Heaven's BBS

[ammyterasu]

From: Amaterasu
Posted: November 17

---

We would like to express our gratitude to those who recently assisted in the events involving a forest within the Heavens. Although our investigation continues, we wish to share some of the things that we have already discovered with you.

First, the forest was under the control of a god who is unknown and unrecorded within the Heavens. With your help, this control has been broken, and we are protecting the forest against any further interference.

Second, we believe that this was not the first time a god unknown to the Heavens attempted entry. During the harvest moon viewing, an unknown god was present, although we became aware of their presence too late to apprehend them. Since two attempts have now been made, we must assume that the god responsible will continue trying.

We require your cooperation to deal with this pretender. Do not allow anyone but yourself and your shinki to enter the Heavens through your shrines. If you are approached by strange gods asking for any favors, or if you have any other relevant information, please contact Heaven's forces at once. Do not offer assistance to Heaven's enemies.

Thank you.

Comments

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[kuroi_taiyo]

You say assisted and that you require our cooperation.

What exactly did you do in getting this whole thing back under control? All I saw were the new gods and shinki taking action and dealing with the sigils. You didn't even acknowledge the problem until now.

Your shinki didn't even show up until our people were done.

Too busy playing with strings and having nap time in your precious castle?

[ammyterasu]

Do not assume that your view is not limited.

We could as easily say, since you believe yourself a source of ill fortune, are you certain you did not contribute to these events?

From: Ebisu

[chibisu]

[It takes... a very long time for Ebisu to muster up the courage to send a text.]

My shinki and I would like to offer our gratitude for responding so quickly. The forest intruded upon my temple's territory, and the resulting events injured some of my shinki.

My temple of course will report anything suspicious and any information we come upon.

[ammyterasu]

We hope that you are well.

Thank you.

[artificialrose]

Hello, Amaterasu! Please remember to take breaks during all of this. Give Koten, Kiten, and Ikuten my regards.

I wish I could help you more, but I was one of those taken. All I can remember is that the forest attacked me, and, the next thing I knew, I was waking up in the middle of some sort of giant sigil after my god destroyed a bug that I suppose was hypnotizing me.

It's not much but I hope it helps a little.

[ammyterasu]

They all return your regards.

Do you remember any specific spells being used against you? Or was it simply the forest itself?

text

[brynwieldr]

It's a bit...callous to say we assisted when we did everything ourselves, Lady Amateratsu. None of the older gods or their shinki arrived until the very end.

What kept you from going with us when we set out? What kept you from responding to the countless posts on the BBS about the missing people?

[ammyterasu]

Efforts were, as it seems you are aware, underway.

The nature of the spell was not clear until close to the time of its destruction.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

What the --

What kind of cowardly so-called 'god' hides behind a veil of anonymity and uses this kind of cheap trick!?

This is an outrage! How dare they declare war on me without so much as revealing their name? If they're too afraid to meet me in a frontal challenge, they don't deserve to face me at all! I, the almighty Overlord Zetta, will not tolerate this affront to either me or my intended conquest!

[ammyterasu]

We appreciate your determination, Angra Mainyu.

Please rest assured that the Heavens also do not tolerate such challenges.

id; metis

[sageprincess]

lady amaterasu. a question, if i may.

were any of the "old" gods captured by the forest?

[ammyterasu]

It is possible.

If any were, neither they nor their shinki have reported it to us.

[fauxcalibur]

We're all rather strange, you know! Would you have any suggestions as to how to identify one among us who is strange enough so as to invoke suspicion?

[ammyterasu]

In this case, we mean "strange" in the sense of "not known by you or your associates."

We would rather hear warnings about gods who are not a threat than not hear of approaches by gods who are.

[frailrobin]

Unfortunately, I cannot provide much help, Lady Amaterasu. Having been one of the abducted, all I can provide is an account of what happened.

I'm not sure when the disappearances had started, but I remember it either being very late on the tenth or early on the eleventh. There was a light that I had seen from my window, coming from the forest. Because it was dancing in an odd way, I stepped out to- Or was there another light outside my window? Two, perhaps?

Sorry. My recollection of the events is very limited. I remember being brought to by my god and a couple of others, after apparently being in a lot of vines.

[ammyterasu]

Is it possible that those lights came from insects?

Text, id: Hades

[arcadianvampire]

An unknown god, you say? Troubling. I was under the impression that almost all gods here were accounted for in the Heavens. Things are never simple. Though it does begin to explain why the forest was capable of bringing low deities.

Can we assume that the humans who were desecrating the forest were this unknown god's followers?

[ammyterasu]

It is very possible that they were followers of that god, but we can be certain that at minimum they were under that god's influence in some way.

Although humans are not a direct threat to the Heavens, we regret that they should fall under the sway of an enemy.

[foxrightsactivist]

I don't know what happened but I was one of the ones captured.

I saw the fireflies and thought they were pretty so I followed them into the forest and then the trees attacked me and that's all I remember.

The fireflies weren't normal fireflies either because they burned when they touched me.

[ammyterasu]

You were not the only one who was lured by the insects.

We hope you were not seriously injured.

From: Thanatos

[trademark_skull]

[In hindsight, maybe Emizel should have waited for an announcement like this before making conclusions.]

...Are you thinking it was the same god at the moon viewing?

[ammyterasu]

Unfortunately, we are not certain. The traces of each intrusion are different, but the individual at the moon viewing was hiding his presence.

