Heaven's BBS | Text

[prideinthefall]

Posted: April 28th
From: Sephiroth

[ After a disappointing arrival and probably too many hours spent reviewing old network posts, (note: Sephiroth should be banned from anything that could be described as 'archives', 'library', or 'repository of information' for a lot of reasons) he has some questions. And since he'd rather review this information on his own damn time and without actually needing to see or talk to people, it's all in text format. At least this way no one has to put up with condescending tone in his voice?]

• The April 25th fire: Was this incident related to previous events? If not, has there been any determination of responsible parties?


• 'New' arrivals: From all indications we are not from this world. Has this been confirmed?
• If so, there is no explanation for our arrival. Confirmed?


• Some of these new arrivals have vanished with no indication as to how or why. Has any new information been discovered?


• Selection process of who will be god or shinki is currently unknown?


• Assignment criteria of a shinki to god on initial arrival is unknown?


• What is the exact nature of an ayakashi: what do they look like, what can they do, and all pertinent information.


• Blight: Can be caused by shinki and inflicted upon their bound god(s). Can be cured with some ease in the early stages. Can also be caused by ayakashi.
  
  • How are later stages cured?
  
  
  • What is the exact method(s) by which shinki blight their gods?
  
  
  • Is the Blight caused by the ayakashi transferred only through direct contact?
  
  
• Upheavals caused by other gods are not unheard of but not usual. Yes or no.


• Upon becoming gods or shinki, we have access to new abilities, but these - aside from this 'borderline' - are not clearly defined. Explain.
  

((ooc: he'll probably respond to everyone in text only format))

Comments

[text]

[soindebt]

[Ludger doesn't talk much out loud in he first place, so texting will be easier.]

I've been here almost two months now and that event was different from the others. They happen once a week so far.

As for the fire? Yes. I believe it has to do with someone trying to take over the Heavens not too long ago. A lot of people got hurt because of it.

[text]

[prideinthefall]

All these events are directed at those in charge? The name I've been given for the attempted coup is Susano'o

[text]

[soindebt]

Yes. He created ayakashi that were hard to fight, and made another shinki go berserk. Part of Heaven was destroyed. We're still cleaning up parts of the mess.

Susano'o did not like the Heavens.

[text]

[prideinthefall]

[ That's a lot of information in a few compact sentences. So he'll start with easiest pieces. ]

Created them how? In light of the messages that were at the fire, it would seem he was not alone. Unless he is not truly dead.

[text]

[soindebt]

I don't know. I'm a shinki, so I don't really know what gods can and can't do. He probably had the ability from here or even before he came. Some of those gods had powers in their previous worlds.

He's very dead. It's been confirmed by Heaven.

text

[eternalshield]

Oh, you're already asking all the questions... so Zeno need not bother.

[Bookmarking this. Zeno has a pretty good idea of why he can't be a shinki, but that probably doesn't apply to anyone else.]

Wherever there are gods and kings, there will be upheavals. It's sad that it had to shorten the life of the cherry blossoms, though.

As for the assignments of gods and shinki, Zeno hasn't found anything the same between them.

But Zeno's also one of those new arrivals.

text

[prideinthefall]

Why are you referring to yourself in the third person?

text

[eternalshield]

Should Zeno not?

text

[prideinthefall]

No.

[ It's best just to ignore him. ]

text

[eternalshield]

[He will probably.]

Good! Zeno's been doing it so long, Zeno wouldn't know how to stop.

text;

[bustered]

Someone's keeping busy.

[There's a certain neutrality to text, that's just easier right now.]

text;

[prideinthefall]

[ If Sephiroth had any memory at all, or if this place had enough forethought to tell shinki to who they been paired, this conversation might go differently.

As it is: ]

What context would a stranger have for knowing whether or not I've been busy?

text;

[bustered]

Merely an observation. Call it intuition, if you'd like.

text;

[prideinthefall]

And is there a particular reason you felt it necessary to share your observation?

text;

[bustered]

Yes, actually. We're going to be working together for a bit.

(text)

[returnedfromtheline]

[Way to ask all the tough questions. With some tough vocabulary, no less.
Please don't make him regret answering this stuff.]

“I wish I knew” is how I’d be able to answer most of these questions, unfortunately.
But I’ll answer what I can.

I’ve attached a pic of an ayakashi, but they come in all sorts of forms. Some are really tiny like a flea and some are huge like whales. Most of them are gross colours and have a lot of eyeballs all over them. But you’ll know them when you see them.
As for what they do, they're basically balls of curses, so they’re good at making people do bad things. They can talk a little, and they try to tempt people into corruption with what they say.
Where a lot of negative emotions are it gets ‘stormy’, and ayakashi gather there.
Other information… they can come out of vents from Yomi (hell). Purified water from a shrine puts them off. Shinki can stop them with borderlines, but if you’ve read the other posts (like this) you’ll know that only a god and shinki working together can kill them.

