June Training

[priforprince]

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

Incidentally, Hibiki's temple does indeed contain an amusement park. Everyone shall be directed there first, to enjoy the roller coasters, spinny teacups, and merry-go-round to their hearts' content until all the TVs in the area switch on at once. (Should your character not be positioned by one of the many televisions scattered throughout the area, have no fear. Your maa-ttendant has just rolled away and come back with one.)

"CelePara Prince Hour!"

Hibiki's face appears on the screen. She's a decent amount of space back from the screen, for once, and seated upon her throne. There's a brilliant sun motif on the wall behind her - or is it a crown? It's both, perhaps.

"Everyone, it's been a while. Shikyoin Hibiki here. Have your hearts been astonished by the peerless excellence I've delivered to you today?"

The maa-ttendants all nod. Which is hard for robots without neck joints to do, so they rock in place on their wheeled platforms instead. Clatter, clatter. Hibiki, for her part, nods back as if she's witnessed this occurrance.

"Splendid. The three characteristics of divinity are - Majestic. Unparalleled. And...Possessing great love." A smirk. "It's as if the position exists just for me. But those of you tasked with a duty you're currently incapable of fulfilling need not despair. I've arranged a variety of beneficial exercises for gods and shinki alike. Engaging in them is best, so we can create it."

She raises an arm, as if showing everyone ascending from her beneficial guidance. "Together with me - the ultimate puniverse!"

The TVs switch off. Those closest to gods display, on a map, where the god training is. Those closest to shinki display the shinki training. All indicate the physical training and the refreshments. The refreshments seem to be.....outside? With a time marked for dinner?

Pay that no mind. It's probably fine.

God Training

Hibiki isn't at the god training, either, which is taking place in a banquet hall. And which appears to be, ah....a swanky tea party. With a sign indicating there's a sauna next door. She does, however, appear on a large TV a bevy of spygoats push into position once any new gods have entered the room. Behold!

"So-called gods, glad you could make it. Yours is the tremendous task of assisting me, the God of Fortune Apollo, to bring radiance to the scrap-heap puniverse known as the Near Shore. As satisfying your followers with anything less than a Top-Class showing is insufficient, I'll give this chance to steep in a celebrity atmosphere to you. The chosen deities require no throat-drying or sweat-inducing hardship. Open the new celeb world."

And, with that, the tea party begins. Those not wishing to enjoy the top-class light sweets or delicious first flush teas may rid themselves of their average-person cares in Hibiki's special detoxing sauna. Those seeking an example to follow may take in a movie (in a theater featuring opulent reclining seats) starring Shikyoin Hibiki, or enjoy that the Shikyoin Hibiki History Exhibit has returned for a limited time only to this wing of the temple. Learn all about her many accomplishments, and be inspired!

If you're looking for Hibiki, however.....Well. Your maa-ttendant is willing to show you the way, especially if you're a shinki or a god seeking suggestions for a matchup. But there are two obstacles to reaching her. First, you have to successfully kick a soccer ball past a spygoat goalie. Second, you have to read from a college history textbook provided by a spygoat in a pasteboard hat - and get all the kanji right.

Or you could force your way through, or raise a fuss until Hibiki emerges, but who'd conceive of that?! Clearly everything will go as Hibiki intends!

Shinki Training

The good news for the shinki in attendance- or any gods who ran away from Hibiki’s tea party to see what else is happening- is that they don’t have to further deal with Hibiki. Or being proper. Instead, everyone’s maa-tendants will guide them to a large indoor space that has been purposefully, uh, repurposed for today. As there are a lot of big extravagant rooms in Hibiki’s castle, it wasn’t very hard to change it into what is essentially the inside of an acrobatic circus. Wendy will already be waiting for everyone to arrive, seated happily on top of some push up bars. “That’s everyone, isn’t it? Alright then!”

