thenearshore | June Training

Entry tags:

June Training

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: June 7th, 2017
Where: Apollo's Temple, The Far Shore
Summary: FIRST-CLASS ENTERTAINME---er, training for extant gods and shinki

Determining which temple to visit for today's training is not difficult. For one thing, Apollo's Temple is setting off fireworks periodically to entice newcomers through its high, Hibiki-statue-flanked doors. For another, anyone leaving their own temples will find themselves immediately confronted with an adorable purple goat robot wearing sunglasses and a bow tie. The goat has a silver platform suspended above it, atop which has been set a single purple rose and a brief note:

I shall be maa-ttending you today. Follow me.

Said goat will continue to follow your character until they give in and do as the note suggests. In fact, even once they do, the goat shall accompany them for the duration of today's log, seeing to their every need. Ask the goat to fetch something, and it shall be fetched. Ask the goat for directions within Hibiki's castle - "Where is the god training?", "Isn't there an amusement park in here?" - and guidance shall be provided maa-ccordingly.

It seems, today, everyone will receive a full Celebrity Maa-xperience.

Introductions

"CelePara Prince Hour!"

excellence

exercises

God Training

Top-Class

Open the new celeb world

first flush

Shinki Training

boring

really

Self-Improvement Training

ad-lib

random scenario

Rest and Refreshments

everyone

self service

full service

enforced

Please take care

Starship PriPirates'

In Summary:

Delight in your precious new robot BFF (maa-ttendants are OK to NPC & adopt!)
Learn absolutely nothing from anybody actually charged with hosting this informational session
Engage in various "training" activities with no ulterior motives behind them whatsoever
Be kidnapped by pirates?????
Have fun~

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[a: intro...ok no introductions that's fine too]

[Considering how Shun typically gets on with Hibiki, he can figure the kind of "experience" he's going to get if he enters the normal way. Which is why some might notice a slightly ajar window near the top of the castle, moving conspicuously back and forth as if someone just went through it.

Shun, for his part, is doing his level best to avoid the hell out of anything that looks like it might end up running video of Hibiki, but in the event he has to cross paths with anything, the speakers seem to...warp and garble to the point of being unintelligible until he passes through, at which point they return to normal once he's out of earshot of them. His remark on it doesn't leave too much to the imagination on who caused it, though.]

I don't know whether this is exactly as bad as I was expecting or worse than I was expecting.

--

[b: shinki training]

[There is absolutely no other variant of training that Shun is willing to take part in operating here right now, so when he finds the part that's being run by Wendy with some modicum of sense, he takes it as a reprieve. Even if that reprieve happens to be something that'd probably be an absurd challenge to most other people, Shun takes it with no hesitation.

He can be found on just about any part of the course, going through it with smooth motions and skilled acrobatics, occasionally with a bit of extra spin or turn that might seem unnecessary but ends up playing into something further down the course, an extra bit of momentum or correction of an angle or something. Though he finds the trapeze a bit excessive, he does surprisingly well with it for someone who's never had reason to use one before, working out the trajectories and even managing to flip over to catch the second one with his knees instead of his hands before flipping back up onto the second platform.]

I wonder if this sort of thing is what they used to train in Standard... [Yuya had a bit of a circus obsession, to put it lightly, and the people from Standard he's had to work with have been solid enough in their athletics.]

--

[c: the part where shun just ditches and finds somewhere else to train]

[Unfortunately, even the obstacle course only keeps Shun occupied for an hour or two before he decides it's time to train something else, except...there aren't really the facilities to train in the kinds of things he actually wants to train in.

Thankfully, there's a good amount of open space in Central District, so after the morning, anyone who ends up leaving the castle for a breath of fresh air might notice Shun in one of the open spaces between temple grounds, currently in the midst of a spar with Kotori and the three soulless shinki he inherited that appears to be also focused on training their borderlines. That is, if the large number of them being flung around over here is any indication.

The three soulless shinki don't have the best aim at times, though, so those nearby may have a little dodging to do when one of those lines goes wide...]

--

[d: wildcard]

[[Shun will be open to people joining his little sparring session by ways other than having a borderline fly at them, so if your character wants something more combat-oriented for a little while, feel free to have them approach him for that!]]

Edited 2019-06-17 14:42 (UTC)

[ The spygoat tasked with maa-ttending to the god Nekhbet has a maa-ndary. Somehow, that god has escaped them! They lost sight of him somewhere around the castle, and have since done two full laps of the place. An open window was spotted, but no Nekhbet! Strange.

Figuring everyone would want to see Maa-ster’s training, the goat trundles into the castle. Nekhbet....Nekhbet? Wait, what was that noi—-!!

Approaching from afar, Shun: a speeding spygoat, looking as thrilled to see you as a stuffed animal can. ]

[Unfortunately, considering what Shun's like about spygoats, it's not going to be "seeing" anything for much longer. As soon as he spots it, his eyes narrow slightly...and the lenses of the goat's eye cameras are promptly sandblasted opaque, as if the glass has been sitting on a beach for some long years slowly getting eroded.]