[And he is a reluctant expert on this subject…]
A shinki blights his god by his actions. If he does something he knows is wrong, he stings his god. The shinki also starts growing eyeballs like an ayakashi.
The deep blight that’s caused by a shinki constantly stinging his god can only be cured by an absolution. (Before you ask, don't bother asking about the details of that. You new guys have other things to worry about than a ceremony you'll hopefully never see.)
The god renouncing the shinki’s name is also an option, but I don’t know what happens to the shinki after that… I don’t think it’s a cure for the shinki though.

Blight from ayakashi only spreads by touch. Direct... well, if they spit something at you, it still blights.

(text)

[prideinthefall]

[ Sephiroth doesn't reply immediately because, to put it plainly, he's a little stunned. Straightforward information? No Friendship Speech? A total lack of 'we're all in this together' tomfoolery? It almost makes him suspicious. Still, what Yukine posts fits in with most that he's learned so suspicion takes a back seat to a slight sense of relief. ]

Noted. There was some chatter/speculation that a shinki's emotional state could Blight their god. Is this true? Or is it relegated to moral perception of an individual shinki on their own actions? I did read your earlier post and assumed that the case and that the negative consequences of being upset to be different from the Blight.

[ And if that is the case, it does solve one problem rather neatly. Sephiroth doesn't consider anything he does to be immoral. ]

So Blight caused by a shinki affects both them and their god and can potentially turn the shinki into an ayakashi, or is it limited to physical changes?

To find ayakashi, I presume the easiest method would be to find a concentration of humans under some kind of emotional strain. I wish to test this borderline ability and see if it is more effective than my natural skills.

[ If that is one method of attracting ayakashi, Sephiroth doesn't think it will be too hard. Humans tend to react badly to nearly anything - cowardly cretins that they are - and all else failing, Sephiroth is certain that he can give them adequate reason to be upset. Hey, it's easier to think of humans as having some use if that use is 'bait' for a more self-serving interesting encounter. ]

(text)

[returnedfromtheline]

I’m glad you read that earlier post.

How you put it is kinda difficult to understand, but yes, the god will only be blighted if the shinki is guilty over having done something wrong. [Exhibit A: Kazuma-san.]
More exactly, it’s that the shinki’s mental state will cause their god discomfort or even pain, but not blight. Not until the shinki takes action.

I’m not certain about what happens if the process goes all the way, but I think it’s possible that the shinki could fall all the way into being an ayakashi. [As Tsuyu had told him, the darkness is always by their sides.]
(…Why are you so into these creepy topics?)

If you’re going to test stuff, do it on a small ayakashi first, would you? We don’t need shinki going and hurting themselves just for ‘testing’.

(text)

[prideinthefall]

We are new. Our gods are new. Talking about the symbiosis and willingness to work together in these new pairings only goes so far if neither in the partnership is aware of the limitations and ramifications in detail. Ignorance leaves the possibility of too many mistakes and if these consequences are as potentially dangerous as you describe, then knowing the threats precisely is an imperative for long-term survival. Gods are clearly told more than a shinki upon arrival. [ Yeah, that still pisses him off. ] However, their abilities are not, if I understand correctly, the same. Their perceptions will certainly not be the same. It is better for shinki to hear it from another shinki with full disclosure.

[ Sephiroth will not become an ayakashi nor will he allow (as if these things are decided by his willpower alone) his god to be Blighted. It's a point of pride. ]

One more question. Are there any basics to creating to this borderline? You mentioned a class, but I would like to begin developing this skill immediately.

(text) / (video)

[returnedfromtheline]

[ . . .

Does this guy talk this way on purpose?

After reading it twice, he thinks he gets what Sephiroth means. ...pretty sure.]

'What you don't know might kill you', right? As long as something doesn't bite you from behind while you've got your mind set on finding all the answers, I suppose I see the logic in it.

As for the borderline, it's easier to just show you.

Hold on a minute.

[It takes way longer than a minute, as this is the first time he's tried to post anything other than text to the BBS, but after about seven minutes, a short video is posted.

Yukine is holding the phone with his left hand, and showing his right.]

Okay. So, you make your fingers into a shape like this, [He makes a halberd shape, with two fingers and the thumb extended.]
Then you draw a line between you and what's on the other side. Borderline! [As Yukine quickly draws a line in the air, it gets transcribed on the ground and a light shines from his boundary.]
It's easier to practice against an ayakashi, but that's the basic technique.

[[ooc: video for reference]]

Text

[beastenderblood]

What about "Will we get in trouble for fighting gods?"

Text

[prideinthefall]

[ The question manages to bring a slight grin. ]

I think that will depend on the reasons. What happened?

Text

[beastenderblood]

Oh, nothing actually.

I just wanna know if I can.

Text

[prideinthefall]

I have heard of no specific rule against it. Any 'trouble' that came from it would probably depend on the god.

Text

[beastenderblood]

Well that could go badly. The only gods I wanna punch are the ones that could be trouble.