Since there are no newcomers as far as Wendy can tell, she gladly skips over “how to shinki” issues and instead offers some quick explanations and instructions to everyone in attendance. People are more than welcome to do the usual borderline practicing, of course, and Wendy will give a quick instruction for those who somehow missed that particular lesson. But that’s the boring way, and she didn’t set up all of this to be boring. In fact, there’s a particular shinki trait that she feels not a lot of people have really utilized: the strange shared trait that they’re all extremely light and can do things like leap ridiculous distances.

So everyone will be encouraged to use the various pieces of equipment that are around. People who are unsure of themselves can use basic things such as monkey bars, low balancing beams, and the other sorts of things that they’ve seen Heaven use in their training sessions such as jumping from stump-like platforms to another. There are even some trampolines for those who want to see how high a shinki can go before their head cracks into the very high ceiling. (And an almost extravagantly large bouncy castle for the kids and kids-at-heart.) But they’re really encouraged to use things that are a little more… high skill. Such as the tightrope extended high above the ground, or the swinging trapeze set. For those who want a bit of a challenge, Wendy even has a route set up where they have to go through just about everything that’s set up in the space… while she has another person practicing throwing borderlines at them to either dodge or deflect. Also the goats might get in the way. Is that part of the training, or is that just how the goats how?

Any random god that comes in will hardly get a blink besides Wendy ushering them in with an off-handed, “Sick of the tea, huh?”

Self-Improvement Training

Those looking for something less...extreme...than Wendy's contribution will find it in Hibiki's gaming arcade, which has been newly restocked with a row of PriPara arcade machines. These machines encourage you to create a customizable character and dress them up, then perform a rhythm game with the character dancing in the background. Successful completion earns you a ticket with more clothes that can be used on your character. It seems that a sense of rhythm improves intuition, which is useful for gods and shinki alike.

Also of use to all: the ability to ad-lib with a partner in an unusual environment! Which is what anyone who ventures into this concert hall will find. It looks like there's an improv contest going on. Grab a partner and be assigned a random scenario. You now have to act out that scenario in hopes of getting perfect 10s from a row of extremely Judge-Looking spygoats (they are wearing berets and glasses, to look Artsy, except for one who got the kind of judge wrong and showed up in a powdered wig instead.)

Now, pick your chosen field of battle! No sparring prompt is required to hone one's competitive urges and divine might.

Rest and Refreshments

Anyone desiring a change of scenery, as well as everyone once the sun begins to set, will be guided out the back of the temple by their maa-ttendant. A splendid dinner table has been set out upon the pirate ship in Hibiki's backyard, and everyone has a place reserved just for them. Why, their favorite drink is already awaiting them in their glass!

Food is available from a variety of sources. For those who prefer self service, a buffet table has been laid out next to one railing, arranged with a variety of high-class, gourmet foods. Filet mignon? Caviar? Lobster? Fugu? Vegetable delicacies? All are available (though none come with instructions - do have fun with the lobster). The maa-tendants are also happy to double as waiters and fetch food, for those who prefer the full service celebrity treatment.

Those seeking a more low-key, though no less eclectic, dining experience can find it along the other side of the deck, set up on a nice table with a tablecloth and some flowers for decoration. It seems one of Hibiki's shinki has decided to grace everyone with a bountiful spread! Poke, acai bowls, salad, malasalada, chocolate macademia, strawberry mochi, and manapua are all available, with placards indicating what each dish is and any potential allergens. This entire temple devotes itself to hospitality.

Still missing, however: the host, though there's a throne awaiting her at the head of the table, a cup of tea already in place. Music is also being provided by goats in the corners, who seem to have full stereo systems hooked up where the maa-ttendants have trays. Baroque classical music recordings softly waft over the diners, lending the entire experience a distinctly elegant air.

This aura of peaceful refinement shall remain until everyone who seems inclined to go aboard has done so (the goats do seem to maa-ccomend you board, but it is not enforced - sit this out, if you wish). At that point, all goats will roll up to their gods or shinki, carrying another sign - Please take care. The music dies down. So do the lights.

And beneath everyone, the Starship PriPirates's...rocket engines...rumble to life. And a triumphant peal of laughter, high above everyone - rings out!

