Post by Admin on Aug 8, 2021 11:51:51 GMT -8
Shinigami
Yours is a sacred charge. It was the first thing you learned about in the Academy, along with the consequences if that charge is not upheld. To protect The Balance is to protect all worlds. Once, Shinigami did not exist as they do today, and the world slid towards disaster. Earth and Soul Society began to merge, tearing reality apart and killing countless people along with it. Finally, due to the intervention of the first Shinigami and the Soul King, Balance was restored and the world was saved. Ever since, Shinigami have been the first and only line of defense for The Balance. You do far more than protect a few lives here and there, or take a few here and there. You serve a cause far greater than yourself. Your chest wells with pride at the thought. Escorting souls to Soul Society, cutting down Hollows, who wouldn't be proud to be a Shinigami?
So thinks a once idealistic young soul, before long years have ground away that idealism, that innocence. Before blood belonging to more than just Hollows have stained their sword, before they have consigned thousands of innocents to death. But it's okay. They may not be idealistic, they may not be innocent...
But they are righteous, upholding a sacred charge. And in defense of that charge, what wouldn't you do? After all, what's a few lives compared to countless millions?
Splintering of the Soul
Shinigami begin their lives as a Plus who has been sent on from the mortal realm. Either naturally, because they had no fetters to bind them to the mortal world, or purification via the hilt of a Shinigami Zanpakuto, they arrive in the Rukongai of Soul Society. Often adopted into a family of other souls who have found themselves nearby and who enjoy (or tolerate) each other’s company, the life for the majority of souls means simply living here, freed from hunger or thirst, until they finally pass on again and reincarnate.
For the Shinigami, no such peaceful life is possible. Their burgeoning spiritual power means they suffer from hunger and thirst, a sure sign of their potential to be accepted into the Shinigami Academy. Patrols of Shinigami who keep the peace throughout the Rukongai may find them soon, or they may lay undetected for years as they avoid the Shinigami for a variety of reasons. Local crime gangs are more than happy to have them, because their power means they can serve as muscle or protection. For those souls with power, not joining the Shinigami often means a life of pain, as not joining a gang is taken as a sign you’ll join one of their rivals, or otherwise be an enemy. In a world where most souls are weak and skill becomes the true barometer of power in the Rukongai, being able to tip that balance and not be on the same side makes you into a threat.
The Shinigami make such recruitment a priority, and their conditions are favorable. A mission in life, a purpose, is one of course, but they start with other things. Clothing, housing, food and water, healing...and of course, the offer to take into Seireitei your own loved ones, so that they can live their own lives in relative comfort securely. Not that such offers are made en-masse, only a few people can join. But that can mean your children (blood related or otherwise), a fatherly figure, your spouse...there are many reasons.
Once you have joined the Shinigami Academy, your true mission begins. One of the first things done is they tell you the goal of all Shinigami. To protect the worlds from Hollowbreeds, to escort Pluses to Soul Society, and to defend The Balance. Videos, preserved in crystal and other technology, are shown to demonstrate what happens when The Balance begins to tip. Whole towns merged into rock and mud, people dead as the fabric of the worlds meet, and the utter terror that can be seen as the fabric of reality rips and frays. Hollows, gorging themselves on the dead, killing humans to feast upon their souls, tearing through the Rukongai...and those Pluses, crying with happiness as they pass on. This is your mission.
After this, you receive the weapon that will accompany you for the rest of your life. As a start, it is an asauchi, a standard service sword just like every other. Although legends tell of Shinigami that can manifest their own weapons directly, they are impossible to find. Also, there is no reason to need to. With an asauchi, anyone with sufficient spiritual power can manifest their Zanpakuto Spirit. Being able to create a blade from nothing, or needing a vessel...one simply lowers the bar to start training.
The asauchi can be likened to a bowl. As a Shinigami recruit carries it, their reiatsu slowly fills the bowl. This process can take hours, months, or even years. Although awakening faster can be an indicator of power, there are just as many examples of Zanpakuto Spirits awakening late in the training process, and the Shinigami going on to a long and illustrious career. After the vessel is filled, the reiatsu within quickens the Zanpakuto Spirit. There are rumors as to what the spirit is- a fusion between your reiatsu and the asauchi, your own reiatsu given form, a fragment of your soul, the spirits of long-dead creatures attached to you....and, in fact, there have been examples of each over the long years. Fundamentally, a Zanpakuto Spirit is the spirit of the sword, however it got there. By resonating with it, by coming to understand and finding a relationship with a separate being, the Shinigami is able to release its power. The first release, or Shikai, transforms the shape of the sword and allows for its unique power to be used. This also allows for a Shinigami to purify a soul, sending it from Earth to Soul Society.
The primary goal is to infuse the young Shinigami with the values of the Gotei 13, train them in swordplay, awaken their Zanpakuto Spirit, and teach the basics of Kido, the magic system of the Shinigami. Broken into three parts, they are; Bakudo: The Way of Binding, Hado: The Way of Destruction, and Kaido: The Way of Healing. The last topic is Shunpo, or Flash Step, and is the primary movement ability of Shinigami. The trainees tend to take well to one of the three schools of magic, swordsmanship, or Shunpo, but not all Shinigami do. These tend to go on and find supporting roles in Seireitei instead of heading to the front lines, but not all are so lucky.
After graduation, Shinigami join one of the divisions of the Gotei 13. Their purposes are varied, and so are the personalities of their Captains, a distinct breakpoint of power among Shinigami. However, the number of each division is not an indicator of strength. Although most Shinigami are sent to a division where their skills will be needed the most, sometimes they are just assigned to whichever division is most in need. Transfer between divisions is possible, but frowned upon.
Many Shinigami die in their first few months of patrolling the Rukongai or Earth, taken in by a false sense of superiority. Hollows are wily, and Shinigami souls taste rich and delicious, so much so that a clever Hollow can defeat Shinigami, sometimes playing off their pride and superiority. Should they not die however, they can find success and sharpen their skills by killing Hollows. As they do, the relationship they have with their Zanpakuto Spirit begins to grow and change. This change is often what fuels the growth of a Shinigami.
