needs to know when keeping a secret does more harm than letting it slip. There are things that would benefit all and they should spread. A healing spell is just such a thing.]

[unlucky7]

I hope so. I'm trying to get as much practice as I can on different injuries to see what the limits are.

[The advantage of working in a large office is paper cuts and file cabinet scraps are common minor mishaps. Add in the occasional light oil splatter burn and foot blister and Ginia's gotten her share of practice. How well this spell works on more serious injuries is still a question, but it's not one Ginia wants readily answered either.]

Once I have a better understanding of everything, I'll begin teaching people. Now, I believe I owe you prayers.

[Though before that, she really needs to wash blood off her fingertips. Ginia pulls a flask and handkerchief out of her jacket, cleaning her hand with blessed water before she continues. The folder from her backpack is brimming with paper neatly clipped together, though all the folders are.]

The top few are all for an amusement park in Osaka. A few medium to large ayakashi based on patterns and reports. [She sighs; amusement parks are always ripe with ayakashi.] There are also new restaurants in the area that could use some critique of their food.

[towards_okeanos]

[Iskandar laughs. He could be a source of some really creative injuries. Though not recently because recently he had to start paying attention to what he is doing. Or face mighty tsundere wrath.]

Oh, I can be your test subject if you like! Though I can't offer you anything more than a broken finger at most lately.

[That's his special skill: blatant disregard for his own health.]

I had to start being more careful with my training or otherwise Waver would go grey with worry and I happen to like his current hair colour.
You might also need to take into account my usual healing factor but it thankfully works at a steady rate so shouldn't mess with your data too much.

[He takes papers from her. He whistles as he leafs through the documents.]

Osaka? I've never been to Osaka. Sounds nice. What I don't understand is why would anybody want me for food critique?

[Forgive him. Sometimes he just doesn't get it.]

[unlucky7]

[The blatant disregard for his health is concerning, but it's not as if Ginia can really say she's any better. If she is, it's because she doesn't have a healing factor to fall back onto and she doesn't want to trouble Kimi or the medical staff with patching her sorry self up.]

Actually, I do need to see if I can heal broken bones. If you're offering...

[She'll give it a shot.]

All sorts of people are needed for food critique. All you need is to give your honest opinion.

[Also, this is a way to get the temple an excuse to eat at some nice restaurants. You're welcome, Waver.]

[towards_okeanos]

[Iskandar laughs.]

It did cross my mind! I’m afraid you'll have to wait until something happens to me naturally.
Because if I did it on purpose then I would hear a word or two from my Exemplar about my irresponsible behaviour. She’s a formidable woman and I would not dare to anger her.

[He’s only half joking. It’s true that Satya wouldn’t hesitate to tell him exactly what she thinks if she believed he was acting stupid. He explicitly asked her to do it. That was their agreement and she honours her end. He'd better do the same.]

Well. If you say so than I would do my best to offer a thorough critique.

[unlucky7]

I wouldn't want to do anything to cross your exemplar. But if you have a bone break that isn't too serious, please let me know!

[Since if it is a serious injury, he should receive the best care he can get right away. Ginia needs practice, but between the training sessions here clinics or hospitals on the Near Shore, she can find enough to figure out the spell's limits.]

There are also on the bottom for various teams and groups that need some motivation. They're a little more spread out in time which is why they're at the bottom, but I figured if anyone could give a good pep talk, it'd be you. If any don't interest you, I can take them back.

[towards_okeanos]

You can count on me that I will.

[Iskandar digs the file from the very bottom to look inside. Can't say Ebisu neglects his research. It's not all action prayers he gets.]

I can talk to people. I already do that. Yet I can't guarantee I'll be able to help them if they lack the drive of their own.

[unlucky7]

[Ebisu wouldn't be a good god of business if he didn't know how to keep his business partners happy. Ginia also has a slight hand in things, hence the food prayers or other ones that could be handled with his temple's combined skills and be interesting.]

I think they have the drive, they just need some support or a pick-me-up. Maybe a direction to go in. Also it's a chance to check out some sporting events.

[towards_okeanos]

That I can help with.

[Iskandar whistles. Now you got him really interested.]

A sporting event? Of what kind?

[He liked watching chariot races but that particular sport may have fallen out of fashion after his times. There's probably a dearth of charioteers in the whole of Japan skilled enough for a proper race. Though he knows that horse races are still a thing. There is a race track in a city not that far from Tokyo.]

[unlucky7]

[Alas, no chariots here.]

Baseball!

[Japan sure loves its baseball and the rivalries are something fierce. It's even spread to the Far Shore, with a few baseball diehards cheering on their favorite team and decorating their desk space in their team's colors.]

Also a few soccer teams and kendo teams.

[towards_okeanos]

Ah, baseball! I know that gets a lot of people excited!

[It certainly does. Come season he gets a lot of prayers asking for this or that team's victory.]

I get those too. [... and that could pose a problem...] Hm, I just need to check if those [He pats the stack of papers.] are not for the opposing teams to mine. I'll get Satya to cross-reference them with our list and then let you know which ones I can keep.

[The baseball rivalries can be truly fierce.]

It would put in me in quite an awkward position if I tried to help both sides, don't you think?

[unlucky7]

If there are any conflicts, I can take them back. The temple is so large we end up helping rivals all the time anyway. It becomes a bit of an inter-department competition in ways. It's fairer helping both sides anyway.

[After all, it's not their place to judge whether one team is more deserving of fortune than the other. They can only help those who pray to them, but wouldn't it be remiss to ignore one prayer in favor of another?]

[towards_okeanos]

Eh, that's not exactly what I meant. What I wanted to say is that I need to check if I didn't get prayers for a rival team.

I couldn't honestly take a prayer from followers of Ebisu if it was in direct conflict with one from mine. That wouldn't be fair for either side. I know I would be compromised. Everyone would think I helped my own no matter the outcome and I don't want anyone to doubt my motives.

[Gods in his times, in his homeland, took sides. It wasn't surprising to anyone then. Iskandar is aware he can be biased. Or simply be perceived as one. The perception would be enough. The doubts would remain even if he believed Ebisu people deserved his help more. Even if he ended helping them and not his own followers. Even if all of it was unfounded it would leave a bad impression. He doesn't want anything to spoil his good relations with Ebisu.]