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~

Comments

[revolutionfalcon]

Would definitely need some advance planning on handling the numbers. [Especially if they wanted somewhere for people to come back to if they ended up injured or tired, like with the last hunt the Heavens organised.]

I'd say that would've been a bad time, with how focused everyone was on cleaning it out. But with the crystal, not hearing word could mean either nobody's found it or someone has it and just doesn't want to tell anyone.

[Neither option being particularly promising, really, though Shun can somewhat understand the latter if it's one of the new gods or shinki.]

[unlucky7]

A post on the network could gauge interest and who can help with logistics.

[Their number of healers are lower, but a few are around. Chris and Tsubasa would probably help out. Even if she ends up managing things, she could wrangle her temple into helping. Ebisu has enough shrines of varying sizes to serve as a safe area to use as a base camp, she could ask the shinki that already work at the shrines.]

True enough. And if it falls back into Heaven's hands, I doubt we'd hear anything about it again.

[Heaven does fall into a "need to know" basis and it feels like most times, Heaven feels like no one needs to know anything.]

[revolutionfalcon]

Might be worth doing if this pattern keeps up next month. [This is the first time they've outright had no new arrivals, but if it's going to be happening more than once, they're going to have to adapt some kind of new method of dealing with it.]

That's about what I was thinking. Though at this point I suppose there's not a hell of a lot else we can do but wonder.

[Since there's not really any obvious signs of where it went, all they can do is guess.]

[unlucky7]

I'll begin thinking of locations and seeing what my temple knows. Taking a load off their hands is the least I can do if I get to enjoy a day out.

[Because even if there's a day of ayakashi clearing duty, it doesn't mean Ginia won't take a few minutes to enjoy the scenery or a ride. It'd be a shame not to.]

I suppose if something terrible happens and I die again or get dragged away or whatever happens to shinki when they leave, if I remember things, I'm clawing my way back here one way or another.

[She has to. Her family is here and she's not giving them up without a fight.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun remembers saying something very similar to that a long while ago, to someone who's disappeared now, and he gives something of a bitter, quiet snort at it.]

We'll see. I have things to do before I bother with that, but at this point it seems like this world's gotten attached to me for whatever reason.

[Most popular new god position and all. He's still not quite sure how that ended up happening, but if nobody returns to take over this position when he leaves, he'd be reluctant to cut away from this world entirely, especially if they return to the time they left like he's heard rumours of from others.]

[unlucky7]

The first of our generation's Gods of Fortune. [Or as Kimi called him, Popular-God-chan. That Ginia is not repeating to his face.] The three of you made an eclectic selection, that's for sure.

[And now it's two. There was no reason to think so, but it was a shock losing Hakkai. His time here, being a God of Fortune, he was no more immune than anyone else, but it felt more permanent.]

If I'm still around when you're gone, I'll check on your Tokyo shrine for you.

[revolutionfalcon]

Suppose we all covered different niches or something. [The remark is somewhat dry, since he's never gotten on with Hibiki or Hakkai terrifically well. Hakkai he at least grew to respect and find reliable, even if he hasn't formed the same opinion of Hibiki and probably will continue not to.]

That'd be helpful. I think my bigger issue would be keeping an eye on Ren's shrine in Samawah when I'm not here, because that can't just be accessed from one of my shrines.

[The one in Japan isn't that hard to find, and Shun's Egyptian shrine can be covered by his own shinki via teleporting from his temple, but Iraq isn't that easy to get to.]

[unlucky7]

In a way, but it's not as if the Seven Lucky Gods don't overlap in some way. [There's a reason Ebisu and Daikokuten are often pair gods at shrines.] Makes you wonder who else is up there.

[If the ones living in Central District are any indication, Nanako is certainly high up there.]

Since Chris is Ishtar, I'll have to check her shrine location outside of Japan and see if I could use that as a travel point. Does he have followers helping maintain the shrine?

[revolutionfalcon]

Whoever's in Central District would have to be close, at least, we all moved there before we got the title. [Which does have him wondering how close Nanako would be, because she'd have to be up there since she's been living in Central District for a while now.

Shun had almost forgotten about Chris being Ishtar, given it's been a while since they discussed that. In any case, he nods slightly at the question.]

