Environments (Soul Society Supplement)
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World of the Living[edit]
The Living World is one half of the cycle of reincarnation souls go through, being opposite to Soul Society. To those without spiritual awareness, it is identical to the real world. To those with spiritual awareness, it is the second most common place to find hollows, being a safer hunting ground for those that reside in Hueco Mundo, and being their birthplace, as they originate from jibakurei; spirits who are unable to pass on to Soul Society because of their regrets.
Jūreichi[edit]
Generally, the concentration of reishi in the world of the living is much lower than in other dimensions. The exception to this is the Jūreichi, a small migrating region of extremely high amounts of reishi, making it a hotspot for high-spec humans and hollow activity and making locating spirits by their pressure difficult. In the early 2000s, the Jūreichi was centered on Karakura Town in Western Tokyo.
Soul Society[edit]
Soul Society is one half of the cycle of reincarnation souls go through, being opposite to Soul Society. When a plus, a soul not bound to their regrets, undergoes the Konsō ritual with help from a Shinigami, or when a hollow that lived a normal life is purified by a Shinigami's blade, it passes on to Soul Society, and when a spirit dies in Soul Society it is reborn in the living world. Geographically it is remarkably similar to the world of the living, and it is legally divided into independent branches:
Seireitei[edit]
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Seireitei is the East Branch of Soul Society, and its capitol. Its seemingly-endless metropolis is constructed in traditional Japanese styles, and it is geographically located in what would be Tokyo in the living world. Rukongai, Seireitei's outer rings, are split into 320 districts, 80 in each cardinal direction, making it the most populous city not just in Soul Society, but the cycle of reincarnation at large. In order to travel from Rukongai to the core of Seireitei, one must pass through one of four Seireimon, massive gates found in each of the cardinal directions guarded and opened by a Gatekeeper. |
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The core of Seireitei, the Central 46 Compound, is split from the rest of the city by a large wall, and serves as the headquarters for Shinigami. Most of the compound resides underground, with its surface being occupied by a variety of municipal buildings including Shinigami academies like Shinōreijutsuin, underground prisons for Shinigami that will not or can not be executed such as the Central Great Underground Prison and the Nest of Maggots, Shinigami support facilities like the Research and Development Institute and the Senkaimon that allows Shinigami to enter the living world en masse, living and training spaces for Shinigami, the manors of the Four Great Noble Houses, and the Senzaikyū and Sōkyoku Hill, the prison tower and execution grounds for Shinigami awaiting execution siting near and on the small plateau at the center of the compound.
The Central 46 Compound's namesake comes from the Central 46, the 46-member judiciary body that legislates all of Soul Society. Should the Central 46 be unable to perform their duties, as in the case of their murder in 2001, their duties fall to the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13; the leader of the 13 divisions that all Shinigami serve under. Each Shinigami division is assigned special duties, and consists of Shinigami specialized in those duties:
- 1st Division: consisting of the top-performing Shinigami, the duty of the First Division is to respond to emergencies quickly and decisively.
- 2nd Division: consisting of stealth expert Shinigami, the duty of the Second Division is to handle situations discretely. The captain of the Second Division has historically also been the captain of the Onmitsukidō, the stealth branch of Soul Society's forces that predates the Gotei 13's founding and answers directly to Central 46 instead of the Gotei command structure.
- 3rd Division: consisting of deceptive Shinigami, the duty of the Third Division is to obscure the movements of other Shinigami, though its specialties and duties became nebulous after its captain's betrayal and its near-total destruction in 2001 and its new captain moved away from this tradition.
- 4th Division: consisting of medical and logistical experts, the duty of the Fourth Division is to provide aid to Shinigami through healing and resupplying.
- 5th Division: consisting of non-specialists, the duty of the Fifth Division is to be able to respond to any threat with their well-rounded skill set.
- 6th Division: consisting of Shinigami with a strong conviction for laws, the duty of the Sixth Division is to maintain order among Shinigami.
- 7th Division: consisting of Shinigami with strong personal convictions and a positive outlook, the duty of the Seventh Division is to boost morale.
- 8th Division: consisting of unserious Shinigami, the duty of the Eighth Division is to handle the large numbers of weak hollows.
- 9th Division: consisting of Shinigami specializing in teamwork, the duty of the Ninth Division is the Seireitei's security.
- 10th Division: consisting of no-nonsense Shinigami, the duty of the Tenth Division is to attack quickly and efficiently, especially in risky environments like population centers.
- 11th Division: consisting of elite swordsmen, the duty of the Eleventh Division is to attack with overwhelming force; to live for the sake of fighting.
- 12th Division: consisting of intelligent Shinigami without specific aptitude for combat, the duty of the Twelfth Division is research and development.
- 13th Division: consisting of Kido experts, the duty of the Thirteenth Division is combat support using their variety of spells. They work closely with the Kido Corps, the Kido branch of Soul Society's forces that predates the Gotei 13's founding and answers directly to Central 46 instead of the Gotei command structure.
