July Training

[unlucky7]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: June 22nd, 2017
Where: Ebisu’s temple, Nagashima Resort on the Near Shore
Summary: A chance for gods and shinki to put their skills to the test… at a water park?



The morning of training, a mass message is sent out to everyone on the contact list.

Training will be conducted on the Near Shore today. Please meet at Ebisu's temple for an overview and directions.

Please see the following list for what to bring.

The list of what to bring is a short one: a container to carry blessed water, sunscreen, a swimsuit and towel, a bag for an outing, comfortable shoes and clothes for moving in... the list sounds like something suited for a to a beach or an amusement park.

(Spoilers: It is.)

A map with directions to Ebisu’s temple is also included.



Introductions

Everyone is led to a large conference room in the temple. There's a long table set up with food and drinks: assorted rice balls, bread, pastries, simple assorted bento boxes, tea, coffee, water, fresh juice. There is also a table with shinki pamphlets and maps to the area if anyone wants one. There are chairs set up facing a projection screen.

Once it seems like there are no further arrivals and everyone has had a chance to mingle and get any refreshments they want, some of Ebisu's shinki encourage people to find a seat. The lights dim slightly as Ginia, dressed in a sharp black suit with a dark green tie, steps in front to address the crowd in sign language, another shinki interpreting for her.

"Thank you all for gathering. Today's training format will have a different approach. As we all know, ayakashi are a common problem on the Near Shore. While reports of larger ayakashi have dwindled, small and some medium-sized ayakashi remain. They are drawn to areas with a high population of humans and where negativity or strife can brew.

Everyone, today we're putting our skills to the test and hunting ayakashi. "

Ginia pulls a remote from her pocket and displays a map of a sprawling entertainment complex with an amusement park, onsen resort, water park, shopping center, and hotels on the screen.

"This is Nagashima Resort, one of the most popular vacation and entertainment destinations in Japan. With an amusement park, shopping centers, a water park, botanical garden, and onsen resort, it's a destination for all ages year-round. Because of that, it’s ripe for ayakashi causing trouble.

"The first part of training is reaching the amusement park. You'll teleport to the Near Shore to one of Ebisu's shrines. From there, four paths in increasing difficulty are marked out with ribbons and flags: white, yellow, red, and orange. If you wish to bypass the course entirely, you're welcome to reach the location through public transportation or other means, the choice is yours.

"Once at the site, you'll want to keep an eye out for ayakashi. Flushing them out with borderlines and blessed water is an option, as is seeking out areas problems might occur. Keep in mind the large number of children around means our actions will be noticed, so take a subtle approach or pull the fight to where it won’t be noticed. Also please keep property damage to a minimum.

"After you've had your fill of hunting ayakashi, please enjoy the location's facilities. Full admission and ride vouchers will be provided for everyone as well as a stipend for food and souvenirs."

Ginia grins and gives a thumbs up.

"Do your best and have fun!"

God and Shinki Training

With no new arrivals, gods and shinki are encouraged to work with their temple or other temples to figure out strategies. Or make plans for how to spend the day, there’s no judgment at all. Ebisu, Tsubasa, and Chris are around to provide support and information for gods. Any shinki that want last minute borderline practice or a refresher on light moving can talk to Ginia or Ebisu's shinki.

Physical Training

Beginning at the entrance of Ebisu's shrine, the four routes are clearly laid out. All four take advantage of the lightness all shinki and gods can tap into to jump higher and longer distances and stand on just about anything. The easiest route, white, is a longer route that’s more street-level, but requires using some leaps across the road or use of lamp posts to cut across areas.

Yellow is entirely crossed with lamp posts and electrical poles can be managed without ever touching the ground. It's a pretty direct route and easy for someone focused on lightness the entire time.

Red moves higher, mixing up lamp posts and signs to bound off, as well as a few rooftop runs. It requires a few tricky jumps that can be easier with borderline bridges or teleporting, but still entirely possible with the right planning. Like the yellow route, traversing means never touching the ground until reaching the entertainment complex.

Orange is the most physical of the courses, requiring precise jumps or teleports along rooftops, vertical wall jumps, and a few blind drops or teleports downward to get to the next section. A shinki who can make bridges with their borderline can test their skills with bridging some of the larger jumps, while a god can test out flying in tighter areas or teleporting.

Race other people, help out someone struggling on a route, or skip this portion entirely, the choice is yours.

Ayakashi Attacks

While there are no large ayakashi to fight on top of a roller coaster, the amount of ayakashi around is still plentiful. Crying children, stressed parents, dates going poorly, there are plenty of reasons for negativity to brew and ayakashi to latch onto or encourage the behavior. Common are small ayakashi; tick ayakashi irritating people, coin purse ayakashi making people spend more, bird ayakashi enhancing bad moods, all sorts causing minor mishap. Medium ayakashi, such as slender shadows unnerving children or ayakashi latching onto mirrors and showing one’s worst self, are less common but still lurking about.

