All righty, this is a rough draft but I finally did do some editing. There's a few things I haven't gotten to and may be changing. This is something I wrote up, but did so while talking to Weylin, Frey, and a few other Quincy.
Introduction to Quincy Quincy are a bloodline of mortals who share a common characteristic of being able to absorb the reishi around them and to utilize it as a weapon. They also differentiate from other spiritualists as this characteristic is genetic and passes down generation to generation. Quincy are the single greatest threat to the balance the Shinigami so carefully try to maintain. Originally devoid of any ability to purify souls, Quincy are the most disruptive spiritual force that currently exists. Their very nature has drawn the ire of the Shinigami.
The Quincy's natural prey are Hollows, and they are trained from a young age to track down and eliminate as many as they can. By the time most Quincy reach maturity they are skilled and efficient hunters who relentless pursue Hollows the world over, driven by their desire to protect the world they live in or other more personal motivations.
World of Living Most of their population is centered in the Germanic region of countries, though smaller pockets do exist scattered about the world. They integrate seamlessly into the rest of the human population and many have lives appropriately mundane for the culture they live in. Just as normal humans are ignorant of Shinigami or Hollows, they are also ignorant of the secret powers possessed by the Quincy in their midst.
For most, leading their double life is second nature. This typically includes strong family ties, as their own family are usually the only other Quincy that an individual might be close to or even be aware of. Given that most modern-day Quincy families are smaller than those of the past, this gives them a tight-knit network of people to fall back on. Some few Quincy have been known to eschew their heritage more completely in order to integrate to the wider world of human civilization. These Quincy rarely remain relevant as they do not pass on their Quincy skills or knowledge to anyone else, but occasionally the offspring of these individuals are found and brought in when they manifest their powers.
History of Quincy
Origins The bloodline that all Quincy originate from is unknown, clan historians have traced the first known origins to the Germanic region circa 100 BC during the nomadic period of the Germanic people. The nomadic life quickly spread the bloodline among the various tribes in the land, with intertribal marriages spreading the bloodline quicker.
Over the course of the next several hundred years the Quincy bloodline grew strong in the Germanic region and had spread well into the Scandinavian countries to the north as well as to the west onto the British Isles. While the bloodline had spread much further from those willing to travel to more exotic lands, the bulk of the Quincy bloodline is centered around what is now known as Germany.
The bloodlines eventually became spread out enough over the land that families might not see another of their kind for a generation. These families adopted secret traditions, each with their own method of training the next generation. Arranged marriages were instrumental in forging alliances and bringing in new blood while not diluting the bloodlines.
It was around 900 AD that many noticed an influx of the ravaging monsters that threatened their kind. Entire clans had been wiped away, stolen in the night. It was decided that it must be stopped. Alone they could not stop such an onslaught, but together it was possible that they could put up a front and protect themselves. It was this reason that the first great gathering was called for, later to be remembered as the first Kingsmoot. Here leaders of all clans were given a voice and a single vote.
The first great Quincy King was chosen at the great gathering. Under him a standardization of many things was created. This created a certain level that all of the bloodline were upheld to, any clan that was found to be unable to uphold their duties was often made a vassal to another of the clans until they were able to uphold their duties.
A fierce amount of pride among the clans kept this from happening often. Those clans that were made a vassal were looked down upon and the opportunity for marriages for the next generations severely dwindled. Those that had been a vassal to another clan often found themselves forced to dilute the bloodline further. This would lower their status even further.
Generations continued under various Kings and Queens, a hierarchy formed within the clans and some rose in respect and others fell. The entire time the bloodline continued to spread, sometimes a sequestered group of Quincy was found and brought into the fold, usually near the bottom of the hierarchy.
Eventually the Quincy came in contact with another spiritual being, the first Shinigami were sent merely as a warning that they would have to give up their ways and to stop the slaughter of Hollows. Even thought the Shinigami said they were destroying the balance, the pride of the Quincy was too great. Eventually all out war was waged between the Shinigami and the Quincy, despite fighting valiantly the Quincy were decimated.
The last Quincy Queen was killed and she was replaced with a council of elders. Their first act was to stop what they saw as the senseless deaths of their people. A faction within the Quincy stood against the council and were excommunicated from the other clans. On their own most of those clans were quickly decimated, few of those who were excommunicated survived.
The first act of the council was to develop a method of killing Hollows without removing them from the balance. After many secret trials of carious methods of modifying the Quincy weaponry a new weapon was formed that did not kill Hollows, but rather worked like a Shinigami Zanpakutō. These new weapons would replace the traditional Mekkakyu. While all Quincy had a Mekkakyu still, these new weapons were mandated as non-optional for all Quincy. These new weapons were called Bangles, capable of mimicking the Quincy's natural powers it was capable of drawing in latent reishi and focusing it.
Modern Quincy For the last few generations the Quincy have kept remarkably quiet, the councils looming threat of excommunication keeping most in line. Transgressions have occurred, but never enough attention was drawn to their kind, keeping out of sight and hopefully out of mind of the Shinigami. While run ins did occur they never were a cause of concern on each side.
