[BitP:R OOC thread] Bleach Style Ultimate Technique#17: Big words cause more pain!

[Kuroimaken]

Created as a successor to the original Bleach ITP, Reborn started as a reboot, returning to the lower-powered roots of canon Bleach. We've been going for a while, but we still welcome new players.

Important stuff so far:

OOC THREADS

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First Discussion Thread
Disccusion Thread 2
Discussion Thread 3
Discussion Thread 4
Discussion thread 5
Discussion thread 6
Discussion thread 7
Discussion thread 8
OOC Thread 9
Thread 10
Thread 11
Thread 12
Thread 13
Thread 14
Thread 15
Thread 16

IC THREADS

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Mortal World:
Thread 1
Thread 2
Thread 3
Soul Society:
Thread 1
Thread 2
Thread 3
Hueco Mundo:
Thread 1
Thread 2
Thread 3

EPISODES

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Episode 1: "Prologue! A new tale, a new Shinigami!"
Episode 2: Hannibal's Past: Flashback to the Old!
Episode 3: Gotei Joint-Ops! What could ever go wrong?
Episode 4: A Heritage Revealed! Awaken, Ayase!
Episode 5: Drunken Brawl! No actual drunks included!
Episode 6: Another Night Out.
7: A New Hero is Born: A Meeting of Hearts and Fists
8: Revenge of the training instructor
9: Bankai! A Quest for the Power to Change!
10: A coming of age

OTHER HELPFUL LINKS
Character Registry
Wiki - Password "foamy".

A while ago we chose Central 5, a group of five people who work as a governing body for the Soul Society. They are currently Kuroimaken, Sucrose, Frozen_Feet, KnightDisciple and Prime32. They are tasked with such tasks as deciding Captain promotions and upholding laws of Seireitei. Details can be found below.

In the second last thread people voted and decided that there would not be a Quincy vs Shinigami war before the actual start of the story/roleplay unlike in canon. It was also decided through a vote that Quincy arrows would destroy souls as they do in canon through a vote. People are open to the possibility of future conflicts between the two factions and the Quincy learning how to purify souls with their arrows. Learning how to do so would likely be a significant plot point.

Quincy players have decided that anyone that makes a Quincy should write up a description of their family/clan's history.

Souls that are fully absorbed and become part of a hollow permanently fuse with it. When a hollow is purified the souls it absorbed are not split up. They are reborn as a single entity.

Frozen_Feet's proposed take on this:

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Life Cycle of Hollows.
Canny Hollows: these are beings like Grand Fisher and Shrieker - normal Hollows that stay behind in Mortal World much longer than usual. Why? Either they still have unfinished business... or they were already crooked in life.

My reasoning is as follows: when a good Plus turns into a Hollow, it seeks to destroy its loved ones like any other Hollow. However, the mind of the good souls can't hold together once they're done with that. They lack killer's instinct, and might even feel guilt for breaking what was once dear to them in life. This is why they seek oblivion.

Evil souls, on the other hand, gain much more pleasure from tormenting living beings. Even after they've killed those they had a personal beef with, they stay in Mortal World, because their bestial desires won't let them leave. In a way, they still have something to do that defines them and stops them from losing their inviduality, even if it's only "kill all things":

Menos Grande Gillians: When a soul becomes Hollow, the first thing it does is destroy all things it held dear in mortal life. In most cases, having lost their purpose and consumed by their own loneliness, Hollows wander into Hueco Muendo, where they instinctively seek out other souls who died in the same way. Seeking embrace of sweet oblivion, they engage in cannibalistic orgy and fuse into Menos Grande Gillian. Fusion of souls is permanent; once eaten by a Gillian, a soul cannot be separated again.

Menos Grande Gillian's have no identity, only scattered fragments of negative memories and emotions. When such a Gillian is purified, its soul passes into Soul Society as essentially blank slate. However, due to originally being gestalt of multiple entities, such soul has much vaster Reiryoku than normal and is more likely to fragment into Zanpakuto spirit and Inner Hollow. Thus, a purified Menos Grande Gillian is very likely to become a shinigami.

Adjuchas and Vasto Lordes: As noted, Menos Grande Gillians are gestalt formed from people who died in the same way. Adjuchas happens when the amount of souls reaches a critical mass, causing a new personality to bloom from the fragmented memories. This being is effectively personification of its "cause of death". However, Adjuchas aren't stable, and must keep absorbing other Hollows who died the same way to increase in power. Should they fail to absorb other Hollows, starvation will make them regress, reducing them back to mindless beasts. Once Adjuchas has eaten enough souls, it evolves into a Vasto Lorde. However, this requires that they beat all of their challengers, letting none who manage to eat a bit of them to get away.

So, why can't Adjuchas who gets a bit of itself eaten become a Vasto Lorde? It's because losing to another Hollow means there's another being with same Aspect of Death who is more powerful. A Vasto Lorde is a Menos who has absorbed or proven itself to be stronger than all other Hollows with the same aspect of death. They are, effectively, anthropomorphic personifications of their Aspect of Death, and rule supreme over lost souls who died that way. As long as they remain undefeated, they are stable; if a Vasto Lorde does lose, it begins to regress like Adjuchas until it can destroy the Hollow that defeated it.

Arrancars: A Hollow can become an Arrancar in any point of its life, as long as it has a personality at the time. An Arrancar is a Hollow who learns to define itself by way other than its Aspect of Death, thus rising above its bestial instincts.

All Arrancars are stable. While an Arrancar can keep eating souls to increase in power, it no longer fuses new souls with the core of its person - the nommed soul only loses its reiryoku. A soul eaten by Arrancar is usually reborn as a new Hollow. In any case, eating Pluses or other Hollows is pretty much voluntary for an Arrancar - they mostly do so because there is no other food in Hueco Muendo. Because of this, Arrancars can't be held as inherently worse than humans or Shinigami.

Menos and Purification: Shinigami who don't remember their lives were Menos who got purified. As the identity of a Menos is effectively a new entity and is only born after death, Konso unfortunately wipes that all away. For purposes of Redemption, a soul which has gone through Oblivion of the Gillian phase is exempt from Hell's punishment. They become Shinigami because of huge amount of Reiryoku they accumulated as a Hollow.

