[BRR] Character Registry

[shaddy_24]

Calvin Thurstan

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Age: Died in his mid thirties in 1863. Makes him about 150 since his death.
Gender: Male.
Station: Shinigami, Seated Reconnaissance Officer.

Description:

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Calvin stands at 5'11" and is lightly built, with dark red-brown skin and curly hair he keeps short at all times. He typically wears the regular Shinigami uniform while in Soul Society, though he often switches into more casual clothing while scouting in the Mortal World. Even in Soul Society, he tends to wear a wide-brimmed hat while outdoors.

Personality:

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Calvin is quiet and observant, as befitting his position as a member of the recon division. He quickly evaluates the situation before reacting or speaking, but he knows that often it is better to think of a plan quickly than spend time to come up with the best course of action. He prefers caution, often fleeing from unnecessary battles. When he does commit to a fight, he acts pragmatically, often seeking to end the fight as quickly as possible. He's also an avid explorer, interested in travelling around to as many places as possible.

History:

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Calvin spent the first few decades of his death exploring Soul Society and the world beyond it. While he can't remember his previous life, he retained much of the survival and scouting skills he had. During this time, he overheard some Shinigami talking about the Mortal World and Hueco Mundo, and decided to join the Shinigami Academy to further his exploration into those areas.
Upon graduation, he was appointed to the Mortal World, allowing him great freedom to explore. He spent years there, travelling whenever he was allowed to. Since the great war 50 years ago and the formation of the 6 current divisions, he's been working his way up through the ranks of Recon, eventually getting placed as the third seat just recently.

Story So Far:

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Nothing yet in here.

Abilities:

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Calvin's main skills are stealth and tracking. He's a master of Shunpo, and skilled with some Kido. He's more proficient with Bakuto than Hado, particularly ones that focus on tracking and aid in escape. While he's a competent fighter, he prefers to avoid melee, using his Shikai and Shunpo to remain at range from his opponents.

Zanpakuto: Wandering Traveller

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Description: In its sealed form, Traveller is a heavy, double-edged tanto. It has no cross guard and the hilt is plain wood.
Spirit: Traveller's spirit is a figure clad in baggy, form concealing clothing. Calvin cannot even tell if the figure is male or female. Their hair is bound underneath a large hat and their lower face is concealed with a bandana. They typically wear heavy gloves, boots, baggy pants and a long coat that is always closed.
Traveller is almost always silent, simply walking with Calvin through his Inner World, sometimes leading, sometimes following.
Inner World: A large, wild expanse of the American west. Old trails lead back and forth across the landscape, canyons form huge expanses, only sometimes crossed by bridges, and large hills and mountain ranges can be found on occasion. Calvin has been exploring this world for decades with Traveller. He suspects that certain key places here are somehow connected to his previous life, and that such locations will be involved with unlocking his Bankai. He finally unlocked his Shikai after wrestling a pistol away from Traveller in the ruins of a small town. While there was no sign of any people there recently, he found one house that contained several pictures that resembled him. All were severely damaged, leaving only his face clearly visible.
He's recently found himself on a trail that seems to have some signs of civilization again. Occasional broken down wagons or abandoned farms dot the trail, and Calvin wonders what he will find along it.

Shikai: Draw, Wandering Traveller.

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Calvin sheaths his tanto on his right hip and places his palm on the bottom of the hilt. As he speaks the command phrase, the dagger transforms into a six shot revolver.
Traveller gains the ability to fire bullets of compressed spiritual energy. Calvin has six "shots" with this before Traveller returns to its sealed form, but each shot can consist of multiple weak bullets or a single, more powerful shot. Calvin can modulate the power of each individual bullet, and he doesn't need to fire all of the energy from a single shot each time he pulls the trigger. However, he must use up a full shot before he can move to the next one. This means that he has to be careful how he uses his shots. If he leaves a very small amount of energy in one shot, he cannot make a more powerful bullet until he empties it and the cylinder moves to the next shot.
These bullets are capable of tracking and following their targets, depending on their strength. Weaker bullets move slower, but are better at turning and following, while more powerful shots cannot turn to follow their targets.

Bankai: <not gained yet>

[Rhyvurg]

Takeshi Sato, Shinōreijutsuin instructor

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Gender: Male
Age: 30 at time of death
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 600
Reiatsu: Deep black
Rank: Instructor
Known Affiliation: Gotei 6

Appearance:

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To call Takeshi "imposing" would be a glorious understatement. Tall, broad-shouldered ("And not scrawny-armed like that has-been Zaraki" as he has been heard to say), the battle-hardened Captain cuts an impressive figure. His clothing always immaculate, his hair and beard trimmed and in order, he looks to always be in control. Perhaps the most distictive thing about Sato is his girth. He was a Sumo wrestler in life and continues his training after death. He claims to have defeated one thousand foes in the ring. Under his robes however, the Captain is a roadmap of scars. His great endurance and strength was earned the hard way, honed in countless battles.

History:

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Sato died in the 1740's, and since his arrival in the afterlife he has sought conflict. Not out of some childish bloodlust, but because when he arrived he beheld that he had far to go yet in improving himself, mastering his own fate. He began to find work protecting others, a sure way to bring assassins to him. Every time a blade glinted in the dark, Takeshi thrilled inside. These were foes he could relish. They never came at him the same way twice, and he was forced to think one step ahead at all times. He joined the Shin'ō Academy as soon as possible, passing the entrance exam with such high marks he was placed in the first class, and graduated in five and a half years. He excelled in Zanjutsu and Hakuda and did passably in Hohō, but in Kidō he only had talent in binding spells. When he graduated and joined the Gotei 13, he was always seeking chances to improve his skills, challenging other Soul Reapers to spar, even Vice-Captains, and volunteering for dangerous missions, even those that did not concern his squad.

When he achieved Shikai, he was promoted to Vice-Captain as soon as a squad had a vacancy. Takeshi continued to distinguish himself for decades, always pushing hard to reach the next level of skill. As a Vice-Captain he was sent to deal with thousands of hollows, including several Menos, Gillians, and Adjuchas. When he achieved Bankai a promotion to Captain seemed inevitable. But shortly thereafter, the 13 squads began to whittle down to 6, and like many aspiring officers Takeshi was left without a purpose. He continued to train hard, ignoring those that said it wasn't needed. The fools seem to enjoy forgetting how easily hollows grow in power. He decided to teach at the academy, trying to impress the need for vigilance into the next generation, and was deployed to the world of the living many times to deal with hollows and pluses.

Takashi was one of those who rushed to defend the Soul Society when the Menos attacked, and was in District 78 when the hammer fell hardest there. He got as many people out as he could, but it was ultimately useless and the district was overrun. Since the initial assault he has redoubled his efforts at the academy and elsewhere. He has been heard to publicly call for the return of the Captains that passed into the Royal Guard, and for so-called "secret methods" of improving spiritual power need to be brought into the light of day, that the time for the selective training methods of the past is over.

Personality:

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Takashi has no patience for the meek and fearful, and encourages his students to stand tall and not shy away from adversity. "Pain is the fire in which we are forged", he says.

Abilities:

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Enhanced Strength:
Though not as strong as many famous Captains of the past, Takashi possesses prodigious strength, able to shatter brick walls, lift large boulders, and throw men dozens of feet with one hand.

Enhanced Durability:
More so than any active Captain, Takeshi has trained ruthlessly to make himself tougher and more resistant to pain. He sleeps on a bed of nails, encourages his students to attack him randomly during classes, and once let a Menos hit him with a Cero "just to see how it feels". He barely survived the experience, but would do it again to see how much he has improved.

Master Combatant:
Takeshi received top marks in school in both Zanjutsu and Hakuda, and puts most of his training efforts into improving these skills. He is one of the finer fighters the Soul Society has ever seen.

Shunpo:
While far from a master, Takeshi is skilled enough in Shunpo to keep up with most enemies.

Kido:
Takeshi knows every Bakudō spell developed by the Gotei 6, but possesses no skill whatsoever in Hado or Kaido.

Zanpakuto:

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Kurassha
In it's sealed form, Kurassha is a common wakizashi with nothing remarkable about it.

Shikai:
"Rumble..."
Kurassha takes the form of a large hammer with a spiked head. When it strikes something, it creates shockwaves that can shake a building apart or send people sprawling. When striking an enemy, the vibrations make it hard for them to keep their footing and a hold of their weapon.

Bankai:
"Kurassha, endure all things!"
The weapon vanishes entirely, and Takashi is encased in a suit of gleaming armor with no visible gaps or weak points. The suit's metal gloves empower his strikes, increasing his offensive strength by 50%, but the real power of the armor is it's defense. It protects Takashi from everything. It wards off attacks of all kinds, touch-based effects cannot pass through it, and binding magic can't fully restrain him. He cannot be poisoned, drowned, suffocated, or drained. A sufficiently powerful force can damage and crack the armor of course. But this absolute defense comes at a cost, he is also warded from beneficial effects as well such as healing. When his bankai is active, Takashi must be able to stand alone. No Bala generated by any living being can damage the armor in the slightest.

Note: The armor's defensive nature would negate or greatly reduce the effectiveness of powers like that of Soifon's shikai or Zommari Rureaux's Resurrección special ability. They can touch the armor but not "touch" it, if that makes any sense.

In-canon things that can notably damage the armor:
Kenpachi Zaraki using Kendo
Hollowified Getsuga Tensho
Yammy in his release state
Soifon's Bankai
Yamamoto's Bankai
Lanza del Relámpago
Sustained attacks from a Vasto Lorde
Starkk's wolves, if he can get at least 8 of them latched on
Nelliel's Lanzador Verde would cause minor but visible damage
A Cero Oscuras or Gran Rey Cero can cause minor cracks
A Cero Metralleta has sufficient power, but without focusing the beams into a smaller area it can't inflict enough damage on any one part of the armor to damage it.

Inner World:
Mist-filled forest

Zanpakuto Spirit: Kurassha
Personality:
Appearing as a towering armored bearr carved from solid stone, Kurassha is gruff, impatient, and eager to fight. He prefers to let hardships happen, that he might better show his strength by enduring them.

Hataru, stabbing you to wellness

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Age: 15
Gender: Male
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 160lbs
Station: High school student/wannabe delinquent

Description:

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Hataru is in excellent shape, toned and fit, and wears a red vest over a black muscle shirt with urban cammo pants and black boots. His hair is dirty blonde and looks like it needs a trim, and looks like he just tolled out of bed. He almost always has a cocky grin on his face, and likes to put his sunglasses on before he fights. Also, he's totally rocking a sweet mullet.

Personality:

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A wannabe womanizer and thug, Hataru loves to fight but also can't turn a blind eye to people who need help. This conflicting nature is reflected in his Fullbring power. He puts on a good facade of being callous and arrogant, but in the end he'll always act to defend others.

History:

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Hataru is an orphan, and grew up in foster homes broken up by bouts of living on the street. He claims his Fullbring memento was left to him by his parents, but that's a lie. It's merely the first real possession he ever had, and refused to give it up no matter what. Ever since he was 6, it's never been out of his possession. When he turned 14, he was adopted by a well-meaning wealthy family that lets him do almost anything he wants, so long as his school work doesn't suffer. He decided this was an acceptable arrangement.

Abilities:

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Hataru is a moderately talented Fullbringer. He delights in his ability to manipulate objects around him, and practices this on a daily basis.

Bringer Light: Hataru has only recently discovered this technique existed, and is strictly a rookie.

Physically, Hataru is in superb shape, on par with high-level athletes, but he's not superhuman in those respects just yet.

Personal Fullbring: Duo
In it's mundane form, Duo is a pair of wedding rings, a man and a woman's, on a chain he wears around his neck. He claims they belonged to his parents. When activated, the chain becomes a 5-foot long haft. At one end, the female ring becomes a forked spear blade about a foot long. The male ring becomes a metal fist on the other end of the haft.

Powers: The forked spear is a formidable weapon in it's own right, well suited to penetrating armor and catching and deflecting attacks. But when it wounds something, the metal fist opens and Hataru can direct it to grab someone. The metal hand can heal injuries, but only equal to the amount of harm the spear has inflicted on something else.

[horngeek]

Wakahisa Daiki

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Age: Looks around 30. Is far, far older.
Gender: Male
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 80 kg
Station: Tercera Espada
Aspect of Death: Loyalty
Mask Fragment: A slim fragment of white, running along Daiki's right jawline.
Hollow hole: He... doesn't seem to have one. At the very least, it's beneath his clothing. No one's seen it since he became an Arrancar, though.

Description:

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Daiki appears as a man in his early 30's, with black hair, amber eyes that appear almost golden, and fair skin. He dresses in a standard Arrancar uniform, with a tanto tucked into the belt.

Personality:

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Daiki is... an interesting man. He believes that as the Arrancar tore off their masks, they not only appear human once more, but have the capability to act as humans once more- no longer bloodthirsty beasts, but people who can act as civilised men do. He works towards making other Arrancar realise that too, by example and by words.

Personally, he's friendly, and although it takes a lot to earn his trust- or his loyalty- once given, it is not easily retracted, and the actions which would cause him to do so are likely to have lethal consequences for the once-ally if it's proven to him- not an easy task, for he'll believe one who's earned his trust over one who has not unless there's completely ironclad evidence.

He's friendly enough, with a somewhat dry sense of humor at times. Most importantly, he cares for his subordinates and his friends, and looks out for them.

History:

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To be expanded on, but the important points: He was a Vasto Lorde before Arrancarisation, he joined the Espada out of gratitude for said Arrancarisation, and he's currently mulling over what to do.

Story So Far:

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You can summarize here what has happened to your character during the game.

Abilities:

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Daiki is a master hand-to-hand combatant, using a style of fighting that is brutally effective, focusing on punches and arm blocks. This is enhanced by the fact that the Hierro on his arms is strong, almost impenetrable in fact, although the rest of his body isn't much more durable than you'd expect from an Arrancar of his rank. He doesn't use his Zanpaktou as a weapon much at all, however, as his arms are more than strong enough to block blades.

The rest of his skills... are much as you'd expect from an Arrancar of his calibre. His Cero and Bala are both better than average, his speed on both remarkable effective- he can, generally, charge up a Cero about twice as fast as a normal Arrancar of his power level. Sonido is average, more for getting around than using any fancy tricks.

Zanpakuto: Guerrero (Spanish for Warrior)
Description: What does your personal weapon look like?

Resurreccion: Stand Ready, Guerrero!
Description: When Daiki releases his Resurreccion, he's engulfed in a column of light for an instant, before it clears to reveal that his form has drastically changed. His arms are now covered in a white, armor-like substance, quite thin and still allowing him full mobility, but covering all six arms. Yes, six- Daiki gains two additional pairs of arms in this form, above and below his normal set. Finally, his clothing above the waist is torn away, leaving him bare-chested. However, his Hollow hole still isn't visible.
Power(s): Six arms instead of two. Combined with Daiki's already formidable skills with unarmed fighting, this makes him an absolute nightmare to engage in close combat, as he takes full advantage of the six arms. He often uses one arm to grab an opponent and hold them in so two or more additional arms can launch devastating punches. His strength is increased dramatically as well. In addition, his Hierro increases, becoming about twice as durable, and finally, his Cero and Bala are more dangerous, mostly because he has more charge points for Cero- and yes, he can charge Cero from multiple arms at once.

The one, major disadvantage of Daiki's Resurreccion is that it blows his Sonido to hell. His reaction times are still good, but he only has about half the speed of Sonido that he does with sealed blade, if that.

Segunda Etapa: Gran Guerrero (Not yet achieved, although Daiki is working towards this)
Description: Daiki's entire body is now covered in the same white armour as his arms are in standard Resurreccion- armour that is noticably thicker on the arms themselves, incidentally. Finally, his Hollow hole is finally visible... in the center of his chest.
Power(s): Daiki's Segunda Etapa is quite simple: all the benefits and disadvantages of his normal Resurreccion, taken to greater lengths. Each punch has massive force behind it, he's even tougher, his Cero are now truly devastating. His Sonido is even slower. Essentially, he's a multi-armed tank with the strength of an entire army.