Recently another Kingsmoot called, by Weylin von Wolfenstein. Maria Stahl, Markus Hohenfel, and Weylin von Wolfenstein are all brought before the voting clans as the possible choices for them to put their support behind. After what is considered an overwhelming decision of unity by some and an underhanded manipulation of the voting clans by others, Markus Hohenfel is chosen by the clans to be the High King of the Quincy, First of his Name, Defender of the People.
Regional Histories
Common Quincy Terms
[*]Bangle - An artifact designed to mimic a Quincy's natural powers while not removing spiritual beings from the balance. It works by drawing in Reishi from the environment, much like a Quincy does regularly. It can only be used properly by those who are already adept at forming and directing Reishi.[/*] [*]Die Anderswelt - Heuco Mundo[/*] [*]Gintō - A capsule-shaped tool used by Quincy to store their Reiryoku. It is an antiquated tool, but the use of it allows Quincy to perform certain techniques.[/*] [*]Selee Schneider - The Seele Schneider is a thin sword that can be fired similarly to an arrow. It's much longer than a standard arrow and functions something like a chainsaw: the Reishi of its blade vibrate at ultra-high frequencies, loosening the molecular bonds between any spirit matter it cuts so that the Quincy user may easily absorb the freed spirit particles.[/*]
[*]Reishi Manipulation[/*] [*]Holy Artifacts, Blut, or Kirchenlied[/*] [*]Holy Artifacts, Blut, or Kirchenlied[/*] [*]Custom Skill Slot[/*]
Reishi Manipulation Every Quincy has this skill at the very core of who there are. When it comes down to it, all Quincy have the exact same power that they’ve developed personalized applications of: the ability to manipulate Reishi. For this reason, this skill governs their Spirit Weapon and their Refined Spirit Weapon.
A fresh Quincy that has only now learned to materialize their weapon will have some difficulty doing so and, in turn, it will take some time to form. However, one of the first advancements a Quincy makes is being able to form their weapon effortlessly. This continues to the point where the Quincy begins to learn how to make other objects out of spiritual particles, such as other weapons or projectiles—all of them, typically, at a lower quality than their personal Spirit Weapon.
By the time a Quincy hits Intermediate or Advanced, they become capable of achieving their Refined Spirit Weapon. This is a form of their weapon that does not appear as a mass of raw spiritual particles and instead like an actual, physical object. Only Quincy that have expanded their soul to handle a much greater level of spiritual particle influx can make such an achievement.
As a Quincy reaches Advanced and begins to reach for Master and Grandmaster, more intricate things become common. Quincy may typically learn how to perform Ransō Tengai, a technique that allows the Quincy to move their body using threads of spiritual particles thus significantly expanding their durability and resilience. It can also be used to allow the body to perform greater feats of strength or speed than it might otherwise be capable of.
True experts of the skill are known for their ability to develop and create objects. Nearly all of the famous Quincy tools—such as Sanrei Devices—were created by Quincy who could be considered to have Master or Grandmaster in this skill. Quincy at this level them become the forges of Quincy ‘technology’, making them extremely valuable and dangerous Quincy who have progressed far beyond merely forming a bow or shooting a volley of arrows.
Holy Artifacts Over the centuries, Quincy developed numerous tools to aid in protecting themselves or killing Hollows. This skill governs the Quincy’s ability to use these various tools. This includes proficiency with Seele Schneider, the blade-like arrows that some Quincy use to improve the lethality of a particular shot. These weapons also function in many ways as a spiritual “chainsaw”, weakening the bonds of spiritual particles in a target to make damaging it even easier in the future.
Other items include the non-combat utility of Soul-Synthesized Materials such as Silver and Glass. These allow the Quincy to create rooms that seal in any trace of spiritual activity that can also withstand the rigors of training and combat between the spiritually powerful. It would also include the Bangles, bracelets that mimic the Quincy ability to pull in spiritual particles and are frequently used by Quincy who have lost their powers.
The general measurement of growth in this skill is how many such tools the Quincy is fluent in. Most Quincy will only be able to proficiently use two or three artifacts, such as Seele Schneider, Hollow Bait, or Soul Glass. This also includes any personal equipment they’ve developed. However a Grandmaster in Holy Artifacts will only be limited by what they are able to keep on hand.
Blut Blut comes in two primary forms.
The first is Blut Vene, wherein spiritual particles flood the numerous veins in a body and hardens the weak flesh of their Human bodies against the rigors of spiritual assault. This causes their veins to take on rectangular, snaking patterns of blue when in use.
The second is Blut Arterie, wherein spiritual particles are flooded into the muscles and joints, allowing the Quincy to strike with substantially increased power and infuse their attacks with addition devastation. This causes far fewer patterns to appear, though they are thicker and red when seen.
At the earliest stages of the skill, the concentration of spiritual particles is thin and mostly concentrated around the torso. The particles are slow to circulate and it is extremely difficult for the Quincy to switch between Vene and Arterie, if they can at all. As the skill advanced to Intermediate, the speed at which particles are pumped out increases substantially, not reaching and strengthening even the furthest reaches of the users body. Most Quincy would now be capable of switching between Vene and Arterie with only moderate focus and dedication, allowing for increased utility. As the skill progresses to Advanced and beyond, the speed between switching continues to diminish until the response of this skill is only slightly slower than the time necessary to have the thought.
