Heaven's BBS

[fullcowl]

From: Aidos
Date: June 28

It's been a while since I last posted the timeline of events. We've had a lot of new people showing up. Some might be curious about when we started arriving and everything that's happened afterward.

These are my notes, but I haven't been here since the beginning. If there's anything you'd like to add or question, please feel free.


February 15, the beginning:
There was a banquet to welcome new gods. Native gods were given instructions to make them feel welcome and help them acclimate. Amaterasu was present but she didn't show herself.

New arrivals.

February 24, a rift on the Near Shore:
The assault and ensuing battle lasted until mid afternoon of the next day. Amaterasu again sounded the call to arms but didn't show herself.

New arrivals.

March 5, Hinamatsuri celebration:
A banquet, as well as Heavenly orders to prevent a number of unoccupied boats on the Kamo River from striking the banks. The boats seemed supernaturally driven towards beaching on the edge of the river.

New arrivals.

March 15, poisoned chocolates:
This was when I arrived.

There were a bunch of leftover chocolates from White Day, so the Heavens asked us to give them out. However something went wrong at some point where they were delivered from the heavens to us because all the chocolate was ayakashi infused. Some of them were small and tried to make people commit suicide. The strange ayakashi from the Susano'o rebellion were also present here, and those only attacked gods and shinki.

All chocolates were of the same brand, Fujisaki Confectioneries. Anybody on the far shore who ate that chocolate had food poisoning.

(The Heavens are starting to look into this now?)

We don't have any hard numbers, but Amaterasu did release a statement after it happened. But considering how many chocolates were given out I doubt we managed to collect all of it back probably somewhere in thirties or above.

New arrivals.

A statement from Amaterasu.

March 26, cherry blossom viewing:
A completely normal cherry blossom viewing at night. No attacks. The Heaven's provided a banquet.

New arrivals.

April 5, school ayakashi:
There was a large public school in Tokyo where most of the teachers fell ill. It seemed suspicious to the Heavens, so we were sent to look into it. Apparently the illness was upsetting entire families, some of the teachers were looking to quit and a lot of the students were planning on transferring.

We heard a male voice say, "Ah, yes. I know you're all eager to go home, but please indulge me just this once. I need your spirits now, students. Be sure they are nice and energetic for me," over the speakers. The doors locked and then there were jello-like ayakashi with cords.

The jello ayakashi arrived after the doors locked. The students panicked and tried to get out of the doors and windows.

Everything unlocked after they were dealt with. The ayakashi cords seemed to come from principal, but I don't know if he was the person who was speaking or if there was somebody else. Principal was passed out and covered in green jello, but otherwise he seemed fine.

New arrivals.

April 15, spring cleaning:
We were asked to clean out the Main Hall of the Heavens, older temples and were given dinner. There were some interesting finds, but other than that no attacks.

New arrivals.

April 19, Susano'o's rebellion:
Susano'o's warning

Susano'o had augmented ayakashi for his own gain (?). There was also a shinki that went out of control, but seems to be fine now. Susano'o died, impaled on his shinki's claws.

Amaterasu's statement on the rebellion

Suijin's report

April 25, the cherry blossom fires:
We were given a picnic, food provided by the Heavens. This time the cherry blossoms' scent was intoxicating (why? It's hard to look into it since they've burned.) Around sunset the fire began, spreading through them unnaturally fast. There were papers that read "Down with the Heavens! Down with Amatarasu!" There's a possibility this incident was tied to the poisoned chocolates during March.

New arrivals.

April 28, ayakashi in heaven:
A shinki turned into an akayashi from asking after his memories. Every god who named him was affected by blight.

He died and did not return.

Add's statement

May 5, despondent Near Shore residents:
Humans were walking into things and getting hit by things and not reacting. They weren't paying attention to the danger around them (brought to mind the school ayakashi incident), but this time it affected an entire town instead of just one school.

The longer we were there the worse we felt. It seemed as though energy was being drained from our bodies? I spiraled into thinking about all the things I wasn't able to do. Did anyone else have a similar experience?

There was a large park in the center of this town, and it had a weird circle. Picture attached It was around the entire park, there were candles around the edges. It looked like there was a cup in the middle, with a swirling eye pattern mask on it.

Assumption: a large scale ayakashi induced this state. (Demon?)

New arrivals.

May 16, clean up:
The gods and shinki were called on to help clean up the mess that the ayakashi made. Helped rebuild, clear off the streets of debris, help in hospitals, etc. The closest thing to being a hero here.

New arrivals.

May 17, new gods call:
Mandatory god meeting.

The heavens have been looking into how we got here. Results are largely inconclusive, but whoever it is, they aren't in Japan. Which leaves most of the world. They didn't ask for help, or offer anyway we could chip in, so we're probably still considered outsiders to the gods that are native to this world.

May 26, parade of the dead:
There was a parade in honor of a shrine. People from the Far Shore were pulled towards it. Once the parade reached the shrine, there was an attack. Seemingly from the undead, some people were confronted with the ghosts(?) of people they knew were dead at home?

