March Training / Fourth Wall Event

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Information and Training and... Fourth Wall Event Kickoff!
When: April 22nd 2017 (Kickoff) but Fourth Wall lasts through April 26th
Where: The Far Shore (to start); All Locations here and Map here
Summary: Unexpected visitors arrive in The Far Shore for a little while.





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.

Gods and Shinki: The Real McCoys

New gods and shinki - the real ones, the ones that were expected - 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 Heavens are going about their usual business preparing for the new gods and shinki that they were actually expecting, when unexpected visitors appear out of thin air, as if having teleported in on their own power. They are scooped up along with the new gods and shinki and, initially, treated no differently. "Gods" are new arrivals who have strong memories of who they are, while "shinki" are experiencing various states of memory loss.

4th Wall Gods: A House is not a Home

New gods are normally shown their new temples in the morning and introduced to their new partners. The characters who arrived for the event and experienced no memory loss seem like they should be "Gods" and so white-robed escorts with chrsyanthemum logos on their backs take them to where they think their temples should be - in the Western District, where the other "New and Obscure Gods' Temples" always are. Despite many cleanup attempts, the Western District is still scarred from the aftereffects of a volcanic eruption and earthquake only 3 months ago, with fissures in some of the roads and burn scars in the wild landscape. Along the way, the escort can answer questions as provided on the God 101 page.

When they arrive, the escort is surprised to discover a set of ruins instead. This happens, they explain, but usually when a god leaves The Far Shore, not when they arrive. While the escort starts to rifle through some paperwork to figure out what's going on, the "God" is welcome to explore the ruins and - to the shock of both - the ruins transform.

How it transforms is up to the 4th wall player! It should not be very large, no bigger than a one-room building or, if more natural, a small garden or lake complex. Alternately, the ruins can not transform at all, or simply get cleared away into something more clean-slate like a rock garden plot. Get creative!

Afterwards, the "Gods" are encouraged to show up at the afternoon Training session to better understand their circumstances. Before the escort leaves, the "God" will be provided a phone with which they can access the Heavens' BBS system; their display name will be a warped version of their real name, such as "Bob Smith" appearing as "bOBsMITH" or something else that looks like a glitch.

4th Wall Shinki: And you may ask yourself

New "shinki" will wake by the Meeting Hall in a set of white robes from laying down on a tatami mat with a small box wrapped up and set at their feet. (The box can contain a few belongings of the character's from their canon, provided it can fit. Due to the memory loss, it can include things the character wouldn't recognize.) From the way that the bustling people around the area are talking, this is not a common occurrence.

At some point, a person in white robes with a big chrsyanthemum logo on the back will come to interview the person. "We are working on assigning you to a god and temple, but some things have come up," they try to explain, and will then be able to answer other questions as outlined on the Shinki 101. The "shinki" are encouraged to get dressed and explore the Far Shore if they would like, because eventually they will be assigned to one of the temples out there anyway. At this point, the shinki are also handed a phone in order to connect with the Heavens' BBS system; their display name will be a warped version of their real name, such as "Bob Smith" appearing as "bOBsMITH" or something else that looks like a glitch.

God Training: New and 4th Wall Both

Newly arrived gods are escorted into a small meeting room, with tatami floors and a stage at the front of the room where the speaker stands. A minor deity is giving the speech, and none of the white-robed shinki enter. Paper and pens are provided to all the attendees as an unsubtle suggestion to take notes on the information they're given. Newly arrived gods are encouraged to discuss the information with each other and ask questions of more experienced gods, as well as instructed to guide their new shinki appropriately. They are allowed to remain in the room as long as they wish, should they want to discuss questions with each other or with more experienced gods who are here to help out. The speaker delivers her welcome speech in the monotone of someone who's practiced it far too often. Hopefully no one's feeling sleepy!

It's around this time that the 4th Wall "Gods" might realize that, for as weird as everything's been, their experiences with their temples this morning are not the same as most new Gods. Additionally, they do not possess the power to teleport to and from the Near Shore; they might need a buddy to help them with that part! The 4th Wall Gods can't hear any prayers whispered on the winds either. They can't name shinki, whether those shinki were in the Far Shore before today, or only arrived through the 4th Wall situation. (There is one other kind of shinki that might still respond to their commands though...)

Shinki Training: New and 4th Wall Both

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.

What are borderlines? The 4th Wall shinki can't do them, no matter how hard they try. If they had previous magical powers, those still work though! Existing gods can name these "shinki" but 4th walled gods can't. The 4th Wall shinki have no death memories to convey to the god and no shinki vessel power, but they can still be used to Rend an ayakashi.

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. There are stacks of informational pamphlets sitting out on tables around the dojo.