Zanpakuto Spirits have a variety of wants or desires, sometimes at odds with the Shinigami in question. As the pair change, so too does the bond gain strength or even weaken. Note that the only thing that matters here is the depth of the bond. Conquering your spirit through martial prowess is just as viable as coming to a psychological understanding of their wants and desires. Certain methods carry with them drawbacks though...and simply beating up your Zanpakuto Spirit without understanding anything at all can result in their revolt, resulting in a Shinigami falling powerless at the stage where they need that power the most. Although sometimes done to teach the Shinigami a lesson the Zanpakuto Spirit thinks needs teaching, other sadistic Zanpakuto Spirits attempt to subvert the relationship and make the Shinigami follow their own commands. And Zanpakuto Spirits are hardly omniscient, just because it thinks you need to learn a certain lesson about life doesn’t mean you do.
A critical threshold is the unlocking of the final release, or Bankai. This is the culmination of what the Shinigami has been going through with their Zanpakuto Spirit. Typically this is done by manifesting the Zanpakuto Spirit in the real world and defeating them in combat, a very dangerous battle that can result in permanent injury. The Spirit is usually unwilling to offer its power to someone who is unworthy, but that is not the only reason why this clash is necessary. A dance is only as good as both of the dancers, and they must be in sync with each other in order to reach the next tier. Up until now, the dancers did not need to harmonize perfectly, a solo performance was good enough. But no longer. And what better way for partners in battle to understand each other than to fight? How else will you really understand everything they are capable of? It is not the only way, but the point is that Bankai is a union of Spirit and Shinigami. Nothing less will suffice. As for the last reason it cannot simply be offered...a Zanpakuto Spirit does not know the Bankai either. It is only through understanding each other that the Bankai can be found. However, a Zanpakuto Spirit can withhold a true Bankai from a wielder it does not find worthy.
It is dangerous for a Bankai to be damaged though...unless a way can be found to utterly transform a Bankai, it will forever remain damaged. No smith can repair the sword, nor can the answer solely be found within. Records do tell of old Captains who were able to repair a broken or damaged Bankai, but none of the records spell out how to do it.
Most Lieutenants have Bankai, and even some of the top rankers in a Division. What lies beyond, what the next stage of evolution is….is something that is not taught in any academy. What is known is that not all Captains have reached this state, something reflected by the fact that the ‘Captain-class’ level of power ranges anywhere from the strongest Lieutenants all the way to the very strongest of Hollows. What is known is that achieving this state frequently changes the Bankai, augmenting its power in some way or unlocking all new abilities in addition to changing the shape of the sword. This Perfected Bankai is the end goal for almost all Shinigami, even if they do not know that it exists. The most commonly believed path is that it means the Shinigami needs to obtain the complete trust of their Zanpakuto Spirit, having reached a point of personal development they believe merits that power...or that one needs to completely suborn your Zanpakuto Spirit to your will.
There is another path though, one talked about only in the most hushed of whispers among the few who know the specifics of its existence. Vaizard, an unholy marriage of Hollow and Shinigami power. Only achievable after Bankai has been unlocked, a Vaizard is a Shinigami who has been infected by Hollow reiatsu at some point, something that festers inside of the soul. At some point this evolves into an Inner Hollow, a corrupted portion of the soul, akin to what a Zanpakuto Spirit should be. Another way to think of this is as a Shadow, the dark or suppressed side of the psyche that has been unleashed. The brave Shinigami can be cowardly inside, or filled with rage that their work has been left unacknowledged. The measured and the stoic can have a secret lust for battle, or even a cold blooded killer who doesn’t bat an eyelash at each death. Whatever the personality of the Inner Hollow, the motivation is always the same at first. They would do a better job with the body. The Inner Hollow wants to be in control, and will battle with the Shinigami until it has that control, or until subdued. But just subduing the Inner Hollow for a time is not enough. The Shinigami must conquer it and force it to bend the knee, force it to lend the Shinigami its power, even as it watches for its opportunity to break free.
But the cost of this is large. Seireitei officially kills any Vaizard it finds, from Captains on down. Unofficially it can find uses for them in the blackest of squadrons, resulting in rumors about beastly Shinigami in the secretive 2nd Division or even the battle-hungry 11th. And on the level of the soul...the corruption of an Inner Hollow consumes the potential for growth in a Zanpakuto Spirit, the capacity of the soul has gone to this fragmented being instead. Fragmenting the soul even further is rumored to limit growth, even if this has never been proven. What is known, however, is that there is always the threat of losing control fully...and once that is done, the once proud Shinigami is now a Hollow. The transformation takes time, and can be interrupted, but once complete there is no way back.
There is, though, another rumor. Where it is possible to kill the Inner Hollow entirely, absorbing it back into the Shinigami’s soul and expelling the corrosive Hollow reiatsu. Doing so would free one to perfect one’s Bankai...but whether this is even possible is unknown. It is the hope of some with an Inner Hollow that they can achieve this, so that the taint is not irrecoverable, but if so, none speak of the solution.
True History of Seireitei
What follows is not taught in classrooms. It is a secret, gradually taught to those who show promise and have begun to accept the necessity of the dark side of Soul Society.
Around six thousand years ago, Shinigami as we know them today did not exist. Souls lived in what is known today as the Kouya. Farming, having been in use on Earth for around a thousand years in China, had made its way to Soul Society, and the villages of what would become the Rukongai had sprung up, but the majority of souls still lived in the Kouya. It was where they had always lived... and there were many other beings. Spirits of nature, godly in power and in wisdom, who protected some from Hollows, judged others, and revealed the secrets of power to those souls that had proved their own wisdom and had the capacity to become protectors of their own kind. Kami, they would later be called. To these men and women they granted a vessel which their spirit would fill. These were the origin of the asauchi, before asauchi were ever called so, for they did not have to be a blade.
