Post by Admin on Aug 8, 2021 2:02:22 GMT -8
The World of Hueco Mundo
Welcome to the dilapidated, discarded, despair-filled sands of Hueco Mundo, stretching endlessly before your very eyes. What brought this land to be many can only bemoan, an afterlife left behind for those likewise and forgotten, unwanted or hated. Through wartorn dunes and sandstone structures, palaces of ignominy and caverns of spite, millenia of feral and not-so-feral hordes have paved their home through every stretch of this landscape. The exact size of this realm of death is hard to pin down, specifically, but multiple biomes find city state sections to tear out and mold to the whims of their devils. The reishi-white sands provide the majority of “solid” footing, yet travelling deeper will have your soul brought into the masses within the Forest of Menos, or drowned by desire within the belly of the Dead Sea—and we haven’t yet gotten to the main event, the insidious castle of Las Noches wherein the best of the best measure the size of their teeth upon the lower castes of their brethren. You are as close now to damned as you can get without hell itself chained around your ankles. It’s kill or be killed, or kill merely to survive another wretched day beneath this endless night. The sky shines above the darkness in twinkling stars, looking back at you as you look up, blood down your chin, eyes almost as bright—and they have no mercy for you. Hide away, little Hollow, and grow strong.
Hueco Mundo is on its surface level a devoid realm. In every direction for countless miles stretch white sands beneath an eternally starry sky. Rocks litter the dunes, from pebbles to boulders, and tree-like structures rise from the earth to populate it—but these are made not of wood but a mineral, and further reinforce the idea of a lifeless plane. The world is cast in a pale empty light from a moon that mirrors opposite Earth’s lunar phases and creatures skittering within the desert wastes the only sign of “life”. This does not feel animated but unknown and foreign, every shadow an unseen predator and every breeze a breath of encroaching fear. Nothing that does not belong to these sands can feel at home here.
The atmosphere and the materials comprising the dimension are full of, or made of, dense reishi, similar in composition to the Soul Society. This fuels smaller Hollow ambiently and is enough to subsist on for the larger beings, but not comfortably and not on any real level of nourishment. Despite living in a world practically made of their food, this weak stream of absorbable energy is what ultimately drives Hollow to sate their hunger on each other and other souls; such as in the World of the Living or the Soul Society, both its planar neighbors. Hueco Mundo is largely impossible to get into or out of without the use of a Garganta, a gate between realms that most any Hollow can create to freely travel between here and anywhere else.
Untold years old - back to the dawn of the souls that foster it - Hueco Mundo has existed to house the Hollowbreed in a desolate world and has changed very little since its conception save what has been made of it. The same grains still make up the world, the same trees still stand bony and unbroken, uncaring of the years that pass and weathered little by the desert winds. It takes an eye and a will to travel deeper into the realm and find what it houses, and most here are lacking in the latter.
There is, as always, more than meets the eye. Fauna grows within shady recesses, caverns and caves and great walls built of salt and sandstone. Glittering minerals speckle constructs where these flowers hide, sparse vegetation stretching and rearing to meet the fickle light of the moon above. These are picked, eaten and collected as a commodity - and while not as energizing as souls any Hollow would prefer, it is, as much as it can be, an “honest living.”
Harvests within Hueco Mundo are not bountiful; but they hold a beauty unique to them within this place at the times and places they do grow, and don’t seem to need any nourishment aside from the ambient reishi and the rays of the moon. Gemstones, likewise, are rare but precious. They share little in common with their corresponding minerals on Earth, and both fauna and stone in Hueco Mundo are unlike anything that can be found anywhere else. Whether this is because of unusual shapes, density or size, or even colors between jewels and petals that living minds cannot comprehend, there is much to Hueco Mundo’s natural phenomena.
It would be remiss to say the denizens of this world haven’t contributed to it in similar startling ways. The white sands of Hueco Mundo have been refined over many years into a sandstone building material, where great villages and castles rise to meet the night sky and address superiority over any out in the wastes. Walls have been built to divide communities, for little more than spite and japery, and caverns have been dug into the earth for those that force prey and predator to close in on their terms. Notably, cathedrals and churches have been constructed for those seeking salvation in their afterlife, as not all Hollow have given up a hope or perversion for something better that could await them.
The Jardín del Diablo Blanco is one such sanctuary in Hueco Mundo, and perhaps the most well-known and most visited of them all. It has many names - and means many different things to many different creatures - but this title is given to it by those who say its name in fear. Within white walls carved in a mesa over hundred of years, windowless sills host bones and candles from mortal victims that haven’t lived in any memory for a very long time. Creeping vines and untouched, ageless flora crest the sides and hang from the ceilings of the cavity, drifting down to be waylayed only by similarly timeless webs woven long ago by a priestess of the church. Gardens of contemplation sit under this open skylight, aching to meet false constellations formed by ancient sand caught over centuries in the spider’s web.
