Post by Keito on Nov 30, 2015 15:29:53 GMT -6
Long ago, in the time before history, mankind was plagued by demons. The beings were merciless in their drive to devour the souls of man and bend them to their will. With each death the demons' numbers grew while the population of man dwindled. The King of Souls, keeper of the balance of life and death, looked upon this struggle with great sadness. He knew that, if allowed to, the demons would bring an end to the world in their ravenous desire to fill the hollowness in their souls.
Yet he could do nothing on his own. His duty was to remain in the Soul Palace and guide the dead into their next life. Were he to vacate his throne, the balance would be irrevocably disturbed.
After some consideration, he was able to come up with a solution. He gathered to himself the thirteen purest souls residing in the spirit realm and bestowed upon them great power. These souls he dubbed Shinigami, the Gods of Death. Their mission, he told them, was to travel once again to the land of the living and purify with steel those beings with hollow souls who feasted upon the lives of man that they may once again enter into the wheel of life. They were also instructed to act as guides for those souls who became lost, for they were as those who became the first of the demons, the Hollow.
The Shinigami slowed the tide of the Hollow's hunger, but being so few in number could do nothing to stem it. The Soul King saw this as well and granted the powers of the Shinigami to five wise souls. These new Shinigami were vastly more powerful than the thirteen original, and were commanded to go into the spirit world and begin training other souls deserving of the mantle of the Gods of Death. These new students were schooled in the arts of healing, destruction, binding, and swordplay. When deemed fit, each student was sent to serve under one of the original thirteen shinigami.
In this way, the Gotei 13 was formed.
With a newly founded army, the Hollow were beaten back to the space between worlds, an unending desert known as Hueco Mundo. The balance of souls was restored and the Shinigami returned to the spirit realm. Over time they helped to build Rukongai, the City of Souls. They became the guardians of peace, both in the land of the dead, and the realm of the living. For though the Hollow had been beaten back, they reemerged often, driven by the hunger that dominated their minds.
The five wise souls had long since been called back to serve the soul king, and so to keep up with the slowly increasing Hollow horde a school was founded by the original thirteen Gods of Death. Their original positions as Captains were passed along to their chosen protegees and they began to teach the way of the Shinigami to students they deemed worthy. Centuries passed, then millennia. The old guard passed into legend. The old world faded from memory. Hollow emerged only on occasion and mankind remembered the demons only as tales whispered in the dead of night. The Gods of Death, while powerful, grew complacent.
In Hueco Mundo, however the Hollow grew in power. Unable to feast on human souls, they turned to devouring each other. In doing so, they discovered a bandage for their hunger. The strength gained from eating their own kind filled them temporarily with rapture. If they ate enough, they would even transform. Physically, they grew more imposing. Mentally, they developed personality akin to who they were while living, yet twisted beyond recognition. They developed desires beyond feeding. The oldest of them, ten ancient demons as old as man, could recall when the Shinigami came and drove them away to the hell they resided in now. They wished to return to the living world to feast on life as in the olden days, yet they knew the Shinigami would not allow it. Not as they were.
They began to feed.
They devoured countless Hollowkind and absorbed their power, their personalities. They fed so much it drove them to madness. They raged and destroyed and tore at their masks. They discovered something then. As their masks fell away the ten ancients found that their power increased exponentially. That their forms resembled more closely that of the Humans and the Shinigami. They were strong now. The Espada, as they later began to call themselves, would raise an army of their own. An army of unmasked Hollow to surpass that of the Shinigami. They would reclaim the world that they deemed theirs.
As of late, the Shinigami have begun to see a marked increase of Hollow activity in the Living World. They have passed it off as nothing more than a spike, as is seen on occasion, but an evil wind has blown through the world. Change is on the horizon. The question is, what will your legacy be?
Yet he could do nothing on his own. His duty was to remain in the Soul Palace and guide the dead into their next life. Were he to vacate his throne, the balance would be irrevocably disturbed.
After some consideration, he was able to come up with a solution. He gathered to himself the thirteen purest souls residing in the spirit realm and bestowed upon them great power. These souls he dubbed Shinigami, the Gods of Death. Their mission, he told them, was to travel once again to the land of the living and purify with steel those beings with hollow souls who feasted upon the lives of man that they may once again enter into the wheel of life. They were also instructed to act as guides for those souls who became lost, for they were as those who became the first of the demons, the Hollow.
The Shinigami slowed the tide of the Hollow's hunger, but being so few in number could do nothing to stem it. The Soul King saw this as well and granted the powers of the Shinigami to five wise souls. These new Shinigami were vastly more powerful than the thirteen original, and were commanded to go into the spirit world and begin training other souls deserving of the mantle of the Gods of Death. These new students were schooled in the arts of healing, destruction, binding, and swordplay. When deemed fit, each student was sent to serve under one of the original thirteen shinigami.
In this way, the Gotei 13 was formed.
With a newly founded army, the Hollow were beaten back to the space between worlds, an unending desert known as Hueco Mundo. The balance of souls was restored and the Shinigami returned to the spirit realm. Over time they helped to build Rukongai, the City of Souls. They became the guardians of peace, both in the land of the dead, and the realm of the living. For though the Hollow had been beaten back, they reemerged often, driven by the hunger that dominated their minds.
The five wise souls had long since been called back to serve the soul king, and so to keep up with the slowly increasing Hollow horde a school was founded by the original thirteen Gods of Death. Their original positions as Captains were passed along to their chosen protegees and they began to teach the way of the Shinigami to students they deemed worthy. Centuries passed, then millennia. The old guard passed into legend. The old world faded from memory. Hollow emerged only on occasion and mankind remembered the demons only as tales whispered in the dead of night. The Gods of Death, while powerful, grew complacent.
In Hueco Mundo, however the Hollow grew in power. Unable to feast on human souls, they turned to devouring each other. In doing so, they discovered a bandage for their hunger. The strength gained from eating their own kind filled them temporarily with rapture. If they ate enough, they would even transform. Physically, they grew more imposing. Mentally, they developed personality akin to who they were while living, yet twisted beyond recognition. They developed desires beyond feeding. The oldest of them, ten ancient demons as old as man, could recall when the Shinigami came and drove them away to the hell they resided in now. They wished to return to the living world to feast on life as in the olden days, yet they knew the Shinigami would not allow it. Not as they were.
They began to feed.
They devoured countless Hollowkind and absorbed their power, their personalities. They fed so much it drove them to madness. They raged and destroyed and tore at their masks. They discovered something then. As their masks fell away the ten ancients found that their power increased exponentially. That their forms resembled more closely that of the Humans and the Shinigami. They were strong now. The Espada, as they later began to call themselves, would raise an army of their own. An army of unmasked Hollow to surpass that of the Shinigami. They would reclaim the world that they deemed theirs.
As of late, the Shinigami have begun to see a marked increase of Hollow activity in the Living World. They have passed it off as nothing more than a spike, as is seen on occasion, but an evil wind has blown through the world. Change is on the horizon. The question is, what will your legacy be?