[Demidos]

Tinja Corva, Quinta Espada

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Tinja Corva
Age: 370. Appears 22.
Gender: Female.
Height: 5'7’’
Weight: 120 lbs.
Side: Hueco Mundo, Quinta Espada
Aspect of Death: Immobilization
Reiatsu: Feels heady and unrestrained.

Appearance

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Tinja is of an average height, with golden skin and short black hair that reaches to her neck. Her mask fragment is a small, tear shaped bone fragment covering where her adam’s apple should have been. Her eyes are startling, a softly glowing orange that go well with the long gold chain she wears that curls up her left arm. She dresses in an ornately patterned orange outfit of a blouse and pantaloons. Perhaps uniquely among known hollows, rather than running through her torso, her Hollow Hole runs through the palm of her left hand. It is relatively small however, and thus does not inhibit her manual dexterity.

Personality

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Tinja appears friendly and rather unthreatening, but this outer demeanor merely shrouds a vicious cruel streak. Tinja enjoys killing in gruesome fashion, perhaps as a holdover from her days as a pirate queen. This is a private pleasure rather than a public one, and she feels no need to crow while enjoying the untimely demise of her foes, rather doing it quietly, with a focused air. When dealing with superiors or equals, she shows a detached friendliness, although she will become somewhat embarrassed if questioned about her killing habits. She displays an impulsive need to be near the sky, and becomes restless if she remains indoors for too long.

History

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Once a pirate queen, Tinja was the daughter of a former well known pirate. Begininng her career at the tender age of seventeen, she terrorrized the oceans, and was known for her brutal punishments to those who resisted or rebelled alike. Finally captured, she was thrown into the dungeons by the (British) Royal Navy (not sure if Britain exists in this world). She died with the chains still on her arms, in the deep darkness of the pit in which she was imprisoned.

Abilities

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Tinja appears as somewhat of an oddity among Arrancars. She is relatively powerful, boasting an extremely quick Sonido, as well as (relatively) incredibly powerful Balas. Despite this, due to her having only recently begun her ascent as an Arrancar (having become an Adjuchas a mere 46 years before) Tinja is rare among Arrancar for never having once used a Cero. Her Hierro is somewhat above average among Arrancar, but nothing to boast about – she depends on her incredible speed to stay out of reach of harm’s way. Tinja’s Pesquisa is also only on a typical level, but she alone, among Arrancar, still retains the ability to use her Negacion. While she only recently rediscovered this capability, she has been training constantly to master it and can now summon, albeit clumsily and unreliably, the orange barrier, although she has yet to use it without a target. Despite this handicap, the ability to summon a near impenetrable wall (with her powers as immature as they are, the wall can still be collapsed with enough effort, although she relies on the fact that Negacions are widely known to be impenetrable to help hide that fact) that attracts friend or foe is powerful enough already.

Zanpakuto

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Name: Tifón
Release Command: "Howl."
Appearance: Tifón takes the form of a golden chain connecting two daggers at either end. The daggers have hilts, allowing her to fight either in close combat with twin knives or at a distance with a whirling bladed chain. Tifón is usually wrapped around her arm in a shrunken state, but grows to actual size when she readies for battle.

Resurrección

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When Tinja releases, she grows to nearly seven feet, and her head becomes that of a great predatory crow. Her feet also become talons, and graceful black wings emerge from her back. Her arms remain human, but her nails elongate into talons as tough as any zanpakuto. Her Zanpakuto also remains manifested, but takes the form of a variable length of chain attached to her manacled wrists. This odd weapon style shakes up many of her opponents, but she is familiar enough with it that she has grown accustomed to using it as a shield, a swordblocker, or in any of various other manuveurs.
The most powerful ability of this new form is the creation of a wind field in the area about her. Not only does it increase her reaction times, but it steals the momentum of objects, abilities, and foes in the area and transfers it to her. While in a normal combat this manifests as apparently quickened reaction times and speeds, in an extended combat it will slowly sap the speed of an opponent until eventually they grow too exhausted to continue, giving Tinja the opportunity to finish them off.

Esposas del Viento: To use this attack, Tinja snaps the chain hanging between her wrists, and utilizes each jagged half as a separate, animated chain, allowing her to attack out to a medium range with more power than that offered by her Bala.

Danza de las Cadenas: When using this ability, Tinja momentarily flattens her hands together as in prayer. Chains rattle out from her back, and move hungrily as if seeking prey. The chains can move independently of her actions, and seek to tangle opponents and tie them down, also they can also strike foes with great force. With this ability she can also animate ropes or other similar objects in range, including those worn by her foes.

Guillotina Mortifera: When this ability is activated, the target is trapped in wooden stocks that appear from the ether. Above them, a shining guillotine blade appears which falls quickly towards their neck. The restraining stocks dampen reiatsu, making the target have to release far more reiatsu than they normally might need to escape.

Segunda Etapa

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Despite her abilities, being such a new Arrancar, Tinja has not yet developed her Segunda Etapa, but is getting close to developing her full power.

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Hierro becomes near impregnable, and stronger with the more time she spent stealing the speed of others. Her Hierro is basically her former Hierro plus her speed plus her stolen speed.

Entrapment in the demi-plane of Chains.

Ability to fire very slow Ceros, but with much improved power.

Becomes immobile.

Vice Captain of the Ninth, Naganori Igarashi "Rashi"

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Age: 2000 (25)
Gender: Male
Height: 6'1''
Weight: 210 lb
Side: Soul Society, Vice-Captain of the Ninth Division

Appearance: Tall and well built, Igarashi provides a contrast to his lanky captain. Looking very much younger than his age, he also has a very distinctive appearance, lacking two fingers on his left hand from a long ago battle with a low-ranked Arrancar, although it doesnt seem to impede his impeccable Bakudo. In addition to the regular uniform, he wears a variety of Egyptian lucky trinkets, including wedjat eyes, and even has an ankh tattooed onto the inside of his left forearm.

Personality: While initially seemingly intimidating, Igarashi is really a softie underneath. He loves playing with children and often spends the time he isn't training designing small toys to leave out in the district streets for children to find the next morning. To his superiors and equals he is usually outspoken, but oddly enough becomes more taciturn when dealing with subordinates, in large part due to his fear that he might again take the wrong path, but this time lead others down it as well. He is also not superstitious in the slightest.

History: A warrior-captain under Cleopatra, the last real Egyptian Pharaoh, Igarashi was killed when the last great Egyptian army was crushed under the iron fist of the Roman army. Igarashi, enraged at his seemingly hollow death (pun intended), became a hollow, and remained as such for nearly 1400 years, during which he garnered a fair amount of power. However, he was finally found out and defeated by a powerful Shinigami, and purified to be sent to Soul Society. Once there, he vowed to right the wrongs he had done as a Hollow, and to that end joined the Court Guard Squads, where he trained ceaselessly to learn warding and to gain his Shikai.

Story So Far:

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Travelled from the World of the Living to Soul Society, where he met up with Setsurou.

Abilities: Iragashi is very gifted with Bakudo, as might be expected from the vice captain of the 9th division. While not as good as his captain, he is easily within the top 8 Bakudo users within the Seireitei, easily combining techniques of up to the sixties without the use of incantations. While gifted with quick reflexes, he is rather bad at Shunpo, only managing the slowest and clumsiest of flash steps. Thus, while he is a fair swordsman by vice-captain standards, he uses mostly bakudos (and some rather impressive dodging skills) to protect himself from attacks.

Zanpakuto:

Inner World: An infinite void full of mirrors hanging in space, each of which reflects glints of light, the farthest appearing almost like stars.

Zanpakuto Spirit: A mute glowing girl of about 10 years of age. She is rather shy, and communicates through gestures or by creating scenes/images on nearby mirrors.

Partial Release: Distort, Gin Rei Kagami
-- Makes images of Iragashi flash and disappear constantly, distracting and confusing the opponent (note, not for epileptic wielders/opponents.)

Shikai: Reflect, Gin Rei Kagami
-- Summons layers of encircling mirrors around a single foe or small group of foes. Iragashi can move freely between any two given mirrors, and has rough control over the fragments of any mirrors that might be broken, although this ability is not yet refined.

Niklas Jaeger, Bount

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Age: Around two hundred. Appears as a young-looking 40.
Gender: Male
Height: 6'2''
Weight: 170 lbs
Station: Unaligned (im)mortal

Description:

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Tall, blond, and lanky, with a swimmer's physique, Niklas appears like a fairly attractive, if eccentric, human. Although not usually visible, his body is covered in tattoos. However, there are none on his arms, and his usual jeans and long sleeves cover any that might otherwise be visible.

Personality:

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A perfect gentleman, Niklas is well-spoken, courteous, and polite to a fault, as might be expected of someone who both graduated some of the top colleges in the world and also personally experienced the Victorian Era. He speaks with a faint English burr, and gives off an air of impeccable decorum. He also speaks flawless Spanish, Japanese and German. However, underneath this outward shell (which, despite being a shell, is completely truthful), Niklas conceals a Machiavellian interest in devious plots. He is also fascinated with the human genome and, more specifically, in meddling with it. He has published several groundbreaking papers on cancer research (under pseudonyms, of course), although his main focus is on DNA augmentation, or making people better than human.

History:

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Born in London as a street urchin, Niklas underwent the typical rags to rich story, ultimately being adopted by a rich widow. He was raised along with her son, and the two became fast friends -- both had enough spiritual energy to see spirits, and as such they often spoke of things no one else understood. The widow died several years later, once both had reached their 18th birthday. However, it soon became apparent that Niklas was aging much slower than his friend (Thomas). The two investigated and found out the truth of Hueco Mundo and Soul Society from fragments gathered from dying Hollows and Shinigami. They were careful to avoid notice from either organization. When Thomas finally died of old age, he left everything in his will to Niklas, who continued his research and studies for the next 200 years. Eventually, he was seduced into the power of trying human souls, which increased his power mani-fold, allowing him to control even the bones of living creatures. Eventually moving to Japan sometime after the second World War, he now has moved to the Institute, teaching advanced science courses on a part-time basis. He owns a fair-sized house on a cliff near the ocean, near a hidden cove where he has the privacy to carry out his experiments.

Story So Far:

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Nothing Yet!

Abilities:

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Education: Graduated (various times) from Oxford with Honors. Special focus on Biochemistry and Bioengineering, with a PHD in both.

Swimmer: Wakes early (5:00 am) and swims for an hour each morning. In excellent swimming shape.

Incredible Strength: As a Bount, Niklas is incredibly strong, able to pick up cars with only a moderate effort.

Intelligence: Very High. Enough to graduate and get a PHD, and approaches things with a scientific mindset.

Violinist: Plays violin (badly). Yes. Despite nearly eighty years working at the darn thing. Yes. It is sad.

Reflexes: At a skilled athlete's level. While Bount possess superhuman physical attributes, Niklas has not concentrated overly much on this aspect of his power.

Doll:

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Release: Zeige Dich, Leoni

Appearance: The shadow of a young woman whose body, upon closer look, is composed of a swarm of buzzing bees.

Personality: Leoni always calls for Niklas to allow her to release ALL her power, and cackles gleefully every time he/she takes control of another bone.

Powers: The power to manipulate and control bone. Each bone must be merged with a bee, which then takes control of the bone, granting it animation or increased/decreased durability/power. Bones can be extended into walls, shields, or weapons, bone monstrosities can be brought to life, and opponents can be paralyzed. The paralysis option requires large open wounds, however.

[dancrilis]

Name: Kanomi Tarriz
Age: Late teens (in appearance), over 50 in fact.
Gender: Male
Height: 6'1''
Weight: 175lbs.
Side: Seireitei.


Appearance:

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Tarriz is nothing special he is tall enough and broad enough but ultimately forgettable.

Personality:

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Tarriz was a petty thug until he was taken into the academy and a large amount of that remains. However he does work very hard to be the best he can be and likes to boost of his ability.
He realises that their are people that are so much more powerful than him that he will never compete with them and it annoys him greatly, but still he tries and works hard.

He is also fairly loyal once it is earned.

Abilities:

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As a student he is nothing special, top of his class in Zanjutsu but that is not saying a lot, his other skills are at acceptable levels for his training.

Background:

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He barely remembers his mortal life but he spent his early time in soul society in a gang that formed, most of them died on the streets only himself and two others survived to be recruited - of them he is the only one left, the others dying in the recent hollow attack.

[Tebryn]

K.I.A

Jyn'Hao

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Age: Unknown
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 3''
Weight: 160 lb
Station:
Aspect of Death: Time
Mask Fragment: Three square earings in each ear
Hollow hole: Tongue

Description: Jyn'Hao is surprisingly thin, dressing in a traditional hakama though its hem is ragged and scorched. Jyn'Hao keeps his tanned chest and arms bare, a single jagged scar down his body from his shoulder to hip. Tattoos like tiger stripes mark his arms, dyed a bright red to match his long hair.

Personality: Cocky and outspoken, Jyn'Hao prefers to use combat as a means to solve disputes over words. Prone to speak his mind even when it is not needed, Jyn'Hao uses his virulent and often cruel outbursts as a method to keep those around him at arms length.

History: Before Las Noches there was spoken of a terribly worm that roamed the white sands of Hueco Mundo that would devour any foolish enough to enter it's realm. The bones of the fallen littered the wastes where ever it roamed. The King of Hollows, upon creating his kingdom, sought out the fearsome beast to guard his grand castle only to engage the beast in combat. All know the battle ended with a single strike against the beast but few know the fate of the monster. Taken deep into Las Noches, the being that would become Jyn'Hao was one of the first Arrancar created by the King of Hollows. Kept deep under the castle, Jyn'Hao was housed due to his violent behavior only to be released against the enemies of the Espada.

Abilities: Jyn'Hao posses formidable speed though seems to lack even basic hierro. Jyn'Hao's main strength lies in his cero which is arguabely one of the strongest in all of the Espada. A capable hand to hand fighter and swordsman, he prefers to use his nimble kicks and speed over his blade.

Zanpakuto: Arena Blanco
Description: Arena Blanco is a long bore rifle easily as tall as he is.

Resurreccion: Fade Away, Arena Blanco
Description: Jyn'Hao tosses his gun into the air after which it turns into a massive sandstorm that obscures his body. The sand collects around his body, muting his colors slightly. Once released, Jyn'Hao grows substantiated taller to almost eight feet. His eyes become black through out, his mouth filled with vicious teeth. Bone like plates form over his upper body and arms though provide minimal armor. Arena Blanco

The sand absorbs blows directed at him though can be worn off or depleted by forcing him to use it in his attacks and somehow managing to keep it from rejoining the main body. This sand can also be expelled from Jyn'Hao's body in a massive dust devil that cuts and wears against anything within though this is most certainly a desperation move.

Howling Blast: Jyn'Hao can launch a cero or bala wreathed in his white sand, obscuring the blast and flaying with even a grazing blow. Things hit by Howling Blasts reduce all in it's path to dust

Erode: Jyn'Hao can create cubes of force that disintegrate anything they touch. Armored foes or powerful Spiritual entities can reject these effects though due to their nature they grow substantially hard to resist with subsequent attacks.

Out of Time: Jyn'Hao can charge the sand around his body with his reishi, contact with which causes to lose inertia, rendering them much weaker than their initial attack.

[horngeek]

Yukimura Akane

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Age: Appears 23 or thereabouts- doesn't say her actual age much. As old as Kiba.
Gender: Female
Height: Average
Weight: Average
Side: Seireitei, Seated Officer of Reconnassaince

Appearance

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Akane appears to be a young woman with light skin, short snow-white hair, violet eyes, and white cat ears, who dresses in the typical Shinigami uniform, with a katana with wooden hilt and sheath tucked into her belt.