Rend them and keep the day lively and fun for everyone, but don’t get caught by any children in the area. If you do, better come up with a story fast. Some kinds are as persistent as ayakashi when it comes to getting an answer.

Rest and Refreshments

Before leaving Ebisu's temple, everyone is given vouchers to exchange for tickets for the parks and 10,000 yen in spending money. There’s plenty to do at Nagashima Spa Land. The water park with its multiple slides, wave pools, lazy rivers, and swimming pools is the perfect way to beat the heat and the main attraction. However, for those who want to stay drier, there's also a full amusement park with rides for all ages and excitement levels. From merry-go-rounds to haunted houses, a giant ferris wheel to thrilling roller coasters, the 40 rides across the park should be the trick

For those who want something a little more relaxing, there's a botanical garden to stroll through with beautiful illuminations at night. There is also a large onsen resort with multiple pools for a nice long soak. There’s also a large shopping center nearby and plenty of food options across the entertainment complex.

In Summary:

• Try racing against others through the city
  
• Put the skills you’ve learned to the test against ayakashi
  
• Enjoy a day at a water/amusement/spa park
  
• Have fun~

Comments

[myblueskies]

Physical Training

A race? This looked fun! Romeo stood at the beginning looking at the four routes, trying to figure out which one he wants to do! But really there's no choice.

Orange looks the hardest and he wants to test himself! He's been practising really hard, training all the time and practising with Elfnein! He wants to see if he can try this really tricky route!

He stood at the first orange flag. "Right! Got to give it my all!" He looked around to see if he recognised anyone. If this training was made by Ebisu and Ginia then teamwork would be important! They both were good at teamwork!

Rest and Relaxation

A theme park and a water park! Romeo has only been to a theme park once, on his very first day but this looked so much fun! Much like then he stood, opened mouthed as he gazed around. But unlike then it wasn't out of fear of all the new things, loud noises and big crowds of people but instead out of excitement.

He had no idea what to do first! It all looked like so much fun!

"I guess we got the whole day..." But what to even start with! Swimming is really fun and he really likes the idea of going down a slide into water! But there is also a huge wheel and he bets you can see a long way from up there! Also... Also! All the roller coasters!

Physical Training

[unlucky7]

The next orange markers go straight up the side of a building with some street lamps guiding the path. A shinki can jump up part of the way, perhaps wall jump up the rest depending on their dexterity. A shinki could also build a platform part of the way up and jump again.

Perched on a nearby street lamp, Ginia is keeping an eye on the route in case anyone needs help. She whistles to get Romeo's attention.

"How are you planning to tackle the route?"

Re: Physical Training

[myblueskies]

"Hello miss Ginia!" He recognises that whistle! He grinned at her and then the route that goes straight up the building.

"I don't know yet, I think I can jump high and see if there's anyting I can land on and jump again. Or maybe climb a bit but I got to look at the wall first!"

He's not worried about climbing, he can jump and be light and not fall. Sometimes being a shinki is really useful!

[unlucky7]

"I did set the course to be pretty hard. You'll have to use borderlines in some area."

Though there's nothing stopping someone from climbing directly. Some of the obstacles work well for that. There's no one solution for each route and Ginia is curious how people will tackle the course.

"If you want me to spot you in case you fall, let me know."

[myblueskies]

"I'm good at borderlines now miss!" He grinned at her, he has been practising really hard and gone to all of the training! That's why he thinks he is ready for this course!

He looked at the wall again. "I could jump and make a borderline where it gets narrower there and then jump again..." He grins at her. "That might be a good idea! Because it might go wrong!" He doesn't sound too bothered by that really.

[unlucky7]

He's thinking in the right way, good. Ginia smiles and gives a slight nod, bounding over to land by the building. The path means Romeo is approaching from higher up, but if he falls, she's ready to jump and intercept him. She knows she's fast enough to drop a borderline to land on too. When she's ready, she gives a thumbs up, but he can take the route as his own pace.

[myblueskies]

Romeo grins at her when she give him the thumbs up! He's ready! This is going to be so much fun! "Alright! Ready, go!" He runs towards the wall, time to give it his all!

First leap! As high as he can go, taking advantage of the fact he is lighter than a normal human. Up, up, up!

Then down! He slows himself and takes a deep breath. "Line!"

He's falling though and it's hard to aim! The borderline ends up being slanty and he stumbles, toppling over and rolling down towards the wall. The borderline stays up though!

[unlucky7]

His approach is good as he comes in. Ginia finds herself holding her breath a little as he approaches the building, trajectory drifting downward. Her legs bunch, ready to jump up as he slashes his borderline down. He falls and rolls, but it holds. Her breath. A small stumble, it's fine. It's a difficult course.

Ginia takes out her phone and hops up to perch on a nearby sign. She turns the volume up to play her message.

"Are you okay? Good job getting the borderline in. It's hard aiming on the move."

[myblueskies]

Romeo rolled over, grinning at her through the borderline. "Yes miss I'm fine!"

