Post by System on Feb 6, 2018 19:39:36 GMT -5
It's another sunny day in the Seireitei!
There aren't any birds, but if there were they'd sing. Here in a world where everything is carefully maintained, there's no reason to fear the rain. The Fourth will sprinkle in inclement weather once in a blue moon, just to keep things interesting, but these days are well-broadcasted. If anyone leaves their home without an umbrella, they have only themselves to blame!
It has been sunny for five years today.
Everything in this glorious city is hand-shaped, although not directly by hand. In fact, every building you relax in, every tool you use and every structure that defines this city is made up entirely of Reishi, a kind of spiritual matter. These motes are bound together, shaped and erected into great structures and small necessities alike by master craftsmen. All Shinigami take great pride in the cleanliness, the purity and the beauty of the Seireitei.
These structures are caked with five years of dirt and dust and weeds.
Outside the Seireitei is the Rukongai, which serves as the greater part of the Soul Society. In these concentric rings spreading from the Shinigami city live uncountable millions of souls in relative safety. The further from the center, the more troubled are the districts, but those who live close are afforded a life of comfort. What separates these two sections of the Soul Society is one giant circular wall with gates so heavy only the gatekeepers, giant Ogres and their ilk, can raise them.
The giant walls are crumbling. The gatekeepers are gone, long gone, and may never return.
The Shinigami are tasked with an important task: to ferry the souls of the dead from Earth to their temporarily final resting place. When a human with earthly complications dies, a Shinigami must purify their soul in order for the spirit to travel to the Soul Society, if their earthly deeds have been good, or to Hell in the reverse. No Shinigami underestimates the importance of this duty--not when most of them are products of this same process themselves.
What few Shinigami remain on Earth are stretched thin. Overworked. Making mistakes. Dwindling day by day.
Directly opposing these champions of the afterlife are the evil monsters known as "Hollows," hungry ghosts that feast on souls. Earth-bound Souls who degenerate before a Shinigami can reach them can be eaten up by their desires and have their bodies horribly warped. They turn bestial, animalistic predators who can kill souls and the living alike, and are in a state of perpetual war with the Shinigami. No love is lost between them.
Hollows have begun to understand their enemies are few. They attack with abandon, forcing larger cities to issue an ever-expanding list of mysterious, unsolvable murders.
Naturally, all but a miniscule number of humans go about their day-to-day not knowing the first thing about this mortal struggle. Spirits and the living are separated as if by a thin, one-way mirror. Spirits can see the human world but the living, except for those of the humans born with great spiritual power, spend their entire lives blissfully unaware. Any spiritual occurrences are carefully covered up by the Shinigami to ensure this comforting simplicity is enjoyed by as many as possible.
Bodies are found ripped apart, clawed to pieces, eviscerated--in broad daylight, in public places, in the middle of cities. The skeptics swear wolves and worse are hiding in the sewers. The superstitious stoke a growing fear of demons, of monsters, of the beginnings of the end.
The task given to the Shinigami since time immemorial is a result of the world's need for balance. The endless cycle of rebirth is in fact a fragile balancing act between Shinigami and Hollow, living and dead, good and evil. Hollows killed by Shinigami have their souls purified and they rejoin the cycle, whether sent up or down, but Hollows killed in other ways do not. This is why Shinigami rebuke and disarm rogue actors: every Hollow killed by a human is lost forever.
Pressured by increasing Hollow attacks and given essentially free reign by the lack of Shinigami, gangs of human spiritualists roam the streets. They exterminate what Hollows they find, worsening the balance little by little. Interactions with earthly Shinigami are quick and bloody.
Shinigami are STRENGTH. Shinigami are here to fight for YOUR SAFETY. Remember: do NOT ATTEMPT TO FIGHT. In a life or death situation, A SHINIGAMI WILL BE DISPATCHED TO YOUR LOCATION.
Remember who you owe YOUR LIFE to.
There aren't any birds, but if there were they'd sing. Here in a world where everything is carefully maintained, there's no reason to fear the rain. The Fourth will sprinkle in inclement weather once in a blue moon, just to keep things interesting, but these days are well-broadcasted. If anyone leaves their home without an umbrella, they have only themselves to blame!
It has been sunny for five years today.
Everything in this glorious city is hand-shaped, although not directly by hand. In fact, every building you relax in, every tool you use and every structure that defines this city is made up entirely of Reishi, a kind of spiritual matter. These motes are bound together, shaped and erected into great structures and small necessities alike by master craftsmen. All Shinigami take great pride in the cleanliness, the purity and the beauty of the Seireitei.
These structures are caked with five years of dirt and dust and weeds.
Outside the Seireitei is the Rukongai, which serves as the greater part of the Soul Society. In these concentric rings spreading from the Shinigami city live uncountable millions of souls in relative safety. The further from the center, the more troubled are the districts, but those who live close are afforded a life of comfort. What separates these two sections of the Soul Society is one giant circular wall with gates so heavy only the gatekeepers, giant Ogres and their ilk, can raise them.
The giant walls are crumbling. The gatekeepers are gone, long gone, and may never return.
The Shinigami are tasked with an important task: to ferry the souls of the dead from Earth to their temporarily final resting place. When a human with earthly complications dies, a Shinigami must purify their soul in order for the spirit to travel to the Soul Society, if their earthly deeds have been good, or to Hell in the reverse. No Shinigami underestimates the importance of this duty--not when most of them are products of this same process themselves.
What few Shinigami remain on Earth are stretched thin. Overworked. Making mistakes. Dwindling day by day.
Directly opposing these champions of the afterlife are the evil monsters known as "Hollows," hungry ghosts that feast on souls. Earth-bound Souls who degenerate before a Shinigami can reach them can be eaten up by their desires and have their bodies horribly warped. They turn bestial, animalistic predators who can kill souls and the living alike, and are in a state of perpetual war with the Shinigami. No love is lost between them.
Hollows have begun to understand their enemies are few. They attack with abandon, forcing larger cities to issue an ever-expanding list of mysterious, unsolvable murders.
Naturally, all but a miniscule number of humans go about their day-to-day not knowing the first thing about this mortal struggle. Spirits and the living are separated as if by a thin, one-way mirror. Spirits can see the human world but the living, except for those of the humans born with great spiritual power, spend their entire lives blissfully unaware. Any spiritual occurrences are carefully covered up by the Shinigami to ensure this comforting simplicity is enjoyed by as many as possible.
Bodies are found ripped apart, clawed to pieces, eviscerated--in broad daylight, in public places, in the middle of cities. The skeptics swear wolves and worse are hiding in the sewers. The superstitious stoke a growing fear of demons, of monsters, of the beginnings of the end.
The task given to the Shinigami since time immemorial is a result of the world's need for balance. The endless cycle of rebirth is in fact a fragile balancing act between Shinigami and Hollow, living and dead, good and evil. Hollows killed by Shinigami have their souls purified and they rejoin the cycle, whether sent up or down, but Hollows killed in other ways do not. This is why Shinigami rebuke and disarm rogue actors: every Hollow killed by a human is lost forever.
Pressured by increasing Hollow attacks and given essentially free reign by the lack of Shinigami, gangs of human spiritualists roam the streets. They exterminate what Hollows they find, worsening the balance little by little. Interactions with earthly Shinigami are quick and bloody.
Shinigami are STRENGTH. Shinigami are here to fight for YOUR SAFETY. Remember: do NOT ATTEMPT TO FIGHT. In a life or death situation, A SHINIGAMI WILL BE DISPATCHED TO YOUR LOCATION.
Remember who you owe YOUR LIFE to.