Personality:

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Akane often confuses her fellow officers, with a personality that can be playful and teasing or serious as the situation demands. Still, she makes friends easily, and often tries to act as a 'matchmaker' for her fellow officers ("It's not my fault they're so cute together!"), and always tries to provide a shoulder to lean on. The only officer who she's never serious around, it sometimes seems, is Kiba, the Vice-Captain (and now, the Acting Captain) of the Combat Division, who she never misses a chance to tease. Oddly enough, whenever people try to ask her questions about him, she deflects the issue or outright avoids it.

Abilities:

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Zanjutsu: Akane's ranking in this is slightly misleading- in the pure art of sword-fighting, she's above average but not a master… but in the use of her weapon as a Zanpaktou, she's very skilled, and is very close to training for Bankai.

Kido: Fairly skilled, although with emphasis placed on Bakudo instead of Hado.

Hakuda: Average. Akane either has her Zanpaktou or she's fighting from range.

Hoho: Skilled. As a member of the Recon division, Akane needs to be able to get around quickly so she can support her squad.

Zanpaktou

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Name: Kaze no Uta (Song of the Wind)
Appearance: A simple katana, with saya and tsuka mounted in the Shirasaya method.
Shikai: "Sing, Kaze no Uta"

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Appearance: When released, Kaze no Uta takes the form of a simple Tonkori.
Abilities: Kaze no Uta, at first, seems like it's... worse than useless. After all, you can't exactly fight with it, can you?

Then, of course, Akane starts to play, and all misconceptions about the Shikai's uselessness are dispelled, for as she plays, blades of pure wind and Reishi are formed- depending on how she plays, the blades either shoot off at enemies, block incoming attacks, or slash at enemies who are up close.

Overall, it earns its name as the most beautiful of weapons in all Seretei.

Bankai: Kyōfū no Sōdaina Shinfonī (Grand Symphony of the Wind) [NOT YET ACHIEVED]

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Appearance: The Tonkori disappears, replaced by six instruments around Akane, floating in the air as if held by a group of phantom performers.
Abilities:Akane can direct these instruments, producing a storm of blades that only becomes faster if she uses her hands to conduct the beautiful and deadly symphony.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Randii Mendez

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Name: Randii Mendez
Age: 123, appears 18
Gender: Female
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 100 lbs.
Position: Fraccion to the Quinta
Aspect of Death: Being overwhelmed
Reaitsu: Like a never ending, pounding force.

Appearance:

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If Randii were in the mortal world, the easiest description of her looks would be punk.

Her hair is cropped close on the back and sides, and a little longer on top. The color of her hair can vary, as she likes to change it. Usually, though, it is a shade not normally found in hair. She's changed it so often that even she doesn't remember what its natural color is. Hey eyes are a deep blue, which usually stand out from the pale skin surrounding them. She has an athletic build to her.

She has many visible piercings. Both ears have five, her right eyebrow has two, her right nostril has one, the left side of her lower lip has one, her tongue is pierced, and so it her belly button. Her mask fragment starts on either side of her nose at her cheekbone, travels back to her ears, around them, and follows her jaw line to meet itself at her chin, where it points up slightly. Her Hollow hole runs through her neck, parallel to her shoulders.

Her typical outfit will consist of loose fitting clothing. Her shirts are usually tank tops or tube tops of varying designs, colors, and states of being whole. Her lower body is usually covered by loose cargo pants of varying colors and styles, held up by a thick, studded belt. She'll usually have short chains hanging from them, as well. On her hands, she wears a pair of black leather half-gloves, and her feet are covered in large, dark combat boots.

Except for her hands, feet, neck, and head, Randii's skin is almost completely covered in tattoos of various styles and sizes. The biggest single image is on her back, and it depicts a phoenix in flight.

Personality:

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Randii has a great dislike for authority, and will often do what she can to avoid people with it. That doesn't mean that she will ignore it completely, however. She just accepts it when it works in her favor.

Randii enjoys belittling others, no matter who they are.

She couldn't really be called a friendly individual. She doesn't actively seek others to befriend them, instead letting them come to her. The way she sees it, if somebody sees how she treats others and still seeks her out, then odds are good that she'll actually get along with them.

Zanpakuto: Refuerzos

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Refuerzos are a pair of black combat knives, usually kept in sleeves hanging from her belt. Their appearance is fairly bland, especially for a Zanpakuto.

Resurrección:

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Release Command: Call 'em in.

During her Resurrección, her knives meld into her hands, and from there, her tattoos start to glow, the light tracing the lines of the designs from her wrists up to her shoulders, down her torso, and finally reaching her ankles.

Her physical abilities do not change at all. What her Resurrección does is allow her to summon up various beings from her tattoos. When a creature is summoned, a part of it is still connected to her at the point of where it was on her body. The creature fights under her command, obeying her every thought. Doing this is a constant drain on her reiatsu, the size of the creature determining how much of a drain.

If the creature is defeated, it will meld back to its original place, the light of its lines fading away. She won't be able to use it for some time again. However, if somebody were to cut the connection between the creature and herself, it would dissolve on the spot, leaving an empty spot on her skin where it was. It would be gone forever that way.

The phoenix on her back is her largest and most powerful creature, thus making it the biggest drain on her energy.

She can summon multiple creatures at a time, but that creates even a larger drain of her energy, so she doesn't like doing that often.

She can still move about while using this, but as she has to concentrate on the creature as well, her awareness goes down somewhat.

Abilities:

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Randii has very strong Hierro, to help her defense during her Resurrección. Her Sonido and Balas are of higher than average strength, while her Pesquisa is average. Her Ceros are below average, since her normal fighting style is focused on small, quick hits.

[Spacewolf]

Castus Vern- SSI senior researcher

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Age: 96 looks early 20s
Gender: Male
Height: 5'10
Weight: 80kgs
Side: Soul Society

Appearance: Blonde hair cut to a crew cut, brown eyes, athletic build and always smiling. His uniform is also kept to a high standard.

Personality: Usually fairly relaxed and cheerful Castus makes friends easily will most people who he meets. He also takes a lot of pride in keeping his appearance tidy and despite the occasional rule breaking is actually extremely disciplined when it comes to combat situations or other dangerous situations. He also gets excited whenever he gets his hands on a new piece of tech from the living world, often disappearing for a few days when one arrives spending the time learning everything there is to learn about it. Giving him good tech skills even compared to other science divison members.

History: Known in the science division for his constant interest in new technology from the world of the living and his sometimes misguided attempts to find uses for them, as well as this he has faced some disciplinary actions due to unauthorised trips to the world of the living including one 3 hour trip the sole purpose of which was to see a film.

However his relatively young age means he is usually counted as an asset to the science division due to the less traditional perspective he can bring to the fore plus his knowledge of the living world allowing him to blend in better than older soul reapers. On top of this his decent combat and kido abilities means that if the science division has authorised trips he’s almost always picked to join them.

Since being promoted to a Senior Researcher he has unfortunately had less time to spend doing pure Research, instead having to divide his attention between overseeing other members projects and studying combat techniques to make sure he was capable of leading teams into combat situations. Due to his new administration duties he has had to ration his time making sure he has at least a few hours a week to perform whatever experiments he had planned.

Abilities:
While he is a competent swordsmen Castus prefers to fight defensivly with it and use his impressive kido skills to deal the damage. Due to his defensive style his strikes are extremely quick being able to block even surprise attacks with ease, the downside to this is that while he can redirect powerful physical attacks his own slashes are usually too weak cut deep.

Kido abilities
Bakudo- 81st with full incantation, 61st by name, 21st with no incantation.
Hado- 63rd with full, 33rd by name. With no incantation he can only cast up to 13th

Note: While he can cast up to a high level he rarely uses above 61 in Bakudo and 33 in Hado. (Also note i just changed this after looking over some other Reapers and seeing Castus seemed to be pretty low on the scale.)


Zanpakuto: Hiso

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Description: Looks like a standard Zanpakuto except with a smaller than average blade and handle allowing it to be easily wielded with one hand.

Shikai: "Riposte Hiso" After being released the sword takes on the shape of a Rapier.
Primary Ability: It can take any energy attack that touches the blade and add it to Castus' spirit energy, supercharging his kido attacks (this applies to Cero, Hado, Bakudo and Quincy arrows). It can also absorb the spirit energy from the surrounding area and given a few minutes can absorb even the bricks that make up the soul society, this ability takes to long to use in a battle but can be used to recover strength afterwards.

If the blade tries to absorb more energy than Castus can control then it can only be kept in the blade for a few seconds before being expelled from the point in a narrow beam. Examples of too much energy would be a Cero from an Arrancar or high level Kido from Soul reapers.

Secondary Ability: Can create reishi mines that when stepped on by an enemy create an explosion. The mines are created by tapping the tip of the blade on ground. Only 3 mines can be created at a time before Castus runs out of energy to power them.

Bankai: Not yet achieved

Story So far: Met Sawada, Turned on the shield at the white tiger temple.
Joined in the hunt for Sho at the phoenix temple, watched the duel then escorted the defeated Sho to the infirmary.
Science!
Went to Imhoteps prison
Revealed SSI army
Fought against Cult invasion of SS
Suspect of treason+ built railgun over first timeskip
Not so Cryptic talk with Li
Went to Kings prison

[ShadowFireLance]

I think he's finished.

Natake Nihono

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Age: 666 Years, Roughly.
Gender: Male.
Height: 6'5
Weight: 142 LB
Station: Privaron Espda

Description:
Appears like his form before his death; a Teen Human male, black short spiky hair, almost pale skin, and dark red eyes. Linky.

Personality:
Natake was found as a Hallow by a Nameless Espda, broken and near death, in place of killing him however, The Espada began training him as more of a test project then anything, and as such, has adopted The Espada's outlook and personality, almost entirely emotionless, and he doesn't honestly care about what he does.
He however, does have a few emotions; Anger, and hate being the most prominent.

History:
He was that normal kid in class, the one who sat in the back and was pretty much ignored by everyone, which he mostly preferred, not being the talkative kind. He died in a violent car wreck, caused by a drunk driver, this also killed his girlfriend at the time, Viessii Minuerto. His fear right before it hit him and Viessii caused the Hallow Transformation, and he haunted the driver (Who survived) till he committed suicide.
Having no farther purpose, he left earth and went to Hueco Mundo, wandering around for years, untill The Espada found him, and taught him everything he knows now.

Story So Far:

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Nothing yet.

Abilities:

Is focused mainly on melee combat speed, and in his years, has honed it to such a point where he can move nearly the speed of Yoruichi.
His Strength is about normal for a Soul reaper, nothing special about it, and is not exactly durable, but can take a few hits, nothing at the level of a normal Hollow however.
His Bala takes the form of a snake or dragon head on his hands when he fires it, is colored Black.
He possesses Sonido, as would be expected.


Aspect of Death: Fear
Mask Fragment: His Hollow mask is actually mostly intact, save for the mouth area, which is gone.
Hollow hole: His is where his throat should be, covering most of it.

Zanpakuto: Iyamureke
Description: A black English longsword, Iyamureke is serrated along his edge, almost like a sawblade.
Resurreccion:"Internal decay, Corruption run rampant."
Description: A Massive, Serpentine-like creature, with no limbs
Power(s): Mostly Focuses on blasts of energy from his mouth, and his terrifying speed.

Is this good?

[Julian84]

Hatiba Azwadu

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Age: 700 Years old
Gender: Male
Height: 6’04”
Weight: 165 ibs
Side: Seireitei, Seventh Divison

Appearance

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Hatiba is an anomaly in the soul society, not only due to being a prisoner trained to be a soldier, but also because of his unique appearance and heritage. Hatiba is not human. Covered in shining, iridescent scales, he has a snub nose and wide, slitted eyes. His scales are shades ranging from bright green to a bloody crimson, and are rough and pointed. Beneath each arm is a thin membrane he can use to glide, though he rarely uses that ability. He has incredinly sharp fangs loaded with venomous toxins. He wears the standard shinigami haori, but with long sleeves, gloves, and a hood to keep his heritage from being exposed.

Personality:

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Hatiba is cold and aloof from most people due to the prejudice he experiences. He has a treacherous personality, though not out of personal ambition, but simply because that is the way he is. His views of death and killing are more akin to a predator’s, and he has no qualms against killing someone if they insult or challenge him.

He bears a great dislike for his fellow shinigami, but continues in his duties of protecting the society that once hated him.

Backstory

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Hatiba’s past is a mystery even to him. Acquiring the powers of a soul reaper early in life, he quickly became a common thug, a reaction to the inhospitality he received. He knew no parent or sibling, but wandered the streets a pariah. His imprisonment was one on the pretext of being an abomination, and he spent many centuries beneath the earth in the Maggot’s Nest.

It was there he learned to commune with his zanpakuto, who revealed a small amount of his heritage: Somehow, Hatiba is connected to the realm of hell, though in what fashion is unknown.

His ability and skill eventually landed him a position in the Seventh Division, from which he steadily rose through the ranks until the incident of the Scarlet Garden. In his time, he came under the tutelage of a kinder, more temperate captain, who taught Hatiba an iota of forgiveness and forbearance.

Abilities:

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Due to having to survive in the Maggot’s Nest for centuries, Hatiba is a top-notch fighter, often relying on every advantage available to him to win. Interestingly, he has no ability to access most kido, only able to use the ability known as shunpo.

Shinigami

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Zanpakuto:

Name: Tenma Koushaku

Release Command: "Reflect on your sins and weep, Tenma Koushaku!"

Appearance: A long Ōdachi, with a crimson hilt and a tsuba decorated with small, grinning faces.

Shikai:

Appearance: The blade grows into a large scimitar, a red tassel hanging off of the hilt. Inscribed into the blade are intricate characters from a language unknown to the soul society, unknown even to its master.

Abilities: Because of his connection to hell, Hatiba’s Tenma Koushaku has a few special powers.

Tenma Kasai Allows Hatiba to summon eternally burning hellfire only he can extinguish. This is a dangerous and powerful ability he uses only rarely.

Kugyou no Tenma Requiring Hatiba to prepare for his battle, Kugyou is a technique depending on a diagram drawn into the ground before its usage. It creates six openings in the ground running 30 ft. outward from a central point, from which erupt chains that bind and seal whoever Hatiba chooses until he decides to seal his shikai.

Bankai: Not attained yet, though he is training hard to access this power.

[dancrilis]

Lucita
Age: Roughly 70 appears early 20s
Gender: Female
Height: 5'10
Weight: 140kgs
Side: Soul Society (Vice-Captain of Logistics & Medicine)

Appearance:

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Lucita is physically one of the most beautiful woman in soul society and dresses to show it - enjoying making certain people uncomfortable. Blonde and tall she draws quite a lot of looks from people.
It is a common joke that students (or even officers) who get hurt and need medical attention or only going to visit Lucita.

Personality:

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Easy going and flirty she can grate on the overly serious easily but most people would take her mannerisms (sometimes overly foolish) in good humour. She does however avoid this with captain Li out of respect - and she would joke in easy company when drinking to avoid causing the elderly captain a heart attack.
What Li makes of her is unknown to her - she has trouble reading the captain.

Abilities:

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She has only moderate skill with Kidō (barring Kaidō which she has worked hard to develop) and Zanjutsu she is competent as would be expected for her rank but most 7th seats would be a rival to her. However she is a highly competent at Hohō and Hakuda rivaling most in soul society in these areas.
More over she has combined the Hohō, Hakuda and Kaidō together to allow her to incapacitate nearly any opponent without harming them by using pressure points in quick succession and Kaidō to drain the power from them of Reiryoku or to disrupt attacks and abilities.

