Gatherings of the Gods, and the Sacred Laws of Hospitality

The family of Heaven holds many soirees, celebrations, parties, and ceremonies, often within Courts. There is one event during the year which is considered sacred, however, and that is the Gathering which was first held a year and a day after the death of the Creator, and has been held at intervals of a year and a day ever since.

All Gods have the right to attend this meeting, and it is considered unworthy to attempt to prevent a God from attending. (There are exceptions to this: it is possible to become no longer welcome at all in divine society, for example by sabotaging one's Duty or murdering another God). There are also two ways for non-divine entities to gain admission:

They can come under the invitation of one of the Gods. If this is the case, they are considered to be a guest of that God and under the relevant God's protection. The relevant God should announce the guest to the gathered company.
They bring a gift for the host, and present the gift to the host immediately upon arriving at the gathering. (It is considered a breach of hospitality to attempt to prevent non-divine guests from reaching the host in order to present their gift.) The gift should be worth a great deal from a mortal perspective - it will often not be particularly interesting to a God, but it is the thought that counts. In this case the mortal is a guest of the host and under his protection, and so the host should announce the guest to the gathered company.

The Old Gods instituted these rules, and the Lord of the Dance has enforced them ever since, because they ensure two very important things. Firstly, that any mortal being who attends the meeting is worth the Gods' time (anyone who can catch the eye of a God or find a suitable artifact has got to be competant). Secondly, that they do not come to the meeting for trivial reasons - divine favours and valuable treasures are too valuable to mortals to fritter away. It is worth pointing out that *anybody* who has the wherewithal to gain an invitation or a gift can take advantage of these rules, even a member of the Unreal, and expect hospitality. The sanctity of hospitality overrides such concerns as splatting the Unreal. The host of the meeting is at liberty to provide whichever entertainments, refreshments and amusements at the gathering he or she can provide, but the meeting always has the following format:

Meeting is opened by the host, who welcomes the assembled Gods and others to the venue.
Announcements. Attendees may, if they wish, make an announcement. Note that by "announcement" we mean "announcement", not "speech" - keep your announcements within a minute long at maximum. Note also that when we say "announcement", we do not mean "conversation". Please don't respond to people interrupting your announcement (and please don't interrupt people's announcements - it's not a crime but it is incredibly rude and you'll get sushes and annoyed looks from the gathered company). You may only respond in the announcements phase to someone else's announcement *immediately after* they have finished, *if* the announcement was specifically about you (and no, being mentioned in passing doesn't cut it), and you may only respond once. The person making the announcement can't respond to your response in return.
Furthermore: The announcement phase begins when the host invites those folk who wish to make an announcement to stand in a line facing the gathered company. By tradition there can be up to six folk making at the beginning of the meeting, and six at the end. It is the right of the host to decide who will be able to make their announcements. You must declare the basic gist of what you are going to announce to the host before the announcement phase (ie, before time-in for the start-of-session phase, during the session for the end-of-session phase), and can't tack on extra announcements in response to other announcements. (You can get away with saying "I'm going to make an oath, issue a challenge, and declare war" without going into the specifics).
If you say "Erm, can I make a quick announcement?" at the end of the phase, when you were not one of the folk who lined up at the beginning of the phase or when you have already made an announcement, the GMs will shout "NO" at you in unison.
Why the rules surrounding announcements? Well, firstly, the Gods (and the alpha GM) know through bitter experience how easily announcement phases can become bloated, unweildly, undiginfied things which take up far, far, *far* too long. They have no intent of allowing it to happen on their watch.
Secondly, part of the Duty of the Messenger of the Gods is to tell mortalkind about the announcements made in the announcement phases. You aren't just addressing the meeting when you stand up and make an announcement: you're addressing the whole of Creation. The limited number of slots reflects their value.
The meeting itself.
Another announcements phase happens at the end of the meeting.
Before the host thanks everybody for attending, the Lord of the Dance chooses who will host the next meeting, and what the venue will be. It's usual, but not mandatory, for the venue to be either common ground or somewhere owned by the host. The host need not necessarily be a God.
The advantage of hosting the meeting, aside from receiving lots of lovely presents from non-divine guests, is prestige: if you throw a good party, have interesting entertainment and nice food, and the place you throw the party in is an impressive bit of architecture in good repair, all these things can increase your stature and that of your Court. The downside is the need for preparation: finding decent entertainment and food is a Mundane action, and the residences of the Old Gods are all ruined (and so really ought to be prepared before the Old Gods can entertain once more). If you end up throwing a dull party, your stature (and that of your Court) may fall.

It is worth discussing here the ancient and sacred laws of hospitality. These were first made by the Creator, though some additions have been made since by occupants of the Estate of the Dance. All entities, from Gods to cockroaches, understand and accept these rules (the exception being human beings, who have been kept in ignorance by the Iron Rule), and few dishonours are worse than a breach of hospitality. It is almost never the case that breaching hospitality is worth it: the most famous breach, of course, was the ugly brawl which marked the beginning of the War of the Gods, and none of the participants in that brawl did well out of the affair. When Do the Rules of Hospitality Apply?

At social events such as the gatherings of the Gods.
When a host has granted sanctuary to a supplicant. (Granting someone sanctuary if they ask for it is not mandatory, but people have a nasty way of remembering who did and didn't give them shelter when they needed it). It is a gross breach of hospitality to offer sanctuary to someone and then deny it.
Any other situation where a guest is staying at someone's home.

Guests

Have the right to come and go safely. The host has a responsibility to make sure his or her guests are not killed, kidnapped, stalked or otherwise molested on the host's territory. The host also has a responsibility to make sure the ways out of his or her territory are safe to travel on.
Must respect their host, and therefore should not attack the host, or molest the host's servants, or steal or damage any of the host's possessions. (Note that if the guest is able to trick the host or one of the host's servants into giving them one of the host's possessions, that's another matter.)
Must not curse, attack, or otherwise try to bring physical or spiritual harm to other guests, except in the context of a duel.

Hosts

Have the right to ask a guest to leave if:
- The guest's presence is liable to cause the host harm.
- The guest has stayed for more than a year and a day.
- The guest breaches hospitality.
If the guest is claiming sanctuary, the host must find sanctuary for the guest elsewhere before asking the guest to leave, unless the guest has breached hospitality (in which case the guest has forfeited his right to sanctuary).
Must do all they can to prevent harm from coming to their guests, and to ensure that their guests have suitable food and lodging.
May not charge for their hospitality. Inns and hotels provide lodging and food, not hospitality: the difference is subtle but important, deeds which would be considered breaches of the sacred laws of hospitality under other circumstances would be considered mere indiscretions if they happen in an inn.

Mortals

When they come to meetings of the gods, non-divine entities are under the protection of one of the gods: either the host, or the deity who invited them.
Non-divine entities have the right to have their dignity protected. No forcing people to worship you in-session!
Non-divine entities have the right to have their body and spirit protected.
Non-divine entities have the right to speak and circulate amongst the guests.