Physical Training

The dojo is stocked with a wide variety of practice weapons, traditional and modern, to offer some practice opportunity to gods who, for example, find themselves with a sword shinki but are at risk of cutting off their own toes. It's also useful for veteran new gods wishing to train with their current partner shinki.

Several magically animated straw-stuffed training dummies, many of which have been carefully mended and patched with neat black stitching, are set up on the lawn with a white-robed shinki hovering nearby to watch over them. They make good training partners, although anyone who comes too close risks being targeted for a sparring match whether they wanted one or not. The supervising white-robed shinki has a nametag which reads HELLO, MY NAME IS SABIMEI. (To interact with Sabimei, please comment on the "NPC REQUEST" thread below! If you prefer, you may also handwave his assistance or advice with your character learning spells.)

Rest and Refreshments

There are casks of fresh, cold water near the dojo to make sure no one gets dehydrated, but for those who've finished working, hot tea and enough seasonal treats are available to make it look as though the Heavens bought out an entire sweet shop. They're being distributed by a few shinki in indigo-blue and plain brown robes with the sleeves tied back, who aren't above teasing the newcomers a bit.

In Summary:

• Get all the information you can handle
• Mingle with the 4th Wall "Gods" and "Shinki"
• Veteran new gods and shinki are welcome to volunteer showing the ropes
• Get in some training
• Have fun~
• OOC Event Information Post - ask us questions if you need to!

Comments

[unlucky7]

The sign for explode is not that, but it's also not far off either. It certainly gets the point across. Ginia laughs at the enthusiasm and nods in agreement. No surprise others were using the song spell during that crisis. She certainly used it when she fought Sotero.

"A little. I'm still practicing and can only heal small injuries."

She looks over him. He's a kid; kids get hurt all the time in their excitement.

"Do you have any injuries? I could show you."

[myblueskies]

Romeo thought about it, he got bumped and bruised all the time, just in life. But he barely noticed it, there were far too many other things to do!

But he nodded and took off his jacket, on his arm there is a cut, it's scabbed over but it is relatively new. "I crashed into one of the shelves of the library yesterday."

It doesn't really hurt, but maybe it will be enough for Ginia to show him how her healing spell worked!

[unlucky7]

It's a very relatable minor injury; Ginia's arms have all sorts of nicks and scratches from accidentally bumping against a shelf or filing cabinet.

"If it hurts, let me know." Not that it should, but she's still looking for feedback. She studies the cut and supports his arm as her hand drops into the halberd position.

Similar to drawing a borderline, Ginia traces her hand around the cut. A glowing line follows her fingers. She holds a borderline in mind as she finishes connecting the circle, fingers flicking toward the center of the cut and lifting off his skin. Line! A borderline fills the circle as she signs the spell in, a warm glow as the light fills and heals the cut.

[myblueskies]

Romeo watched her carefully. Her hands were just like she was making a borderline but instead of cutting a bad ayakashi or making a wall there was a glow and the cut healed.

"Wow! That's amazing! It didn't hurt at all!"

[unlucky7]

A smile flicks across Ginia's face as she focuses on the spell, letting her energy spread evenly as flesh heals. The spell shouldn't hurt, but the warm feeling could be more intense on deeper injuries. Even Kimi's ability stings a little, though no more than the sting of antiseptic.

The scabs fall away as flesh is restored. The glow disappears as she releases the spell, any signs of the cut gone. Ginia's hand falls back and she nods.

"I want to teach others that spell soon."

[myblueskies]

"Can you teach me miss! I want to help everyone feel better!"

And Ginia was such a good teacher! She had taught him how to do Umbra really well and now he could almost stay invisible for a long time!

"You're really clever, knowing all these spells!"

[unlucky7]

Ginia pauses a little. Normally, she'd agree to teach the spell right away, but she's still figuring out all the details. Also, silly as it is given how many people have seen it already, there's someone she wants to teach the spell to first.

She changes back to her phone for her response.

"I will, but not today. I need to make sure I understand it fully before I teach anyone else. Otherwise I might teach someone the wrong thing."

[myblueskies]

"Okay!" He nodded. He wouldn't want to learn it wrong and sometimes things took lots and lots of practice before you got good enough to teach other people! Ginia was already really good at the spell, but even she would need even more practice!

But she had said she would show him another one and there were lots of spells she knew! "Could you show me bind, miss?"

[unlucky7]

Bind, the spell so many shinki seem to begin with, one she's taught to so many. It's an attack first and foremost, so when Romeo brings it up, Ginia balks a little. He's a kid, but he's still a shinki. It could save his life one day, the same way Umbra could.

"I can. Bind is a spell that immobilizes someone. Do you know what immobilize means?"

[myblueskies]

Romeo thought for a moment before slowly shaking his head. "I don't miss, sorry."

There's still lots of words he doesn't know the meaning of, even though he's trying to learn lots and lots of things every day!