The center of this cathedral houses no pulpit but a single being, a skeletal Hollow with a blackened, dried body. With his elbows on his knees and his hands steepled, his open yellow eyes are dulled against the mask leaning between his fingers. Dust collects and sifts from him in the calm open moonlight, every ray a speck across his age-old form. His body hasn’t known movement in a thousand years or more, and though his voice may sometimes carry gravely through the room his mouth shows no indication he may have spoken.
Worshippers join this enclave for their own reasons and are encouraged to sit and emulate the Devil for as long as they can manage, even and especially if they get hungry and hungrier doing so. They are to understand and overcome this hunger. That is, for what anyone can account, a driving purpose of this church. Acolytes marked by him with no explanation they give to others tend to his unmoving shape, washing his limbs and polishing his mask to decorate him with the small strange flowers they grow within their gardens of contemplation. Sometimes they and worshippers guided to do so rest near him or the pillar he sits on.
This is one of very few “safe zones” within the whole of Hueco Mundo, a place where no fighting or eating can be done by any. That is not to say it’s widely respected, nor is anywhere to this race, but the amount of ire drawn to someone who would defile something so sacred to some would be met with more trouble than it could ever be worth.
Of the Forgotten
Hueco Mundo houses the universe’s tormented souls not yet condemned to Hell—Hollowbreed. Each cast into this afterlife integrates their existence among the others and the sands they walk on, or they’re ushered swiftly to meet their final fate. This is everything new Hollow are met with when they have found themselves dragged to Hueco Mundo - an unfeeling land and pervading sense of hopelessness - but the strong among the litter claw their way through and find greater purpose, greater life, and greater hunger.
Hollow are predatorial by nature and strive to fill the holes left by their afterlife descent with other souls, and often means they’ll cannibalize each other to sate themselves.This doesn’t lend itself well to a cooperative environment between them, and the harsh setting Hueco Mundo offers does little to alleviate this. However, an existence so seeping with the bloody sentiment to kill or be killed can drive those desperate or those smart to make a difficult decision.
Band together or be devoured alone.
On the Sands
The tribes that make their homes on the white sands of Hueco Mundo comprise most of the world’s communal population. It is easy to fall in with a crowd without realizing it, especially in the case of it often being a join or die situation. Hollow are born on these plains of harsh sand and dusk winds and this is where they most commonly meet and fight, for hunger or for pleasure, for sanctuary or for sanctimony. There are many scattered tribes, large swathes without names or titles to call themselves by, generally composed of the groups formed from shaky alliances or pure momentary necessity. There are three, however, that act as the “ruling” tribes of Hueco Mundo and the most well-known. These are:
The Black Banner — As close as you could get to a familial community within the world of Hollow, the Banners pursue glory and pride above all else. They are a fierce, reckless group of strong that look to flex their strength and weak that wish to survive behind the might of a whole. They tend to be loyalists to Las Noches, agreeing with the gladiatorial way Hueco Mundo is run under its leadership and reveling in the fame & safety - it could bring them if they were selected to join its ranks. Their boisterous fealty and tight collective lends to this goal—while many remain heartless and blood-hungry as most their kin, they share a common vision and a pride that serves as their last vestige of will. They are a fraction of a sum, the Little Las Noches preaching the same supremacy and survival of the fittest.
The De Jure Reclaimers — The complete opposite to the Black Banner tribe, the Reclaimers are loyalists to the old King’s rule of Las Noches and believe the realm needs a tighter grip and regulation to raise Hollowbreed from the depth of mindless beasts of slaughter. They are a more noble if equally destructive take on the Banners, seeing themselves as greater than the common devils and the Title-By-Murder Espada of Las Noches; considering each soul within the folds of Las Noches as a lapdog to influence. They both intend and attempt to take the castle and all of Hueco Mundo back - by overwhelming force if need be - in order to foster a stronger and more unified image of Hollow as a whole.
The Dunestalkers — Likely the largest by numbers tribe belonging to the white sands, these are the unknown in the dark that work for their own machinations. They care little for the fight over Las Noches and spread like a spy network through every inch of Hueco Mundo. They excel at blackmail through exploiting the weaknesses and hunger of their kin, and quickly respond to any leaks of membership or plans through swift execution. They are, more than any other faction, out for themselves. Both the Banners and Reclaimers have Dunestalkers within their ranks, unbeknownst to any, save others of their tribe they communicate with through codes and hidden caverns beneath the sands.
On the Noblige
Las Noches could be called the “main attraction” of Hueco Mundo and the Espada living there would readily agree. A marble white structure that looks to stretch for tens if not hundreds of miles, it rivals the Soul Society’s Seireitei in size despite being exceedingly less populated. A dome encases the top of the castle with a number of pillars reaching to meet its edges, each a castle containing unique rooms. Las Noches proper has seemingly endless walkways that connect the castle’s chambers; from entrance wings to living quarters, medical and science facilities and training grounds, all the way into the throne room and various Espada castles surrounding the center dome.