These proto-asauchi were nothing more than containers. When a soul with the right amount of reiatsu holds one, their power slowly begins to fill it, and quicken a spirit within. Almost akin to a child being born, the life force within it has become known as a Zanpakuto Spirit, as all modern asauchi are made from swords. In these halcyon days they came with other shapes and sizes, but the purpose and the technique was the same. It was a power granted by the gods of the Kouya to those who could not manifest their own weapon directly... an ability rarer now than it was then, but still rare enough to be remarkable. And so it was that these proto-Shinigami protected their own. Some of them went to Earth to protect family there from Hollows, and others still befriended humans who could see them. Warlords, people with power, left the Kouya and its restrictions to begin warring over a proto-Rukongai, protecting their turf and attempting to expand it. It was an innocent time.
Until a cataclysm. Until The Balance was nearly lost. Until Earth began to fall into Soul Society. Bodies left merged with houses, wooden spars falling out of the sky like rain, whole towns suddenly crashing down like meteors or buried deep underground. And although they would credit themselves with having stopped it, the truth was that The Balance was on its way to recovering naturally. The destruction and abrupt loss of life on Earth, and the influx of souls to Soul Society, was nature's way of rebalancing the too swift development of human life after farming became more widespread. It was, in fact, not the first time. The gods of the Kouya took it in stride, nature had balanced things again.
But this time, there were Shinigami with power to witness the event. They witnessed their loved ones dying, reality falling apart...and they did what anyone would. They resolved to never let it happen again. Hundreds of thousands dead. Millions dead. Never again.
One man had a vision for what could be, and he united others to his cause. They would create a society that governed The Balance, they would protect the world. But he knew that the methods used would not always be righteous. The Balance was too important to protect with weak methods that "might" work. No. He needed assurance, certainty, that it could never happen again.
That decision, that need by the survivors, was what made Seireitei into what it is today. A public shield of "soul reapers" to "defend mortals from predation by Hollows" and "ensure The Balance is kept" was created, after much research was done to create their own vessels, ones not granted by the gods. These asauchi were both a method to empower soldiers and keep the development of power under the supervision of this nascent Seireitei. If the method to power was in their hands, they could ensure no one else had it... or that they were rare enough to be of no consequence. Magic, originally created by bright individuals who came up with their own wrinkles and paths, was codified into Kido. All future spells were to be regimented and made according to the system, so that spells could be handed out in a controlled manner. For manpower, he turned to the warlords, recruiting those he could convince and killing any he could not. With this, they had power, an army that could do what needed to be done.
And what needed to be done was nothing short than the patrolling of Earth and Soul Society. To ensure that balance was kept between its populations. Humanity bred quickly, although it was still kept in check by disease, predators, and lack of food. But the last was being taken care of by farming, and the Bronze age was not far away. Humanity's population could begin to grow too rapidly at any point...
Enter Hollows. Hueco Mundo is not part of The Balance, instead standing outside of the scale between Soul Society and Earth. A natural stockpile of souls that represented a reservoir that these Shinigami could tap to increase the population in Seireitei as needed. As a bonus, they were already recognized as enemies by the spiritually aware, an evil that needed to be fought. But with careful monitoring, some Hollows could be left "undiscovered" on Earth, which would lead to a decrease in human souls without an increase in Seireitei. Similarly, if masses of souls were staying in Soul Society for too long without reincarnating, they could be... forcefully sent back into the cycle. Heinous yes, but better to die beneath the blades of Shinigami than in a cataclysm. Like this, the Shinigami could control all parts of The Balance.
The kami of the Kouya were furious. Nature was meant to be unchained and unfettered, and now these souls were attempting to pervert it. Negotiations began and broke down instantly--what the holy spirits saw as a natural cycle, the Shinigami saw as a disaster to be prevented and mitigated. Better for the loss of life to be controlled and minimized than to watch entire swaths of reality obliterated. The Shinigami, led by their Soul King, refused to bow to the kami and ambushed them at the negotiating table in an attempt to prevent their nascent movement from being snuffed out.
They lost.
Most of the kami survived and were simply beaten back, but those who still followed them were slaughtered. The Soul King survived the fight, albeit wounded heavily, but half of his top guard were dead. The spirits were enraged, but by their own nature they did not consider wiping out their new enemy. Too powerful to be killed, but not of mind to wipe out the Shinigami, they passed an edict. Any soul who followed the rule of Shinigami found within the Kouya forfeited their life. Even most Pluses, those who bent to accommodate the new order, were subject to the same edict. And so, the pounding of hoof and claw began, and those who attempted to live in both lands were trounced by the stampede. Those that did not want this new order noted the wording of the kami... and slipped into the Kouya. They did not follow Seireitei, and thus, they could remain in nature. Shinigami were quick to dismiss them, a living reminder that they had lost the war, and move on. They were, after all, taking up the most important mantle of all, one these kami the dissenting survivors loved so dearly could not fathom the importance of. To defend the worlds.
The war enacted by Soul Society and its resulting complications had weakened the Shinigami, but they were still strong enough to recover from this blow. But there was a problem. There were fewer souls in Soul Society now. The Balance was... disturbed. They knew what must be done to ensure they could properly protect the worlds. Their choice was sealed with blood.
They went to Earth and killed humans with spiritual power en-masse, often using Hollows to do the hands-on work. Doing this made Earth need them more than ever, like domesticating a wild animal and teaching it to rely on you for sustenance, and conveniently gave Seireitei a much needed boost in population. With new soldiers who had forgotten much about their past lives, they set about creating a society that would protect The Balance forever. One who would use every dirty trick imaginable in pursuit of the most holy goal possible.
After all, is not the protection of the world sacred? Is it not something to strive for? They were heroes... even if some of what they did was not heroic. But even if Earth never understood, it was okay. The hard choices they made, the acts they committed in full knowledge of their cruelty... were all for the greater good.