Reverse London[edit]
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Reverse London is the West Branch of Soul Society. Its seemingly-endless metropolis is regularly updated to match the "Front" London of the living world, which it is geographically located upon. Rather than having a single massive Senkaimon to travel from Soul Society to the living world, payphones act as "phone gates" between dimensions. |
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Notably, Reverse London is one of the few places that did not exterminate their dragons; supernatural beings who naturally purify and transport pluses and jibakurei between dimensions with their presence. However, if a dragon spends too much time in contact with humans, they accumulate some of their negative energy, transforming into dark dragons that are outwardly violent, requiring the witches and wizards of Wing Bind to protect light dragons and eradicate dark dragons. Like Shinigami corps, Wing Bind is split into a number of divisions:
- Directors, the top ranking member of each division, establish strategy and policy as the Top of Horns council.
- Inks, experts of magic, the western equivalent of Kido, in a primarily offensive capacity, categorized as Sorcery.
- Anthems, experts of magic in a primarily defensive capacity, categorized as Incantations.
- Sacreds, experts of magic in a primarily supportive capacity, categorized as Liturgy.
- Pipers, who control the domestication of dragons and the harvesting of their products.
- Sabers, who patrol the streets of London as the first line of defense against dragons.
- Patchworks, Wing Bind's research and development group.
- Billionaires, who handle logistics and accounting.
- Gallows, who handle internal justice and punishment.
Soul King's Palace[edit]
Above Seireitei sits a small subdimension housing the unconscious, but ever-living remains of the Soul King. His royal guard, sometimes referred to as Zero Division, is a squad of five extremely powerful Shinigami each created around an oken, a skeleton created by coagulating 100,000 souls within a Jūreichi. The only ways to enter are for a royal guard to open a Chōkaimon through its 72 barriers, or for something to destroy said barriers, which take 100 minutes to reform but are likely to grind the destroyer to death without garments woven from the hair of a royal guard. The only people with legal knowledge of its location are Zero Division and the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13. It consists of five floating islands, each of which is a city swarming with an army of divine soldiers created by the royal guard and ruled by the royal guard save for the Soul King's throne room itself.
Schatten Bereich[edit]
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In the early 1000s, during the first war between the Quincy and Shinigami, the Quincy created a small subdimension within Seireitei; their invisible empire. Made of kishi, the substance of the living world, rather than reishi, the substance of the spiritual world, its featureless city of white stone is nearly undetectable without dissolving the reishi that constitutes Seireitei. Its capitol building, Silburn, became the primary base of operations during the Quincy Blood War. |
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Hueco Mundo[edit]
Hueco Mundo is a dimension not accounted for in the cycle of reincarnation, potentially being an oversized Valley of Screams. Its endless desert is under a constant night and filled with tree-like quartz growths and boulders, and its moon is always in the opposite phase as Seireitei's. Its high reishi atmosphere allows for weaker hollows to subsist without consuming souls, while stronger hollows use it as a place to hide out from Shinigami. Its surface is dotted with ruins, either from attempts to establish order in the realm of the lawless or potentially from a time before Hueco Mundo was its own dimension.
Las Noches[edit]
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While Las Noches has no written law, it is the way of hollows for the weak to rule the strong, and the strongest of all has lived in Las Noches since Baraggan Louisenbairn declared himself the God-King of Hueco Mundo. In 2002, it became the headquarters for the Espada, who constructed a fortress at its site despite its previous ruler's belief that the borders of the dimension should be his walls. |
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Forest of Menos[edit]
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Beneath the sands of Hueco Mundo stretches a cavern filled with the towering bases of the stone trees above, many of which do not reach the surface. It is shrouded in near-total darkness, and is a realm where weaker hollows, including a great number of gillians, hide from the Arrancar above, though they are still ruled by the adjuchas of the forest. |
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Hell[edit]
When a plus undergoes the Konsō ritual, or when a hollow is purified by a Shinigami, but the soul committed atrocities in its life, rather than being reincarnated in Soul Society, the Gates of Hell appear to drag them to their punishment, transforming them into Togabito. Powerful Shinigami are likewise sent to Hell after their death through a Konsō Reisai ritual preformed at their funeral rather than being reborn to prevent complications with their spiritual pressure. Souls that die in Hell are simply revived in the Fourth Level. Being sent to Hell after death often strengthens a soul, being nearly imperceptible in normal sinners but becoming more pronounced with their strength in life. Hollowfied Shinigami in particular do not need to spend Reiryoku to keep Vizor active, and when they roll for initiative they must make a DC 30 Charisma saving throw or have Vizor activate.
The strength of Hell's dimensional barriers are strengthened by the difference in the total spiritual pressure of its residents versus that of the rest of the universe, often requiring Shinigami captains sent to Hell to act as the guardians of its gates. Hell is unique in that it predates the destruction of the World of the Soul King, as do its only native lives; the Kushanada. Souls reborn in Hell are almost never able to escape, and can be dragged back to Hell by their chain by any Kushanada as an action. Additionally, an extremely rare Kido exists capable of ejecting a creature and any creature touching them from Hell as an action for 30 Reiryoku.