Zanpakuto: Juttinsu

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Name: Juttinsu
Appearance: A simple katana, with a light pink hilt and a bow at the guard. In shikai the appearance changes to a soft band of pink silk cloth that forms around her hand.
Shikai: "Bring calm to all, Juttinsu"
Inner World: An idyllic field of pleasant flowers and a relaxing smell with the sun shining down a soft breeze present.
Abilities:
Juttinsu is perhaps unique in all the history of soul society in its released form is is incapable of harming anyone.
It creates a near perfect illusion with no affect other then to ensure that any attack that intends to cause harm directly or indirectly simply either do not connect or connect in a manner that does no damage.
The exact limits of this power are unknown as Lucita rarely engages in combat, and when she does commonly avoids using Juttinsu at all preferring her own style.
Although the implications of what her style could do when combined with this power may worry some - as she would not intend to cause harm only to end conflict.

Background:

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Lucita died in Vietnam a nurse who opposed the war but wanted to help people on both sides of the conflict as best she could - i.e directly rather than with protests.

Entering soul society she continued this approach, but decided that if this was heaven she would enjoy it - adopting an easy going personality and working to help people.
In the academy she excelled at hand-to-hand combat and her studies and would have been welcome at and division - she choose Logistics & Medicine to do the most good for everyone and to meet the most people.

Over the years she has had to deal with some very unruly patients and is always kind and fair to them - which while many calm down to this approach it greatly annoys some of the more serious minded, particularly if they get violent and find themselves face down barely able to move but feeling oddly well for it with a host of nurses giggling at them, as they are returned to their rooms.

She shirks her vice-captain duties to an extent - asking others to do her an tiny favor here and there until there is nothing left - some have mentioned that the work itself might take less time but she is quick to point out with a smile that it would likely not be as much fun that way.

[5a Violista]

Ryuunosuke Peredur
Age: Appearance: twenties.
Male
Height: Average male height
Weight: 145 lbs
Alliances: Noble in Soul Society. In final year of Academy. Knows people from Central 46 (relatives).

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Description:
Peredur looks like an average man in his mid-twenties. Has good fashion sense (at least, in his eyes). Dark eyes, dark hair.

Peredur is determined to become stronger so that ‘nobody else will have to die’. He’ll help others and heal others even when his own life is on the line. Rather than fleeing for his own safety, he defends others, sometimes even throwing himself in the crossfire, if necessary.

History: As a noble, he trained in combat. He was determined to work with Central 46, become a bodyguard for one member of it, and he helped out there. He felt he would fit the job better by going to the Academy and learning Kido better. In his final year (just before the start of the Roleplay), before graduating and moving on, the Hollows attacked Soul Society. Peredur, as a result, decided he could serve Soul Society best by joining the Soul Reapers.



Abilities:

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Peredur is adept at some forms of Kido (healing and Bakudo) but is less adept at offensive magic. Similarly, his fighting style is more focused towards parries, blocks, speed, dodging, and avoiding rather than offensive attacks.

He’s fairly intelligent and well-rehearsed with tactics, strategy, and history.

Zanpakuto: Kyou Zou

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Description: It's a katana.
Spirit: The spirit Kyou Zou is indeed a Doppleganger; his true appearance can never be seen, as he always looks like whoever is looking at him. Nearly exactly the same, but with a few key differences that cause an eerie effect: Glowing red eyes, horns, claws that only occasionally appear, teeth that appear sharp out of the corner of your eye, and so on.
Inner World: An endless world filled with mirrors. Even the sky is reflective.

Shikai: "Kyou Zou, Simulate!"
Description: The sword is extremely polished and shiny. It reflects everything around it with minute detail...except people. People, their clothes, their weapons, etc are not reflected at all in it. When hit by another weapon, it appears to ripple like water in a pond does.
Power(s): It has three powers that can be used in a combination. Each of them require saying the name of the powers.

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Primary Doppelganger: Peredur looks like his opponent, just like a reflection of him. No visible differences between him and the other, except perhaps powers and strengths. And creepy red eyes. Every single reflection of his opponent has the same red eyes, and a grin. (Using this also makes his opponent's reflection visible in Peredur's sword.) It is, ultimately, just an illusion.
Secondary Doppelganger: Any Kido attacks used by Peredur into a reflective surface can be shot out of a reflective surface that has Peredur’s reflection in it. (If Peredur looks like someone else due to the First Doppelganger, then his opponent’s reflections also count because they’re the same reflection.)
Tertiary Doppelganger: All of Peredur’s reflections (including his opponent’s, if First Doppelganger is used) reach out of mirrors to try to constrain the opponent if he walks near a mirror.

Bankai: <will probably only unlock if after a 200+ year timeskip>
Description:
Power(s): He'll be able to create copies of himself from a mirror that fight synchronously.

Caeyrn Flaviu Citlali Belenus
Age: 22
Male
5’10”
Alliance/Day Job: Quincy of the Belenus family, Professional Actor

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Description:

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Caeyrn has light hair, he’s well-built and strong. Often has a leather jacket, sunglasses, and other things typically associated with movie stars.

He looks (roughly) half-French, half-Japanese, because he is.

Personality:

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Caeyrn is a man who likes mortals. He’s fairly independent, famous, and likes to play sports. What he doesn’t like is when hollows, arrancars, or shinigami mess with mortal affairs, and he’ll threaten whoever he thinks shouldn’t be in the mortal world.
However, if there’s a mortal’s life in danger, he will temporarily set aside his disgust with the Shinigami or Arrancar and may even work with them, until the immediate danger is gone.

Basically, to him, any Spiritual Entity putting a mortal's life in danger is the worst offense known to man.

Caeyrn is also a little mocking and unhelpful when someone's life isn't on the line.

History:

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Caeyrn's Quincy family is from Europe; his mother's Japanese, so that's why he can speak Japanese fluently. Caeyrn's day job is as an Actor. He came to Japan to work in a Japanese film, and he stayed in Japan because he continued to get another acting job in a movie. Currently, they're filming a movie nearby The City. They've just started, as well, so he may be here for a while.

He's also a Quincy, so he occasionally takes care of Hollows when there's nobody else to take care of it or when he's not busy.

Abilities and Generic Objects:

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Caeyrn is physically strong, fast. He has great endurance, good accuracy and reitsu absorption control. He also has studied, a bit, in College. He's good at acting.
He has a couple Ginto which he keeps on a keychain, next to his Quincy Cross (two squares offset by 45 degrees, with a circle in them.)
He also has 6 Seele Schneiders, which he generally uses as a sword. One of them is modified to be longer and thicker than the others.

Quincy Bow: Kiyoshi Ken

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Description: The bow is actually a sword which can still launch large energy arrows (like a crossbow). The blade of this ‘sword’ are little tiny arrows that can be fired out as well.
Powers: As said above, it can fire both large arrows out the point of the sword, and many tiny sliver-like arrows along the whole side of the blade.

Zornhau der Seelen (Quincy Artifact):

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Zornhau is a glove that he wears on his left hand, normally. There's three sockets for him to put the Ginto in. When he does this, it glows with Reitsu, and he places the modified Seele Schneider on it, and it begins spinning around faster and faster until it forms a shield-like disk.
So, it's basically a Spirit Chainsaw Shield.

[Reserved for Lugaru]


Story So Far:

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Peredur:
Peredur was present during the Attack at the Academy. He fought back, but was, in all, too weak. One of his good friends died in that attack, at the hands of a hollow. Even while injured, he still tried to heal and protect others, especially from Sho's Shikai.

The next day, he talked with Tarriz. They had a match, and Peredur learned his Zanpakuto's name after Tarriz became influenced by Sho's deadly sword.

Lugaru:
When the Espada Azmus was looking for a Fracción, Lugaru was one of the ones that stood up to the challenge. He lost, but did not die. Rather, he was merely knocked unconscious.


Caeyrn:
Caeyrn was sitting on the beach waiting for filming to begin, when two massive Hollows attacked at the pier, looking like they came right out of Greek Mythology. He ran there and helped Kenzan take them out. After the two Hollows merged and were defeated, Caeyrn and Kenzan parted on less than savory terms.

[Tebryn]

Soul Society Ministry of Defense: The Ninth Division

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Insignia: Stylized Ivy
Insignia Signifies: Dependence, Endurance
Division Color: Dark Green

History: Created from a split within the S.S.I, the Ninth Division began as two hundred dissenting voices within the organization and their role within Soul Society. Where as the Pack acts as the front line warriors of Soul Society and Internal Security roots out corruption and brings those who believe they're above the law to justice, The Ninth Division has a role born from the recent times within Soul Society. Sitting on the largest network of defensive structures, the Ninth Division is tasked to protect the innocent souls of Soul Society and keep as much damage as they can from occurring. Masters of Bakudo and Seals, the Ninth Division expresses the ritual and eccentric air of the S.S.I without the muddling of science. The Ninth Division also keeps a large home for Hell Butterflies, slowly taking over the task of keeping the insects healthy and running messages between the Divisions during peaceful times.

Major Locations

The White Tiger Temple: While still not fully built the White Tiger Temple and it's grounds on the edge of Soul Society and boarding the Noble Estates promises to stand as a new beacon of dedication and honor within Soul Society as a whole.

The Midnight Carnival: The temporary homes of the Ninth Division, a large tent camp that surrounds the temple grounds. A concentrated area of bars and all you can eat open air taverns catering to the workforce, The Midnight Carnival has an energy within it that seems almost made to defy the tragedy of recent weeks within Soul Society.

Structure of the NinthDivision

Captain: Hei Chen: MISSING IN ACTION

Vice Captain: Naganori Igarashi

Seated:

Unseated:

Hei Chen

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Age: 220
Gender: Male
Height: 5'
Weight: 100 lb
Side: Soul Society, Captain of the Ninth Division
Theme: Fire Fire

Appearance: Hei Chen is a scraggly looking youth with a constant five a clock shadow and brightly dyed red hair which he grows long. Various piercings line his ears and face, his nails bit short. He often dresses in rather casual wear, a pair of finger-less gloves a hallmark of his makeshift outfits.

Personality: Loud is a good way to describe Hei, always up for a good bar trawling and holding a strong brotherhood with his Division. While many view him as lazy, Hei prefers to have a hands on approach with things not revolving around his job, confident in his peers and subordinates to do the grunt work. Known to be wildly eccentric as well, Hei's mannerisms when interacting with others could be called childish, referring to most with incorrect honorifics.

History: A promising member of the S.S.I for at least one hundred years, Hei's past is a check-board of arrests both from local Rukon authorities and the Internal Affairs Division. Spending most of the war in prison, Hei used the time to devise better defenses for the troops in the Sands. Some whisper that his constant fights and track record with the law was the only thing holding him back from becoming the Head Researcher of the S.S.I . However once the war was over he quickly felt his role was no longer needed and grew restless, his murmurs reaching the ears of the new Captain for the S.S.I causing his exile to the mortal world Shrines. While there however he and his team of one hundred and ninty nine people were given only a single task. Build a system that could defend Soul Society from the worst of a war on their home turf.

Abilities: A savant with bakudo, many of the seals and barriers created in the last one hundred years owe much to his research. While no where near as skilled with hado, Hei is still a kido user at heart and can utilize hado effectively all the same. While not the strongest swordsman or hand to hand fighter, Hei is quite swift and skilled with shunpo. His most unusual talents however comes from his years in prison where he learned to cook in the prison kitchens. Outside of prison he perfected his cooking style to fortify and restore reiatsu and to heighten one's natural healing potential. Many also know of his talent at therapeutic massage though he is quite tight lipped on where or why he learned this.


Zanpakuto: Jouki

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Description: Jouki appears as a stuffed rabbit doll that hangs by it's ears from his sash. It's true form is a cooking knife.

Shikai: Boil them alive, Jouki! - Hei's blade explodes in a puff of white smoke, his upper arms growing four holes each which exude steam. Hei exhale steam or blast it from the holes in his arms which can either blow out as scalding heat or rejuvenating warmth. Hei can only expend so much at a time, the effects growing less potent with extended use. Hei also uses these steam clouds to great effect in clouding the battle field and to hide.


Bankai: Mushiki - Hei's uniform explodes away from his chest, leaving him in a loose hakama. More holes run along his back exuding steam which grow potent, capable of boiling flesh of unprotected or spiritually weak beings with ease or restoring reiatsu at an alarming rate. His steam reserves grow much larger and refill at a faster rate.

Vent: Ejecting steam into the earth, Hei can effectively extend his attack or healing range with a surprising distance as he creates large fissures near by that exude his steam.


Pressure Cooker: While his reiatsu lacks any supernatural power outside of Bankai, the heat his body creates to power his steam reserves increase exponentially while in Bankai. This heat bleeds into the world around him which combines with his spiritual pressure to create an area about him that is perhaps more dangerous than his steam. Those who have prolonged exposure find themselves growing weaker both physically spiritually as the heat saps both away.

Heavenly Riotous Sauna: By using his healing steam, Hei can create a make shift sauna when combined with his barrier powers, those who remain slowly rejuvinating their reiatsu and wounds. This power is mostly used to restore or heal large groups of people as the strain and amount of steam it takes would other wise be wasted

Black Purgatory Oven: One of Hei's most dangerous attacks, using his skill in creating barriers, exhaling the hottest steam he can manage into what essentially becomes a steam cooker. Like the Heavenly Riotous Sauna however, using this attack on only a single foe greatly diminishes it's effectiveness.

Jouki Seji: By fueling himself with the spiritual and physical energy drained away by his aura, Hei can fan his own spiritual power to enter an empowered mode. While in this mode he gains a boost to his kido, creating almost unbreakable barriers with ease. This mode takes it's toll however, burning up not only the stolen energy but his own as well and prolonged time in Jouki Seji can very easily kill Hei.

[strawberryman]

Alexandra Dubois, Terror from the Dark [DECEASED]

Takenaka Chouko, Techno Beat in the Soul-hood

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Age: 79
Gender: Female
Height: 35in/88cm without her prosthetic legs. Up to 84in/213cm with her prosthetic legs, but more usually 70in/177cm
Weight: 36lbs/16.3kg without her prosthetics. 426lbs/193.2kg with her prosthetics.
Station: Captain of the Engineering Division
Speech: #E5BA0F

Description:

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Chouko, without her various robotic implements, is really just a torso and head. But given this is a descriptive exercise, certain things must be explained before pressing on to her more fantastic matters. She looks to be not much older than teens, without any blemishes (outside of the obvious) and porcelain-fine skin. Her blue-green eyes are usually hidden by some manner of visor or goggles, and her black hair is worn short so as to not get caught in any gears. While her torso is not quite developed to womanly whiles, she does have some degree of curves, but it's likely she'd only really be considered "attractive" to a very slim subset of people.

On the more fantastic end of things, Chouko is usually equipped with prosthetic limbs of a design not commonly seen on humans. Her legs are curved and tri-segmented and docked into a rapidly-shifting and rotating base around her hips, and while her prosthetic arms are relatively normal, she has seen fit to equip herself with two pairs of them. They are all fairly advanced demonstrations of robotics, and demonstrate strength about on par with an above-average shinigami. What's more, Chouko is often striving further into the evolution of advanced robotics and prosthesis, so her form is ever-changing (perhaps not on a daily or monthly basis, but every few years, as the mortal field expands as well).

Of her raiments, the girl normally "wears" jumpsuits fitted to her unusual frame, of various hues, but usually in shades of orange.

Personality:

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To say Chouko is free-spirited would be an understatement. That doesn't particularly mean that she is unable to focus on anything, her achievements in the field of robotics would disprove that conception entirely. It is more that she clings to nonconformity and individuality like a robotic headcrab (she's built them, they're adorable). She loves to prove people wrong as much as she loves techno, rap, dancing, and robotics. When she's not making new schematics for advanced robotics, she's writing slick (terrible) rhymes and practicing her dance moves and disk-jockeying. She doesn't particularly care what anyone else thinks of her hobbies and profession, as long as she is pushing her limits and having fun.