Without the help of supernatural speed it could take days to simply travel from a gate to the central areas and vice versa. The size of this massive fortress cannot be understated, let alone the ego and strength of those that reside inside. Only the best are allowed to enter Las Noches, generally on the assumption that they take out a currently seated Espada and strip their rank for themselves. The laws of Las Noches are laid by the King (or Queen; or Duchy, or Czar however they wish to be referred to - it is respected within Las Noches lest you be torn to fragments for your slight) and enforced by the Espada.
As stated, the ruling seat of Las Noches belongs to the “King”, generally regarded as the strongest Hollowbreed within Hueco Mundo—if they weren’t, they wouldn’t be likely to hold the position, nor would they have the support of their Espada. The Espada, in layman's terms, are the King’s swords and shields. There are many smaller factions branching from the Espada that they - and often indirectly, the King - commands, but besides the King themselves the Espada are often widely seen as the powerhouses and most influential beings of Hueco Mundo’s realm. There are ten Espada in total and usually each spot is filled, succeeded by whoever can come along and rip the title from the seated Espada or - otherwise - the same Hollowbreed can hold the same number for eternity. In-fighting is usually discouraged by the King themselves, so as not to crumple the foundations of Las Noches or appear - or become - weak to a rival faction coup d'etat. However, due to the nature of Hollow and the inflated sense of self & power the Espada hold, it is not unheard of that a “lower ranking” number might attempt to steal the rank of a “higher number.”
The Espada are ranked from 1 to 10, and while this does generally give a sense of the strength of what Espada holds which number (1 being the most formidable, and 10 being the least relative to the other Espada) the line is just as often blurred or inconsistent. Numbers might be chosen because of a vacant spot but a worthy holder for it, it might come down to simple preference; or it might just be whoever before was unlucky enough to have their crown taken first by a strong contender. Regardless, it is safe to assume that all Espada are stronger than any other creature - bar the King - you would find in Las Noches. They are the generals of Las Noches’ army and treated like Royalty by all below them—especially the famed Black Banner tribe of dune-dwelling Hollow, who look up to them and the strength they offer.
The other titles in Las Noches are the Espada’s Fraccion, the King’s Exequias, and the castle’s Numeros. Fraccion are Numeros or otherwise Hollowbreed that have ties to an Espada previously that are raised to the position of a seated Espada’s direct vassals. While Fraccion can in theory receive orders from the King and would be obligated to follow it, they belong to the Espada and 9.9 times out of 10 will be doing whatever it is their Espada directs them to. Fraccion aren’t ranked in the way Espada are, because they have a more assistive and/or personal purpose, but they do somewhat inherit the title of their Espada in that the lowers of the castle - unclaimed Numeros specifically - have to treat them with a measure of respect their Espada might demand.
Exequias are the King’s personal guard for more informational or countermeasure-based tasks compared to the round table generals of the Espada, below the Espada but always directly reporting to the King themselves. They can, in many ways, be considered the King’s fraccion. In a similar way to how Fraccion function, Exequias can be Numeros raised to the position or Hollowbreed that have curried the King’s favor. They are weaker overall than any individual Espada, but they competently perform their purpose as a task force and demand respect equal to the King due to serving as their reach. They are often sent outside of Las Noches and keep the King aware of all matters that happen upon the sands. If a Numeros were to go rogue the Exequias are who are tasked with eliminating or bringing them back.
Within the King’s Exequias might also exist the Privaron Espada, the leftover scraps of a disgraced title. In the unlikely event an Espada is not killed by its usurper, and does not take the opportunity to flee in shame or terror afterwards, they are offered a choice by the King—cast themselves out onto the sands forever or join their Exequias guard. This is a chance to make up for their failure while still enjoying the privileges of Las Noches regardless of their plummeting status. Privaron are not respected in the warlike governing of Las Noches, such is the way of a society built on being the strongest or being stepped over, but within the Exequias they are given a purpose. Even the lowest can serve the King.
Numeros are a much simpler concept, being the foot soldiers and large majority population of Las Noches who serve in its army or in every day remedial tasks the King, Espada or the castle itself might need. Most Hollowbreed accepted within Las Noches that are not taking the title of an Espada or being brought it by one as its Fraccion are Numeros and will remain such until they die gloriously, pathetically, or otherwise elevated to a new status. All Numeros are given a number above 11 as a form of ID and humbling, to both remind them of their place below the big ten and make them more easily organisable or trackable.
Of the Forest
The Forest of Menos houses the gargantuan mineral trees reaching up through the planet and is the population’s majority location of Menos Grande, the mindless conglomeration of Gillian-stage Hollow. The Forest is a dangerous, lawless land, far worse than the sands above its planet-wide reach due largely to a single fact: only the strongest predators make their homes here. Nearly every Hollow housed within the Forest is of Menos class, the telltale Gillian roaming in zombie-like herds with no thought of anything but destruction and hunger... and the Adjuchas, the penultimate of the kill or be killed mentality of Hollow.