I'm sure I can find my way around this ridiculous place on my own. Even if there's far more of it than someone who can't see past the end of their own nose needs. [Did Shun leave the sound intake alone so Hibiki could still hear all his insults? Probably. He knows if he trashes anything, it's just going to end up at Wendy's feet at the end of the day, so he's taking the pettier option here.]

[ Maa-ck!! What is this?! The goat wiggles in place, as if thinking it can fix its cameras that way. The rumors were true. The god Nekhbet is maa-ghty indeed....

....d-does that mean the....r-rumor about him once...smaa-shing a goat.......into a t-table.....

Nervously, since it no longer can see whether there are any smashable tables in the maa-cinity, the goat wheels forward so Shun can see it’s brought him a map. Someone who vanished on their maa-ttendant must like exploring, you see..... ]

[Shun continues eying the goat as if to make sure he hasn't missed a camera or something, but he does at least notice that it's carrying something when it comes closer. And that it's a map once it gets close enough, though he raises a brow rather doubtfully when he sees it.]

Surely even she knows giving me something like this is a bad idea. [At least, if it's a map of the temple, which he's currently going to yoink the map to discern.]

[ It’s a maa-p of the relevant portions of the temple! All the training locations are clearly maa-rked. Looks like the gods get a banquet hall, and a sauna, and a museum exhibit. The shinki have an even larger area. For some reason.

The spygoat awaits its fate, trembling. And elsewhere, someone checks their feeds to be sure barricades are erected in no-entry zones.... ]

[While Shun at least notes the big shinki area for later, since he figures that's probably where Wendy's been given her free rein, the rest of it holds nothing of interest to him, so he tosses it back onto the goat.]

I figure you're listening, otherwise you wouldn't have sent this stupid thing in the first place. I don't know how stupid you have to be to think giving me a map is going to stop me getting anywhere else in your temple if I'm that interested in doing it, but lucky for you, if I see as little of your face as I possibly can in the short amount of time I'm planning to be here, I'll be satisfied. So I'd take that into consideration.

[Since it seems like she's got some videos planned...]

[ ....Getting on her phone to snipe at him means caving to pressure. It shan’t be done. Won’t. Can’t!

The goat, meanwhile, shrinks backwards. This...wasn't helpful? It just wants to maa-ssist. It must think of something Nekhbet would like! Or it might get smaa-shed into a table!

Cautiously, it rolls forward towards where it can hear Shun’s voice. It’s off.

It’s going to bump into a pillar. ]

[As annoying as Shun finds the goats, there's enough of them here that he doesn't figure smashing this particular one is going to be that useful. He's already made a point of that nature once previously, so he doesn't really feel the need to do it again.

He deadeyes the thing a little as it goes trundling off towards that pillar, but doesn't speak up to give it a better trajectory of where he is, because apparently he's just in a petty kind of mood today.]

[ What a strange mood affliction. It is a mystery what could have caused this.

The goat smaa-cks right into the pillar, then panics. Oh no! Was that Nekhbet’s leg?! Or....something....It’s rocking back and forth now, trying to bow to the pillar.

Hibiki sighs and dispatches a real goat to go fetch it. Those can’t be sandblasted. ]

[Shun watches the goat for a few more moments before letting out a faint sigh of annoyance and starting to head off. If something else comes to deal with it, then he doesn't want to be around when it shows up.

He'd probably even less want to be around if he knew it was an actual goat, but then, he hasn't spent enough time around Hibiki's temple to be aware of that particular animal companion proclivity other than the robots.]

[ And thus it was that one of Hibiki’s spygoats obtained a seeing-eye goat. They will quickly become insepaa-rable friends!

Meanwhile, someone puts a hand to her forehead and orders a stronger cup of tea. ]

[As Shun traverses the obstacle course, a borderline shield springs up and blocks the platform he's moving toward. It's still a wall he can bound off and it's narrow enough he can move around, but an obstacle is an obstacle.

Positioned obviously on a lower level, Ginia waves.]

[Considering how things went with Wendy last time he was doing one of these kinds of obstacle courses, Shun reacts seamlessly, wall-jumping from the borderline back against one of the poles that's holding up the higher platforms, then going over it with the additional height.

Once he lands, he glances down and inclines his head to Ginia when he sees her.] I figured you'd be a more likely sight here than me.

[Shun has never been quiet on his opinion of Hibiki, even if Wendy is a different story.]

Frankly, I'm amazed you're here.

[No vultures too, though maybe they're terrorizing Hibiki somewhere else. Who knows where Hibiki even is in all of this. The fact she hasn't made an appearance in person yet means something is in the works.]

But I guess a training session is a training session. What do you think about Heaven turning things over to us?

I'm only here for this. [He indicates the room.] Wendy made it clear enough she'd be doing something actually worth showing up for when we talked about this last training, though I won't be here long.