Of particular interest are her ethics; she has readily shifting and amorphous ethics and morals, but her common ethos is one that sticks to the advancement of science, because human (spirit) flesh is weak. Science is eternal.

History:

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Chouko was not always so bizarre in stature. She was "born" into the spiritual world a normal child, in the midst of a bamboo grove on the outskirts of the Rukon. Taken in by an tinkerer who didn't have the spiritual fortitude to join the ranks of the Gotei, she was able to build clocks and other relatively simplistic mechanics before her "physical" teens. But this girl had greater aspirations, and as she would have it, she was fortunate enough to win the spiritual lottery, and become one of the (relatively?) newer generations to join the ranks of the Gotei.

However, her troublesome nature would prove to her downfall, when she lost her left arm in a training patrol after foolishly taking on a Hollow ambush. The blade-armed Sworddancer was slain, but it was a grievous blow to the girl's career. Though she managed to pass the halls of the academy, she often faced ridicule for her bravado. Her self-esteem was about as low as it ever had been in her 'life', and she suffered from a severe lack of focus, floating around and not truly recognizing her talents in robotics until she received a fateful surgery from the Logistics and Medicine division, receiving a rudimentary prosthetic limb and renewing her passion in robotics with her excessive tinkering on the limb. From here, she applied for the SSI, and has gotten along famously since.

It is only more recently that she seriously began to advance in her self-induced prosthesis, but the steps she's had to take to get that far were many. She collaborated with members of the L&M division to create efficient robotic surrogates for surgery, as well as painstakingly going over every medical detail she could. Within the last few years, she has finally gone through with her many surgeries to combine her robotic passion into her very form. It has by no means been easy, but SCIENCE never is.

Story So Far:

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After preparing herself for the occasion, Chouko's mechanical grafting surgery succeeded. However, the month she spent in recovery did not. She broke out of the Logistics & Medicine division, but was stopped from her mad dash for her lab at the Combat Corps training ground, where she dropped her mad rhymes on some newbies. Unfortunately, about this time, Jehoel came to Soul Society, so she joined the congregation around the northern gates to stop him (which proved unnecessary). Also unfortunately, she hadn't become proficient with shunpo with her prosthetic legs.

Her next exploits involved an intruder at SSI's library, Sabitsura Sho. Intercepting the rogue, she and a few others confronted Sho and led her out to a duel. From here, she spoke at length with Koutetsu Hideki on creating a new division of engineers more suited to her (and his) mechanical genius.

Abilities:

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Master of Robotics: Chouko's prosthetics aside, she is almost always on some project to advance her field. She has at this point built robotic animals (one of her favorite pets is Samson, her robotic cat). This also expands to a capability of using kido and computing to animate her machines.

Medical Initiate: Chouko educated herself in rudimentary surgery procedures to create her automated surgeons.

Sick Rhymes: These rhymes are so sick you can't duplicate,
if you try you'll straight up conflagrate,
there's no competing with this champ of techno,
you might as well give 'cause you're straight up g-h-e-t-t-o.

Robotic Strength: Chouko's robotics provide her with a sizable boost to her strength and speed, but unfortunately as she was below average before her augmentations, this puts her at mostly just above average.

Hakuda: Chouko, after realizing the shikai form of her weapon, strove for a more hakudo-oriented form of combat. She is by no means the most skilled practitioner, but she is ever-advancing in the field in her "free time".

Kido: Chouko is more skilled in bakudo than hado, but her combat implement of kido is much more rudimentary than the common member of her squad. However, her research into the many forms and implementations of utility kido is much more notable.

Shunpo: Chouko has recovered the ability to implement shunpo with her false limbs, although there are still kinks to work out.

Zanpakuto: Sakadatsu (Deconstructor)

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Description: Sakadatsu's sealed form is that of a short saw-toothed chokuto.
Spirit: A four-armed baboon, muscular and large with a strong, prehensile tail.
Inner World: A massive junkyard, with broken mechanical parts as far as the eye can see.

Shikai: "Break it down, Sakadatsu!"

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Description: Sakadatsu reforms into that of two large mechanical gauntlets, with the constant click of gears and vicious claws at the end of each finger.
Power(s): Sakadatsu's true power is likely to evade the knowledge of most at first, but in practice, it provides much more destructive power to spiritual and even physical objects than flesh. A zanpakutou blade caught in Sakadatsu's grasp can be cracked or even broken with a simple squeeze(depending on the strength of the opponent), and pretty much anything that is not strictly organic can be dismantled with the most cursory amount of force.

Bankai: Hyate Sakushin Sakadatsu (Hundred-Hands Creator Deity Sakadatsu)

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Description: Chouko's gauntlets increase in size and even begin to meld with her metallic arms, becoming full-arm-length gloves that also have attached shields. She also gains a pair of secondary gloves similar to her shikai on her secondary arms. But more fantastically, a horde of extra gauntlets float around her, it is not clear how many there are, because even when destroyed, they seem to be recreated, but given the name, it is possible she can have up to 100.
Powers:
Hundred-Hands Hakuda: Chouko's strength doesn't change much in her bankai, but every blow she makes can be mirrored by her floating gauntlets. The gauntlets are mentally directed and float of their own power, so she need not even be physically next to her target to do hand-to-hand combat anymore.

• Bass Pump: The single spiritual attack Chouko is capable of in Bankai, she can clap her primary hands together to create a concussive sonic blast that is extremely damaging to objects, but still very damaging to spiritual beings as well, equivalent to a fully-chanted Tenran in ferocity.

Deconstructor: Chouko remains able to break apart non-"living" spiritual matter. However, she does so at greater efficiency; every gauntlet floating around her is capable of breaking down spiritual matter.

• Salvage Queen: The fragments of every item Chouko breaks down are added to a halo of debris that floats behind her back.
  
  • Hundred-Hands Fabrication: Through crude manipulation of the debris Chouko has gathered, she is able to create objects from her gathered spoils. Though she can mostly do simple structures or items in the heat of battle, she is assisted in building by the remote gauntlets.

Yamada Katsuo, Unexpected Strongman

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Age: 17
Gender: Male
Height: 66in/167cm
Weight: 116lbs/52.6kg
Station: Student, Unaffiliated
Speech: Yellow Green

Description:

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For such a manly name, Katsuo... looks quite honestly like one could push him over and take his lunch money with ease. He is thin as a board, and slightly androgynous, with moderate-length brown hair and only partly remarkable green eyes. He normally takes to wearing... questionable clothes for males in japan, and in some cases, he could even be mistaken for a girl. His entire demeanor only exacerbates this fact, given he rarely looks anyone in the eye.

Personality:

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Katsuo is reserved at best, and hopelessly shy at the worst. He appears to be more comfortable around girls than boys. But his femininity rarely does him favors either, so he mostly keeps to himself. His shy nature has only been amplified in the advent of his spiritual awakening, making things extremely hard on the troubled teen. That said, Katsuo is undeniably kind when one gets past his guard, and given his lack of friends, he is extremely devoted to any he makes.

Amongst his hobbies, Katsuo loves cooking, drawing and painting, and collecting and observing various kinds of spiders, butterflies, beetles, and all forms of insects and arachnids.

History:

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Katsuo was always an odd boy. He was never truly into 'manly' activities despite his father often pressuring him into them. He more preferred a blank canvas, or a kitchen, or observing butterflies he captured, to the hustle and bustle of sports activities. He has a fantastic imagination, and in his youth often told stories about odd, robed fellows, and horrific monsters with white faces. This led him to be somewhat shunned by his family, only increasing his shy and withdrawn nature. When his mother, an architect, died, killed in a seemingly random building collapse, things only got worse. Being the only one she could truly relate to in his home, he continued to get more and more withdrawn from his family life, but hating how people treated him differently.

After his 16th birthday, it only got worse. At first, pencils and brushes started breaking in his hands. Then, he would start ripping doors off their hinges, breaking glasses in his hands by exerting the smallest amount of pressure, and various other completely unexplainable things that were as much a shock to him as those around him. This seems to have been the last straw for his father, as Katsuo was sent to live with his mother's sister in Ikari.

Story So Far:

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Katsuo recently transferred to the school. Fortunately, tales of his breaking school property in his old school have been taken as extremely exaggerated. His first day in Ikari, during a walk, he sent a soccer ball on a meteoric trip, and crashed through a solid stone fence, meeting Shiba Yui and Yamamoto Rin in the process.

After a relatively boring day of school, Katsuo made his way to the park. During which his peaceful sketching was involved by an unfortunate incident involving a sneeze and a tree, and then the park was attacked by a bull-like hollow, Ragehorn. Katsuo succeeded where others failed, stopping the bull in its track with a well-placed flip. From here, he proceeded to the meeting with the rest of the kids, during which he was briefed (rather erratically) by the others. The meeting was eventually interrupted by a horde of hollow drones and larvae of some mysterious nature, and Shiki Sora entering his resurreccion.

Abilities:

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Education: Katsuo is a rather bright boy, but is only in high school.

Superhuman Endurance: Though he has not really noticed it, Katsuo is able to shrug off things most normal humans would at least be temporarily crippled by. In battle, it's been observed that anything that doesn't strictly pierce through defenses can barely scratch him if it doesn't have a massive amount of power behind it. And even then... his great will leads him to be able to fight through wounds that would kill a lot of spiritual beings.

Quite Literally Super Strength: Despite Katsuo's stature, there is no doubting his extreme strength. And now that it's been tested... it's a sight to behold. There seems to be no upper limit to his strength, though he meets diminishing returns when it comes to straight exercise. Nonetheless, his power is titanic, being easily able to crush anything with his fists, or barrel through anything in his way on a run. His "muscles" seem to be equally balanced, as anything he does has to be careful and deliberate; in the course of his training, he's gained some amount of control over them.

Binding Breaker: Katsuo's strength is not only considerable, but it is reactive, and lends itself extremely well to breaking out and through bakudo. Spells of level 33 or less are easily broken by Katsuo, while spells above that range have varying effectiveness but will manage to keep him held for a decent amount of time. With his gauntlets on, he can break bakudo of level 50 or less with ease. It isn't limited to strict physical binding, either; something in his very soul seems to reject the concept of being held in place, and has a destructive effect on any bakudou or similar effect used to take him out of a fight.

Beginner Martial Arts: By training privately with Hasunaga, Katsuo has gained a basic grasp on martial arts. His strength regulation comes a bit more naturally to him, and he has knowledge of how to more efficiently use his strength. Though it's only beginner.

Hardening Shell: Katsuo can call out to the soul in an item to continually harden its surface against impact. However, he must keep in contact with it. In such way, he is capable of hardening his clothes into impromptu armor. However, it does restrict his mobility a little. This also makes him able to use impromptu weapons without breaking them instantly.

Personal Fullbring: Legacy of Hercules
A gift from his mother, this simplistic brass beetle necklace is Katsuo's fullbring focus; symbolic of his wish to have been able to save her. Unfortunately, it was far too much too late, and this depression caused him to lack control with his powers. Legacy of Hercules is the source of Katsuo's tremendous strength and endurance, in addition to granting him some extra abilities, now that he has realized his potential.

• Hercules Gauntlets: Katsuo can call upon his fullbring focus to form yellow-gold chitinous gauntlets. While worn, his strength increases exponentially, being able to easily lift things four times as heavy as he normally can.

Further powers, as well as the source of his mysterious strength, may develop as Katsuo discovers more about himself.

Shizuka Misaki, "L" the Lust

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Age: 25
Gender: Female
Height: 68in/172cm
Weight: 118lb/53.5kg
Station: Nominal member of the Moto clan and Zerreißen Himmel movement
Speech: #FF33A0

Description:

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Misaki's appearance is almost constantly changing. As a professional assassin for the Moto clan, she is constantly dying and using different stylings for her hair or wigs, wearing different-colored contacts, using advanced makeup, and generally going just short of cosmetic surgery in an attempt to obfuscate her true appearance.
Naturally, she is of japanese descent, with short black hair, amber eyes, and a thin complexion. Her body is somewhat muscular from her activities, but not overly so, because she simply keeps herself in attractive shape for "Moto-kun". Her curves are about average, but accentuated by her thin frame, and her bust is a solid B-cup.
Given she changes her physical appearance often, Misaki also wears a large selection of clothes. But one of her favorite articles of clothing is a magenta riding suit and helmet that fits tightly to her form, which she wears when riding her matching bike. Of course, she has a more subtle black set, as well.
Unlikely for anyone to find out is that she has an extensive cherry blossom tree tattooed from the lower-middle of her back, some of it leading to her front. It is rumored amongst those who know her in the Moto clan that she has a new blossom added for every life she takes.

Personality:

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Misaki was raised to be a killer. When she has a job to do, even when she decides upon it of her own initiative, she is cold, and emotionless, only displaying emotion when it would be tactically sound to do so.
However, outside of this, she is extremely unstable. Utterly infatuated with the son of Moto Yui, "Moto-kun", she will not be satisfied until her love for him is properly displayed. This equates to, essentially, making him a true leader of the Quincy, with all the 'lesser' clans defamed and dismantled, the Moto clan reigning supreme.
When around "Moto-kun", she is entirely consumed by her infatuation. A single dissatisfied word can collapse her into depression. Praise can uplift her in a way nothing else can accomplish. She is like putty in his hands.

History:

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Misaki was raised by her father, a strict, traditional quincy who believed a Quincy's only responsibility was the destruction of hollows and the improvement of their race. As Misaki displayed an uncanny control over spirit particles, she had a great potential for a (hollow) killer. Between her schooling and her relentless Quincy training, the girl had very little time for emotional growth. While she took well to the importance of removing emotion from combat (and anything related), this left a ravenous hole in her emotional state. When she left high school, her quincy training finished, she drifted for a while, filling this hole with... less than healthy activities.
It was her father who 'pulled' her out of this likely death spiral, recommending her to the Moto clan. It was then, a rebellious youth, with very little to truly live for, that Misaki fell in love. Moto Yoshiro, the son of the Moto Clan head, was, in her eyes... perfect. Of course, not having a truly stable emotional state, nor any real experience with romance, she pledged herself to him in such a way that is disturbing to other people. By vowing to herself to give him the glory he 'deserves' at the expense of herself. And many, many others.

Story So Far:

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Was responsible in the assassination of a Japanese senator! Boring.

For a few weeks, stalked Charles Anderson for the purpose of setting up a frame on the Anderson family.

Killed Akiyama Kaede as part of the aforementioned frame. More or less pulled off without a hitch.

Was pulled into the Zerreißen Himmel cause by Moto Yui.

Abilities:

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Spoiler: Basic Knowledge

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Intelligence/Education/Trained Killer: Misaki is by no means a tactical genius, but she is extremely skilled at killing. As her emotions are rarely, if ever, in charge of her, she is constantly calculating every tactical advantage available to her.

Polyglot: Misaki can speak japanese, mandarin, english, russian, and french.

Master of Disguise: Misaki is self-trained in cosmetic application and disguise-building, and as such, it is hard to recognize her without a trained eye.

Spoiler: Quincy Equipment

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Quincy Bowmaster: While achieving no true affinity with one quincy weapon, Misaki regularly carries around a veritable armory of quincy crosses. She has also mastered the ability to switch relatively quickly between them. Her accuracy is extremely high.