[unlucky7]

Ginia had a hunch, but it's an easy enough language lesson.

"If you break your arm, you put the arm in a cast so you can't move it and hurt it further while it's healing. The arm is immobilized. Does that make sense?"

[myblueskies]

"So it means wrapping it up so it can't move." He nodded, immobilised. New word learned. He grinned. "So is that what the spell bind does? Wraps someone up so they can't move?"

[unlucky7]

Smart kid. A smile slips out. She's still reluctant, but better he learns from her and know what the spell feels like when he's expecting it instead of having it cast on him out of the blue.

"Immobilize is specifically the not moving part, but I suppose you could see Bind as wrapping someone in the spell so they can't move."

Ginia is still reluctant, but better he learns from her and know what the spell feels like when he's expecting it instead of having it cast on him out of the blue.

"I'm going to cast the spell on you so you know what it feels like, okay? It's how I first learned the spell."

[myblueskies]

Wrap someone up in the spell so they can't move any more and then they can't be bad and hurt people! Romeo nodded.

"Okay miss! You can cast it on me!"

He didn't mind, it was the same as when she had taught him Umbra and did it on him first so he could tell what it felt like.

[unlucky7]

At least someone is optimistic about things. Ginia takes a deep breath and clears her mind, focusing on the spell.

"Ringoki, Bind!"

She signs the spell as she focuses on Romeo, willing him to become a statue. He'll still be able to talk, but he'll freeze exactly as he is when Ginia casts the spell. She'll only keep the spell active for ten seconds before releasing it.

[myblueskies]

All of a sudden Romeo couldn't move at all! Not one muscle! He was frozen in place completely!

It was a little big scary, but only a little bit because he knew that Ginia was just showing him to teach him and wasn't going to hurt him.]

I can't move at all! [He could still talk though! That was a good thing. He wondered how long he would be all still for. It really was like Ginia had wrapped him up really tightly!]

[unlucky7]

At least Romeo isn't frightened. His resilience and calm is admirable (and worrying) and after ten seconds, Ginia immediately releases the spell.

"How are you feeling?" she asks, looking over him for any signs of stress.

[myblueskies]

"I'm feeling okay miss!" He wriggled all of him, just to make sure he could! That was reassuring!

"So you got to just say the name and bind..." He trails off as something occurs to him. "So you can only use it on other shinki... not bad ayakashi..."

Why would you want to immobilise other shinki? Were there bad shinki?

[unlucky7]

"It works on humans too," Ginia adds. It requires a human's full name, but it certainly has its uses. With the cult acting against them, being able to stop someone is useful.

"But it's true these spells don't work on ayakashi because they don't have names."

Though if an ayakashi can be named... can spells work on them then?

[myblueskies]

Oh. There could be bad humans. Like the ones in the cult. Romeo nodded, it was trickier to know humans names than it was to know the names of other shinki and bad ayakashi didn't have names at all...

"They don't got names at all... I think it's still a good spell miss, because it is good to stop a bad human if they are working with bad people to hurt us!"

[unlucky7]

Bad humans, bad shinki, it's all relative. Someone could just as easily cast bind on Romeo, not because he's bad, but because someone needs him out of the way. Ginia knows she'd cast it on him if it'd keep him safe.

But that's why she taught him Umbra too.

"Let me teach you something else. If someone tries to cast a spell on you you don't want, you can block it with a borderline."

[myblueskies]

"You can?" Romeo blinked up at her, with a borderline?

But how could you stop something you couldn't see? He brought his hand up in a halberd, he has gotten quite good at borderlines and he is always excited to learn something new.

"How do you do it, miss?"

[unlucky7]

"You want to focus the borderline on blocking the spell instead of a person or ayakashi."

But that in itself is still a little abstract to think about. Ginia taps her phone against her chin before an idea strikes her. She pulls a folder out of her backpack and fans it at Romeo, creating a breeze that ruffles his hair.

"Try to stop the wind from touching you with a borderline." Ginia types and plays before she begins fanning Romeo again.

[myblueskies]

He laughs softly as the breeze ruffles his hair but then puts on his serious face when Ginia tells him what he has to try and do. Try to stop the wind.

"Line!" He makes sure the line isn't too close to Ginia, he doesn't want to hurt her! He still feels the wind ruffling his hair though, too slow! It's tricky.

But he's ready to try again, he lets the borderline drop.

[unlucky7]

A borderline can block anything a shinki wants. Ayakashi, humans, other shinki or gods, even natural elements. It takes focus and will, the strength to make the borderline a solid wall and not only one of light.

Ginia pauses her fanning in order to type.

"You can't see the wind, but you can feel it and know what direction it'll come to. Focus on making your borderline a solid wall, something that can block the wind."

Right now it's wind. Tomorrow it might be a wind attack or even flood or fire. Ginia picks up the folder and fans it at Romeo again.