If the Dead Sea is the devil that Hollowbreeds don’t know, the Forest is the devil they do. Unlike the white sands or the castle of Las Noches, there is little community or fellowship to be found within the Forest for any reason. Gillian do not possess the individuality or execute function to form groups - as likely as they are to turn and eat their kin on a dime - and Adjuchas can rarely risk it unless their stage of growth has already been stalled by their defeat. To get stronger they must eat, and to continue to eat, they must be strong. This is the Wild West of Hueco Mundo, no truer motto than every Hollow for itself.
There are small tribes that might make their way into the Forest for one reason or another, for their own hunger or curiosity, and small packs have been known to form around the stronger Adjuchas both out of fear and awe. These are the upper limits to civilization the Forest houses. There are tales of cabins of refuge, small sanctuaries deep within twisting caves where more intelligent and sloth-like Hollow pave a life for themselves away from the chaos—safe in a land few dare tread. These too, however, prioritize their own sanctity far above any of their kin, and you are as likely to be welcomed a seat as you are to find yourself devoured within a lair you cannot navigate.
Just as that tale is spread, there is myth of the olden King residing somewhere in the tree-lined chaos. It is said at Las Noches’ initial fall to the invading forces of usurper Hollow that he rounded up his immediate subjects and the old table of Espada and ventured into the Forest of Menos to live another day and plot his eventual return and conquest of Hueco Mundo. This is said, of course, by the De Jure Reclaimers of the white sands, and it said just as often that he and his guard were killed in his throne room that day. Still... there are pockets of darkness in the recesses of the Forest waylaying even the strongest Adjuchas to hunt nearby, an unsettling aura emanating from eyes within the shadows that dare you to bother that which they timelessly protect.
Of the Sea
The Dead Sea is an expansive ocean of shimmering water, the largest body of it in all of Hueco Mundo (and the only one), glowing softly under the moon. It is simultaneously the land of last resort for Hollow who have reached the end of their ropes, running from their lives, and also a land of mysterious legends which has intrigued the few Hollow storytellers for millenia. Although the outskirts of the Dead Sea are largely known, the innermost depths of the sea are completely unmapped... because none who have entered it have ever returned, vanishing into the endless expansive with nary a whisper.
The Dead Sea is not a populous region. Loners, drawn here to find a place of safety and isolation, reside under the sea on the outskirts, having dug underground to create their hideouts, or finding underwater grottos with a supply of air. Daredevils, seeking to prove their bravery, venture as deep into the innermost depths of the Dead Sea as they dare. Some skeptics, or the insane, believe the inner regions hide incredible secrets, and go inside to find what they imagine could be at the center of this desolate land; and the curious, just seeking to find something extraordinary before fleeing.
Because this land is not safe. Strange environs can be found—buildings matching no known architecture and often differing from each other, some still hosting traps, can be discovered the farther one travels either on the flanks of islands or under the water. Hollow lost to madness can be found on those same islands or swimming, attacking their kin with nary a word. There has never been a method to save them, even with Hollow whose abilities can alter minds or read them. Storms rip across the water with no warning, lightning can strike from clear skies, and the waves can pluck Hollow out of the air or suck them deep underwater. Stranger beasts, not Hollow at all, can be found flying above the ocean or swimming beneath the waves. There are creatures of almost every size and shape imaginable, of which few are friendly, but they can be found.
Two of them are particularly famous, partly because they appear in legends about the Dead Sea, partly because they have resisted eons of attempts to kill them, and partly because they are the only two creatures known to have returned from the depths of the ocean. The first of which is known by two epithets; "El Devorador Aterrador" ("The Dread Devourer"), and elsewhere as "Gigante de Natación" ("Swimming Giant"). An absolutely colossal whale that swims within the Dead Sea, this creature has devoured Hollow whole, inhaled ships, and even consumed small islands or buildings within the sea. It does not always strike to kill, and sometimes even disgorges its previous consumption, but just as often as it spares a life, it takes. The more lazy of the two famous beasts, it can be found under the sea sleeping from time to time, or even singing. The second is "Los Cielos Ardientes" ("The Burning Skies"). This phoenix is easy to see coming, as its fire is a signal pyre from miles away. This is just as well, as it can boil the sea beneath the shadow of its wings, or create a searing firestorm that can blow a Hollow away just as easily as it can cook one alive.
Both of these creatures have been known to attack Hollow heading towards the inner regions of the sea, or even attempting to venture onto some of the larger islands. However, they do not always kill their victims, but instead those lucky Hollow wake on the shores of the Dead Sea. Legends tell of undersea trenches formed by the burning rays of the phoenix, punching through the water to scar the land beneath. They tell of whole cities devoured by the whale, their buildings still existing inside of its belly, their people long dead.
But whatever the truth behind these two beasts is, one other thing is true. Anyone who ventures into the furthest reaches of the Dead Sea will never return. Those who have said they returned have proven to be liars and fakes. No one knows what has happened to the travelers who have vanished, whether they are even dead at all. Whatever the truth is, the Dead Sea refuses to give up its secrets.
Welcome to the dilapidated, discarded, despair-filled sands of Hueco Mundo, stretching endlessly before your very eyes. What brought this land to be many can only bemoan, an afterlife left behind for those likewise and forgotten, unwanted or hated. Through wartorn dunes and sandstone structures, palaces of ignominy and caverns of spite, millenia of feral and not-so-feral hordes have paved their home through every stretch of this landscape. The exact size of this realm of death is hard to pin down, specifically, but multiple biomes find city state sections to tear out and mold to the whims of their devils. The reishi-white sands provide the majority of “solid” footing, yet travelling deeper will have your soul brought into the masses within the Forest of Menos, or drowned by desire within the belly of the Dead Sea—and we haven’t yet gotten to the main event, the insidious castle of Las Noches wherein the best of the best measure the size of their teeth upon the lower castes of their brethren. You are as close now to damned as you can get without hell itself chained around your ankles. It’s kill or be killed, or kill merely to survive another wretched day beneath this endless night. The sky shines above the darkness in twinkling stars, looking back at you as you look up, blood down your chin, eyes almost as bright—and they have no mercy for you. Hide away, little Hollow, and grow strong.
Hueco Mundo is on its surface level a devoid realm. In every direction for countless miles stretch white sands beneath an eternally starry sky. Rocks litter the dunes, from pebbles to boulders, and tree-like structures rise from the earth to populate it—but these are made not of wood but a mineral, and further reinforce the idea of a lifeless plane. The world is cast in a pale empty light from a moon that mirrors opposite Earth’s lunar phases and creatures skittering within the desert wastes the only sign of “life”. This does not feel animated but unknown and foreign, every shadow an unseen predator and every breeze a breath of encroaching fear. Nothing that does not belong to these sands can feel at home here.
The atmosphere and the materials comprising the dimension are full of, or made of, dense reishi, similar in composition to the Soul Society. This fuels smaller Hollow ambiently and is enough to subsist on for the larger beings, but not comfortably and not on any real level of nourishment. Despite living in a world practically made of their food, this weak stream of absorbable energy is what ultimately drives Hollow to sate their hunger on each other and other souls; such as in the World of the Living or the Soul Society, both its planar neighbors. Hueco Mundo is largely impossible to get into or out of without the use of a Garganta, a gate between realms that most any Hollow can create to freely travel between here and anywhere else.
Untold years old - back to the dawn of the souls that foster it - Hueco Mundo has existed to house the Hollowbreed in a desolate world and has changed very little since its conception save what has been made of it. The same grains still make up the world, the same trees still stand bony and unbroken, uncaring of the years that pass and weathered little by the desert winds. It takes an eye and a will to travel deeper into the realm and find what it houses, and most here are lacking in the latter.
There is, as always, more than meets the eye. Fauna grows within shady recesses, caverns and caves and great walls built of salt and sandstone. Glittering minerals speckle constructs where these flowers hide, sparse vegetation stretching and rearing to meet the fickle light of the moon above. These are picked, eaten and collected as a commodity - and while not as energizing as souls any Hollow would prefer, it is, as much as it can be, an “honest living.”
Harvests within Hueco Mundo are not bountiful; but they hold a beauty unique to them within this place at the times and places they do grow, and don’t seem to need any nourishment aside from the ambient reishi and the rays of the moon. Gemstones, likewise, are rare but precious. They share little in common with their corresponding minerals on Earth, and both fauna and stone in Hueco Mundo are unlike anything that can be found anywhere else. Whether this is because of unusual shapes, density or size, or even colors between jewels and petals that living minds cannot comprehend, there is much to Hueco Mundo’s natural phenomena.
It would be remiss to say the denizens of this world haven’t contributed to it in similar startling ways. The white sands of Hueco Mundo have been refined over many years into a sandstone building material, where great villages and castles rise to meet the night sky and address superiority over any out in the wastes. Walls have been built to divide communities, for little more than spite and japery, and caverns have been dug into the earth for those that force prey and predator to close in on their terms. Notably, cathedrals and churches have been constructed for those seeking salvation in their afterlife, as not all Hollow have given up a hope or perversion for something better that could await them.
The Jardín del Diablo Blanco is one such sanctuary in Hueco Mundo, and perhaps the most well-known and most visited of them all. It has many names - and means many different things to many different creatures - but this title is given to it by those who say its name in fear. Within white walls carved in a mesa over hundred of years, windowless sills host bones and candles from mortal victims that haven’t lived in any memory for a very long time. Creeping vines and untouched, ageless flora crest the sides and hang from the ceilings of the cavity, drifting down to be waylayed only by similarly timeless webs woven long ago by a priestess of the church. Gardens of contemplation sit under this open skylight, aching to meet false constellations formed by ancient sand caught over centuries in the spider’s web.