The true goal of the Gotei 13 and the Central 8 is not to protect Soul Society or even Earth from Hollows. It is to ensure The Balance is kept. By whatever means necessary. Their cause is just, even if their methods are not. So it has been. So it will be. For however many thousands upon thousands of years they can remain, so too will their methods. In the face of utter catastrophe, they can do no less. After all... if you did less, and in doing so kill millions or billions, wouldn't you give it your all?
Structure of Seireitei
Let us begin by dispelling a pleasant fiction.
Seireitei does not care about your life. Seireitei does not care about your loved ones. Seireitei cares about keeping The Balance at any cost. In the face of annihilation, what is one life over millions? Thousands of years ago, real men and women dealt with those ‘philosophical’ questions and found their answer. The society they have built is a monument to their fears, their power, their trauma, and their triumph. Some of them still exist today, carefully calibrating the machine that is the Court of Souls.
And machine it is. Becoming a Shinigami is designed to grind away your empathy for any other race, and even your own fellow soldiers. It is not just expected, it is demanded that in the face of a choice between your orders and anything else, you follow orders. Not that it’s ever phrased like that. ‘Your actions, though understandable, put the lives of your squadmates at risk’ is one oft used excuse, but at the end of the day, if they have to say that you simply defied orders, they will. Once you climb high enough you can flout some of those rules, but only if they adhere to the true goals of Seireitei...or if you’re simply too useful for the time being. But do not count on the latter to save you. Talented Shinigami will come again, troublemakers should not.
They made it easy to find those Shinigami too. The Rukongai is deliberately fostered, cultivated so that crime lords do what they do best. Money is sent, or supplies delivered in secret...or ‘accidentally’ left at the wayside of a Hollow attack on a Shinigami transport, a convenient way to get rid of troublemakers and deliver weapons to criminals. As a bonus, they can then do cleanup in the name of public security, using the violence out in the Rukongai as an excuse to pull Shinigami from Earth when the Balance needs some slight adjusting, or the Hollow population needs to feast. A few weeks or months out in the Rukongai gives them a slight reputation bump, allows prospective Shinigami to see the Gotei working for the good of all, and reinforces the need for Seireitei to enforce the law. That the Shinigami sent out often do believe they’re doing the right thing, and actually want to enforce order, is just icing on the cake. But those Shinigami do not, and likely will never, know that the same chaos out there is a result of the Seireitei managing it.
Why? Because if they control the gangs and the crime lords, they know what they’re doing. An inhospitable environment drives souls with power to them, fueling recruitment. Criminals require order to be established, and it justifies troop movements to weaken the protection of Earth at crucial times and places.
This is not to say that all evils in the whole of Soul Society are the fault of the rulers of the Shinigami. Far from it. But they are willing to let many evils persist, to put a leash on them, or otherwise, because it suits their purposes. It is for this reason that the Captain Commander and the division that guards the Soul King, Division Zero, do not seek to eradicate Hollows. Instead, they wish to manage their population. Like keeping a whole continent full of man-eating monsters as farm animals. Although they do not like powerful Hollows that slip their control, like the Vasto Lorde of legend, a mere Adjuchas is perfect. Powerful, deadly, capable of killing Shinigami or humans alike...a solid weapon to remove any Shinigami asking too many questions, or with too much empathy than is wise.
The truth of what Seireitei wants is restricted, in general, to Captains or above. As you climb in ranks, or as you enter blacker and more restrictive squads and workforces, you may learn more. A squad that manages the crime gangs knows what they’re doing, but they believe that controlling the gangs minimizes the damage...and at least they know exactly where to look when the cleanup starts. The more cynical know it’s human nature, at least they control who the actors are, keep the worst excesses from happening.
Ideally, the Gotei 13 wants low level Shinigami to follow orders and grow gradually numb to the deaths of humans and Pluses. To that end, fraternization is frowned upon, with action eventually being taken. Shinigami should matter to Shinigami...and no one else. To that end, discrimination is subtly encouraged. Eventually...yes, they would love soldiers that know nothing but to follow orders, or at least believe in the Gotei 13 above all else, but they know that isn’t always possible either. And they are fine to let those low level soldiers remain there.
But if someone starts to climb the ranks and still advocates for a more humane approach, alarm is raised. Reminders that the Balance comes first, that humanity dies quickly with their fragility and tiny lifespans...Captains have been known to arrange for ‘lessons’ to ensure that a talented young Shinigami is molded in the proper direction.
The worst part? They believe, genuinely believe, they’re doing the right thing.
The Balance is too important to be neglected, or to be entrusted into the hands of someone who might not choose it over all else. These Shinigami are wrong, but they just need a lesson or two to see the light. It might hurt...but it’s better than dying, and better still than what can happen if they’re not returned to the proper mindset.
After thousand upon thousands of years, what had started as a deliberately orchestrated society has become self-perpetuating. Only the Captain Commander and three Captains know the complete truth, only they were alive six thousand years ago or during the construction immediately afterwards. They act as the society’s safekeepers, keeping it on track towards the direction they desire, but they’re much more hands off than they used to be. It is for that reason that Soukyoku Hill remains largely silent these days...but if they need to execute a Shinigami for treason, it will be done. So it was that sixty years ago, a young Shinigami noble was executed for the crime of….wedding a Quincy. That lesson has remained in place since, although none have required the Soukyoku to remind Soul Society why they do not fraternize with the enemy.
As for the Central 8, the judges and lawmakers of Seireitei, they are truly wise men...in the eyes of the Captains. Civilians who understand the importance of their work, they truly do most of the legislative work, giving Seireitei another veneer of legitimacy by having a civilian branch. But at the end of the day, these wise men are just another branch of the society that was constructed. Not puppets, but willing participants, they follow their role well while ensuring that Shinigami have a target outside of their own high command to blame when they grow disgruntled over rules.