I think he mostly handled it himself while he was here, but I managed to get one or two people onto doing it while I've been keeping an eye on it. I suppose in this case there's an advantage to it being the shrine of a minor god.

[Ren hadn't accumulated the same kind of follower base as Shun in his time, which now makes it a lot easier to handle his affairs in his absence.]

I still think it's odd we got an Ishtar while he was still here. They're essentially the same god.

[unlucky7]

Sometimes one or two people is all it takes. If they can get more to help out, that would make it easier on our side.

[Gods and shinki manage their own shrines and all, but it's not as if all the humans working and volunteering at the shrine aren't appreciated. Ebisu's numerous shrines stay functional largely because there are so many humans helping out.]

I found that odd too, but who can tell what the logic of things here are? It's interesting when a god is repeated across different people. I noticed we had another Loki for awhile. And Tsubasa is currently Susanoo.

[revolutionfalcon]

I'll look into it. I've been trying not to intrude too far, since I know the Sumerian pantheon aren't the most comfortable with me. [They understand what he's doing and as such allow his presence, but he doesn't want to risk overextending into the territory of another pantheon. It seems like potentially messy and unnecessarily risky business.

He does give a faint snort at both of those examples, though.] Good. Both of those roles needed at least one person in them who wasn't a complete megalomaniac.

[unlucky7]

I read about the past Susanoo, sounds like a piece of work.

[She warned Tsubasa loosely about it too, just in case anyone among the old had lingering grudges. That nothing has happened is a relief. Then again, maybe being Amaterasu's sibling has something to do with it.]

Most people show up as gods from non-Japanese pantheons, right? So having someone here as Susanoo, multiple times, feels really... strange. Makes me worry something might happen to Ebisu and someone will take his place.

[They wouldn't be her Ebisu, that's for sure.]

[revolutionfalcon]

At least he had the decency to get gone quickly so we only had to deal with him the once. [He pretty much had his mad scientist villain bender and then was wiped off the face of the earth by...someone. It hadn't been long after Shun arrived, so he hadn't been able to keep particularly close track of that situation.]

It's probably just a numbers game, honestly. We don't usually get big groups of people from one pantheon, and if people are coming from all of them, then the Japanese pantheon's just one of many.

[Having multiple people represent that god might be odd, but it's definitely happened with other gods.]

[unlucky7]

I wonder what factors there are for what god you end up being?

[Some are obvious; of course a few people would be themselves if they were legends deified in life. And with Tsubasa, as the owner of Susanoo's sword before coming here, it makes sense she'd end up inhabiting that role.

Ginia squints at Shun, trying to imagine him as another god. Not that she knows too many.]

I bet you'd always be associated with birds as a god.

[revolutionfalcon]

I think it usually has at least something to do with your usual personality or associations, but it's hard to tell what. [He can't exactly disagree with her summation of what he'd probably be even if he changed gods, though, and he shrugs a bit.]

Probably. I'm surprised I wasn't one associated with falcons instead, but I suppose the vulture thing fits in other ways. And the dealing with death, and associations with protection.

[Nekhbet is overall fairly fitting for him in most ways, even if there's definitely aspects that he elects to ignore, like her explicitly being a mother figure in some interpretations.]

[unlucky7]

I think the overall package of Nekhbet fits pretty well.

[Better a few categories than one specific thing. What she can remember from light research, Ra and Horus don't quite seem to fit him.]

I'd probably be a death deity of some kind. [There's a flicker of resignation as she signs.] Maybe the kind worshiped to keep away. I don't think there are any gods associated with guns.

[revolutionfalcon]

[In terms of the pantheon he's already in, Montu seemed like the closest fit in terms of falcon gods, but then, Shun likely would have enjoyed being a god of exclusively war even less than he does being one covering funerary rites.

Though it's not like they haven't had death gods before, and Shun shrugs slightly.] We've had at least one Thanatos before. But it's entirely possible you could have been someone with more than just that association. War and love are a popular combination.

[Doesn't he know it, with that being half of why Ren had always seemed so fine with being Inanna.]

[unlucky7]

The popular combination of war and love says a lot about it, doesn't it.

[Though Ginia is pretty sure she wouldn't be great at the love part. How do you help an aspect you don't understand?]

Found out more about myself. Wouldn't you know it, I'm an operative. An assassin. [A smile twitches at the corner of her mouth.] But I think most people could tell.

[It's a test run of sorts. Shun she feels like might understand, especially when he did see her kill the vice-principal. But if he rejects her for her past, it'll sure say a lot about how things will go with others.]

[revolutionfalcon]

I wouldn't call them so similar myself, but I suppose that's just my experience with both. [He hasn't had the kind of troubles with love that some people have, while he's had a great deal more personal experience with war than a lot of the kinds of people who'd compare the two would have. Still, if one considers love and hate two sides of a single coin, he supposes it fits.

Shun can't even fake surprise at that remark, especially because, courtesy of her dream space, he already knew that.] Probably. Seems like it's a lot more useful for you to know than them, though.

[The fact that he takes it so entirely in stride without even questioning might be an indication of the fact that he already knew, but if she knows now, he doesn't think making that obvious would harm her unless he went into detail about the dream.]

[unlucky7]

Memories are a double-edged sword. It explains a lot, but... [her signs fade into a defeated shrug. There's a partial answer for why she was so domestically inept and overly cautious in her day to day life. There's a partial answer for all the self-loathing and anger boiling inside her. And there's a partial answer for the drive to do better, be better.

Atonement is a hell of a thing.]

I suppose I know now when asked with killing a target with a child involved... I can't say I'd never and haven't gone through with it, but I balked and wouldn't do it.

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun hums slightly as if to say that he understands what she means when she just trails off like that. Even if it helps in some way to know, contextualising behaviour and things like that, it's not necessarily helpful to one's actual mental state to have the specifics.

He can't even really judge what follows, either, simply giving a shrug.] That's something. A lot of the people I've fought in the past were younger than me, so I had to make that kill or be killed choice even if it was a child, or at best a young teenager. So I don't have a moral high ground to hold over anyone about that.

[An innocent child, sure, but even then, he can't say he hasn't seriously harmed innocent people around Ruri's age, and he still considers her a child.]

[unlucky7]

You're in a war and trying to survive.

[Their circumstances are different and Ginia wants to be clear on that, though she's frowning a little as she signs. Not that killing someone else is any more justifiable or even better in Shun's situation.]

This was my job. I was given a target and I or someone in my team would take them out.

[And she's pretty sure the reasons they were all given were lies.]

I think I've been doing that for a long time. Hard to say.

[revolutionfalcon]

Just because it's your job doesn't mean you chose it. [Shun's well aware that many of the people he's at war with were indoctrinated into their ideas of battle, and he's met one or two who he would have felled just the same if they hadn't had the chance to break out of that mindset before he needed to. A "job" just means something someone else is having them do.]

Even if you've been doing it for a while, when you were given more options here, you chose something else for yourself. I think that speaks for something.

[It sounds like she's trying to remove any justifications for it, in which case Shun is just going to point out that it's not really any more or less forgivable as the kinds of things plenty of other people here have done.]

[unlucky7]

I know. I know I can do more. Have done more.

[Her hands can do more than hurt. Ebisu was so certain of that months ago. Her hands hang as if there's more she wants to say, the contradictory "but...". There isn't one this time. Just the uncertain hang because she's not sure where to go.]

But there's still a lot of guilt there. Not the blighting kind, just...guilt. And anger. Sadness. It's why I haven't told any of my gods yet. Still working it out.

[revolutionfalcon]

[That's understandable, and really, the only reason Shun has been able to make any progress at all (which is still very little) on his guilt while he's been here has been because he remembered it.]

If it's not doing anything to you or them, then it's your business when you decide to tell them. But I don't think anyone who knows you would judge you for it.

[It had always been obvious that Ginia was a trained combatant of some kind, if nothing else, and that does somewhat limit one's options in terms of what background they might be from to things that aren't generally very benign.]