[Even something like this can only keep his attention for so long until he wants to train on something else, so he'll likely depart later to work on his own thing. That said, he gives an audible sigh at the question.]

I think it's a bad idea in the sense that the people most eager to throw open their doors are going to be idiots like this who have nothing to offer when it comes to serious training unless someone else does it for them. But it's not as if we're getting as many newcomers who desperately need to be trained anymore.

[He doesn't think he's actually seen any outright newcomers today.]

Your feelings on Hibiki are clear, but don't tell me you're lumping Leo in among the idiots.

[She doesn't have any direct affinity toward Leo beyond being her Aymeric's husband and Kairi's god. She can appreciate his subtle trolling through video games though. For the first run by their generation, it was a decent setup.]

I haven't seen anyone new either. There might have only been one or two at Leo's training session too. People are still leaving though.

[Ginia leaps onto a higher platform so she can sit on the edge of it.]

I take it you aren't going to lead any sessions then?

I haven't seen enough of him to form an opinion outside of when he shows up on the network.

[Shun puts that somewhat dryly, in the vague recollection that Leo's most recent appearances on the network mostly pertained to his marriage situation. Suffice it to say, Shun isn't the type who entirely thinks making that kind of life choice here is a good plan.

At least he's not the only one who's been thinking their numbers are dwindling, but he leaves that for now, instead shaking his head as Ginia asks that question.]

Not interested in letting that many people into my temple grounds. I offered to help Nanako sort out the combat part if she ever hosts, though.

Do you know who else has volunteered to host or is thinking about it?

[Private as Shun is, she couldn't see him hosting a training session. Maybe if there was a way to hold them at a different location. She hasn't heard anything from Chris or Tsubasa either. Iskandar, perhaps? Maybe even Waver once he's better settled?]

No, Nanako was the only one I talked to who seemed interested. Though we're running out of people to do it, by the looks of things.

[They're losing people who've been here the longest, which means the number of people who probably have the space and experience to host something like this are dwindling. Some of the more recent arrivals could probably manage, but it still sounds like a lot of trouble for them to go through.]

I can think of a few people who might have hosted if they were still around.

[But no point thinking about the people that might have hosted if they aren't here anymore. Hakkai's departure has left a large hole and it's hard not feeling nervous if even a God of Fortune can disappear overnight.]

I wonder if it'd be any better if we used the previous training ground site? It has an implicit connection to Amaterasu, but if it's run by our people, that might be more welcoming.

But maybe these aren't necessary either. I think there's merit in getting everyone together and getting new arrivals up to speed, but if no one new shows up and people can train without it being a formal thing... maybe this needs to change too.

It wouldn't be a bad idea, but it'd probably ruin the intent. Which seemed to be foisting the whole thing on us as much as they could.

[Shun puts that rather dryly - it had supposedly been something to do with proving themselves to the Heavens, but as if they hadn't done more than enough of that already by this point. The fact that it's taken this long for them to have supposedly been given a chance to prove themselves is a ridiculous enough idea already.]

I'd say it depends on whether this situation is going to continue. If we keep getting nobody or very few people, it's not really that worthwhile except for the occasional chance to spar people you don't know.

We might as well take training to the Near Shore then. A few experienced people or pairs leading a group to hunt ayakashi and learn how to move on the fly? Wouldn't be the worst way to get even new people up to speed on what fighting ayakashi is like. It'd make the training sessions a bit more functional too.

[Possible downside is the property damage that could occur, but it's not like there isn't already some damage when ayakashi fights get a little overzealous.

Ginia hops onto her feet, balancing on the edge of the platform. There's an antsy energy around her and she shifts to perch on top of a balance beam.]

If we're facing our final days here, I'd rather put all the training to use then playing it safe up here.

Maybe. We'd need to find areas that had high enough concentrations to make a hunt worthwhile. Maybe vents, if there's enough of them around. [He hasn't seen a lot of vents in his time here, admittedly, but he does know they're supposed to be more common in the Near Shore than Far Shore.

She has a point about that observation, though, and Shun gives a faint hum of agreement.] Even if the cultists are dealt with, I'm not optimistic enough to think that's the last of our problems. Even if nothing else that major comes up, there's still questions unanswered.

[It might just be that they didn't get the chance to pull the answers from the cultists before handling them, or it might be a hint at further issues in future. Hard to say, at this point.]

Summer festivals are happening soon so those will be trouble spots. Amusement parks and beaches are going to get even more crowded and those always have a high concentration. I know a few people in Ebisu's temple track vents, I can see if there are any regular trouble spots.

[They could definitely make it worthwhile. With summer vacation looming around the corner, all the kids running around means ayakashi hunting is all the more important. It also means staying out of sight is just as important too.]

Still wondering about the damn crystal and dolls myself. And the masks. The bastard Ebisu took a fall for... I doubt he's giving up so easily.

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