Yours is a sacred charge. It was the first thing you learned about in the Academy, along with the consequences if that charge is not upheld. To protect The Balance is to protect all worlds. Once, Shinigami did not exist as they do today, and the world slid towards disaster. Earth and Soul Society began to merge, tearing reality apart and killing countless people along with it. Finally, due to the intervention of the first Shinigami and the Soul King, Balance was restored and the world was saved. Ever since, Shinigami have been the first and only line of defense for The Balance. You do far more than protect a few lives here and there, or take a few here and there. You serve a cause far greater than yourself. Your chest wells with pride at the thought. Escorting souls to Soul Society, cutting down Hollows, who wouldn't be proud to be a Shinigami?
So thinks a once idealistic young soul, before long years have ground away that idealism, that innocence. Before blood belonging to more than just Hollows have stained their sword, before they have consigned thousands of innocents to death. But it's okay. They may not be idealistic, they may not be innocent...
But they are righteous, upholding a sacred charge. And in defense of that charge, what wouldn't you do? After all, what's a few lives compared to countless millions?
Splintering of the Soul
Shinigami begin their lives as a Plus who has been sent on from the mortal realm. Either naturally, because they had no fetters to bind them to the mortal world, or purification via the hilt of a Shinigami Zanpakuto, they arrive in the Rukongai of Soul Society. Often adopted into a family of other souls who have found themselves nearby and who enjoy (or tolerate) each other’s company, the life for the majority of souls means simply living here, freed from hunger or thirst, until they finally pass on again and reincarnate.
For the Shinigami, no such peaceful life is possible. Their burgeoning spiritual power means they suffer from hunger and thirst, a sure sign of their potential to be accepted into the Shinigami Academy. Patrols of Shinigami who keep the peace throughout the Rukongai may find them soon, or they may lay undetected for years as they avoid the Shinigami for a variety of reasons. Local crime gangs are more than happy to have them, because their power means they can serve as muscle or protection. For those souls with power, not joining the Shinigami often means a life of pain, as not joining a gang is taken as a sign you’ll join one of their rivals, or otherwise be an enemy. In a world where most souls are weak and skill becomes the true barometer of power in the Rukongai, being able to tip that balance and not be on the same side makes you into a threat.
The Shinigami make such recruitment a priority, and their conditions are favorable. A mission in life, a purpose, is one of course, but they start with other things. Clothing, housing, food and water, healing...and of course, the offer to take into Seireitei your own loved ones, so that they can live their own lives in relative comfort securely. Not that such offers are made en-masse, only a few people can join. But that can mean your children (blood related or otherwise), a fatherly figure, your spouse...there are many reasons.
Once you have joined the Shinigami Academy, your true mission begins. One of the first things done is they tell you the goal of all Shinigami. To protect the worlds from Hollowbreeds, to escort Pluses to Soul Society, and to defend The Balance. Videos, preserved in crystal and other technology, are shown to demonstrate what happens when The Balance begins to tip. Whole towns merged into rock and mud, people dead as the fabric of the worlds meet, and the utter terror that can be seen as the fabric of reality rips and frays. Hollows, gorging themselves on the dead, killing humans to feast upon their souls, tearing through the Rukongai...and those Pluses, crying with happiness as they pass on. This is your mission.
After this, you receive the weapon that will accompany you for the rest of your life. As a start, it is an asauchi, a standard service sword just like every other. Although legends tell of Shinigami that can manifest their own weapons directly, they are impossible to find. Also, there is no reason to need to. With an asauchi, anyone with sufficient spiritual power can manifest their Zanpakuto Spirit. Being able to create a blade from nothing, or needing a vessel...one simply lowers the bar to start training.
The asauchi can be likened to a bowl. As a Shinigami recruit carries it, their reiatsu slowly fills the bowl. This process can take hours, months, or even years. Although awakening faster can be an indicator of power, there are just as many examples of Zanpakuto Spirits awakening late in the training process, and the Shinigami going on to a long and illustrious career. After the vessel is filled, the reiatsu within quickens the Zanpakuto Spirit. There are rumors as to what the spirit is- a fusion between your reiatsu and the asauchi, your own reiatsu given form, a fragment of your soul, the spirits of long-dead creatures attached to you....and, in fact, there have been examples of each over the long years. Fundamentally, a Zanpakuto Spirit is the spirit of the sword, however it got there. By resonating with it, by coming to understand and finding a relationship with a separate being, the Shinigami is able to release its power. The first release, or Shikai, transforms the shape of the sword and allows for its unique power to be used. This also allows for a Shinigami to purify a soul, sending it from Earth to Soul Society.
The primary goal is to infuse the young Shinigami with the values of the Gotei 13, train them in swordplay, awaken their Zanpakuto Spirit, and teach the basics of Kido, the magic system of the Shinigami. Broken into three parts, they are; Bakudo: The Way of Binding, Hado: The Way of Destruction, and Kaido: The Way of Healing. The last topic is Shunpo, or Flash Step, and is the primary movement ability of Shinigami. The trainees tend to take well to one of the three schools of magic, swordsmanship, or Shunpo, but not all Shinigami do. These tend to go on and find supporting roles in Seireitei instead of heading to the front lines, but not all are so lucky.
After graduation, Shinigami join one of the divisions of the Gotei 13. Their purposes are varied, and so are the personalities of their Captains, a distinct breakpoint of power among Shinigami. However, the number of each division is not an indicator of strength. Although most Shinigami are sent to a division where their skills will be needed the most, sometimes they are just assigned to whichever division is most in need. Transfer between divisions is possible, but frowned upon.
Many Shinigami die in their first few months of patrolling the Rukongai or Earth, taken in by a false sense of superiority. Hollows are wily, and Shinigami souls taste rich and delicious, so much so that a clever Hollow can defeat Shinigami, sometimes playing off their pride and superiority. Should they not die however, they can find success and sharpen their skills by killing Hollows. As they do, the relationship they have with their Zanpakuto Spirit begins to grow and change. This change is often what fuels the growth of a Shinigami.