Kirchenlied Just as the Shinigami have Kidō, the Quincy also have a incantation-based spellcasting skill. However, unlike Kidō, Kirchenlied is not organized by spell tiers nor anything else in particular. Furthermore, the Quincy have very few general spells taught to each other. Most Quincy develop their own, personalized arsenals.
What makes Kirchenlied truly unique is the application of Gintō to the spellcasting process. A Gintō is a small, silver tube of liquefied spiritual energy that the Quincy can convert into energy for any particular spell they might use. This allows a Quincy a wide array of benefits, such as being able to expend less of their own energy during combat or using Kirchenlied even after their powers have been exhausted by Letzter Stil.
Those who progress in this skill, then, apply their ever-growing ability to channel spiritual particles into greater, grander spells. Whereas Shinigami might develop more powerful spells as their power grows, Quincy are more inclined to simply build spells that scale in a stable manner with their power, resulting in a very focused and much smaller arsenal than what many Shinigami with Kidō might have.
The greatest spells in Kirchenlied, however, are created by the Masters and Grandmasters of this skill who routinely push what was once thought possible into new and inventive applications.
Prestige Quincy
Jägermeister These few Quincy have achieved power long thought lost. The progression of a Quincy's power relies upon their expanding the volume of spiritual particles that their soul is capable of channeling and using. Should a Quincy go overboard and deactivate their Sanrei device before they are ready, they will experience Letzter Stil and ultimately lose their powers.
Those who reach the epitome of what Quincy train to become are known as the Jägermeister, these Quincy have reached such a level that they can deactivate their Sanrei Device and retain their powers, acquiring a new form known as Vollständig.
Skills In addition to the basic Quincy skillset, Jägermeister gain the following:
[*]Reishi Dominance[/*] [*]Sklaverei or A Quincy Utility Skill (Holy Artifacts, Blut or Kirchenlied) or A Custom Skill Slot[/*] [*]Custom Skill Slot[/*]
Reishi Dominance Whereas Reishi Manipulation focuses on taking Spiritual Particles from the atmosphere, Reishi Dominance is far less constrained and can tear the Spiritual Particles out of the environment itself, dragging them from any source as their power grows. For this reason, this skill governs the third Quincy power, Vollständig.
Development of this skill does not bring with it any ability to create things, but rather brings the Quincy back to the primal form of their powers. The further a Quincy advances in the skill, the more they will be able to break down Spiritual Objects. While at first they may only be able to pull away excess particles in the environment around them, a Quincy that reaches Intermediate or Advanced in this skill will be able to deconstruct entire spiritual objects, breaking them down into a sea of Spiritual Particles for them to exploit.
These advancements work to make the Vollständig form less taxing on the Jägermeister. While at first it requires a great deal of time and effort to activate, and even more to maintain, The Quincy will quickly advance to the point where they can activate it rapidly and maintain the form far longer than ever before.
This ability to truly enslave and dominate Spiritual Particles extends until the Quincy is able to, at the levels of Master and Grandmaster, convert sufficiently weaker spiritual beings into fuel for themselves. This ability only works on being far, far weaker than the Jägermeister in question and therefore excludes player characters. Any bystanders, on the other hand, such as faceless Hollows or background Shinigami, are prime targets of this skill.
By the time a Jägermeister reaches Master they are able to maintain their form for vast amounts of time and can activate it with little more than a thought. Grandmasters are rumored to take it even farther and be able to freely maintain their Vollständig as if it were a natural extension of themselves.
Sklaverei Reishi Dominance allows Quincy to break and consume spiritual particles to fuel their power, however Sklaverei seeks to make full use of each and every particle consumed, allowing the Quincy to integrate them into their form for a brief period. This technique merges the Jägermeister with the spiritual object in question, allowing them to temporarily acquire the traits and abilities of whatever they might absorb. This allows them to temporarily make anything they break down an actual part of themselves as opposed to merely raw materials to be consumed by other powers.
Quincy that are new to this skill will only be able to use it for simple applications, such as breaking down a sword to endow their skin with the durability of steel. This gives the Quincy a vast array of possibilities limited only by their imagination, their power, and materials on hand.
By the time a Jägermeister reaches Intermediate or Advanced they can begin to use this skill in the way it was always intended: To absorb other spiritual beings. This allows them to consume not only their power but their physical traits. The ability to fully control their Spiritual Particles even allows the Jägermeister to absorb Hollows without fear. This technique will always kill a consumed hollow, although the Jägermeister will have a very difficult time maintaining the fusion.
It is only after the Quincy reaches Master or Grandmaster that they are able to fully integrate the abilities of whatever it is they absorb. For instance, a Quincy that absorbs a Shinigami may gain the ability to use some small manifestation of their Zanpakutō abilities. Grandmasters represent a great unknown in their ability to apply this skill, as their mastery of Sklaverei allows them to make permanent alterations to their physical form, integrating their victims physiology permanently.