There seems to be no explanation for how those souls ended up in this world. Possibly it was due to the same influence that brought our spirits here and divided them up into gods and shinki. Was it possible that the entity bringing us to this world made a mistake? Or possibly they meant for this to occur?

New arrivals.

June 5, beach:
The heavens booked a beach. Nothing stressful happened this time around. Overall pleasant.

(I think Amaterasu was here?)

New arrivals.

June 16, god/shinki training:
Since people wanted to know more about their abilities and duties in the Far shore, the Heavens and Bishamon hosted an open training session at Bishamon's temple. It was a chance to learn about what we're supposed to do in the heavens and what's expected of us.
--
June 16, suicide ayakashi:
There was a very sudden, very disturbing increase in the number of suicides committed in Tokyo recently. While this sometimes happens for naturally occurring reasons, the Heavens have a suspicion that something was wrong here.

I'm not sure if this is related to the March chocolate incident, but both had suicide ayakashi.

New arrivals.

June 26, visiting home regions, down with Amaterasu part 2:
We were invited to the home regions of the god's we're filling in for. New shrines for the newer gods that have been pulled here were constructed. People went all over the world.

The "Down with the Heavens. Down with Amaterasu." flyers made a reappearance. It seems like these are now regular occurrences, according to the Greek gods, at least. Kind of weird that they'd be putting these flyers so far away from Amaterasu's home turf. (Maybe trying to gather people of the same mindset? Is there a reason somebody would have such a grudge against her?)

Flyers found in:
Greece
India
Egypt
Iraq

They're also being distributed to humans.

Just like last time, there was an arson. This time it was aimed directly at Amaterasu, her temple was set on fire.

Amaterasu was found and is alright.

Amaterasu's statement.

New arrivals.

Comments

[rememberher]

That is a relief, although he doesn't seem the type to spread undue rumors about someone else. And I assure you, the pleasure is mine.

I would be more than happy to help compile notes on personal statements; I think it might be interesting. Souji mentioned tentatively getting s group together to meet, perhaps we could do the same here?

[fullcowl]

I could use different perspectives, what I have is just my take on things.

A group for this would be a great idea. I'm getting a records room set up in my apartments. It should be finished by tomorrow evening if you'd like to come over then?

[rememberher]

Then perhaps conducting a series of interviews, or asking others to submit their experiences might be the best discourse. That creates more work, of course, but if we have a group of people to help compile and categorize, then it should be manageable.

A records room? I suppose your temple must be quite large, to house something like that. But I think I would enjoy that, if you'll have me.

[fullcowl]

[For fifteen years of his life he had to go at things solo- it's odd to be working with groups. It's not technically a new experience, but sometimes it feels like it.]

Possibly. I just don't know how long people have been here or if they have a good recollection of that days events.

It's an apartment building and I'm really only using one of the apartments. So I have a lot of empty space right now.

[rememberher]

You won't know until you ask. I think you might be surprised with what you find, but it's just a hunch.

Your temple is an apartment building?

[ She wasn't one to judge a god based on his housing choices, but that was... no, that was really strange if that was the case. ]

[fullcowl]

That's true.

Yeah. It's a perfect copy of the apartment building I grew up in at home.

[But it's also far too big for the two people who actually live there.]

[rememberher]

[ Ahh, an eccentric god... ]

I see. I suppose something like that would make it easier to keep things organized, but I'm not sure what you would do with so many rooms.

[fullcowl]

[He's not sure he'd call himself eccentric- it looks like any other apartment in Japan.]

One of them is full of weapons, one is a records room, and other is a meeting room.

And then there's the one Todoroki and I actually use as a home.

[rememberher]

Todoroki is your shinki?

And I suppose that makes sense. I've never seen a temple fashioned like an apartment building before. It sounds convenient at least.

[fullcowl]

He's my partner.

I haven't seen anything else like it show up in the Heavens, but that doesn't mean it won't happen.

[rememberher]

I'm not used to other people using that tern as well; I thought it was just me who did. It's nice to know that others here feel that way.

I feel as if there are so many different types of temples, and that seeing them gives you a good idea of the sort of person who calls it home. Although it does seem odd to me that they don't always directly reflect a god's pantheon. I wonder why that is.

[fullcowl]

A god-shinki bond is a partnership. It makes sense to call it one.

I think in Aidos's case there wasn't very much to go off of to begin with. She's a minor goddess in the Greek pantheon. So maybe it just defaulted to the place I consider home?

[rememberher]

I agree, although it's hard to say how many here feel the same. It's nice knowing that there are others who see their relationship with their partner in that way.

Perhaps, although that might be interesting to note as well. Having data about how a god's temple reflects their own personalities rather than their pantheon might be interesting. A database of regalia and abilities that others bring as well might not be amiss. I feel like having something like that would be advantageous on a number of levels.