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

[hypomeneo]

[One can only go so light as a shinki, so Waver holds his breath to see how far she'll make it across this time before gravity tries to tug her over if she unbalances even slightly. He doesn't want to distract her in the slightest.

One step. Then another. Then another. Slow. Steady.

She has really good balance. Waver has no doubt she'll make it across - if not this attempt, then a future attempt will be a success.]

[disregardeddagger]

[She gets further than last time and so she is taking it as a success. She is no god to be able to float through the air, she is a shinki, light but not a god.

She falls, again she doesn't bother slowing down, enjoying the thrill it gives her as she plummets, knowing the net will break her fall and she will come out of this unharmed.

She grins up to him.] Next time. For definite.

[hypomeneo]

Next time. Absolutely. [As Waver steps onto the wire and smiles back. Sure he made across, but this isn't about that anymore. This is about murdering his terror dead.] You nearly had it this round.

[Step. Step. He's hovering as the wire isn't bending under his weight. Okay. He's going to stop and balance and try not to freak out. You know. Desensitize himself.]

One more should do it.

[disregardeddagger]

[Despite herself she smiles at the praise and rolls off the net again in case he does fall. She doubts he will, he did it once, he knows how now.

She begins climbing again as she watches him.]

I'll endeavour to do my best.

[hypomeneo]

[Waver is going to chance to look down. Ugggggggggggh... don't lose concentration... don't lose concentration. Look up. Keep balancing in place.

Alright. Step. Step. Carefully along the wire. It's easier when gravity's not the ruler. Stop. Breathe. Still. Don't look. Now look.

The world swims. Hold. Breathe. Concentrate. Hold. Wait for it to stop swimming. Hold.

So fucking high. Anxiety digs in its claws slower as Waver sweats. Look up. Step. Step. Step.

All the way to the other side.]

Better. Still not quite there.

[But improvement, however slight?]

Alright. Wire's yours.

[disregardeddagger]

[Looking down is risky but she is pleased that he stays up, doesn't lose the concentration. He's good at this, at pushing past the fear. She isn't too surprised, he is a god after all. Even if he was a new one. Gods did the impossible and so doing the difficult should be an every day endeavour.

Wire was hers. She stepped on again and began walking. Carefully. Slowly. Balancing. Breathing. One step and then another.

Eyes on the other side. She gets just over half way when it happens, her foot slips, a wobble. She doesn't want to fall. Not now. He had done it on his second attempt, god or not. She won't fall, she shoves away the nerves, the disappointment and the natural fear of falling away hard.

All her other feelings go with them. The thrill, the excitement, even the constant hunger she has felt ever since arriving here. It's as if there are shields around her, keeping it all out. Her senses are sharp, the hum of training noise become clearer. She stops wobbling, her breath is even, her mind is clear. She steps. Steps again.

She arrives at the other platform and looks back with blank eyes.] Your turn.

[Her voice is blank as well. She has no idea what has just happened.]

[hypomeneo]

[The techniques of Breathing and Walking are highly prized upon Eastern magi. Not so much among Western magi, but achieving that state of complete attunement that leaves no room except to simply be, empty except for the flow of things - to be a living circuit for the energy of the world, is a blessing in both martial arts and magecraft. Waver's learned a bit of that while shinki. Sensitivity to the flow out of his soul - thoughts and feelings and impulses - and the tread of his wandering mind and the pressures on his barriers as a guide to function walking on that razor edge of near Fall.

As he watches Nesir come towards him, Waver thinks this might be something like that. Or a dissociative state. Which might not be a very good place for her to be, but she doesn't look to be in distress. The onset of it is... odd. Indicative of the former rather than the latter.

Okay... should I ask if she's okay?

He'll wait to see that drags on before saying anything.]

Nicely done.

My turn.

[He steps out. Holding the flight is getting easier. Adjusting to the height is... getting... easier. Slowly. Step. Step. Step. All the way out to the middle.

Looks down.

Uhhh. It still swims. Hold.

Now walk forward slowly while looking down.]

It's getting easier.

[disregardeddagger]

[She nods, not feeling anything about the praise or the fact she had succeeded. Though she can sense the emotions, outside the shield. Ready. Not pushing to get in, none of them are that desperate but just siting there waiting.

She watches as he walks again, he is growing in confidence and it takes a lot of courage to stare what you fear in the eye. She can appreciate his efforts.] It will do. You are doing well.

[And she walks again, her senses are still heightened. She can feel the wire beneath her feet and the air currents on her skin. She could still fall, she knows instinctively that this state does not make her invincible, it just makes her focus.

She crosses the wire, back over to his side.

She contemplates the shields around her, reaches out with her mind to push them apart. They shatter all at once, nerves, confusion, pride, thrill all hitting her in one rush that makes her take a deep breath. She grins at him, a little giddy.]

You going again?

[hypomeneo]

Yes. [As he steps out into the air and not the wire. Just beside.] Just doing things a little different this time.

[There's still a net underneath him, and he's sweating. He absently notes she's broken out of that state and there a sensation of relief. It was probably just attunement and nothing to be terribly concerned with.]

This isn't a power that's really used by the New Gods, so I'm feeling out its boundaries. Most just focus in on the teleportation despite the practical uses flight can give.

[disregardeddagger]

I see. [Not even using the wire, that is impressive. Even if he can fly. Being able to do something and doing it are two different things.]

Teleportation has it's uses but so does flying, especially in battle.

[She watches him, watches him push past the fear again and is impressed.]