Zanpakuto Spirits have a variety of wants or desires, sometimes at odds with the Shinigami in question. As the pair change, so too does the bond gain strength or even weaken. Note that the only thing that matters here is the depth of the bond. Conquering your spirit through martial prowess is just as viable as coming to a psychological understanding of their wants and desires. Certain methods carry with them drawbacks though...and simply beating up your Zanpakuto Spirit without understanding anything at all can result in their revolt, resulting in a Shinigami falling powerless at the stage where they need that power the most. Although sometimes done to teach the Shinigami a lesson the Zanpakuto Spirit thinks needs teaching, other sadistic Zanpakuto Spirits attempt to subvert the relationship and make the Shinigami follow their own commands. And Zanpakuto Spirits are hardly omniscient, just because it thinks you need to learn a certain lesson about life doesn’t mean you do.
A critical threshold is the unlocking of the final release, or Bankai. This is the culmination of what the Shinigami has been going through with their Zanpakuto Spirit. Typically this is done by manifesting the Zanpakuto Spirit in the real world and defeating them in combat, a very dangerous battle that can result in permanent injury. The Spirit is usually unwilling to offer its power to someone who is unworthy, but that is not the only reason why this clash is necessary. A dance is only as good as both of the dancers, and they must be in sync with each other in order to reach the next tier. Up until now, the dancers did not need to harmonize perfectly, a solo performance was good enough. But no longer. And what better way for partners in battle to understand each other than to fight? How else will you really understand everything they are capable of? It is not the only way, but the point is that Bankai is a union of Spirit and Shinigami. Nothing less will suffice. As for the last reason it cannot simply be offered...a Zanpakuto Spirit does not know the Bankai either. It is only through understanding each other that the Bankai can be found. However, a Zanpakuto Spirit can withhold a true Bankai from a wielder it does not find worthy.
It is dangerous for a Bankai to be damaged though...unless a way can be found to utterly transform a Bankai, it will forever remain damaged. No smith can repair the sword, nor can the answer solely be found within. Records do tell of old Captains who were able to repair a broken or damaged Bankai, but none of the records spell out how to do it.
Most Lieutenants have Bankai, and even some of the top rankers in a Division. What lies beyond, what the next stage of evolution is….is something that is not taught in any academy. What is known is that not all Captains have reached this state, something reflected by the fact that the ‘Captain-class’ level of power ranges anywhere from the strongest Lieutenants all the way to the very strongest of Hollows. What is known is that achieving this state frequently changes the Bankai, augmenting its power in some way or unlocking all new abilities in addition to changing the shape of the sword. This Perfected Bankai is the end goal for almost all Shinigami, even if they do not know that it exists. The most commonly believed path is that it means the Shinigami needs to obtain the complete trust of their Zanpakuto Spirit, having reached a point of personal development they believe merits that power...or that one needs to completely suborn your Zanpakuto Spirit to your will.
There is another path though, one talked about only in the most hushed of whispers among the few who know the specifics of its existence. Vaizard, an unholy marriage of Hollow and Shinigami power. Only achievable after Bankai has been unlocked, a Vaizard is a Shinigami who has been infected by Hollow reiatsu at some point, something that festers inside of the soul. At some point this evolves into an Inner Hollow, a corrupted portion of the soul, akin to what a Zanpakuto Spirit should be. Another way to think of this is as a Shadow, the dark or suppressed side of the psyche that has been unleashed. The brave Shinigami can be cowardly inside, or filled with rage that their work has been left unacknowledged. The measured and the stoic can have a secret lust for battle, or even a cold blooded killer who doesn’t bat an eyelash at each death. Whatever the personality of the Inner Hollow, the motivation is always the same at first. They would do a better job with the body. The Inner Hollow wants to be in control, and will battle with the Shinigami until it has that control, or until subdued. But just subduing the Inner Hollow for a time is not enough. The Shinigami must conquer it and force it to bend the knee, force it to lend the Shinigami its power, even as it watches for its opportunity to break free.
But the cost of this is large. Seireitei officially kills any Vaizard it finds, from Captains on down. Unofficially it can find uses for them in the blackest of squadrons, resulting in rumors about beastly Shinigami in the secretive 2nd Division or even the battle-hungry 11th. And on the level of the soul...the corruption of an Inner Hollow consumes the potential for growth in a Zanpakuto Spirit, the capacity of the soul has gone to this fragmented being instead. Fragmenting the soul even further is rumored to limit growth, even if this has never been proven. What is known, however, is that there is always the threat of losing control fully...and once that is done, the once proud Shinigami is now a Hollow. The transformation takes time, and can be interrupted, but once complete there is no way back.
There is, though, another rumor. Where it is possible to kill the Inner Hollow entirely, absorbing it back into the Shinigami’s soul and expelling the corrosive Hollow reiatsu. Doing so would free one to perfect one’s Bankai...but whether this is even possible is unknown. It is the hope of some with an Inner Hollow that they can achieve this, so that the taint is not irrecoverable, but if so, none speak of the solution.
True History of Seireitei
What follows is not taught in classrooms. It is a secret, gradually taught to those who show promise and have begun to accept the necessity of the dark side of Soul Society.
Around six thousand years ago, Shinigami as we know them today did not exist. Souls lived in what is known today as the Kouya. Farming, having been in use on Earth for around a thousand years in China, had made its way to Soul Society, and the villages of what would become the Rukongai had sprung up, but the majority of souls still lived in the Kouya. It was where they had always lived... and there were many other beings. Spirits of nature, godly in power and in wisdom, who protected some from Hollows, judged others, and revealed the secrets of power to those souls that had proved their own wisdom and had the capacity to become protectors of their own kind. Kami, they would later be called. To these men and women they granted a vessel which their spirit would fill. These were the origin of the asauchi, before asauchi were ever called so, for they did not have to be a blade.