Resurreccion and Segunda Etapa: Resurreccion is an Arrancars ability to retake its form as a Hollow, and consequently as the manifestation of its aspect. The power of an Arrancars resurreccion is in part directly proportional to how much the Arrancar's behaviour reflects its Aspect.

While achieving Segunda Etapa is only typical for Vasto Lordes who already rule over their Aspect, theoretically any Arrancar can achieve it through meticulous training and self realization.

Soul Society and the inhabitants of Las Noches (The King of Hollows, the Epsada and their underlings) have a truce between each other at the start of the game/story but both sides want to break as soon as they gain a substantial upper hand on the other.

People that want to make captain entries should write up a history for their preferred division including duties, a past captain or two and whatever else you might think important to add. It can be significantly different from canon.

General

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Originally Posted by Zarah
We need a clearly directed plot in order to keep things trucking along without getting stalled, and I had a thought of a way to help accomplish that. Basically, we come up with some central themes for this game. This isn't a revolutionary idea, and some people were already doing just that in the previous game, but I'm saying we all come up with and agree on two or three major themes for this story. Ones that will continue to appear again and again across many of the plotlines throughout the entire game. It'll help direct the plot and could potentially give some good ideas for other characters. Not to mention, it'll give much more of a satisfying payoff in the end once the themes are fully realized.

Whatever they are, they should be fairly general, so they can be adapted to as many of the plots that we have going. Of course, we can expand to include as many motifs and themes as we want in our own stories, but if we have a set of continuous themes to draw from, then it'll really help make things much more connected. Even more coherent.

Obviously, the one I'm gunning for with Kujo is "Law vs. Chaos," and Bleach in of itself has tons of themes we can pick from. "Inner Conflict" is a big one, for example. But hey, I'm open to other suggestions. Any thoughts?
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Originally Posted by KnightDisciple
I think "Law vs. Chaos" is good.

I'd like to play off of strawberryman's suggested faction, as well as off of what we've seen in our current game, and suggest something dealing with the question: How far do you go to accomplish something? Do you do evil in the name of a greater good? (Sorry. I couldn't help myself.) Or do you make sure to never compromise your principles, large and small, no matter the cost?

Not sure how to compress that into a pithy phrase, but there we go.
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Originally Posted by KnightDisciple
The following came about in a discussion about the nature of various Shinigami and Arrancar hybrids and such.

The Hougyoku is a substance used to perfect the hybridization of hollow and shinigami. It might have been created, or not. If it has, the creators were most likely vanquished by the powers of the Seireitei and Las Noches, who then sealed the thing off into some forsaken spot of some forsaken demiplane, with only the Ghost King and the Commander General being aware of its location. Both factions had problems with mad or power-hungry Artificial Arrancar and Stable Vizards, deciding that it better to forget the thing.

Shinigami Hybrids:

Unstable Vizard
An unstable vizard is a shinigami who, through some sort of accident or other means, has gained minor hollow powers.
An unstable vizard has access to a personal hollow mask, but does not have any unique powers and his hollowfication never progresses sufficiently to make a resurreccion or segunda etapa possible, and the unstable vizard gains access only to cero and garganta.
Becoming an Unstable Vizard is dangerous and hardly ever intentional, as the name implies, most accidents that would result in an unstable vizard result in a dead shinigami or a hollow, instead. Unstable Vizards must fight off their inner hollow and hollowifcation fully, to prevent the being from overcoming them utterly, but this is a fight that never truly ends.

Stable Vizard
A stable vizard has been created through use of the hougyoku. They do not have to fight off the hollowfication or an inner hollow, which is melded into their person completely.
A stable vizard has access to all hollow powers (cero, bala, sonido, garganta and hierro), and their masks might grant them a unique power, they also have the power to achieve resurreccion and even segunda etapa.

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Hollow Hybrids

Natural Arrancar
Natural arrancar are hollows who arrancarised themselves, or with the help of other hollows who know how to speed up the process. The arrancar gains an arrancar zanpakutou, which has no spirit, and is merely most of the arrancar's unique powers sealed into sword shape.
Natural arrancar have access to resurreccion and may develop segunda etapa. But do not have access to shinigami abilities.

Artificial Arrancar
Artificial arrancar are created through the Hougyoku. They have the potential to sunder off one of the souls that forms their colective and form it into a second zanpakutou capable of granting shikai and even bankai. Artificial arrancar have the potential to learn shinigami techniques such as Hoho, Kido and Hakuda.

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Mortal/Hollow Hybrids

Living Vizard
A Living Vizard is a mortal with a hollow mask, the mask comes with an innate, unique power, and when on, it gives the normal boosts and hollow abilities. Living Vizards can, eventualy, achieve resurreccion. A vizard mask cannot ever be lost, and if broken it can be resummoned almost instantly.

Living Arrancar
A living arrancar gains an arrancar zanpakuto (no spirit), hollow abilities (sonido, cero, hierro, bala) and the power of resurreccion. Resurreccion relies on the zanpakuto, which, unlike the vizard mask, can be broken (in which case it needs awhile to regrow).

Hollowing
A hollowing is a mortal who gains the power to turn some body part into a hollow-like version with greater strenght, speed and resilience. The powers in this hollowlike limb can be bolstered through training, but only up to a limit. As this limit is reached the hollowing must, in order to increase her powers, absorb hollow reishi, either form the atmosphere of hueco mundo or through the cannibalization of hollows, which allows even more of the Hollowing's body to turn into hollow-like parts.
The powers of the hollowing come at a risk, for, when enough of the hollowing's body becomes hollowlike, he risks becoming trapped into the monstrous shape.

Shinigami/ Mortal Hybrids:

Substitute Shinigami
This should be pretty basic and obvious.

Living Shinigami
Living shinigami are mortals with access to a shinigami zanpakutou while still in their mortal bodies.

Purpose of the Central 5/46 and Division Information

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5 trusted players are chosen to act as the Central 46. Any of these people can post as the entire body, and essentially act as an administrative organization both in and out of character. You might think that doesn't make sense, but in actuality, the duties would cross-over a lot more than you might imagine. For example, say a player wants his character to be promoted to a captain at some point in the RPG. The Central 46 would be the ones who analyze the situation and make a decision, but they'd have to look closely at both the character and the player to see if they're ready for the responsibilities. As another example, imagine that a group of rogue Shinigami appear in the mortal world and start causing trouble. The 46 would decide whether or not Soul Society goes to war with them, and thus whether or not any of the more powerful characters get involved in the plot. Think of them like a set of unofficial moderators for the RPG, who keep things in check both ICly and OOCly.

I think it could also add a whole new layer of role-playing opportunities. Let's say a group of low-powered academy students are training in the mortal world when one classmate decides to do something reckless and ends up getting them into dire straits. They make it back to Soul Society alive and in one piece, but now they have to answer to the Central 46 and explain their actions. Having actual players behind the council instead of just mindless NPCs (or corpses) makes it a bit of a nagging threat in the back of people's minds, and could even indirectly prevent players from going overboard. Since I know that if I were sitting on the council, I would not be a gracious host.

Gotei divisions and their tasks:
1) Administrative.
2) Ninjas.
3) Execution?
4) Healing+Hospitality.
5) Messengers.
6) Reinforcements.
7) Logistics.
8) Tactical planning
9) Recon.
10) Internal Police.
11) Fight.
12) Science.
13) Patrol.

Hollow, Arrancar and Las Noches

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Laws of Las Noches
1. Only a victory in singular combat entitles one to take the position of espada from another.
2. The espada are not allowed to conspire against one another.
3. Killing a fellow citizen is a crime, unless it is self-defense, or you don't get caught on the act (drow influence: The real crime is being caught). The espada can add other exclusions of culpability for their sectors (including and up to any reason, LAW*). *Laws as Written.
4. Vandalism is a crime. See above for excludents.
5. Thievery is a crime. See above for details.
The espada and privaron have equal authority over all numeros. The espada have sole authority over their own fraccion. The espada have sole authority over the citizens of their own districts. The fraccion have authority beneath the espada and privaron over all other citizens of Las Noches who live in own their districts. The fraccion have authority beneath that of the espada and privaron over the numeros. The privaron have sole authority over those designated to them by the King and Queen. The King and Queen have authority over all.


Originally Posted by Draken
Now, on to other matters, we need to decide how a few things work. For instance, the menos fusion. When first someone asked what happened to the souls that form a menos, we decided, back then, to have it so that they remain separate (which means when the menos is destroyed all souls are released). But I think it is best if (save exceptions) we have it so that they all permanently fuse.

This has two benefits:

1. It adds a depth of moral doubt to the destruction of an arrancar. They aren't mindless monsters like hollows, they can be argued with, and destroying them won't fre thousands of innocent souls. Just erase their memories.

2. It creates a good "soul number check". We assume that, along with the reincarnations, new souls are, indeed, created. But then... There are only means to increase the number of souls in place. None to reduce them (save awful, vile acts and stuff). The menos "singularity of souls" would be a decent means of keeping the soul population under control.
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Originally Posted by Draken
On Las Noches, I was thinking of this organization:

The King of Hollows: The King of Hollows, duh.
The Espada: Captain/Nobility Equivalents.
Fraccion: The liutenants, officers and close persons to the Espada.
Numeros: The soldiers of Las Noches.
Rest: The rest.

I perceive Las Noches as a city in Hueco Mundo, a city governed by arrancar and open to shinigami, mortal and hollow alike. A city where all beneath the artificial sun is under scrutiny of the law enforcement of the city, but where the shady alleys are hive to scum of the worst sort, criminals, traitors, traficants. A place where the Commander General and the Big Bad can look face to face and not be expected to try to kill each other on the risk of losing free access to this (mostly) safe haven.

The idea here isn't that arrancar and hollows are friendly.

The idea is that one vasto lorde decided to open his domain to other spiritual beings. Mainly because rational menos actually have very little reason to fight shinigami except spite, this is because your average menos won't ever leave Hueco Mundo unless goaded out by some other force. Menos have no interest in plus or living souls, they eat other hollows.
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Originally Posted by Draken View Post
1. I will be assigning the Espada, most likely.

2. I will also, probably, not keep the numbers strongly tied to the power of each character.

3. The Ghost King will not be the primera.

4. My main arrancar character (King's gonna stay in the background) will be the Queen of Hollows, and she will not be an espada either. I will keep those positions for other players.
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Originally Posted by Frozen_Feet View Post
About Aspects of Death: it's established that once a Hollow has destroyed things that were dear to it, they wander into Hueco Muendo and seek out other Hollows to ease their pain / to forget about their lives. I propose they instinctively seek out others who died in the same way, and thus their suffering condenses into their Aspect. Arrancars gain power when the ascended personality realizes this and works around / with it.

Fae

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Okay, I think I now have enough to bring this for discussion.

The Fae
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The State of the Afterlife of the British Isles
Britain’s afterlife is stable – just. Long periods of internal strife between the psychopomps of Britain, known to themselves as the mac Lir or fab Lly^r, and to others as the Fae, left ample time for Hollows to develop and grow. Now, Britain faces a deep-rooted infestation of well-hidden Menos, but the Houses of the British Isles are united in their desire to rid the islands of these threats.

Annwn – the Afterlife
The British afterlife is called Annwn, a place that reflects the most untouched corners of the British Isles in its geography. The four courts of monarchs are located in a roughly central location within a few hours journey of each other by normal walking speed. Passage between Annwn and the mortal world is achieved by passing through thick banks of mist that function as the Fae equivalent of Senkaimon. The mac Lir make use of ravens, rather than butterflies, to guide them through the misty realm between Annwn and the mortal world.

The Organisation of the Fae
The British Isles are ruled by four monarchs – one each for Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. Each of these monarchs governs passage of souls into Annwn in the country they are tied to. They each possess three Houses under their command, each ruled by a Tiarna or Pennaeth, individuals equal to the captains of Soul Society. A Tiarna or Pennaeth is directly supported by their Dara or Ail, equivalents to the Japanese Vice-Captains. The rest of the House is made up of thirteen mionn cheangal or lw rhwymo, equivalents to seated officers, plus any other Fae who are members of the House but deemed unworthy of the distinction of the upper ranks. The specialisations of each House vary depending on the current Tiarna or Pennaeth, but it is very rare for their not to be at least one House dedicated to combat in each country at any given time. The ranks of the Houses are held for life, unless the bearer of a rank forfeits it. A House member is usually given a title and land in Annwn upon forfeiting a rank. These titles are hereditary, and their bearers and their family often become the British equivalent of the Noble Houses of Soul Society.

Every year, a randomly selected twenty members of each House are chosen to leave Annwn and go out into the mortal world and deal with Hollows as they see fit. Fae on such leave from their House are known as Fianna, and are exempt from all laws of their lords until the end of their sojourn and return to Annwn.

Each monarch also rules a small Royal House. Tiarna or Pennaeth who truly distinguish themselves are promoted to this rank to serve as the monarch’s guardians and personal champions.

Alongside the House structure exists the Aois-dàna, a loose affiliation of bards and druids that serve as advisors to the lords of the Houses, historians, genealogists, legal specialists, and experts in Ealaín, the British form of kido.

Capabilities of the Fae
All abilities the Fae possess are mirrors of the abilities of shinigami. They can walk on air like their Japanese counterparts, and focus their training on Scileanna Laochra (Zanjutsu), Ystwythder (Hoho), Gan a Arm (Hakudo) and Ealaín (Kido).

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A Note on Language
Whilst most of the terminology for the Fae is based on Celtic languages, some, particularly the specifics and names of Ealaín, were brought to Britain from elsewhere. These use Ancient Sumerian.
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In addition, every Fae possesses a Treoir Anam, their equivalent of a zanpakutou. These possess the potential for a Rhyddhau (shikai) and a Nerthol Rhyddhau (bankai) as a zanpakutou does. The only notable difference between a Treoir Anam and a zanpakutou is that the former are quite likely to take a shape other than a sword even when sealed, spears and axes in particular being quite common, and no small number of Aois-dàna druids possessing sickles.

Ealaín
The mystic arts of Britain function identically to kido, the spells of a given path and number function the same as their foreign counterpart.

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Silakus: “Way of Destruction”
1, Taka (Push)
4, Sagir (Pale Lightning Flash): Balor! Unlid the third eye that graces your brow, and let forth the spite of clouds!
11, Nuhuš Gír (Tamed Lightning)
31, Urinti (Blood Arrow): Balor! Unlid the third eye that graces your brow, and let forth the tide of chaos!
33, Nissati (Blue Arrow): Balor! Unlid the third eye that graces your brow, and let the west crash forth!
54, Su-luh Izi (Cleansing Flames): Balor! Unlid the third eye that graces your brow, and empower me to remove impurity from your sight!
58, Imiuru (Windstorm)
63, Anurimiriu (Threefold Storm Roar)
73, Erim Nissati (Host of Blue Arrows): Balor! Unlid the third eye that graces your brow, drown out the sun, and call forth the sundering west winds!
88, Aralimiriutil (Apocalyptic Threefold Netherworld Storm)
90, Gitil (Black Ending)
96, Ašgir Mànu (Single Sword Immolation)

Girserusu: “Path of Shielding Arts”
1, Šaga (Captive)
4, Sigulul (Golden Chain)
8, Tamšen (Reflecting Mirror)
9, Eda (Paralysis): Balor! Lid your third eye, call up the hounds of Annwn, and grace us with the living death!
21, Urinimi (Blood Cloud)
26, Zah Bu (Hiding Light): Balor! Lid your third eye, turn your gaze away, and put the sun in their eyes!
30, Ešhu Ulul (Three-Bird Restraint)
37, Ulgu (Star Net)
39, Senbu (Shielding Light): Balor! Lid your third eye, turn your gaze to me, and guard me with thine wrath!
58, Igisar Lasar (Seeing the World, Knowing All): Balor! Lid your third eye, extend your sight forth, whisper in my ear, and let me see thine sight! The sun and moon are my eyes, the trembling ground my ear!
61, Asni E-kurbu (Six-Body Prison of Light): Balor! Lid your third eye, gift the sun unto to me, and let its halo trap them!
62, Ûšukur (Hundred Spear Fence)
63, Gisigulul (Locking Golden Chain)
73, Išibalsig (Rotated Mountain Wall)
75, Aš Barzilba-an (Five Adamant Pillars)
77, Kadigir (Mouth of the Gods): Balor! Lid your third eye, and gift me with your voice! The clouds are as my mouth, and the skies are as my lungs!
81, Barù-la (Splitting Nothingness)


Geasa
Unlike shinigami, the Fae bear an additional restraint upon their power: geasa (sing. geis). These are taboos for the Fae in question that they must not commit, or lose access to spiritual power or suffer some other misfortune. Anyone can bring a geasa on a Fae, though the Fae in question must willingly accept it. Treoir Anam spirits often require their wielder to agree to a geis before granting Rhyddhau or Nerthol Rhyddhau. They also pay a part in Fae society, geasa often being included in oaths to one’s lord or in marriage vows.

Samsara

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Originally Posted by Innis Cabal View Post
As far as the plot is concerned. Here is my contribution, or at least, hopefully. The Samsara plot, and reasoning for their dark activity.

As much as I personally loathe the name of our new city, I figured it could be incorporated into the plot. With a little brain storming with Callos, and a look at the set up of the new game, I’ve noticed there are –a lot- of spiritually aware children. This led to me thinking –why- that might be the case. Its not a normal occurrence. So, here me out.

Phoenix Town () is a center of reincarnation, both out going and inbound to the spiritual world. This inundates the area with spirit particles, thus leading to the relatively high number of the spiritually aware. The Samsara’s main plot in the first game, and the carry over here, is to rebalance the passage of souls, destroying the Valley of Screams, and removing the Blanks from the Cycle of Reincarnation. Thus fixing the balance of the spiritual world. To do this, their plot is to flood the city with Blanks, and over time detonate them once a certain number of highly aware mortal souls are collected. This puts them in direct conflict with the mortal characters for several reasons.

1. The humans –are- those souls, thus making them prime targets for the Samsara to go after.
2. This will blow up the city, killing off the whole area. That’s bad for those living inside the city, with family and friends. Making this a plot that –all- mortal characters can get involved in early on.

Well, that’s my idea for the Samsara plot. Innis tested, Callos Approved. Now, to the playground, think it’ll work?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Innis Cabal View Post
The Samsara


Leadership: “The Boss”
Second in Command: Go Nagi
Mortal World Relations:

Primary Grunt Force: Blanks (Augmented Blanks)
Physical Location: The Valley of Screams

Overview: The Cycle of Reincarnation is not a simple or perfect thing. Souls traveling between the worlds sometimes fragment, their memories fading into some unknown location, the soul falling into a realm that should never exist. These are the blanks, souls without memories, lost forever from the Cycle of Reincarnation, unable to return for they cannot remember how. It is unknown how, but when a number of these memory less shells accumulate, a separate realm, the Valley of Screams, is created to house them. This realm, lies between Soul Society and the Mortal World. But the memories of these creatures are not destroyed or lost forever. The swirling mass of memories and experience’s coalesces into an object known as the Memory Rosary, the accumulation of all memories lost between Reincarnation and the journey there in.

The Samsara

The Samsara are akin to Arrancar in that they are an artificial creation, Blanks granted the copies of memories from the Rosary itself. The likeness between themselves, Shimigami, and Arrancar end at this small analogy, not truly meant to exist the Samsara are the thinking force behind the Valley of Screams, the heralds of those cast out by an imperfect system.

Standard Powers of the Samsara
Blank Manipulation: Every member of the Samsara is capable of utilizing Blanks for various purposes. They may duplicate Kido (if their memories contain such information), create weapons or simple items, duplicate flashstep or sonido (again based purely on their memories), or fly. Samsara may also heal with the power of the Blanks, capable of restoring even lost limbs if given proper time and concentration.

Individual Powers


The powers of a Samsara depends entirely on his or her memories, granting each a highly individualized level of capabilities and powers.

What this is, is a simple dolling up of what seems to be the first Villian team of the Reborn game. We're looking for member's currently. So, if anyone's interested, roll a character up and lets see where it goes

Mortals

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Quote:
Originally Posted by strawberryman View Post
...Okay, well, I assume because there was little reaction it would help if I actually explained what the faction I was planning is.

It's more or less like the Men In Black... It's a multi-national secret organization that deploys agents to clean up after the various mishaps that Soul Reapers can't. As such, the various Soul Reaper organizations usually leave them well enough alone.

...That's their cover op, though. What they are really trying to do is make Mortals able to fend for themselves, and be self-sufficient on the matters of the spiritual. Which meshed pretty well with Ran's goal during the last cycle... but, that's an aside. They track and recruit various spiritual humans: Quincies (in fact that may possibly be a large base of their agents), Living Vizards, various anomalies, just plain spiritually aware humans, or maybe even Bount.

...As for why they may be considered villainous or antagonistic to the Shinigami is their willingness to do literally anything to achieve their ends; assassinations, theft... etc. For reasons I don't feel like fully explaining, I would like to keep some secrets.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zarah View Post
Well, I was under the assumption that Phoenix Town was going to be another spiritual hot spot, which explains why so many mortals are developing their own powers. Of course, the introduction of outside forces will help as a catalyst, but it's mostly just the fact of where the people live more than anything. The same abundance of spiritual power in the city would also explain why there might be various factions vying for power in the region even from the beginning.

Also, about the idea of the cold war turning hot, I like that plan. I like it a lot. It fits perfectly with Kujo's intentions, and is more or less what I was planning to work toward anyway, so I'm giving it a hearty thumbs up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Innis Cabal View Post
Well, here is what I was thinking for the over all "History". Its diluted yes, and I'll extrapolate more on it when I can sit down and really pound it out.

Spoiler
The Quincy Bloodlines, as they were, are connected to the ancient Ninja Clans of the Sengoku Jidai, now far removed and interbred with the general populace of Japan, the Quincy themselves would retain lasting familial alliances, hatreds and pacts with other blood lines

Translators: Word Reference is a pretty good one for English to Spanish. Just don't translate phrases with it.

[strawberryman]

Forgot to number it, it's 17. Also, first possibly.

[Kuroimaken]

Gah! Good catch.

[KnightDisciple]

Color me curious if there are any "existing" styles people might think fit Masaru. He'd only have much strength in one specialized style, I think. Preferably something kick-based. So he can still slice faces with his swords.

[Mina Kobold]

*Gasp*

I am on the first page of a BitP OOC thread! First milestone reached!

On another note, how do spiritual powers work in mortals? Reading further on in the manga showed that there is apparently more to it than simply being able to see and fight Hollows and Shinigami.

I am aware that Kido and the like are quite likely outside their power, but is there anything they can do beyond seeing and punching Hollows without becoming Shinigami, Hollows or so on?

[Edge]

Color me curious if there are any "existing" styles people might think fit Masaru. He'd only have much strength in one specialized style, I think. Preferably something kick-based. So he can still slice faces with his swords.

Exalted martial arts (and thus, the Higher Hakuda Styles they have inspired) kinda go beyond simply just "kicking". What you're proposing would be a Lower Hakuda Style, equivalent to a mortal martial art.

Higher Hakuda Styles really need thematics, and more importantly some degree of emulation, sometimes of a completely fictional concept.

I could see Masaru practising newly-made styles such as Immaculate Commander Style or Thousand Correct Actions Style. If you're dead set on kicks though, rustle me up an animal that kicks frequently, and I can brew something up.

[Frozen_Feet]

Stubborn Ass style? XP

[Draken]

Kangaroo Style!

Edit: Not official. This was made by Revlid.

[Edge]

But kangaroos don't kick, they box.

Guess there's always Darting Grasshopper or Ravenous Locust Style.

[nothingclever]

Do we know if Wahrheit's active at the moment? He hasn't posted with Rex for a while.

[Frozen_Feet]

Last I heard of him, he'd just had some troubles and apologized he hadn't been able to post. This was roughly a week ago, and that's the last time he's logged on to the boards as well.

[tgva8889]

On another note, how do spiritual powers work in mortals? Reading further on in the manga showed that there is apparently more to it than simply being able to see and fight Hollows and Shinigami.

I am aware that Kido and the like are quite likely outside their power, but is there anything they can do beyond seeing and punching Hollows without becoming Shinigami, Hollows or so on?

Depends on what kind of powers they have. Some fall into specific power-sets (Quincy or Living Vizard/Hollowlings, for example), while others are more unique (Ken and Kaito come to mind). Overall, each Medium has a different way to affect spiritual beings, and they don't have to be at all the same. As much as Ken and Kaito are "similar," their powers are completely different as well. They're both examples of Mediums that can take different approaches. Nakahiro takes another approach all together, and Sayaka another. It's really up to you if you go for a Mortal World character. Even in canon, Orihime's powers are still completely unique, and there's also Karin and Jinta with their "use blunt objects" plan.

[Kuroimaken]

Guys, I don't mean to be a party-pooper, but let's try not to go too crazy on the Higher Hakuda? Remember that A) they're supposed to take lots and lots of dedication to learn and B) they're on the same level of learning as effin' Shunkou. Granted, it's perfectly possible that there are multiple levels of efficiency/danger even within that same category, but if everybody and their uncle has a form of Higher Hakuda or another... well, they lose some of their charm.

Remember, even within Lower Hakuda one can go pretty crazy. (Just consider that techniques such as the Iron Palm in Kung Fu would probably fall into the Lower Hakuda category.)

Heck, I can totally see Taro performing Jinniku Shirahadori.

[tgva8889]

I'm alright with the 4 techniques that Edge suggested in the last thread. I'll be surprised if Taiki uses 1 of those, ever, and he's supposed to be quite good at Hakuda.

[Nicklance]

Sennen Goroshi! *stabs fingers upwards*

[Kuroimaken]

Seinen yubikiri! *slashes fingers off*

[Sucrose]

Guys, I don't mean to be a party-pooper, but let's try not to go too crazy on the Higher Hakuda? Remember that A) they're supposed to take lots and lots of dedication to learn and B) they're on the same level of learning as effin' Shunkou. Granted, it's perfectly possible that there are multiple levels of efficiency/danger even within that same category, but if everybody and their uncle has a form of Higher Hakuda or another... well, they lose some of their charm.

Remember, even within Lower Hakuda one can go pretty crazy. (Just consider that techniques such as the Iron Palm in Kung Fu would probably fall into the Lower Hakuda category.)

Heck, I can totally see Taro performing Jinniku Shirahadori.

I was under the impression that Shunkou was equivalent to the mastery technique of a Higher Hakuda discipline. Thus, being able to perform Higher Hakuda would be akin to being a black belt, whereas Shunkou would be the equivalent of being a ninth-degree, almost as far from those who can use a couple of basic Higher Hakuda as those who can use Higher Hakuda are from a rank novice in hand-to-hand.

If I'm mistaken, then I'm willing to downgrade some of Goro's techniques to Lower Hakuda, or just state that he's only capable of some of the techniques of the Five Tides style.

[Kuroimaken]

It's just that part of the Shunkou schtick is that it's very hard to master. Sure you can have more techniques than just "power-up, punch, everybody dies", but if that's hard to do, imagine how hard it is to, I dunno, turn your Reiatsu into armor (kinda like Kenpachi does, but not by releasing so much energy that it makes Chernobyl look tiny). Shunkou is supposed to be stupidly hard to control, and that's just to keep a certain measure of it flowing around outside your body. Being able to use it beyond that, it follows, would be even harder.

Course... I might just be getting too stubborn about this. Provided we keep a reasonable limit on how many characters use it, that should be okay.

EDIT: Also, just because it's called "Lower" Hakuda doesn't mean it's inherently inferior. But it uses the body more than it uses Reiatsu.

Kazuma, for example, could be considered an expert on a form of Lower Hakuda he likes to call Soushou (Twin Impact), which basically consists of hitting something so as to produce two nigh-simultaneous impacts - one of which neutralizes the inherent physical resistance of an object, while the other delivers the actual force of the blow, causing the damage to radiate like a wave. Despite the fancy explanation, it basically means his strikes have a lot of impact/force behind them. Of course, the impact itself still has to overcome the hardness of the target, and the damage still has to spread as far as actual tissue. But you guys get the idea.

NOTE: This was just an example. Kazuma doesn't actually possess said technique unless everyone agrees it's okay. Also, cookie for whoever gets the reference.

[Nicklance]

Supreme Extremes Style

Spoiler

Show

The inherent connection between a Shinigami and his Zanpakuto makes wielding and learning to use the full capabilities of the spiritual weapon easier than a weapons master learning a plain physical weapon. And despite the common thought that dual-weapon Zanpakutos are harder to master, the truth is that the Shinigami himself isn't as hard-pressed to master both weapons compared to a Shinigami with a single blade. The challenges are greater, but by no means nearly or even close to double compared to his peers.

However, the concept of duality into oneness in Konpaku Aya's swordplay is deemed esoteric not only because of its complexity through simplicity, but also the philosophy accompanied by the practicalities of martial prowess. This duality, while clear and distinct, must be executed as if there were no fundamental differences in the first place, and a point where the man begins and where the sword ends cannot be found. Despite this complicated description of what this style seems to entail, the real training and execution can be said to be easier than it sounds.

From Stillness to Movement - When two extremes are placed opposing each other, harmony exists on the middle path between the two poles. Understanding the duality of movement allows the practitioner to 'flow' from movement to stillness instantly with fine precision and control. This ability enhances one's footwork, balance and skills in Hoho. The entry and the end of Shunpo therefore no longer requires any 'starting movement' that even the masters of Shunpo require and the end of the movement cannot be seen, only that the Shinigami is standing still on his desired location as if he had already been there, having encountered no inertia from using Shunpo.

Bend with the Wind - The mighty tree facing the hurricane gets uprooted, while the grass sways violently and yet remains rooted in place. In a clash between two exponents of similar skill and power, it is one who can reduce energy expenditure by flowing with his opponent that will reduce injuries and conserve more strength. By feeling the opponent's strikes with one's weapons or bare hands, this ability allows the body to 'yield' to the force by going along with the vector that the energy is focused towards. This brings the Shinigami into a constant state of 'defensive rolling' that serves to dissipate energy by letting it expend itself, rather than risk more energy to resist and possibly gain an injury or two. Furthermore, this ability also helps in 'sticking' to the opponent either via weapon to weapon contact, or hand to hand contact. This allows the exponent to remain in close contact with his opponent even the latter exerts great strength to shove, push or blast the opponent away.

Inhale and Exhale - When a mother pushes a child on a swing, she does not do so at full force the moment the child reaches her arms, she yields to the rising energy, gently reduces the force coming at her and at the final moment adds her own energy to the push, allowing a greater force to send the child swinging downwards again. Like breathing, the exponent does not resist an opponent's strikes head on with full force, instead a gradual swelling of energy is applied for every block and parry which with practice a near-perfect amount of strength will be used each time. This allows the exponent to manage his stamina and make his energy count. Furthermore, when the incoming force is negated, the energy balance is almost zero, which the exponent can then take advantage of this sensitivity of energy to impart an explosive blast of force immediately, like exhaling a puff of air after breathing in. This replaces the typical riposte maneuver of going around an attack for a counter-attack with a straightfoward reply in kind. This allows even relatively weaker exponents to overcome stronger opponents, who do not have the luxury of learning finer strength control.

The River Meanders - The mighty river can be tamed by meandering the path which it flows. Sometimes the incoming force is too strong to even be blocked, it is at this time when rather than seeking to stop the energy, it is more prudent to redirect it. This maneuver allows the exponent to guide the incoming force to another direction with a small but strong direction of force. This allows the incoming strike to veer off the mark, or a more perceptive and agile exponent may allow the strike to overreach, sending the balance of the opponent off by encouraging an already strong blow to fly further than he would have expect.

[Sucrose]

Interesting style, Nicklance, and quite evocative, but I have a few concerns:
1.) This seems to be an enhancement to existing zanjutsu skill; the higher hakuda techniques are, to my understanding, a way for CQC fighters to reasonably keep up with their sword-wielding peers, and an extension of the existing nigh-magic Hakuda techniques (Shunkou, Sokatsu). There is no such precedent for zanjutsu-based nigh-magic effects beyond sword release, and the rewards of zanjutsu mastery are already present in the spiritual gifts exemplified by shikai and bankai.

2.) The wording of some of the effects of abilities of the style seems absolute. Bend With the Wind seems to imply Tai Chi masters' 'stickiness' exaggerated to the extent that it is physically impossible for an opponent of a user of this style to affect the range at which the battle is fought. The combination of Bend With the Wind, Inhale and Exhale, and The River Meanders seems to be intended to make it impossible for anyone, no matter how much they might technically outskill Konpaku Aya, to land a meaningful physical blow.

3.) The effects are always on. Higher Hakuda techniques require some form of activation, and require spending energy in excess of simple physical techniques. This, on the other hand, seems to be an exaggerated portrayal of efficient fundamental fighting expertise. If you wish to do that, then you should just outright say in her character bio that 'Konpaku Aya is impossibly skilled at avoiding damage from blows, moving quickly, and redirecting force.'

4.) On a thematic level, I don't see how Bend With the Wind is part of some dualistic theme, nor The River Meanders. They fit with each other, but not the other two techniques.

Edit: Kuroi, that would be the ultimate technique of Sanosuke Sagara from Ruroni Kenshin, Futai no Kiwami. I object to anyone in this game having it, not necessarily from any balance considerations, but just because even while I watched it the first time (and I did like the show), the technique always seemed completely absurd to me: it makes absolutely no physical sense, even on an intuitive level. No matter how close two blows are to each other, the first does not negate the physical toughness of an object for the second. At best, you could create some sort of resonance in the waves of atomic motion through the object caused by your blow.

[Nicklance]

Interesting style, Nicklance, and quite evocative, but I have a few concerns:
1.) This seems to be an enhancement to existing zanjutsu skill; the higher hakuda techniques are, to my understanding, a way for CQC fighters to reasonably keep up with their sword-wielding peers, and an extension of the existing nigh-magic Hakuda techniques (Shunkou, Sokatsu). There is no such precedent for zanjutsu-based nigh-magic effects beyond sword release, and the rewards of zanjutsu mastery are already present in the spiritual gifts exemplified by shikai and bankai.

These styles are usable bare-handed

2.) The wording of some of the effects of abilities of the style seems absolute. Bend With the Wind seems to imply Tai Chi masters' 'stickiness' exaggerated to the extent that it is physically impossible for an opponent of a user of this style to affect the range at which the battle is fought. The combination of Bend With the Wind, Inhale and Exhale, and The River Meanders seems to be intended to make it impossible for anyone, no matter how much they might technically outskill Konpaku Aya, to land a meaningful physical blow.

I would soften those terms. The 'stickiness' is not a means to always remain in constant contact with the enemy, sometimes it is far better to roll with the blow to stay far ahead, particularly when facing a stronger and faster opponent. As such, Bend with the Wind is preferable to standing there and taking it in the face.

3.) The effects are always on. Higher Hakuda techniques require some form of activation, and require spending energy in excess of simple physical techniques. This, on the other hand, seems to be an exaggerated portrayal of efficient fundamental fighting expertise. If you wish to do that, then you should just outright say in her character bio that 'Konpaku Aya is impossibly skilled at avoiding damage from blows, moving quickly, and redirecting force.'

I think I missed the bit about Higher Hakuda techniques requiring some form of activation aka Shunko. I'd put this as a constant consistent drain of reiryoku, which will make it on par with the other Higher Hakuda techniques.

4.) On a thematic level, I don't see how Bend With the Wind is part of some dualistic theme, nor The River Meanders. They fit with each other, but not the other two techniques..

The dualistic theme remains. Bend With the Wind is an expression of resistance through submission. Resistance in this case as a goal of not incurring too much damage to oneself and to survive, so by going with the flow and not against it, the force that is you, is still alive to have a go again.

The River Meanders symbolizes the exponent as a center of balance, and punishes those who exert excessive force by aiding that force to go out of control. Those who put too much into offense finds themselves losing the ability to control or go into defense.

[Dorizzit]

Also, cookie for whoever gets the reference.

Rurouni Kenshin. Anji teaches it to Sanosuke, who uses it for a while before developing his own version.

[Sucrose]

These styles are usable bare-handed



I would soften those terms. The 'stickiness' is not a means to always remain in constant contact with the enemy, sometimes it is far better to roll with the blow to stay far ahead, particularly when facing a stronger and faster opponent. As such, Bend with the Wind is preferable to standing there and taking it in the face.



I think I missed the bit about Higher Hakuda techniques requiring some form of activation aka Shunko. I'd put this as a constant consistent drain of reiryoku, which will make it on par with the other Higher Hakuda techniques.



The dualistic theme remains. Bend With the Wind is an expression of resistance through submission. Resistance in this case as a goal of not incurring too much damage to oneself and to survive, so by going with the flow and not against it, the force that is you, is still alive to have a go again.

The River Meanders symbolizes the exponent as a center of balance, and punishes those who exert excessive force by aiding that force to go out of control. Those who put too much into offense finds themselves losing the ability to control or go into defense.

For points 3 and 4, your explanation/modification seems reasonable. For points 1 and 2, though, I'm afraid that you are missing the point of my critique.

For point 1, Higher Hakuda techniques require, well, mastery of Hakuda. They are the strongest expression that we presently have for Hakuda (aside perhaps from some of the more effective Lower Hakuda forms). Allowing someone who specializes in a different form of combat to gain essentially the same effects, along with the benefits of their own style, unbalances the different schools, regardless of whether said effects can 'also' be performed bare-handed.

Konpaku Aya is already achieving Bankai, possessed of a relatively powerful Shikai, and routinely performing level 50+ Kido in combat. She should not be able to also make use of techniques that are essentially equal to some of the best that Hakuda has to offer, since she is stated to be only passable at Hakuda, with her agility accounting for most of her apparent skill.

For point 2, I was referring to this passage:

Furthermore, this ability also helps in 'sticking' to the opponent either via weapon to weapon contact, or hand to hand contact. This allows the exponent to remain in close contact with his opponent even the latter exerts great strength to shove, push or blast the opponent away.

Making it much more difficult to drive the 'exponent' away would be reasonable, but this seems to be an absolute statement. If the character gets in close contact, they can stay in close contact 'even if the latter exerts great strength to shove, push, or blast the opponent away.' That may not be its primary purpose, but it's an exceedingly strong secondary.

I also notice that you didn't deny that the combination of the last 3 abilities seem intended to make the 'exponent' essentially impossible to harm in direct physical combat, even by those that outskill or overpower said 'exponent.'

I could possibly accept the second points, if they were a character's area of expertise. However, as Hakuda is very much not Aya's area of expertise, I do not think that she should get access to a relatively powerful style of the Hakuda format.

[Kuroimaken]

Edit: Kuroi, that would be the ultimate technique of Sanosuke Sagara from Ruroni Kenshin, Futai no Kiwami. I object to anyone in this game having it, not necessarily from any balance considerations, but just because even while I watched it the first time (and I did like the show), the technique always seemed completely absurd to me: it makes absolutely no physical sense, even on an intuitive level. No matter how close two blows are to each other, the first does not negate the physical toughness of an object for the second. At best, you could create some sort of resonance in the waves of atomic motion through the object caused by your blow.

I'm sure another reasonable explanation could be given. The point of Kazuma's technique, at least, would be to spread the force of impact over an area without dissipating it. Or controlling where the impact will actually hit (similar to techniques where martial artists hit the top of a pile of bricks and shatter only the one in the center, or the one in the bottom. I'm unaware of the name for this technique).

And okay, both Sucrose and Dorizzit get cookies. Careful, they're fresh off the oven.

For what it's worth, Aya's Bankai is such an energy hog that she can't keep it up for very long. (Keep in mind that despite what D&D tells you, 5 minutes is actually not that much time in combat, specially considering how much characters in Bleach move around.) But... yeah, there's some reason to be concerned there. Between Soushi, Kazuma and Shishiou, she'd probably kick her boyfriend's ass... HANDILY... give Kazuma a hard time, and well, annoy the crap out of Soushi. (Kazuma, she actually has a chance of beating, but Soushi just plain cheats, especially if it comes to a Bankai showdown.) And this is considering they're not that far from each other in rank.

[tgva8889]

Yeah, I mean, Aya is a 4th Seat. Just having Bankai is quite a bit more powerful than any 4th Seat probably should be, in my opinion.

[Frozen_Feet]

I'd say Aya has promotion upcoming at the end of the plot, provided she survives.

[tgva8889]

I apologize in advance if it seems cheap that so many actions are taking place at once.

[Edge]

I think I'll wait before making an attempt at a getaway, give the others time to post a response.

Also, KD, a new post in the Roux/Akane sub-plot that I admit I had pretty much forgotten about.

[Nicklance]

Far easier to hit the 10,000 hours magical number in a world where characters routinely age to 100s and yet would not show on their face.

Aya just happens to train a lot harder than her peers, and recent events have motivated her to go at it harder. But yes if she survives this would be a good discussion, if she dies then its just a moot point.

As for the Supreme Extremes Style, I'll call it a typical swordmanship style, and not tag it as a Higher Hakuda (despite the style being perfectly suitable unarmed as well), so that despite the absolute statements, Higher Hakuda styles can still blow Aya away.

[HirokatsuGoto]

Edge and Tgva,

Don't forget Taro's last post, about being in front of the truck and the 16 10th Divisioner's slashing at the wheels of the truck.

I have no problem in "getting away" as a part of the lot etc., all i ask is that my posts and character's actions dont get ignored

also (and potentially related)..Edge..in one of your last post's i think you said "Goto" and i am not sure if you meant Taro (my character) or if you meant Goro (Sucrose's)

FF-i shoudl post my reply for you Monday morning...ive been busy this weekend...my family wanted me to hang with them today since my birthday is tomorrow...