Entry Level[edit]
The first level of Hell, though it is typically not included due to the difference in size, being little more than a foyer compared to the other planet-sized dimensions. It is completely featureless save for a blue slate floor and and a red gradient sky, and it is inhabited by the Shinigami that guard it from the Beasts of Hell.
First Level[edit]
The first true level of Hell has the same blue slate floor and red sky as the entryway, but is filled with a grid of gray cubes of wildly varying height, with some even floating high in the air. It has a high number of Togabito who wander about listlessly, having given up on ever escaping their infinite punishment. The realm's spiritual pressure is suffocating, causing any creature with 5 or fewer Reiryoku to go berserk while within this level. Following any of the pathways along this grid will eventually lead to an abyss leading to the second level.
Second Level[edit]
Most of the second level is covered in ocean under a smoggy purple sky, with the only dry land being found on stone islands resembling lilies. The bottom of this 30,000-foot deep sea stops at an abyss leading to the third level.
Third Level[edit]
The third level is a single massive caldera under a moonless, starless night's sky. The liquid brimstone that oozes from this level's gray and black stone destroys both the body and soul. If a creature ends their turn in a space occupied by this lava, they take 12d12 fire damage and lose half as much Reiryoku. A creature takes twice as much damage and loses twice as much Reiryoku if they are submerged in this lava. There is a small passageway through the rocks filled with shrines leading to an abyss leading to the fourth level.
Fourth Level[edit]
The fourth level is a desert with a sickly yellow sky. At the center of this level is a lake of lava from which slain Togabito are reborn, though one can choose not to be, becoming the dust that covers this realm. This lake is surrounded by stone pillars keeping up a ring that acts as a seat for a skeleton similar to those that open the Gates of Hell. As an action, a creature may regain 1d4 Reiryoku by focusing the dust into their body.
Fifth Level[edit]
The fifth and final level of Hell is an active black stone volcano with an equally dark sky. Island-sized stone pillars are common on this level, typically occupying much larger craters, as are lightning strikes. Much rarer are trees made of bone. Kushanada that are slain, which itself is a rare occurrence, it immediately revives in the lava of the fifth level, and a Kushanada can teleport to this lava as an action.
Other Dimensions[edit]
Garganta[edit]
Garganta is the featureless void that separates dimensions. The reishi within this dimension is in a constant storm, making travel through it only possible for hollowfied souls or with the aid of a Keikaigi or a Jigokuchō and the Senkaimon.
Dangai[edit]
The Dangai is the tunnel connecting Soul Society to the human world to facilitate the cycle of reincarnation. Time passes 2,000 times faster within the Dangai. Its dark, flesh-like floor, walls, and ceiling, called the Kōryū, are 20 feet apart and contain a constant flow of reishi intended to stop intruders, as pluses can simply float through the Dangai, while those that touch the Kōryū must succeed a DC 30 Strength or Dexterity saving throw at the end of each of their turns or have their movement speed drop to 0 until the flow is stopped as the flow grabs them. The flow can be stopped by a creature within the Dangai for up to 1 hour with concentration as an action for 30 Reiryoku<-all current costs assume 1 Reiryoku per level->, and creatures touching the creature stopping the flow can contribute to the cost of doing so.
Additionally, the Dangai is patrolled by the Kototsu, a street sweeper for souls, once every seven days. If a creature's body or spirit weapon touches the Kototsu, they count as having touched the Kōryū. Being a moving, arguably living portion of the Kōryū, the natural acceleration of time it causes is more unstable, potentially even sending someone back in time.
Valley of Screams[edit]
When a large amount of stable reishi is ejected into Garganta, such as by a number of souls being hit by the Kototsu in the Dangai, a small dimension is created. These valleys of screams typically resemble Hueco Mundo to some extent, though with far greater variety, and individuals with strong control over reishi such as powerful Fullbringers can even reshape valleys of screams to their liking, though the maximum dimension size they can do this with is relative to their own strength<-probably 5 feet per Reiryoku spent once classes start being made->. Souls that are ejected into valleys of souls eventually lose their chains of fate without hollowfying, becoming blanks.
One particularly large valley of screams, often referred to as the Valley of Screams, is a craggy desert locked in eternal noon, and is dimensionally opposite to Hueco Mundo in the same way Soul Society is opposite to the World of the Living.
World of the Soul King[edit]
Millions of years ago, the cycle of reincarnation did not exist, or did Garganta; hollows ran amok consuming souls, while dead souls were lost forever. When the first Menos evolved, a soul of immense power was born, wielding powers that would one day be defined as those of a Shinigami, Quincy, and Fullbringer. Slaying the hollows that threatened humanity, he named himself the Soul King and created the oken to assist him. However, five humans envied his power, feeling that it was not being used to its full extent, and so they conspired against their king, imprisoning his body in a crystal bereft of his arms, legs, and heart in a state between life and death and using his power to split the universe into Soul Society and the world of the living, and naming themselves the Five Noble Houses of Soul Society, though in the early 1000s the Ryōdoji Family would come to regret this decision amidst the first war with the Quincy.
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