That had been a lot of fun! Even if it had ended with a bump. He gets to his feet and jumps a small jump, letting the borderline disappear as he floated to the ground.

"I'm going to try again!"

Of course! He wasn't going to give up!

[unlucky7]

Romeo's shorter height might put him ad a disadvantage at how many jumps he needs to get to the top. However, not every shinki is as tall as Ginia and a few more jumps doesn't matter if the end result is the same.

"You could try setting the borderline first and adjusting how it resists you after you go through it." It requires a bit of concentration, but it's easier than setting a borderline on the move.

[myblueskies]

"You mean jumping through it first?" He hadn't thought of that. Making a borderline you could jump through was much trickier than making one that nothing could get through...

"I can try!" He can always try. He looks up and nods, determinedly. "Alright! Borderline!"

A line appears and up he jumps! Up and up and bang. Not soft enough. He is falling, having hit his head on the line.

[unlucky7]

Ow. Ginia winces as she drops down, catching Romeo and landing both of them gently on the ground. Her fingers gingerly search for a bump on his head - thankfully none - before she sets him down.

"You okay? Not dizzy or anything?"

[myblueskies]

Romeo laughs as they land, this is lots of fun! Even if he hasn't quite got the hang of it yet!

"Yes miss, I'm fine! I didn't hurt myself!"

He rubs his head. "I guess I need more practice at that one!"

[unlucky7]

"Let's practice while we're on the ground. Set the borderline vertically on the ground, one you can walk through. Pass to the other side, then picture it as a solid wall."

It never hurts going back to the basics. It's easy to take borderline skills for granted without considering how much someone might really know. As far as she can tell, borderlines that resist the user isn't commonly taught at sessions.

[myblueskies]

"Vertically means up and down right?"

He can do that. He took a deep breath. "Line!" A borderline sprung up and he walked towards it, stretching out his arm. It hit the wall and he focussed, trying to make it so he could pass through.

It took a bit of effort but he stepped all the way through it. But now to make it hard again.

"It's a lot of thinking..."

[unlucky7]

Ginia changes to her phone again so he doesn't need to look at her and can concentrate on the borderline.

"It is, but it's a good skill to practice. If it helps, when I want my borderlines to resist me, I imagine it as a wall of glass."

Solid, clear, unmoving. Shatterproof and unbreakable.

"After all, a borderline is a shinki's will and resolve."

[myblueskies]

A shinki's will and resolve! Romeo has a lot of resolve and a lot of will too. He can make good borderlines.

He tries her trick, imagining his line as a wall of glass, something he couldn't get through. He scrunched up his face thinking and then stepped towards it, putting his hand out in front of him.

Solid. He poked it and grinned. "I did it!"

[unlucky7]

Sometimes all it needs is a different perspective or a reframing of the idea. Ginia grins as his borderline resists his hand, a glowing shield between them.

"Great job. Now keep picturing it as a shield and jump into the air. Don't worry about bouncing off it, get used to moving and holding it at the same time."

[myblueskies]

"Yes miss!"

She was a very good teacher, she always knew the best ways to help!

He concentrated very hard on the shield and bounced up into the air. Still concentrating, more bouncing. It was pretty fun actually!

[unlucky7]

"As you jump, I want you to close your eyes. Feel where your borderline is without looking at it. Think about how it feels to hold a borderline."

If she's a good teacher, it's because she's had good teachers in turn. Being a shinki means helping the other shinki around you and supporting each other.

"In time, you won't even have to think about holding your borderline, it'll come naturally. Don't worry if that isn't today though."

[myblueskies]

He does so, he closes his eyes tightly and thinks hard about how it feels to hold a borderline. He can't see it but he knows its there and he keeps bouncing. Keeping it in his head, thinking about it being like glass.

He wants to peak but he doesn't. Just keeps his eyes closed. "Like this miss?"

Rest and Relaxation

[dredefulchilde]

You need to rest.

It seems like every adult in his life keeps telling him the same thing. He’s just been ill. He needs to take it easy.

And in many regards, they’re right. Even though he’s mostly recovered from his near death experience (getting to go hunting for the first time since The Event and feed on life energy has gone a long way towards improving his health), he finds he still has less energy than before and occasionally breaks into a dry, rattling cough.

So of course he ignores all the signs pointing towards the fact that he’s not well yet and goes off in search of trouble to get into.

“Romeo! Brilliant, just who I was looking for. What say you: shall we attempt that slide?”

‘That slide’ is looking awfully tall and awfully steep, and Joscelin is a little boy who’s only ever had one swimming lesson in his whole, ridiculously long, life.

[myblueskies]

Romeo is glad to see Joss! Even though he was still sick it was still important for him to rest! Romeo wasn't sure the illness he had was something that ever went away, or if you just kept getting sick until eventually you died... He also didn't know what happened to shinki who died. This was heaven... Where did you go after?

He's worried and sad for his friend but also determined to keep both their spirits up and so whatever Joss wants to do he will do with him!

And that slide looks awfully fun!

"It's very high! I bet it goes really fast."