It could have been the same god, but we cannot yet say for certain that it was.

From: Nekhbet

[revolutionfalcon]

Can we actually expect information on progress in this kind of investigation? You have a habit of asking for our help and then giving us very little to work with in terms of knowing what the hell's going on, so nobody knows what to look out for or expect.

And before you say something about not having time, setting a shinki to compose a message to the network on your behalf every so often isn't going to consume any of yours.

I'll keep what you've said about giving assistance in mind, though.

[Pretty much everyone else has already covered the complaints on lack of transparency, so he's being a little more specific here. But in terms of "if you want our help, ask"...well, he's one of the gods more likely to just be able to walk in on one of the more significant gods to make that request.]

[ammyterasu]

I wasn't going to say anything about not having time.

But making public announcements about the progress of an investigation before the culprit has been caught can be dangerous.

Unless there are no details, but I think that if there were no details you would complain just as much as if there were no announcements at all.

From: Nemesis | Text

[disciprined]

I regret to say I numbered among the missing. The only additional information that I can offer is that I remember everything about my time there, though I actually witnessed very little, and have no explanation as to what drew me in save that I was not thinking at all clearly. I simply felt as if I had to investigate. I can only imagine that it was compulsion that led me into the forest in the first place, though that is certainly no excuse. I am terribly sorry for the trouble I must have caused.

Moving forward, how are we to ascertain if a God is unknown to the Heavens or not? Newcomers arrive here regularly, most of them strangers to the vast majority of us. It would seem to me to be extremely easy for a stranger to appear unnoticed in our midst.

[It simply doesn't seem worth raising her concerns about the vagueness of Amaterasu's statement when that has been adequately covered elsewhere. For herself, Mirei is inclined not to attribute to malice something that could be just as easily explained by ignorance - certainly not to disdain information, however incomplete it may be.

[She hardly feels as if she helped with anything. At least, she supposes, she can help a little with this.]

[ammyterasu]

Thank you, Nemesis. It appears that many of the victims were under some kind of compulsion to enter or remain within the forest.

If you are uncertain, ask their name. Records at the Main Office list the name of every god known to the heavens, and you can check to see if the name is registered there. The Main Office staff will be instructed to prioritize such requests.

From: An Dagda

[bartenderizing]

sorry i dont have much information to give about all of this

the shinki entrusted to me was taken in this whole thing and now she has a second name on her neck. she says she doesnt remember who did it so how do i get rid of it?

[ammyterasu]

Your shinki was named against her will!?

Only the god who granted a name can revoke it. If you did not give her the name, you will need to find the one who did.

Could it be the god who captured her?

text ♔ from Apollo

[priforprince]

Your recorder seems unworthy of serving you.

[ To have missed an entire god, thereby causing this hassle...! This situation endangers the Far Shore before she's had a chance to revolutionize it!

She refuses to be the god of yet another sieve-like puniverse. ]

[ammyterasu]

Our recorder's task is not to keep records of every god in existence, as that would be too great a burden. Rather, we expect them to record those who have been formally acknowledged, or who have interacted with the Heavens in other ways.

[clothes_make_the_man]

Thank you for the information. I know not everyone was happy or grateful to hear it, but I think sharing what we know is important, especially if we're all potentially in danger. I'm not much of a god myself, but if I find anything out, I'll be certain to let you know as well. I'm afraid I don't remember anything about my capture, though, unfortunately.

[ammyterasu]

You are not alone in that, Lakshmi. Most of the captives seem to remember only minimal information about their capture, if that.

Thank you for your assistance. Any information that you encounter may be valuable.

[boneofsword]

Did it occur to you that none of the new gods and shinki had asked for the assistance because of the simple fact that such request would be largely ignored? So far the Heavens haven't been very forthcoming with information, regardless if those asking were gods or shinki. Furthermore, majority of those new ones are unfamiliar with your land and beliefs, and in many cases the technology is also unfamiliar. We had to rely on ourselves in all the cases of such emergencies, so why should anyone go to Heavens to request help, if the only ones we can count on are those in same situation. It took eight or more months to hear about either the possibility that aid may be forthcoming if requested, or that we are supposed to have same privileges as the old gods.

I'm merely pointing the obvious, which also others mentioned. Most often the obvious gets overlooked.

Returning to the recent events I do believe some have kept the wards cultists were using to power the spell and took photos of the sigils before they were destroyed. If you wish to hear their input on the matters they're looking into, you should share information as well.

[ammyterasu]

We have never said nor implied that your privileges would be less than any of the other gods or their shinki. From the beginning, you have been treated with all courtesy.

Nor can you claim that we would ignore a request for assistance when those requests have been both made and granted.

Please consider your complaints more carefully before you make them, Archer, and consider that you are demanding "information" in return as though you have not just been given what information we currently have.

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[lookingforhead]

I only wish I could have done more. I was wrapped up in so much of my own situation I didn't notice some of my friends had gone missing.

I'll be more vigilant and do what I can to make sure this doesn't happen again. At least, I think I owe that much to my new god.

[ammyterasu]

Your vigilance is all we can ask for. Please do not apologize, as the situation was messy regardless.

[erogappa]

Is this other god the reason we all acted the way we did during the harvest moon party?

[ammyterasu]

We can't say for certain that all the behavior at that party was due to that god's influence, but we can say that it seems to have played a part in the uncharacteristic behavior of many attendees.