• Shortbow: What this bow lacks in power, it makes up for in the fact that it shoots 3 arrows for every pull, and pulls faster than other bows. This 'cross' is a pentacle.
• Longbow: A standard Quincy longbow. Misaki keeps about 3 of these crosses.
• Razor Bow: This somewhat bulky-looking bow shoots relatively large, circular projectiles that, while slow to draw, have great damaging power. This 'cross' is a + symbol.
• Refractory Bow: This bow has a rather intricate circular design on the limb. Every shot it makes, on impact with anything, explodes into a burst of a dozen arrows. This 'cross' is a small mirror.
• Piercer Bow: This bow is relatively normal-looking, but has two "spikes" pointing forward from where the arrow is shot. Arrows from this bow have a high level of piercing power, going potentially out for a mile in one direction. This 'cross' is a double-dagger.
• Repeater Bow: This bow is relatively small (but not as small as the shortbow), with curved designs. For every arrow fired from this bow (it draws at normal speed), a mote is left behind that hangs in the air, passively gathering reishi until it has enough for an arrow, at which point it fires upon the closest spiritual signature that isn't Misaki's. This 'cross' is an infinity symbol.
• Sanction Bow: This bow is angled, with orderly, axiomatic measurements. Arrows shot from this bow stick in the foe for a minute, and dig into their wound to make it nearly impossible to remove without tearing their flesh (and dealing more damage than letting it dissipate). However, until it dissolves, the reishi it's composed of reacts violently to bursts of reiatsu caused by the exertion of spiritual abilities such as kido, cero, or quincy abilities, creating a small explosion and probably causing further internal damage, possibly even lethal. This 'cross' is a metallic, sun-like symbol.
• Quincy's True Greatbow: This huge bow is designed to shoot nearly ballista-sized arrows. Although it takes a longer time to draw in the reishi for each shot. This 'cross' is simply a larger version of a normal quincy cross.
• Greatbow of Castigation: This bow is somewhat smaller than the true greatbow, but it is still a very large bow. This bow is extremely hard to effectively use; arrows shot from the bow must be fired at an angle to benefit from their unique ability. The arrow gathers reishi in the air until it has enough gathered to explode downward in a cero-like path. As such, it is more efficiently used at long distances. This 'cross' looks like a relatively normal quincy cross, but it has a golden ring around it.
• Gauntlet of Infinite Blades: This cross doesn't produce a bow, but instead a noticable reishi aura around Misaki's hands. She can create reishi "daggers" in her hands which she can wield normally, or throw at a velocity faster than she could normally produce with physical weapons. This 'cross' is a relatively standard quincy cross, but with an elongated bottom leg.

Seele Schneider Usage/Sword Expert: While not a master, Misaki is extremely skilled in the use of seele schneider. She regularly carries at least 2, and is occasionally known to dual-wield them.

Spiritual Crafter: Misaki, when she finds a need for it, is fairly skilled in creating new tools for "traditional" bow-using quincies.

Vertrauen: Misaki's vertrauen is an extremely light, black-colored suit of mail with a few plates that nonetheless proves stronger than earthly materials. It is not as capable in defensive power as others, but it makes up for it in mobility.

Sanrei: Misaki's Sanrei is rather simplistic, comprised of a set of two bracelets that are broken in the same manner as a normal glove with regards to initiating vollständig.

Spoiler: Quincy Skills

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Ginto Initiate: Misaki, after her training with Nikolina, is much more proficient in Ginto usage, being able to cast basic spells with it mostly, but being capable of improvisation if necessary.

Hirenkyaku Master: Misaki is a skilled practicioner of hirenkyaku, and it's ability to open up tactical avenues swiftly.

Blut Expert: With her training, Misaki's imperfect grasp upon blut has been corrected. She can now manage both forms quite simply, taking a startling proficiency to it. Her Blut Vene can block most damage up to a captain's level, and her Blut Arterie remains dangerous with a fair degree of speed boost.

Ransotengai Expert: Misaki has a flawless grasp on ransotengai, given its undebatable usefulness. In addition, when she is in physical contact with someone, she can temporarily paralyze them by using the "reishi strings" to lock essential parts of their body that facilitate movement. However, she has to maintain contact to keep the hold. Given she mainly uses this as a simple means of assassination, however, it is more likely for her to simply kill the victim of this ability.

Vollständig: Taaviel (Passion of God)
Misaki's vollständig is a natural progression of her (relative) obsession and insanity. When she first initiates it, all of her clothes are burned away; then, she uses the reishi surge subconsciously to cover herself anew. From head to toe she is covered in a white form-fitting suit, with a head-encapsulating helm. On neat lines across her arms, up and down her torso, legs, and helm, are eyes that burn with her natural amber color, moving with disturbing life to allow the otherwise blinded quincy to see. As opposed to the traditional wings, Misaki has a wheel, not unlike a chariot, that floats and rotates behind her back. Yet more eyes are spaced around this spectral wheel. Floating above her hands are two smaller copies of the larger wheel, which she uses as the largest portion of her offense.
Misaki benefits from an all-around sight, making it nearly impossible to surprise her, and her general capabilities take a great spike. She can fire her heilig pfeil from any individual eye or all of them at once, the arrows taking on an orangish hue.

• Wheels of Galgallin: The wheels created by Misaki's vollständig burn with a intense heat, and when used as weapons, can sear skin and start fires by simple proximity. Misaki can also throw these wheels, and they will invariably return to her. The larger wheel is much more awkward, but can be used as a weapon as well, possessing similar but amplified powers to the smaller wheels. It also does grant her flight, boosting her speed with explosive gouts of flame.
• Passion: While Misaki's blut vene blocks the same amount of actual damage to her body, oddly enough it still transmits pain. However, in this maddened climax of her form, she finds pleasure within pain, simply adding to her strength. The temperature of her Galgallin wheels spikes with this pain, and her blut arterie's use also imbues a portion of this heat. However, this also translates to her becoming less and less coherent as the pleasure builds.
• Euphoria: An extension of Misaki's passion, when she makes use of blut arterie, the temperature of her Galgallin wheels proportionately spikes, however it begins to degrade at a much faster rate. As well, because she is giving up her defensive prowess, it leaves her open to severe harm; however, if she survives, the translation of pain into pleasure still holds true, and the temperature spikes she receives while using blut arterie are much greater.

Moto Yoshiro

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Age: 27
Gender: Male
Height: 70in/177cm
Weight: 144lbs./65.3kg
Station: Son of Moto Yui, Member of the Moto Corp board of directors
Speech: Dark Slate Blue

Description:

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Yoshiro is a rather nondescript but attractive youth, with always-short black hair, brown eyes, fair complexion, and the hands of someone who has never seen a hard day's work. He has a tendency to dress up and keep his appearance well-trimmed. He very rarely carries his quincy cross around, given he has opted to be less involved in the Quincy arts.

Personality:

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While Yoshiro is by no means a saint, he is by all means a friendly and good person. He will not stoop to practices that would put people out of work without necessity, or create undesirable conditions, as despite being a capitalist, he believes treating people under your employment well will increase productivity. In a casual setting, he is polite, and will engage freely in conversation.
He's taken to Shizuka Misaki's infatuation with him... quite halfheartedly. He doesn't truly love the girl to the degree that she does him, but given her past and her undying veracity for him, he simply can't bring himself to turn her down outright. However, some of the things she's done has elicited some horror from him, and he often tries to convince her to stop, quite unsuccessfully.
He also has a passing dislike of his mother's ruthless nature.

History:

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Yoshiro is Yui's only child, his father forced into obscurity. It's not truly known why such an independent woman would bother with such things, but that is likely a question she'd answer. He was not an overly talented youth in the realm of the quincy, but he displayed an intelligent mind, and as such it was no surprise when he took up a mantle in Moto Corp, and worked hard to attain his position.

Story So Far:

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Just an NPC.

Character Post 2!

[Draken]

The Court of the First Hollow King

Reene Lucaster, Queen of Hollows

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Age: Very, very old.
Gender: Female
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Association: Court of the First Hollow King.
Aspect of Death: Desolation.
Mask Fragment: Reene's stigma is a discreet white necklace. Quite easy to mistake for a simple accessory. Her hollow hole is located where her navel would be.
Reiatsu: An olive aura with flickering specks of silver like a cloud of flies swarming within it. Reene's reiatsu inspires dread and a loss of conviction in those who feel the weight of her wrath. Reene's reiatsu is not lethal, but the emotions it instills may lead to questionable choices.

Description:

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Reene has an imposing presence and a beautiful visage with long, straight black hair that reaches down to her waist and olive-tinted, imperious eyes, along with fair, white skin with no marks nor scars.

At present, her wardrobe consists of a shinigami shihakusho worn fully closed, with her zanpakutou wrapped around her waist like a belt and her stigma concealed by the clothing. Truth be said, she can't be told apart from a shinigami in this attire.

Personality:

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Regal. Poised. Matronly. Bitter. Resentful. Driven. All too often has Reene had to suffer losing everything and everyone she loved and lived for. A millennium of disgrace did she need to endure at the hands of shinigami. But she never lost sight of the final goal.

And now, she is free to rebuild her family and her realm.

Reene enjoys a variety of pastimes. She likes to teach others what she knows, tell stories, as well as make minor crafts.

History:

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Spoilers. Spoilers. Spoilers.

1500 years ago, Reene was Queen of Hollows, leading the court with her husband and their knights, as well as a small cadre of other loyal courtiers.

That changed when the shinigami took war to them. The court was defeated, and its most dreadful leaders imprisoned so that their secrets could be learned.

From her prison, without consent, Reene taught the shinigami to builds functioning souls from their least shards, but in time, her prison was abandoned, and without caretakers to supply her with needed nourishment, Reene was forced to turn herself into an arrancar to avoid starving to madness. With the barest freedom to move, weakened by hunger and with no company but mindless larvae to keep her company, she spent the following four centuries in introspective darkness.

Story So Far:

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Lets see... She was broken out of prison by Death. Spoke to and gave a ring to Mikael. Held down her rampaging children in district 49 north. That is it for now!

Abilities:

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Reene is an arrancar of the vasto lorde class, as such she has access to a number of standard combat and utility techniques, such as Cero, Bala, Hierro, Sonido and Garganta. She possesses a potent regenerative ability as well. She has great skill at both armed and unarmed combat, and boasts considerable physical strength, agility and resilience.

Enjambre (Swarm): Although she must release her resurrección in order to create eggs, Reene retains absolute control of her brood (larvae and drones) at all stages of release. Although limited in what their intellects can do, larva and drones can be given relatively complex orders to follow in the absence of Reene's all-encompassing will. She cannot control her children unless she is on the same plane as she is, but any standing orders remain until altered.

Arena de Plata Silver Sand: Argent dust blows in the wind at Reene's beckoning, the sands of Hueco Mundo, the ground dust of the hopes and dreams of millions of souls, cut short by the unleashing of horror in ages past.
This silver dust can fill the air and move viciously at Reene's command, and even assemble into solid objects should she wish, always with a silver sheen, although she can't make anything too large that it couldn't be blown by the wind move by her will alone, except to disassemble it back to dust. The silver sands once summoned do not simply disappear, but Reene usually has the decency to clean up after herself.

Zanpakutou: Gandra (Arid Land)
Release Command: Scour
Gandra is a long, flat white weapon with blades on both sides and on its tip, forming a long edge. It is segmented and can stretch out into a long whip-sword with proper movements from its wielder, the segments held together by chains. The hilt is wrapped in pale leather the same color as the core of the weapon.

Resurrección:

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A heavy carapace covers Reene's body, her face is mostly hidden by an eyeless maw with a threefold lower mandible, her hair falling down behind the frill of the monstrous head, her body is visible on her underside, feminine curves accentuated by white carapace, but legs and arms fused into the animalistic form. Six long insectile limbs provide her with mobility ad weaponry, as well as two pairs of membranous wings. Trailing behind her is a segmented tail tipped by a mouth-like structure surrounded by six sharp claws.

Enjambre (Swarm): While Released, Reene can expel cadres of eggs from which her larva arise. She produces dozens of such eggs over the course of a month, and invariably needs to release them periodically. Eggs hatch at her mental command or when a creature approaches them, should she be away, releasing the larva within to try and take over a host to convert into a loyal drone.

Larva are soul fragments with a minor link to Reene's own power. Her state of health is reflected on the larva and their capabilities. When she is weakened, or when they are separate from her by planar boundaries, they become unable to take over hosts past a certain threshold of spiritual power. A larva resembles a large, bone-white, ten-legged spider with a vertebrae-like tail in place of an abdomen. They latch to the head of the host to convert it them into drones. Although simple and primitive, Larva are considered hollow souls by powers that check for such. When a larva is killed, it does not normally vanish, merely spilling silver sand into the area and lying still on the ground until removed in some manner.

Drones resemble their hosts, but covered in insectile white plate, with smooth heads bearing no features but a lipless mouth full of teeth. A long, prehensile tail trails behind them. Drones retain use of ay abilities and knowledge of the host, but without Reene's input they invariably resort to feral instinct to survive. The transformation brings with it a minor boost in reiatsu, speed, strength and resilience and even the ability to employ Sonido and fire balas with adequate proficiency. A drone is capable of transforming into the form of its host.

Any attack capable of purifying hollows frees the host from the larva control, excising the powers of the drone. Other attacks kill the host is used when the drone is not in its plated form, but free the host when the drone plate is destroyed. Attacks that destroy the soul invariably destroy the host.

Segunda Etapa: Reina Madre

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Reene has it, but I am getting kinda tired right now.

Oscar Meyers

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Age: Very, very old.
Gender: Male
Height: 8'9"
Weight: 560 lbs.
Association: Knight of the First Hollow King.
Aspect of Death: Violence.
Mask Fragment: Oscar's mask fragment is a pair of white bracers on each of his arms, the things have four indentations each, running their lengths.
Hollow hole: Oscar has one hollow hole on the palms of each hand. These are usually covered by thick gloves.
Reiatsu: Oscar's spiritual pressure manifests as a violet aura that causes everything in the area to feel heavier, as if a great force pulled them towards the ground.

Description:

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Oscar towers over most people, being nearly nine feet tall and featuring a bulk of musculature to match. His hair is short and black, joining with his beard to frame his square face, he has dark blue eyes.

Oscar' current wardrobe is made by his friend Clovis, so he is mainly wearing dark business suits, since he spends much of his time in a gigai in the Mortal World, his sword is not usually visible, but he keeps the claymore strapped to his back.

Personality:

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Oscar is good humored and boisterous, but also gentlemanly and even somewhat sophisticated. He does not like to dwell on problems, having always left such matters to his companions while he dealt with simpler matters that could simply be solved through brute force. But make no mistake, he is not unintelligent, merely impatient.

History:

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Long ago, the adjuchas Oscar Meyers swore fealty to a hollow of incredible power that would be known as The First Hollow King, for centuries the group assembled around that creature held a large swath of Hueco Mundo under its control, until forces of shinigami from the newly formed Soul Society took battle to the creatures and managed to seal them off and imprison them in various parts of the world. Oscar was sealed in a tomb in Hueco Mundo itself, where he languished for centuries, until his release.

Story So Far:

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Oscar has been released from his tomb by Clovis, Thomas, Sora and Isabelle. He then helped the Cult of the First Hollow King release the second knight, Vincenzo Scamozzo.

On the night of the same day, Oscar went after Sora after detecting her wildly flaring reiatsu. With a single blow he struck down the deranged living arrancar and took him back to the church after gathering information from an infestation of drones that Sora and the other mortal children had dealt with beforehand.

On the following morning, Oscar arrived in Antarctica with the cult, where they began to release the third knight, Imhotep, when a squad of shinigami arrived.

Abilities:

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Oscar has all the better known abilities of an arrancar, he can employ hierro, sonido, bala, garganta and cero without anything special needing to be said about these abilities. His regeneration is average but he is capable of restoring lost arms immediately.

Heightened Awareness: Oscar has the sight, hearing and scent of five men.

Colossal Might: Oscar is immensely strong and physically resilient.

Combat Master: Few individuals in history can match Oscar's knowledge of offensive and defensive techniques in armed and unarmed combat. By all means, this is equivalent to masterful Hakuda and Zanjutsu technique.

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Dirt Yields to Stone: A technique combining hand-to-hand combat and terraformación to shatter solid earth with a single strike.
Range-Humbling Hand: A technique that releases a wall of concentrated energy from an open palm, with the strength to drag or cast aside anything in its path.