These proto-asauchi were nothing more than containers. When a soul with the right amount of reiatsu holds one, their power slowly begins to fill it, and quicken a spirit within. Almost akin to a child being born, the life force within it has become known as a Zanpakuto Spirit, as all modern asauchi are made from swords. In these halcyon days they came with other shapes and sizes, but the purpose and the technique was the same. It was a power granted by the gods of the Kouya to those who could not manifest their own weapon directly... an ability rarer now than it was then, but still rare enough to be remarkable. And so it was that these proto-Shinigami protected their own. Some of them went to Earth to protect family there from Hollows, and others still befriended humans who could see them. Warlords, people with power, left the Kouya and its restrictions to begin warring over a proto-Rukongai, protecting their turf and attempting to expand it. It was an innocent time.
Until a cataclysm. Until The Balance was nearly lost. Until Earth began to fall into Soul Society. Bodies left merged with houses, wooden spars falling out of the sky like rain, whole towns suddenly crashing down like meteors or buried deep underground. And although they would credit themselves with having stopped it, the truth was that The Balance was on its way to recovering naturally. The destruction and abrupt loss of life on Earth, and the influx of souls to Soul Society, was nature's way of rebalancing the too swift development of human life after farming became more widespread. It was, in fact, not the first time. The gods of the Kouya took it in stride, nature had balanced things again.
But this time, there were Shinigami with power to witness the event. They witnessed their loved ones dying, reality falling apart...and they did what anyone would. They resolved to never let it happen again. Hundreds of thousands dead. Millions dead. Never again.
One man had a vision for what could be, and he united others to his cause. They would create a society that governed The Balance, they would protect the world. But he knew that the methods used would not always be righteous. The Balance was too important to protect with weak methods that "might" work. No. He needed assurance, certainty, that it could never happen again.
That decision, that need by the survivors, was what made Seireitei into what it is today. A public shield of "soul reapers" to "defend mortals from predation by Hollows" and "ensure The Balance is kept" was created, after much research was done to create their own vessels, ones not granted by the gods. These asauchi were both a method to empower soldiers and keep the development of power under the supervision of this nascent Seireitei. If the method to power was in their hands, they could ensure no one else had it... or that they were rare enough to be of no consequence. Magic, originally created by bright individuals who came up with their own wrinkles and paths, was codified into Kido. All future spells were to be regimented and made according to the system, so that spells could be handed out in a controlled manner. For manpower, he turned to the warlords, recruiting those he could convince and killing any he could not. With this, they had power, an army that could do what needed to be done.
And what needed to be done was nothing short than the patrolling of Earth and Soul Society. To ensure that balance was kept between its populations. Humanity bred quickly, although it was still kept in check by disease, predators, and lack of food. But the last was being taken care of by farming, and the Bronze age was not far away. Humanity's population could begin to grow too rapidly at any point...
Enter Hollows. Hueco Mundo is not part of The Balance, instead standing outside of the scale between Soul Society and Earth. A natural stockpile of souls that represented a reservoir that these Shinigami could tap to increase the population in Seireitei as needed. As a bonus, they were already recognized as enemies by the spiritually aware, an evil that needed to be fought. But with careful monitoring, some Hollows could be left "undiscovered" on Earth, which would lead to a decrease in human souls without an increase in Seireitei. Similarly, if masses of souls were staying in Soul Society for too long without reincarnating, they could be... forcefully sent back into the cycle. Heinous yes, but better to die beneath the blades of Shinigami than in a cataclysm. Like this, the Shinigami could control all parts of The Balance.
The kami of the Kouya were furious. Nature was meant to be unchained and unfettered, and now these souls were attempting to pervert it. Negotiations began and broke down instantly--what the holy spirits saw as a natural cycle, the Shinigami saw as a disaster to be prevented and mitigated. Better for the loss of life to be controlled and minimized than to watch entire swaths of reality obliterated. The Shinigami, led by their Soul King, refused to bow to the kami and ambushed them at the negotiating table in an attempt to prevent their nascent movement from being snuffed out.
They lost.
Most of the kami survived and were simply beaten back, but those who still followed them were slaughtered. The Soul King survived the fight, albeit wounded heavily, but half of his top guard were dead. The spirits were enraged, but by their own nature they did not consider wiping out their new enemy. Too powerful to be killed, but not of mind to wipe out the Shinigami, they passed an edict. Any soul who followed the rule of Shinigami found within the Kouya forfeited their life. Even most Pluses, those who bent to accommodate the new order, were subject to the same edict. And so, the pounding of hoof and claw began, and those who attempted to live in both lands were trounced by the stampede. Those that did not want this new order noted the wording of the kami... and slipped into the Kouya. They did not follow Seireitei, and thus, they could remain in nature. Shinigami were quick to dismiss them, a living reminder that they had lost the war, and move on. They were, after all, taking up the most important mantle of all, one these kami the dissenting survivors loved so dearly could not fathom the importance of. To defend the worlds.
The war enacted by Soul Society and its resulting complications had weakened the Shinigami, but they were still strong enough to recover from this blow. But there was a problem. There were fewer souls in Soul Society now. The Balance was... disturbed. They knew what must be done to ensure they could properly protect the worlds. Their choice was sealed with blood.
They went to Earth and killed humans with spiritual power en-masse, often using Hollows to do the hands-on work. Doing this made Earth need them more than ever, like domesticating a wild animal and teaching it to rely on you for sustenance, and conveniently gave Seireitei a much needed boost in population. With new soldiers who had forgotten much about their past lives, they set about creating a society that would protect The Balance forever. One who would use every dirty trick imaginable in pursuit of the most holy goal possible.
After all, is not the protection of the world sacred? Is it not something to strive for? They were heroes... even if some of what they did was not heroic. But even if Earth never understood, it was okay. The hard choices they made, the acts they committed in full knowledge of their cruelty... were all for the greater good.
The true goal of the Gotei 13 and the Central 8 is not to protect Soul Society or even Earth from Hollows. It is to ensure The Balance is kept. By whatever means necessary. Their cause is just, even if their methods are not. So it has been. So it will be. For however many thousands upon thousands of years they can remain, so too will their methods. In the face of utter catastrophe, they can do no less. After all... if you did less, and in doing so kill millions or billions, wouldn't you give it your all?
Structure of Seireitei
Let us begin by dispelling a pleasant fiction.
Seireitei does not care about your life. Seireitei does not care about your loved ones. Seireitei cares about keeping The Balance at any cost. In the face of annihilation, what is one life over millions? Thousands of years ago, real men and women dealt with those ‘philosophical’ questions and found their answer. The society they have built is a monument to their fears, their power, their trauma, and their triumph. Some of them still exist today, carefully calibrating the machine that is the Court of Souls.
And machine it is. Becoming a Shinigami is designed to grind away your empathy for any other race, and even your own fellow soldiers. It is not just expected, it is demanded that in the face of a choice between your orders and anything else, you follow orders. Not that it’s ever phrased like that. ‘Your actions, though understandable, put the lives of your squadmates at risk’ is one oft used excuse, but at the end of the day, if they have to say that you simply defied orders, they will. Once you climb high enough you can flout some of those rules, but only if they adhere to the true goals of Seireitei...or if you’re simply too useful for the time being. But do not count on the latter to save you. Talented Shinigami will come again, troublemakers should not.
They made it easy to find those Shinigami too. The Rukongai is deliberately fostered, cultivated so that crime lords do what they do best. Money is sent, or supplies delivered in secret...or ‘accidentally’ left at the wayside of a Hollow attack on a Shinigami transport, a convenient way to get rid of troublemakers and deliver weapons to criminals. As a bonus, they can then do cleanup in the name of public security, using the violence out in the Rukongai as an excuse to pull Shinigami from Earth when the Balance needs some slight adjusting, or the Hollow population needs to feast. A few weeks or months out in the Rukongai gives them a slight reputation bump, allows prospective Shinigami to see the Gotei working for the good of all, and reinforces the need for Seireitei to enforce the law. That the Shinigami sent out often do believe they’re doing the right thing, and actually want to enforce order, is just icing on the cake. But those Shinigami do not, and likely will never, know that the same chaos out there is a result of the Seireitei managing it.
Why? Because if they control the gangs and the crime lords, they know what they’re doing. An inhospitable environment drives souls with power to them, fueling recruitment. Criminals require order to be established, and it justifies troop movements to weaken the protection of Earth at crucial times and places.
This is not to say that all evils in the whole of Soul Society are the fault of the rulers of the Shinigami. Far from it. But they are willing to let many evils persist, to put a leash on them, or otherwise, because it suits their purposes. It is for this reason that the Captain Commander and the division that guards the Soul King, Division Zero, do not seek to eradicate Hollows. Instead, they wish to manage their population. Like keeping a whole continent full of man-eating monsters as farm animals. Although they do not like powerful Hollows that slip their control, like the Vasto Lorde of legend, a mere Adjuchas is perfect. Powerful, deadly, capable of killing Shinigami or humans alike...a solid weapon to remove any Shinigami asking too many questions, or with too much empathy than is wise.
The truth of what Seireitei wants is restricted, in general, to Captains or above. As you climb in ranks, or as you enter blacker and more restrictive squads and workforces, you may learn more. A squad that manages the crime gangs knows what they’re doing, but they believe that controlling the gangs minimizes the damage...and at least they know exactly where to look when the cleanup starts. The more cynical know it’s human nature, at least they control who the actors are, keep the worst excesses from happening.
Ideally, the Gotei 13 wants low level Shinigami to follow orders and grow gradually numb to the deaths of humans and Pluses. To that end, fraternization is frowned upon, with action eventually being taken. Shinigami should matter to Shinigami...and no one else. To that end, discrimination is subtly encouraged. Eventually...yes, they would love soldiers that know nothing but to follow orders, or at least believe in the Gotei 13 above all else, but they know that isn’t always possible either. And they are fine to let those low level soldiers remain there.
But if someone starts to climb the ranks and still advocates for a more humane approach, alarm is raised. Reminders that the Balance comes first, that humanity dies quickly with their fragility and tiny lifespans...Captains have been known to arrange for ‘lessons’ to ensure that a talented young Shinigami is molded in the proper direction.
The worst part? They believe, genuinely believe, they’re doing the right thing.
The Balance is too important to be neglected, or to be entrusted into the hands of someone who might not choose it over all else. These Shinigami are wrong, but they just need a lesson or two to see the light. It might hurt...but it’s better than dying, and better still than what can happen if they’re not returned to the proper mindset.
After thousand upon thousands of years, what had started as a deliberately orchestrated society has become self-perpetuating. Only the Captain Commander and three Captains know the complete truth, only they were alive six thousand years ago or during the construction immediately afterwards. They act as the society’s safekeepers, keeping it on track towards the direction they desire, but they’re much more hands off than they used to be. It is for that reason that Soukyoku Hill remains largely silent these days...but if they need to execute a Shinigami for treason, it will be done. So it was that sixty years ago, a young Shinigami noble was executed for the crime of….wedding a Quincy. That lesson has remained in place since, although none have required the Soukyoku to remind Soul Society why they do not fraternize with the enemy.
As for the Central 8, the judges and lawmakers of Seireitei, they are truly wise men...in the eyes of the Captains. Civilians who understand the importance of their work, they truly do most of the legislative work, giving Seireitei another veneer of legitimacy by having a civilian branch. But at the end of the day, these wise men are just another branch of the society that was constructed. Not puppets, but willing participants, they follow their role well while ensuring that Shinigami have a target outside of their own high command to blame when they grow disgruntled over rules.