[hypomeneo]

It certainly makes getting around obstacles easier. And for allowing for sniping from a whole new range of angles from above if what you're fighting with ranged weaponry. Sometimes with ayakashi, it can get difficult to get an opening to rend the beast, and you need unorthodox tactics.

[Discussing strategy does wonders for nerves. It helps keeps his mind off the fact he's hovering in the air and it's gotten no less high in all the times he's gone out.]

[disregardeddagger]

[She nods. She hasn't fought all that much yet but she already knows it took brains as well as fighting power.]

Being able to get different vantage points is important. Especially as you can be still whilst in the air.

[Being able to jump high as a shinki was useful but to be able to be still, up in the air had many more uses.]

You are pretty good at it, for someone who is new to godhood. [It might be that it was intrinsic. But still with his obvious fear that he was pushing past he was impressive. He is almost over once more.]

[hypomeneo]

[Waver nods as he reaches the other side and begins walking back. Just... increasing time of exposure.]

Thanks. [He smiles a bit.] Divine powers work on the same basis as shinki abilities, I'm finding. There's a learning curve, but if you've mastered lightness as a shinki, it translates over to flight as a god. I was a shinki for a little over three months.

It's probably because of the Name. It ties a shinki to a god's life energy to stabilize them and that life energy grants a shinki their abilities. It'd make sense some abilities both have would operate on the same baseline.

[disregardeddagger]

[It makes sense, their power is shared so the abilities they have work on the same basis. He had said he had been a shinki before, as strange as that was and so if he already had mastered the abilities he had as a shinki then it made sense that it was easier for him as a god.]

I guess that's true, it's the same power. It just manifests differently.

[Interesting. Especially since it was possible to be a god, after being a shinki or potentially the other way around.]

[hypomeneo]

[Dilutes down as well. Never something he was comfortable with as a shinki, being reliant on power that wasn't his own. He preferred what was innate. Now, remembering... his Caster abilities... stop.

He has power of his own now. It soothes a part of him that has been bleeding for decades.]

It's combined with your humanity and that affects a lot. Shinki spells are solely for shinki because of that, though gods are capable of other magics. Shinki vessel states and powers are a reflection of both parties. If that leans more to the shinki or the god in the equation... well, that's decided case by case based on how things mix.

[He steps back onto the platform with her.]

[disregardeddagger]

[He knows a lot about magic, even in three months. Three months was a pretty long time, compared to how long she had been here. But still that is a lot of knowledge to have figured it out.

Unless it is common knowledge, but so far no one else seems to know anything.]

Yes, I am a dagger for Noctis, which is a weapon I seem to be skilled in but also one he is very skilled in. So it might be leaning towards either of us.

[Deep breath and she steps out again.]

[hypomeneo]

It could be. [Waver knows a lot of old shinki is part of the answer. Waver is an existence that deconstructs Mystery, brings faith into fact, is another. And he's going to walk her away from contemplating what she is gently.] I was a sword. Definitely favored the other side there.

Everyone in my Temple became weapons. My own shinki, Eirene, did the same for me. But I've seen all sorts. Right down to cooking instruments.

[disregardeddagger]

Cooking instruments? [She pulled a small face.] What a strange choice, though I suppose if you can still slay ayakashi with it it doesn't matter if it is a sword or a spoon. If it gets the job done.

[Breathing, she is intrigued about that strange state she had entered but also she would like to try and get across without the help. Just as herself on her own skills. Thinking light thoughts, one food, then another.]

[hypomeneo]

Tell me about it. [Lineface.] Creativity is the key there for combat. But the vessel power can make up for a less than ideal form, either offensively or as a support to the god and any other shinki they might have.

[disregardeddagger]

Mmm [It's a sound of agreement, she would nod but nodding and balancing seemed counter productive to each other. She focused on walking.]

We haven't figured mine out yet, but I think it is only a matter of time.

[hypomeneo]

It generally is. [Waver knows his god power, but his vessel power? He had never discovered it (he had never looked). Though if he had, he'd be surprised to learn it's absolutely identical to what he has now.] Though a trick I know that works is if you draw on the connection between you and the Name, that helps force it out into the open.

[disregardeddagger]

Draw on the connection?

[That's interesting but she isn't really sure what that means at all.]

How do you mean?

[She's just over half way now. Doing good.]

[hypomeneo]

The source of the power for Borderlines and all the rest of your magic. [He's watching her pass the half way mark and doesn't want to distract her too much.] When you're casting a Borderline, just feel where the power is coming from and follow it back. The point where it comes from is the Name. That source is what you want to be drawing on in vessel form to activate your own power.

[Not that she'll necessarily be able to use it. Divine powers are for the gods. Shinki vessel powers are... for the gods, and sometimes even control of that power is taken from a shinki. Leaving them just the prism in which a god's life force is filtered through... just like how the Rend spell isn't actually a god and shinki working together, but rather a god using a shinki as a conduit. An unfair exchange in every way.]

Your god can also help by drawing on that same connection. Sometimes it really takes both parties to get things going sometimes.

[disregardeddagger]

[That's an interesting idea, an interesting experiment to try. Probably when she is near Noctis, in case things go wrong. Not that she expected it to but... With unknown powers caution was always for the best.

She kept walking, walking, walking and finally she was on the platform on the other side. She grinned, satisfied. She had done it.] I'll try that, see what I can figure out.

[hypomeneo]

I hope it helps with the discovery. And any spell casting you choose to learn.

[He smiles back, hiding and pushing away the bitterness of his previous thoughts. He hates Heaven's entire system and everything a shinki is subjected to. He also knows better than to really air it, especially at a first meeting.

And some things he can't air at all. Better to concentrate on the success of the wire.]