The center of this cathedral houses no pulpit but a single being, a skeletal Hollow with a blackened, dried body. With his elbows on his knees and his hands steepled, his open yellow eyes are dulled against the mask leaning between his fingers. Dust collects and sifts from him in the calm open moonlight, every ray a speck across his age-old form. His body hasn’t known movement in a thousand years or more, and though his voice may sometimes carry gravely through the room his mouth shows no indication he may have spoken.
Worshippers join this enclave for their own reasons and are encouraged to sit and emulate the Devil for as long as they can manage, even and especially if they get hungry and hungrier doing so. They are to understand and overcome this hunger. That is, for what anyone can account, a driving purpose of this church. Acolytes marked by him with no explanation they give to others tend to his unmoving shape, washing his limbs and polishing his mask to decorate him with the small strange flowers they grow within their gardens of contemplation. Sometimes they and worshippers guided to do so rest near him or the pillar he sits on.
This is one of very few “safe zones” within the whole of Hueco Mundo, a place where no fighting or eating can be done by any. That is not to say it’s widely respected, nor is anywhere to this race, but the amount of ire drawn to someone who would defile something so sacred to some would be met with more trouble than it could ever be worth.
Of the Forgotten
Hueco Mundo houses the universe’s tormented souls not yet condemned to Hell—Hollowbreed. Each cast into this afterlife integrates their existence among the others and the sands they walk on, or they’re ushered swiftly to meet their final fate. This is everything new Hollow are met with when they have found themselves dragged to Hueco Mundo - an unfeeling land and pervading sense of hopelessness - but the strong among the litter claw their way through and find greater purpose, greater life, and greater hunger.
Hollow are predatorial by nature and strive to fill the holes left by their afterlife descent with other souls, and often means they’ll cannibalize each other to sate themselves.This doesn’t lend itself well to a cooperative environment between them, and the harsh setting Hueco Mundo offers does little to alleviate this. However, an existence so seeping with the bloody sentiment to kill or be killed can drive those desperate or those smart to make a difficult decision.
Band together or be devoured alone.
On the Sands
The tribes that make their homes on the white sands of Hueco Mundo comprise most of the world’s communal population. It is easy to fall in with a crowd without realizing it, especially in the case of it often being a join or die situation. Hollow are born on these plains of harsh sand and dusk winds and this is where they most commonly meet and fight, for hunger or for pleasure, for sanctuary or for sanctimony. There are many scattered tribes, large swathes without names or titles to call themselves by, generally composed of the groups formed from shaky alliances or pure momentary necessity. There are three, however, that act as the “ruling” tribes of Hueco Mundo and the most well-known. These are:
The Black Banner — As close as you could get to a familial community within the world of Hollow, the Banners pursue glory and pride above all else. They are a fierce, reckless group of strong that look to flex their strength and weak that wish to survive behind the might of a whole. They tend to be loyalists to Las Noches, agreeing with the gladiatorial way Hueco Mundo is run under its leadership and reveling in the fame & safety - it could bring them if they were selected to join its ranks. Their boisterous fealty and tight collective lends to this goal—while many remain heartless and blood-hungry as most their kin, they share a common vision and a pride that serves as their last vestige of will. They are a fraction of a sum, the Little Las Noches preaching the same supremacy and survival of the fittest.
The De Jure Reclaimers — The complete opposite to the Black Banner tribe, the Reclaimers are loyalists to the old King’s rule of Las Noches and believe the realm needs a tighter grip and regulation to raise Hollowbreed from the depth of mindless beasts of slaughter. They are a more noble if equally destructive take on the Banners, seeing themselves as greater than the common devils and the Title-By-Murder Espada of Las Noches; considering each soul within the folds of Las Noches as a lapdog to influence. They both intend and attempt to take the castle and all of Hueco Mundo back - by overwhelming force if need be - in order to foster a stronger and more unified image of Hollow as a whole.
The Dunestalkers — Likely the largest by numbers tribe belonging to the white sands, these are the unknown in the dark that work for their own machinations. They care little for the fight over Las Noches and spread like a spy network through every inch of Hueco Mundo. They excel at blackmail through exploiting the weaknesses and hunger of their kin, and quickly respond to any leaks of membership or plans through swift execution. They are, more than any other faction, out for themselves. Both the Banners and Reclaimers have Dunestalkers within their ranks, unbeknownst to any, save others of their tribe they communicate with through codes and hidden caverns beneath the sands.
On the Noblige
Las Noches could be called the “main attraction” of Hueco Mundo and the Espada living there would readily agree. A marble white structure that looks to stretch for tens if not hundreds of miles, it rivals the Soul Society’s Seireitei in size despite being exceedingly less populated. A dome encases the top of the castle with a number of pillars reaching to meet its edges, each a castle containing unique rooms. Las Noches proper has seemingly endless walkways that connect the castle’s chambers; from entrance wings to living quarters, medical and science facilities and training grounds, all the way into the throne room and various Espada castles surrounding the center dome.
Without the help of supernatural speed it could take days to simply travel from a gate to the central areas and vice versa. The size of this massive fortress cannot be understated, let alone the ego and strength of those that reside inside. Only the best are allowed to enter Las Noches, generally on the assumption that they take out a currently seated Espada and strip their rank for themselves. The laws of Las Noches are laid by the King (or Queen; or Duchy, or Czar however they wish to be referred to - it is respected within Las Noches lest you be torn to fragments for your slight) and enforced by the Espada.
As stated, the ruling seat of Las Noches belongs to the “King”, generally regarded as the strongest Hollowbreed within Hueco Mundo—if they weren’t, they wouldn’t be likely to hold the position, nor would they have the support of their Espada. The Espada, in layman's terms, are the King’s swords and shields. There are many smaller factions branching from the Espada that they - and often indirectly, the King - commands, but besides the King themselves the Espada are often widely seen as the powerhouses and most influential beings of Hueco Mundo’s realm. There are ten Espada in total and usually each spot is filled, succeeded by whoever can come along and rip the title from the seated Espada or - otherwise - the same Hollowbreed can hold the same number for eternity. In-fighting is usually discouraged by the King themselves, so as not to crumple the foundations of Las Noches or appear - or become - weak to a rival faction coup d'etat. However, due to the nature of Hollow and the inflated sense of self & power the Espada hold, it is not unheard of that a “lower ranking” number might attempt to steal the rank of a “higher number.”
The Espada are ranked from 1 to 10, and while this does generally give a sense of the strength of what Espada holds which number (1 being the most formidable, and 10 being the least relative to the other Espada) the line is just as often blurred or inconsistent. Numbers might be chosen because of a vacant spot but a worthy holder for it, it might come down to simple preference; or it might just be whoever before was unlucky enough to have their crown taken first by a strong contender. Regardless, it is safe to assume that all Espada are stronger than any other creature - bar the King - you would find in Las Noches. They are the generals of Las Noches’ army and treated like Royalty by all below them—especially the famed Black Banner tribe of dune-dwelling Hollow, who look up to them and the strength they offer.
The other titles in Las Noches are the Espada’s Fraccion, the King’s Exequias, and the castle’s Numeros. Fraccion are Numeros or otherwise Hollowbreed that have ties to an Espada previously that are raised to the position of a seated Espada’s direct vassals. While Fraccion can in theory receive orders from the King and would be obligated to follow it, they belong to the Espada and 9.9 times out of 10 will be doing whatever it is their Espada directs them to. Fraccion aren’t ranked in the way Espada are, because they have a more assistive and/or personal purpose, but they do somewhat inherit the title of their Espada in that the lowers of the castle - unclaimed Numeros specifically - have to treat them with a measure of respect their Espada might demand.
Exequias are the King’s personal guard for more informational or countermeasure-based tasks compared to the round table generals of the Espada, below the Espada but always directly reporting to the King themselves. They can, in many ways, be considered the King’s fraccion. In a similar way to how Fraccion function, Exequias can be Numeros raised to the position or Hollowbreed that have curried the King’s favor. They are weaker overall than any individual Espada, but they competently perform their purpose as a task force and demand respect equal to the King due to serving as their reach. They are often sent outside of Las Noches and keep the King aware of all matters that happen upon the sands. If a Numeros were to go rogue the Exequias are who are tasked with eliminating or bringing them back.
Within the King’s Exequias might also exist the Privaron Espada, the leftover scraps of a disgraced title. In the unlikely event an Espada is not killed by its usurper, and does not take the opportunity to flee in shame or terror afterwards, they are offered a choice by the King—cast themselves out onto the sands forever or join their Exequias guard. This is a chance to make up for their failure while still enjoying the privileges of Las Noches regardless of their plummeting status. Privaron are not respected in the warlike governing of Las Noches, such is the way of a society built on being the strongest or being stepped over, but within the Exequias they are given a purpose. Even the lowest can serve the King.
Numeros are a much simpler concept, being the foot soldiers and large majority population of Las Noches who serve in its army or in every day remedial tasks the King, Espada or the castle itself might need. Most Hollowbreed accepted within Las Noches that are not taking the title of an Espada or being brought it by one as its Fraccion are Numeros and will remain such until they die gloriously, pathetically, or otherwise elevated to a new status. All Numeros are given a number above 11 as a form of ID and humbling, to both remind them of their place below the big ten and make them more easily organisable or trackable.
Of the Forest
The Forest of Menos houses the gargantuan mineral trees reaching up through the planet and is the population’s majority location of Menos Grande, the mindless conglomeration of Gillian-stage Hollow. The Forest is a dangerous, lawless land, far worse than the sands above its planet-wide reach due largely to a single fact: only the strongest predators make their homes here. Nearly every Hollow housed within the Forest is of Menos class, the telltale Gillian roaming in zombie-like herds with no thought of anything but destruction and hunger... and the Adjuchas, the penultimate of the kill or be killed mentality of Hollow.
If the Dead Sea is the devil that Hollowbreeds don’t know, the Forest is the devil they do. Unlike the white sands or the castle of Las Noches, there is little community or fellowship to be found within the Forest for any reason. Gillian do not possess the individuality or execute function to form groups - as likely as they are to turn and eat their kin on a dime - and Adjuchas can rarely risk it unless their stage of growth has already been stalled by their defeat. To get stronger they must eat, and to continue to eat, they must be strong. This is the Wild West of Hueco Mundo, no truer motto than every Hollow for itself.
There are small tribes that might make their way into the Forest for one reason or another, for their own hunger or curiosity, and small packs have been known to form around the stronger Adjuchas both out of fear and awe. These are the upper limits to civilization the Forest houses. There are tales of cabins of refuge, small sanctuaries deep within twisting caves where more intelligent and sloth-like Hollow pave a life for themselves away from the chaos—safe in a land few dare tread. These too, however, prioritize their own sanctity far above any of their kin, and you are as likely to be welcomed a seat as you are to find yourself devoured within a lair you cannot navigate.
Just as that tale is spread, there is myth of the olden King residing somewhere in the tree-lined chaos. It is said at Las Noches’ initial fall to the invading forces of usurper Hollow that he rounded up his immediate subjects and the old table of Espada and ventured into the Forest of Menos to live another day and plot his eventual return and conquest of Hueco Mundo. This is said, of course, by the De Jure Reclaimers of the white sands, and it said just as often that he and his guard were killed in his throne room that day. Still... there are pockets of darkness in the recesses of the Forest waylaying even the strongest Adjuchas to hunt nearby, an unsettling aura emanating from eyes within the shadows that dare you to bother that which they timelessly protect.
Of the Sea
The Dead Sea is an expansive ocean of shimmering water, the largest body of it in all of Hueco Mundo (and the only one), glowing softly under the moon. It is simultaneously the land of last resort for Hollow who have reached the end of their ropes, running from their lives, and also a land of mysterious legends which has intrigued the few Hollow storytellers for millenia. Although the outskirts of the Dead Sea are largely known, the innermost depths of the sea are completely unmapped... because none who have entered it have ever returned, vanishing into the endless expansive with nary a whisper.
The Dead Sea is not a populous region. Loners, drawn here to find a place of safety and isolation, reside under the sea on the outskirts, having dug underground to create their hideouts, or finding underwater grottos with a supply of air. Daredevils, seeking to prove their bravery, venture as deep into the innermost depths of the Dead Sea as they dare. Some skeptics, or the insane, believe the inner regions hide incredible secrets, and go inside to find what they imagine could be at the center of this desolate land; and the curious, just seeking to find something extraordinary before fleeing.
Because this land is not safe. Strange environs can be found—buildings matching no known architecture and often differing from each other, some still hosting traps, can be discovered the farther one travels either on the flanks of islands or under the water. Hollow lost to madness can be found on those same islands or swimming, attacking their kin with nary a word. There has never been a method to save them, even with Hollow whose abilities can alter minds or read them. Storms rip across the water with no warning, lightning can strike from clear skies, and the waves can pluck Hollow out of the air or suck them deep underwater. Stranger beasts, not Hollow at all, can be found flying above the ocean or swimming beneath the waves. There are creatures of almost every size and shape imaginable, of which few are friendly, but they can be found.
Two of them are particularly famous, partly because they appear in legends about the Dead Sea, partly because they have resisted eons of attempts to kill them, and partly because they are the only two creatures known to have returned from the depths of the ocean. The first of which is known by two epithets; "El Devorador Aterrador" ("The Dread Devourer"), and elsewhere as "Gigante de Natación" ("Swimming Giant"). An absolutely colossal whale that swims within the Dead Sea, this creature has devoured Hollow whole, inhaled ships, and even consumed small islands or buildings within the sea. It does not always strike to kill, and sometimes even disgorges its previous consumption, but just as often as it spares a life, it takes. The more lazy of the two famous beasts, it can be found under the sea sleeping from time to time, or even singing. The second is "Los Cielos Ardientes" ("The Burning Skies"). This phoenix is easy to see coming, as its fire is a signal pyre from miles away. This is just as well, as it can boil the sea beneath the shadow of its wings, or create a searing firestorm that can blow a Hollow away just as easily as it can cook one alive.
Both of these creatures have been known to attack Hollow heading towards the inner regions of the sea, or even attempting to venture onto some of the larger islands. However, they do not always kill their victims, but instead those lucky Hollow wake on the shores of the Dead Sea. Legends tell of undersea trenches formed by the burning rays of the phoenix, punching through the water to scar the land beneath. They tell of whole cities devoured by the whale, their buildings still existing inside of its belly, their people long dead.
But whatever the truth behind these two beasts is, one other thing is true. Anyone who ventures into the furthest reaches of the Dead Sea will never return. Those who have said they returned have proven to be liars and fakes. No one knows what has happened to the travelers who have vanished, whether they are even dead at all. Whatever the truth is, the Dead Sea refuses to give up its secrets.