Terraformación: Oscar has the ability to manipulate earth, clay and stone (doesn't deal very well with sand or silt, however). Within the nondescript range of this ability he can cause tremors, read vibrations on the ground or quite simply levitate, move and shape earth and rock. There is a limit to how much matter he can lift and how much precision he can achieve, but Draken would probably put numbers that makes no sense if he tried to, so lets leave it open and trust him to not go overboard.

Zanpakuto: Diez Manos (Ten Hands)
Release Command: Rend
Diez Manos is a claymore. It is well over seven feet tall and extremely heavy. Individuals smaller than Oscar would have great difficulty using it even if they somehow managed to lift it. The hilt and guard of the blade are, fittingly, decorated with ten interlocking hands.

Resurreccion:

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Oscar grows eight times his height, becoming a towering colossus roughly eighty feet in height. Four additional faces appear on his head, staring in all directions, and eight additional arms grow from his torso, each one wielding a stony sword the size of a bus.

Mil Espadas: While in his resurreccion, Oscar can create a sword in any free hand he happens to have at the moment. Once created, these swords remain indefinitely.

Iluvia de Espadas: Oscar can cause a tornado of blades on a small area within 200 feet of him, only one such tornado can be active at any given time.

Gran Cruz: Oscar readies this potent attack by throwing ten swords around him in a circle with a radius of 100 feet. After this has been done, he summons another set of blades to his hands and smashes them on the ground around him, creating an energy resonance between the blades in his hands and the blades driven on the ground in preparation for the attack. Each of these resonating pairs erupts into a line of destructive energy akin to a Gran Rey Cero.[/LIST]

Segunda Etapa

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Ain't got it yet.

Vincenzo Scamozzo

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Age: Very, very old.
Gender: Male
Height: 6'8"
Weight: 180 lbs.
Association: Knight of the First Hollow King.
Aspect of Death: Heresy.
Mask Fragment: Vincenzo's mask fragment frames the underside of his mandible and goes over his ears, stretching back like short horns or elongated ears.
Hollow hole: Vincenzo's hole is located over his heart.
Reiatsu: Vincenzo's reiatsu continuously increases the temperature over a wide area, peaking at several degrees above the highest midday temperatures in the earth.

Description:

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Vincenzo has the looks of a siceliot with an angular face and light, brown hair. He is tall and thin, lanky even. His eyes are green and his nose is somewhat long, and a goatee tops his chin for a very distinctive look. His mask fragment frames the underside of his mandible and goes over his ears, stretching back like short horns or elongated ears.

Vincenzo's current wardrobe is made by his friend Clovis, so he is mainly wearing dark business suits, since he spends much of his time in a gigai in the Mortal World, his sword is not usually visible, but he keeps the bokken on a loose sash at his waist, which contrasts with the rest of his look.

Personality:

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Vincenzo is 'that guy' among the knights, you know the sort. Everyone is serious, driven, polite. Except him. He's the slob, the joker, the odd man out except for the fact that the trope is basically demanded at such a point. He knows his role and he honestly wouldn't trade it for any other. Who wants to be the straight man, the stoic or the bitch anyway? No sir, not him.

Vincenzo Scamozzo, true to his name, is a scaly wretch with a nasty streak. Polite enough at times, funny in a derogatory way, ironically mannered. He stinks of trickery and mockery. Mayhap that untrustworthy aura is the real lie.

History:

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Let's talk some more about the long, long past and ignore fifteen hundred boring years of "locked in a brass ball and used as a furnace". There is honestly not a whole lot of storytelling to be had about that.

When the spirit world was young and only barely shaped, great hollows strode the world in the void left behind by the fall of the eldest one. Vincenzo was not one such great hollow, he was one of the adjuchas and mighty by that alone, but his growth came to a halt.

That is when he met the thing that would come to be known as the Ancient Hollow King and the beginnings of his infamous entourage. That horrid thing offered Vincenzo the power he could no longer feel increasing, and he took the offer gladly, becoming a gleeful cornerstone of the reign that these hollows would create. They wove legends to mortalkind through the wide-eyed foolishness of mediums of ancient times and life was good.

And then began the war, the very first war between hollows and shinigami. And his side lost, its leaders and mightiest imprisoned. Him among them. And in such a way they would remain for centuries to come.

Story So Far:

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Vincenzo was released from his tomb by Oscar and Alexandra, and converted into an arrancar on the spot.

Following that, he accompanied the cult expedition to the Antarctic to release Imhotep.

Abilities:

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Among the common arrancar abilities, Vincenzo has notable skill in sonido, but his hierro is somewhat inferior to average. He is capable of regenerating wounds in the span of hours, but has no notable in-combat healing power. His bala, garganta and other general abilities have no remarkable characteristics.

Cero Incandescente: Vincenzo's cero emits tremendous heat. It charges exceedingly quickly.

Aura Abrasadora: Vincenzo overheats the air around him when he fights, creating a shimmering similar to a desert mirage. Not only does this effect pose a danger to anyone in close quarters (the heated air can cause severe burns and even heat up wielded items), the distortion can blur Vincenzo's actual position.

Sonido Ardiente: Vincenzo can leave behind a trail of tremendous heat in the path of his sonido, this effect is noticeable due to a wall of shimmering air. This wall of superheated air is dangerous, acting similarly to his Aura Abrasadora.

Piroquinesia: Vincenzo has the ability to generate and manipulate fire and heat - even fire-based kidõ is within his ability to control. He is capable of containing convection and dissipating heat as well.

Zanpakuto: Del Fuego (Of the Fire)
Release Command: Crown.
Del Fuego is a bokken (a wooden sword) within a wooden scabbard. Or at least that is what the wooden hilt would say at first glance. In truth there is no blade inside the scabbard, but the hilt creates a shaft of flame when unsheathed. Vincenzo's ability to control flame allows him to employ Del Fuego in a variety of ways, including as a sword, a whip, or even by shooting out projectiles of fire.

Resurreccion:

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Vincenzo's body is lit wholly aflame, with a fan-like mass of flaming tails stretching out from behind him. His hands and feet have obsidian claws and the flames in his arms and legs stretch out like long feathers. His face is hidden by an elongated helmet reminiscent of a horse or a bird's head. His whole structure is twice his usual size. Smoke rises from his body and forms a halo above him, never going much further away from his body.

Corona: That flaming body is not for show. Vincenzo's presence creates waves of searing winds in the area, as hot air is funneled upwards from him. His burning aura cannot be put out even by full immersion in water. And lesser quantities of liquid are prone to evaporating upon nearing his body. Heatstroke is a real danger bearing down on those who are fighting Vincenzo in his resurreccion.

Cebar (Stoke): Fire heals Vincenzo. Enough said.

Hálito de Fuego: Vincenzo's cero is channeled into a breath of fire reminiscent of a legendary dragon's. [/LIST]

Segunda Etapa

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Not achieved.

Clovis Severin

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Age: Pointlessly old.
Gender: Male
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 133 lbs.
Association: Court jester of the First Hollow King, Grand Archivist of His Cult.
Aspect of Death: Folly.
Mask Fragment: Clovis' mask fragment takes the form of a wide-brimmed, pointy white hat as well as a mask that goes over the eyes and the nose. Both are perfectly removable, as long as they either stay together or one of them stays on Clovis' head, the two items can glue together as one or split into separate pieces as necessity dictates.
Hollow hole: Clovis' hollow hole is in his forehead, hidden by his hat.
Reiatsu: Like shadows, lights and mirrors, paranoia lurks at the edge of the sight of those who are engulfed by Clovis' unsightly, radiant, prismatic spiritual power.

Description:

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Clovis has the looks of an iberic man in his forties. His hair is black and shoulder length, his skin is tanned, his face features an elongated chin, a mouth made for wide grins, a small nose and small ears, and dark brown eyes under expressive eyebrows. He looks like a very nice fellow, very fun at parties. Considerably underweight, but by no means frail-looking.

These days, he wears a dark blue suit with a white tie, as well as a silver ring with three small jade stones on it.

Personality:

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Clovis is a smart man, a funny man, a man with many, many layers ready to be shed for some practical japery. He is a jester, a magician, a wordsmith, a courtier of the highest caliber.

He is somewhat downcast by the fact that his current crowd is so completely mundane, oh, how the mighty have fallen.

But, the King is not gone, nor are his knights, or his queen, and most certainly not his jester. The court will be free again, and perhaps, maybe probably, his merry band of cultists will get something good out of it in the end. Not an immediate concern, or a concern at all, for that matter.

History:

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Longer ago than most can or are willing to remember, Hueco Mundo was a wild place, untamed, like a jungle, danger lurking at every corner. Forget the white sands, please, we are talking about the forest here.

Well, a lot of the forest, and frankly the white sands, and plenty of whatever is beneath the forest, had a ruler. A monster without equal, a nightmarish horror whose touch blighted the pristine stone with most wretched...

Life.

Or well, something like it. Breathing, growing, nourishing, hungry and decaying, foul smelling, prickling, sticky, gruesome organic matter. Baiting hollows in search of these enticing proto-souls to their end in the slavering mouths of a pack of exceedingly dangerous menos.

Clovis was one of those menos.

His peers were his King, his Queen, the Knights. Those were the good days, laughing, killing, feasting, trading punches, unliving the unlife.

But, all good things come to an end, and Clovis and his pack were sealed away by a group of shinigami, scattered through the mortal and the spirit world, walled away in deep places that no one should ever have unearthed.

Well, a young mortal woman unearthed Clovis. And that is where their story began.

Story So Far:

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Clovis arrived in Las Noches shortly after Jehoel had eliminated his former King and taken the position of lord of the city. After a brief and casual conversation, he gained the position of steward of the central palace of the city.

With this new rank, Clovis went through the archives of the former Hollow King, searching for clues on the fate of his ancient brethren. In one of the earliest diaries, he discovered the location of a hidden shinigami facility in Hueco Mundo, not too far from Las Noches. He took this information back to the cult in the Mortal World.

In the mortal world, Clovis found that Thomas had recruited a young living arrancar, Shiki Sora, and also that a crusader of the cult who was supposed to be in Europe had arrived following sad events in Romania. Together with Thomas, Sora and Isabella, he set off to Hueco Mundo to unlock the tomb.

Together with the three mortals, Clovis opened the tomb and eventually awakened Oscar Meyers, Knight of the First Hollow King, and turned the titanic adjuchas into an arrancar. He then took his companions back to the mortal world, before returning to Hueco Mundo once again.

Back in Las Noches, Clovis set to getting to know the palace he was steward of, until a shinigami appeared in the city. Clovis took note that Jehoel and the espada addressed the shinigami issue and kept out of the matter. When the shinigami committed suicide to deal grievous damage to the city and the espada. Clovis proceeded to the battle zone to offer healing to the wounded and then went to prepare the baths of the central palace to serve that very purpose.

Clovis was joined in the baths by Valentina, Azmus and Kyoki, and afterwards, leaving shortly after the last one arrived to return to his duties in the palace at large.

Abilities:

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Clovis has all the better known abilities of an arrancar, he can employ hierro, sonido, bala, garganta and cero without anything special needing to be said about these abilities.

Prestidigitation & Acrobatics: Clovis has the strength of an arrancar, he has the endurance of an arrancar, but he does not have the agility of an arrancar. He is much, much more flexible and dexterous than all but a few. His fingers are too nimble, his feet are too fleet, and he is prone to walking upright on walls and ceilings.

Ancient Lore: Clovis knows many things about the past. Forgotten things, things men and shinigami thought themselves better off without. He knows where they can be found and how they can be awakened, and how very, very dull the world is without them.

Fabricator: Clovis can shape reishi into useful objects. He can make small, simple items such as daggers and pipes in a literal blink, and larger or more complex objects (and even mineral chemicals) given minutes or hours. This ability can be used in a small radius, but once made the objects have no momentum other than whatever they gather from gravity or from the limbs that wield them. Once made these objects are perfectly mundane... Well, perfectly mundane spiritual objects, that is, they will not degrade back into reishi on their own, but Clovis is capable of reshaping or unmaking them.

Zanpakuto: Taumaturgo (Thaumaturge or Wonderworker)
Release Command: Entrance
Taumaturgo appears as a pair of white truncheons made of hollow bone. Clovis likes to use his fabricator ability to attach blades, spikes and various similar add-ons to his weapons.

Resurreccion:

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Form-fitting armor plates with a segmented motif cover Clovis' torso, neck and limbs, his hat and mask fuse into a helmet that looks somewhat like a grinning skull. He does not become significantly larger, by these changes alone, but underneath the plates of his neck, arms and legs, the limbs all but vanish, the plates held together by crackling streams of energy, capable of stretching out to ten times the usual length. Cutting the energy streams is pointless, but damaging the segments is not.

Luces Locas: Clovis can create and control intense, flashing, colorful lights within a relatively large radius. These lights can be dissonant or they can take shapes and become visual illusions and mirages. This ability has no effect on sound, the lights do not affect ambient temperature and ultimately have no substance.

Bala Prismatica: Clovis can fire balas of seven different colors, with seven different effects.

• Red: Red balas burn like fire.
• Orange: Orange balas are acidic, melting what they strike.
• Yellow: Yellow balas are charged with electricity.
• Green: Green balas carry a lethal poison that saps vitality.
• Blue: Blue balas coat their target in a substance that quickly hardens in contact with other solids, restricting movements.
• Indigo: Indigo balas carry a string of light connected back to Clovis' fingers. He can use these strings to manipulate his target like a puppet. The bala itself is harmless.
• Violet: Violet balas spray their target in an ink of the matching color. This ink does not, at first, appear to do anything, but any creature fully covered in this ink slips through a garganta and drops into an aleatory place, in an aleatory plane (by all means, the target's player choses where). The bala itself is harmless.

Segunda Etapa

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Ain't got it yet.

Tools of the First Hollow King

La Plaga Blanca (The White Plague)

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Few creations of the First Hollow King match La Plaga Blanca in the morbid cruelty of its design, a terrible, insidious disease that fights viciously against any attempts to combat it and lingers on to the soul in callous disregard of life and death.

As soon as the white plague infects a victim, it begins a quick process that culminates in an attempt at hollowfication of the soul mere moments afterwards. It is possible for the victim to resist the disease fully or partially, even those with little to no spiritual power. Those who succumb to the disease turn into hollows, those who fully resist it suffer no further complications. Those who partially resist it require medical aid to stabilize their souls, which will otherwise heavily risk annihilation.

Which could be seen as a mercy, since those who contract the disease, succumbing or resisting it, become its carriers for eternity.

And eternity indeed, for the White Plague was designed, successfully enough, to stay with its host through the cycle of reincarnation.

And what a wrench in the wheels of reincarnation the White Plague is. The white plague lives in the spiritual flesh and fluids of its carriers, even during their mortal times. Being transmitted through ingestion and other forms of absorption of these infected materials, most insidiously spreading through the bonds formed during between husband and wife, and parent and child. The disease is harmless to living mortals, but rears its hideous face as soon as the soul is released in death, attempting once more to hollowfy the victim.

The White Plague refuses to fade away without a fight when faced with healing attempts. As the healing method (kidõ, vaccine or whatever) spreads through the host, the disease continuously congregates towards a point of the body that is still untouched by the effect. As soon as no space is given, the disease violently erupts from the host's body, shredding skin, bone and muscle and gathering the broken parts into a makeshift construct capable of moving for an escape. This mass of semi-sentient infected flesh attempts to find new hosts to infect, but isn't particularly capable of fighting back if attacked.

La Plaga Blanca has many strains, the most well-known being the Alpha strain which is usually found in infectees, and the least known being the Omega strain which is carried by the King and his entourage.

Carriers:

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The First Hollow King had all of his knights infected with La Plaga Blanca. There are no other known carriers of the disease.

[KnightDisciple]

Hiraku Masaru

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Age: Late 20's (Apparent); 121 (Actual; partially due to Dangai time-warping)
Gender: Male
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 220 pounds
Station: Captain of the Combat Division (aka "The Pack")
Speech/Reiatsu: #2E2E2E

Description:

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Masaru is tall and lean, but not "willowy" (though in his youth he was all knees and elbows). His frame is corded with muscle, but is not overly bulky. He keeps his black hair tied back in a ponytail, keeping himself clean-shaven. He has a slightly angular look to his face, his chin narrowing a bit (though certainly not unhealthily so), giving him a vaguely avian sense to his features; this is enhanced by his (slightly eerie) green eyes. Much of his torso, arms, and legs bear a multitude of small, faded scars, testaments to his determination and experience.
Masaru typically wears the regulation Gotei 13 outfit with three additions: a pair of jika-tabi, colored flat black all over (after seeing some in the Mortal World, he found one of the better cobblers in Soul Society and ordered many, many pairs), a loose haori patterned like a starry night (thought it can be flipped over to a dark navy blue with no pattern on it), and a dark brown conical straw hat. When fighting an opponent he does not take seriously, Masaru leaves these garments on; however, more serious opponents will cause him to remove and set aside his coat and hat to keep them safe from harm.
His twin blades are kept on his left side.
More recently, Masaru lost his left arm in a fight against Izanami. For a time he had a shadowy arm she had conjured/turned herself into. Ultimately this was purged from his being. His replacement is a high-end cybernetic limb developed by Researcher Chouko, made of glossy black metals and composites.

Personality:

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There was a time when "Hirako Masaru" and "party animal" were basically synonyms. In fact, that time has only passed in the last couple of months (most of which he was either in the Hellpath, or in a coma). Since awakening, Masaru has shown a self-awareness that he lacked before. While still friendly and jovial, his "party hardy" philosophy is tossed out the door. As well, while he would always stop joking and laughin in a serious fight, now his attention and focus is as sharp as his sword's edge. Whereas before the Hellpath, he wanted to become a Seated Officer so that he could brag that he could/had, now he has realized his desire to apply his natural talents and skills to the Division's forces.
Masaru is the sort of commander many soldiers might appreciate. In downtime and otherwise casual settings, he is open, honest, friendly, and attentive to the soldiers under his command. When there's serious business about, Masaru's face slips into a mask of focused calm, and he often speaks in short, terse sentences. One thing he doesn't tolerate from anyone under his command is disrespect for himself, Vice-Captain Kiba, former Captain Kenpachi Osuma, or the Captain-Commander of the Gotei (whoever holds that position at the time). Masaru has made it clear his soldiers are free to bring legitimate concerns forward, but disrepectful complaining or other such talk will earn them a personal training session with Masaru or the Vice-Captain.
Masaru has a bit of a weakness for beautiful women, one he used to proclaim often and with decent volume; now, he simply keeps most of his thoughts to himself. It's part of his recent campaign of greater self-control.
After emerging from his years of training in a special Dangai-warped space, Masaru has become generally more serious and responsible than even before.

History:

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Masaru is the bastard son of a disgraced member of a terribly minor house that he doesn't even know the name of; he was graced with his mother's surname before she died a year and a half after his birth.
He was taken in by some shopkeepers in the mid-30s districts, and spent a few years just being a "normal" child in the Rukongai.
Of course, just as he was hitting his teens it became clear he'd need to go to the Shinigami Academy. Surges of his reiatsu were causing frightening things to happen when he was struck with slowly-more frequent nightmares; shadows moved, on their own accord...

In the academy, Masaru was generally a good, average student. He didn't do so well in Kido, but in comparison, his physical performance was top-notch, his written and verbal scores were good, and his swordsmanship was phenomenal. It was little surprise he ended up in the Combat Division...

Of course, it wasn't long after he graduated that Soul Society began experiencing some of its most turbulent times. In an almost unconscious coping mechanism, Masaru began to slip into the persona of a "party animal". He laughed and drank and feasted and generally had as much fun as possible. He forged a unique friendship with Takenaka Chouko of the SSI, despite her being something of a "nerd". Their love of loud music and rap battles cemented the friendship. He fought and trained and lived, but often it was as much existing as it was living (in the metaphorical sense rather than literal).
Still, his power and skill grew. He unlocked his shikai (or at least, part of it), and was on the cusp of becoming a Seated officer.
Finally, 5 months ago he entered the Hellpath...

Story So Far:

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It took six and a half weeks before Masaru successfully completed the Hellpath. For two of those weeks, he was sitting in a dark corner of the section inspired by Death By Darkness. Just...sitting there, his swords (which only appeared for that period of time, before somehow arriving back at their storage location) laid across his knees the entire time.

The rest of that time, something on the order of 3 and a half months, has been spent in a coma. The first half-month was spent minimizing the actual injuries, leaving him with nothing but a new collection of scars. The next month they worked on getting his energy restored and stabilized (as it kept spiking oddly during this time). But after that, he just...laid there, for two months, seemingly whole and healthy. A smile was on his face, and in the quietest part of the night some swore he whispered to himself (though the voice coming from his bed didn't quite sound like him, but was never really scary, just odd).

Masaru awoke to Hollows at the gates, and nothing went right from that point on.

First a confrontation with a group of Arrancar led by one of the oldest and most powerful Hollows...that ended in a truce proposal. One that everyone accepted.

Then, he went to try and stop a Cult from freeing a member...and was knocked unconscious before even releasing his sword.

After that, he woke up not long before Izanami, Death, seemingly snapped and threw a temper tantrum at the gates of the Seireitei...and was then pressed on him as a prisoner who demanded all of his attention.

Then, said prisoner decided she wanted to kill and destroy, and Masaru knew he was the only way to stop her. And so he kept her attention. And for that, he lost his left arm, only to "gain" a shadowy replacement that he's still unsure about being a good thing or not.

Now, Masaru has finally, after years spent in Dangai-time-warped place, cast off the crutch and burden that was Izanami's "gift". He has achieved Bankai.

And after a meeting with the Central 46, he has achieved Captaincy of the Combat Division. He hopes to lead them into a new, brighter future as Soul Society's strong sword arm.

Abilities:

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Intelligence: Behind his "party animal" facade, Masaru has always had a keen intellect, especially for both the individual fighting arts, and the application of force on a larger scale (strategy and tactics). His spatial perception and reasoning is particularly adept, allowing him to quickly figure out the best places to have himself and his troops move to for the optimum result. His general ability to think through situations and remember things (large and small) is as sharp as his swords.
He is fluent in Japanese, English, Spanish, and Gotei Hand Signals.
Physical Strength, Endurance, and Agility: Masaru's strength is par for a shinigami of his stature and fitness, with physical endurance to match. His agility is top-notch, and has hit a point of near-legendary status; between his deft sword skills and his quiet steps, it's no wonder he's a danger for an unsuspecting opponent.
Stealth: While not quite as good as those of the Guerilla Squad who focus almost all their training on "stealth" and "fighting skill", Masaru is still quite good at remaining undetected when he wishes to remain so. He has a personal affinity for ending up in rafters and ceiling corners, perched in a way a human shape shouldn't be able to manage against gravity.
Hoho: Masaru is highly skilled in the use of the basic shunpo, having achieved Expert skill level. He moves quickly, precisely, with a fair degree of flexibility and quietly. He has not mastered (or tried to master) any of the more exotic Hoho abilities.
Hakudo: Anyone who is an Officer under Vice-Captain Kiba will end up fairly skilled at hand-to-hand, if not the level of expert the Acting Captain possesses. Masaru is no exception; while not a Master by any stretch, his hand-to-hand skills are nothing to sneeze at. He has taken inspiration from the Mortal art of Taekwondo, adopting a form that allows him to focus on leg-based attacks, meaning he can mix it in with his sword style as needed.
Zanjutsu: It is with his swords that Hirako Masaru truly shines. Sealed or released, he uses them as if they were extensions of his own arms, displaying an instinctive skill that will only grow more deadly with time. The raw talent that he has honed over the years, refined further in his Dangai training, has left Masaru as a true Master in the art of sword-fighting. His style is fluid and adaptive, able to accommodate foes armed and unarmed, with weapons large and small, short and long. He can fight with either blade alone in either hand, or both blades at once, with equal skill. One of his favorite "tricks" is to use only the katana of his Zanpakuto and move it between hands as the fight progresses, keeping his enemy off-balance as to which hand is his "primary" (neither, as he has long mastered being ambidextrous). Masaru's skill is such that, in a century or so he might found an entire style, having ground down the rough edges of his technique. All he needs to do now is forge ground in innovating more new maneuvers.
Kido: Masaru's time in the Dangai training area improved his Kido by leaps and bounds. He is now capable of a respectable number of spells, with solid control and finesse. It will never be his strongest skill, but he can now boast that he's as good as any other Officer, at least. Generally speaking, he could be classified as a Skilled Practitioner, with potential to eventually become an Expert (though not at that level yet).
-Bakudo: Masaru can cast Barriers up to the high 40s, and Bindings in the high 30s.
-Hado: Masaru is capable of Hado into the mid 40s.
-General Reiatsu/Reiryoku Control/Presence: Control of his Reiatsu comes naturally to Masaru; his time of training and meditation has honed this part of his skills to low Mastery levels. He is highly efficient in the use of his energies in all his attacks, and has utter control over the range and degree of effect from his Reiatsu. Those affected enough by his unleashed Reiatsu experience washed-out colors and tricks of the light in the corner of their eyes. Someone trying to pin down the "feel" of his presence and energy might be reminded of tattered silk cloth, or the cool of a darkened room.
-Cybernetic Arm: The black metal-and-composite-materials arm is a wonder of engineering. It is the same size/dimensions as Masaru's original left arm. It has the same level of speed and control his original flesh arm had, though the full-scope sensory feedback (sense of touch) is only about 90% of the original. It can channel his energy with no problems to allow for normal casting of Kido. In addition, it can channel energy (with no gestures or incantation) to produce a shield roughly identical to Enkosen, maintained for as long as he can give it energy.
There is a "temporary overclock" feature that ups the speed and strength of the arm to 150% of normal operation; this requires an investment of Masaru's Reiryoku and does lead to some discomfort or pain if used for more than a brief moment. Currently, Masaru's favored tactic is a brief high-speed sword draw or slice to catch an opponent off-guard.
A handy additional feature is the presence of an integrated communications system, able to reach between dimensions, and over the majority of Soul Society or large swathes of the Mortal World.

Zanpakuto: Ancalagon

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Description: In its sealed form, Ancalagon is a pair of swords, a katana and a wakizashi. While some swordsmen would struggle wielding them paired, Masaru's tall frame and natural dexterity mean they are a perfect match to him. Their guards are rectangles of dark bronzed metal inscribed with a dragon consuming its own tail. The hitls themselves, and their cloth wrappings, are dark navy, while the pommel shares the same metal and coloration as the guard. The blades themselves are seemingly painted a gleaming metallic black, with their sheathes matching the color of the hilt and its wrappings
Spirit: Typically shrouded in shadows, Ancalagon is an enormous dragon, large enough to cast shadows over a city with its wings and body. His scales are black as midnight, his claws gleam like black steel, and his eyes burn like the afternoon sun; smoke escapes in wisps from his nostrils and mouth at regular intervals. When agitated, he breathes flames as black as his own scales.
On rare occasions, he appears as a human-ish figure, clothed in fine silk robes, with a countenance like the old kings in Europe, his hair the same shining black as his scales, his eyes still that burning red, and smoke still escaping from his lightly-fanged mouth.
In attitude, Ancalagon is prideful, but pragmatic. For most of Masaru's life, he has been discontent with his wielder, finding his lack of focus or discipline frustrating. He kept the greater portion of his power held back even when Masaru discovered Shikai, waiting for the day his Shinigami-self would become worthy of his power. That day has arrived, especially after two weeks of intense discussions in the Inner World.
As well, Ancalagon has an eye for beauty, mostly in the form of beautiful works of metal or wood, or the form of beautiful women. His sense of humor is dark, and he holds grudges far longer than Masaru seems able to.
He does not particularly care how Masaru uses his power, so long as he does so with pride and discipline, composing himself as the container of such a powerful, noble being ought to.
Inner World: A blasted blackened mountain range, with four particularly large volcanic peaks surrounding an enormous Gothic castle around which Ancalagon often lounges, enjoying the heat from the magma trickles flowing down into a moat around the imposing structure. His head is positioned such that he can raise it a bit and speak with Masaru if his wielder climbs to one of the high towers in the castle.

Shikai: "Blot out the sun and drink up the stars! Crush the mountains! Burn the sky and boil the sea! Ancalagon!"

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Description: In its shikai, Ancalagon becomes a pair of heavy curved broadswords, with the blades becoming a flat black, the guards and pommel becoming a metallic silver, and the hilt wrappings and tassels a dark navy cloth speckled with tiny pricks of silver, as if they were the night sky.
Power(s): While the most obvious power is the alteration of his swords' shape, this is not actually the primary ability of Ancalagon. Instead, it's the control of shadows. The shadows he generates and controls are decidedly not normal, as they are just as powerful in broad daylight as they are in a dark room. That said, particularly bright, focused light can dissipate his shadow constructs, though he's always able to just create more shadows once the light dies down. And failing that, his swords can still slice things.
-Night's Blade: The simplest of Ancalagon's powers is the one Masaru uses the most. With but a thought, he can cover the blades in shadows, and cause said shadows to increase the length and size of the blades, up to about two-and-a-half times their normal size. These shadows are either as hard and sharp as the metal of his blades, or as massless and harmless as your own shadow, however Masaru happens to will them to be. These "shadow blades" can also be thrown off of his swords as a ranged attack, though they lose cohesion after about 50 feet. Still, within that range he can exert a degree of control over their course and velocity, an unexpected "twist" that might surprise an opponent.
-Night's Eyes: Masaru has the ability to see in all levels of darkness, even the pitch black of a completely light-less room.
-Night's Touch: Masaru can exert a degree of control over any existing shadows within 50 feet of his position, even without touching them. He can bend and twist them into simple shapes (typically weapons), and even cause a person's own shadow to attack them, or wrap around their eyes, blinding them. He can control 2-3 patches of shadow at a time, though any more than 1 reqires him to stop and actively concentrate without much other activity. These patches of shadow are more vulnerable to dispersion by sudden, bright light than his Night's Blade.
-Night's Step: Something of an extension of Night's Touch, Masaru is able to attack through a shadow under his control, typically by stabbing his sword into a shadow next to him and causing it to erupt from an opponent's own shadow. He is unable to fully move himself through these shadows, though.
-Night's Breath: Masaru's "ultimate attack" while in Shikai. Masaru draws in all the shadows he can within his "zone of control", and compresses them into his sword blades, where they begin to not-glow. Then he flings the collected and compressed shadows at an opponent, and when they strike, they burn, as flames of deepest black, seemingly drinking in the night around him. These flames burn as hot as "normal" fire for a good 30 seconds, before finally sputtering out. They can be washed away with water or something similar, but will not fully go out, and cannot be dispelled by light.
However, the use of Night's Breath leaves Masaru's swords unable to control shadows for a short time, meaning it is typically a "finishing" attack against a foe he wishes to die (rather than simply to overcome, as if in a spar).

Bankai:

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Ancalagon the Black Death
Description: Ancalagon's two blades become shadow for a moment and flow together, merging into a great and terrible spear of black metal (OOC: 2nd from right design, is about 7 feet long); this spear is as sharp and solid and hardy as his swords. His body is clad in a shifting cloak of shadows that offers a greater measure of protection than simple clothes (though by no means is he invincible), with no particular strengths or weaknesses. All light within 5 feet of his presence dims just a bit.
The most noticeable affect, however, is the presence of Ancalagon itself. