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Forum » Out of Character » Questions, Comments, and Suggestions » [Comments] Site History (Background for the Game)
[Comments] Site History
Kyrt_RyderDate: Saturday, 2011-01-29, 0:00 AM | Message # 1
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Note: This is the site's history. It's not perfect, and will be revised and put into a proper page, but for the time being this will be a placeholder.


Part 1: Origin of Shinigami and Hollows

In the beginning, the Spirit King, sometimes thought of as 'God' on Earth, lived among the people in Soul Society. His divine essense served as a guide to departed souls, drawing them all to the land of the dead for their afterlife before reincarnation. The kingdom was paradise, radiant with the splendor of the Spirit King, wise and kind in his rule, providing a tranquil respite for souls between lives on Earth. For thousands of years, Soul Society was a harmonious place, filled with laughter and joy.

But such bliss could not last forever, for within the free will of mankind resides as much potential for evil as for good. Slowly, century after century, some souls became progressively more evil, corrupting further with each new life. Every time these souls cycled through the living world and back, they lost more of their humanity, becoming something darker and more sinister. These un-humans, or demons as they came to be known were obsessed with power, with growing stronger and spreading the filth of their corruption.

Unable to destroy that which he had created, the Spirit King commanded that his guard squad collect the demons while a great prison, later known as the Maggot's Nest, was built to detain them until they learned the error of their ways. For a time, peace returned to Soul Society, but it couldn't last. As more demons were added to the nest, those within continued to fester, gathering their strength and organizing with one another, biding their time until they could at last be free and takes the streets of Soul Society for themselves.

Chaos filled the streets when at last the demons broke free, and unleashed their full, combined strength against the city of souls, their numbers exceeding one-thousand strong. The King's Guard fought bravely, but at first they were overwhelmed, even with the aid of some of the stronger souls of departed heroes and warriors of earth. It was during this time of crisis that the Spirit King realized the need to further empower his people to deal with the threat, and released a portion of that power into them.

In that moment, the power of the Spirit King flowed out into the defenders, awakening the powers that lay dormant within them, causing each of the combatants among the Souls to be divided, a portion of themselves instilled within their weapon. Armed with this new power, these warriors proceeded to do battle with the demons, slowly turning the tide.

Furious with himself for the price his complacency had wrought upon his people, the Spirit King began to weave a sealing spell, which, when at last complete, drained all that remained of his power to restore the peace that had been broken. As the spell was cast, a massive swirling vortex swelled around the King's palace, completely shrouding it from view as it drew the demon army within it, only to disappear as quickly as it had come, taking the palace with it.

Appearing before the captain of the Guard lay a key to the King's Dimension, with a telepathic message explaining precisely what had occurred. With the last of his strength, the king had created twin dimensions, on one side lay his Palace; on the other, Hell, a dimensional prison to house all the truly evil spirits, to prevent the horrible events of the day from repeating themselves. With the King sealed away, the duty lay on the warriors that remained and their blades, to bring the dead souls to Soul Society, and send the evil ones to Hell where they belonged.

Taking the king's Key that had been entrusted to him, the captain of the Guard assembled all of those who had fought with him, forming the Gotei, and naming the warriors Shinigami, or gods of death, taking the title of Commander for himself. In the several millennia to follow, these black-cloaked soldiers would serve as escorts of the dead. Freedom from the demons came at a cost, however, as Shinigami can, and often do, fail to reach a soul in time. A soul left on the earth for long enough will eventually lose it's humanity and it's heart, transforming into what is called a Hollow. Monstrous spiritual beasts that devour the souls of others with an all consuming hunger.

 
Kyrt_RyderDate: Monday, 2011-01-31, 6:41 AM | Message # 2
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Part 2: Rise of the Menos and Changing of the Guard

With the emergence of the Hollows, Shinigami found themselves faced with two tasks instead of only one. Dividing their attention between burying souls and defending them, the Shinigami fell yet further behind in their duties, spurning the birth of yet more Hollows. Over the centuries that followed, the Shinigami struggled to keep up with the rising demand, each taking apprentices under his wing. Much to their dismay, however, gaining Shinigami powers wasn't as simple as picking up a sword and training under an existing death god. Each Shinigami needed to achieve his own powers from within, a process that took far too long to keep up with the hollowfication rate.

Fortunately for the Shinigami, and the world at large, Hollows craved powerful souls far more than ordinary ones, and generally forsook the public in favor of seeking out empowered humans, who at least stood a chance against them, Shinigami, and fellow Hollows to devour. Over time, this feeding process yielded Hollows that surpassed their brethren, becoming Menos (the few.) Contrasted against the lesser hollow from which they arose, Menos were smaller, stronger, and smarter, and most importantly of all, were no longer at the mercy of their hunger.

Free from their hunger at last, these Menos took their time and chose their marks carefully, feeding upon only choice targets of appropriate strength and fleeing from those too strong. One by one, weaker Shinigami were being picked off, mostly the graduated apprentices out doing Soul Burrial duty. With the Shinigami numbers dwindling, it was only a matter of time until souls ceased to enter soul society, instead caught up in the feeding frenzy of Hollow existence and life as we know it faded from existence.

With limited options at their disposal, the Shinigami sent diplomatic envoys to the living world with a mission. Track down and organize as many of the spiritually powerful humans as possible, explain as much of the situation as necessary, and charging these 'heroes' with the task of hunting Hollows to protect their fellow man. These organizations would grow and develop over time, becoming many of the mythical 'warriors' of legend, such as, for example, the mystical Shinobi stories. In the Mongolian Steppes of then Xiongnu formed one such group, a tradition of horse archer spiritualists that would evolve over time into the group known as the Quincies.

Leaving the hollow hunting to the human guardians, the Shinigami proceeded to focus their manpower on delivering souls to the afterlife, killing only the hollows that presented themselves while doing their duties. For a time, things settled, with the cycling of souls through the afterlife stabilizing. Most of the weaker hollows were slain shortly after birth, either by human hand or devoured by their fellows. The peace couldn't last, however, for lurking in the shadows, the Menos continued to feed and grow, reaching yet higher levels of power and intellect.

These greater Menos, or Adjuchas as they called themselves, were tired of hiding. Tired of living in the shadows of the Shinigami and their human puppets, tired of playing defense against their food, and decided to set their differences aside until their enemies were no more. Waiting until the opportunity presented itself to take the world for themselves. With their newfound strength and unity, these Menos proceeded to launch an extended campaign against the Shinigami, actively hunting them, striking from ambush in groups and devouring the death gods, leaving only their robes as proof of their demise.

Through careful planning, the Adjuchas, along with many lesser Menos were able to draw the Shinigami into a massive battle that shook the nearby mountain, forcing an eruption that completely burried a nearby city, and shrouded the entire region in ash. In the beggining, the balance of power was in the Shinigami's favor by a measurable margin, with the death gods and a few local human allies gaining the upper hand. All too quickly, however, things took a turn for the worse.

While Menos were dying, the wounded were often devoured by their fellows, as were the Shinigami casualties. Suddenly, a massive vortex of swirling Reiatsu errupted from one of the Adjuchas, a shriek of pain calling out across the plains as power surged within the vortex. When the energy had cleared there stood a... man? A closer look would reveal that they were, indeed looking at a Menos, but one even smaller and more human... and far deadlier than any of the menos that surrounded him.

In a fit of explosive power, this Vast Lord of Hollows gave the Shinigami hell, butchering the weaker ones, and quickly overcoming the stronger Shinigami which he encountered. It was only through the combined effort of the aging Commander of the Shinigami, and Yamamoto, a middle-aged Shinigami from the original batch who had also served as a King's Guard that this Vasto Lorde was at last destroyed, what remained of the battle group of the Menos dispursed back into hiding.

Joy was not to be had, however, for the Commander had been mortally wounded in the battle with the Vasto Lorde, and there was naught to be done. Drawing Yamamoto closely, the Commander transferred the knowledge of the king's key, and responsibility over the Shinigami as a whole to his successor. With his last breath, the old man called out to the assembled Shinigami "Hail the new Commander, Yamamoto Genryūsai! Serve him well!" And faded away, to be born once more into the world of men, as Yamamoto prepared to usher in a new age for the Shinigami.

 
Kyrt_RyderDate: Monday, 2011-03-21, 0:32 AM | Message # 3
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Part 3: A new Era

After bidding the old Commander farewell with a proper ceremony, Commander Genryūsai Yamamoto immediately set about making changes to further strengthen the Shinigami, and prepare for the centuries to come. In the decade prior to the battle of Pompei which had killed the last commander, Yamamoto had begun testing a new approach to the training of Shinigami. With the successful graduation of Ukitake Jushiro, Kyoraku Shunsui, Unohana Retsu, and several others, it was time to begin a new order of Shinigami trained in groups.

Establishing the Shinō Academy was only the first of the reforms, however. Until this point, the Shinigami had been a loose organization under a single leader, struggling to accomplish their goals without any real order or chain of command. Separating the Shinigami into divisions based on their purpose, it was at this time that the 'Gotei' or 'Court Guard Squads' were born, each designated a captain, with officers under him. Over the centuries to come these divisions would expand into the 13 squads we know today, and quickly develop the tradition of equating Captainship with Bankai.

For nearly two thousand years, the Gotei 13 ruled the spirit world with a firm hand. Purifying Hollows and maintaining their version of justice. It was during these years that the Quincy spread across Eurasia, and grew into power in their lands, before calling down the 'wrath of heaven' and incurring the Quincy Purge through their actions. Aside from that, however, matters were relatively peaceful for the Shinigami. These centuries were a mark of success, wherin Menos encounters were few and far between, and broad scale battles were rare indeed. But things were not as pleasant as they appeared.

Deep within the depths of hell, and on the surface of the earth, a sinister plot was unfolding. Hell had not been made as a permanent home for the demons old and new, but rather a place of temporary punishment. Over the centuries these creatures spent their time in study, seeking a way to break free, and sure enough, find it they did. Through the use of subtle magic and some appropriate force, the demons were able to weaken the bindings on the gate each time a 'sinner' received judgement.

Through further use of that same magic, these demons were able to force their memories to awaken during their lives on earth, and set about corrupting and destroying mankind the best way they could, through manipulation and leadership. The demon's greatest achievement in their history of machinations, however, was world war two. So many corrupted souls; many, many, many of them killed before they could seek redeem themselves. It was then that the fate of the world was sealed, and less than a century remained until the demons of hell could at last exact their revenge.

'International Year of Peace' as it was called, was anything but peaceful in the spirit realm. It was in August that year that at last the demons managed to burst forth from their imprisonment, and wage war once again. The Dangai precipice swirled to life, becoming a two-fanged portal, with one mouth in Soul Society, and the other opening into Hiroshima, as hateful demons, empowered by millenia training against the harshest conditions without risk of death, surged to battle.

The conflict that followed was fierce, raging across the dimensions for days while the two fronts struggled agaist the demonic invasion. When at last the remnants of the third division managed to seal the demons once more, the remnants of the defenders were a sorry sight indeed. The only Captain to survive the battle was old man Yamamoto, Captain Commander of the Gotei 13, with most of the Lieutenants slain or missing as well. Soul Society weren't the only ones to suffer, however, with many of the resident Spiritualists and Quincies dead as well, leaving Japan's defenses against the Hollow threat weaker than it had ever been.

In the twenty-five years since, things have not been the same. Hollow activity has picked up across the globe, especially in Japan. With the death of so many strong souls, the evolution of Menos and arrival of Shinigami officers have been faster than ever, but as of yet, none have risen to the ranks of Captain or Espada. To help the Japanese in their plight, Quincy councils across the world have sent agents to lend assistance in these hard times, and spiritualists the world over have felt a strange 'pull' towards the land of the rising sun. With tension rising, it's only a matter of time until these sides find themselves locked in battle once more, and the question remains. Who will triumph?

 
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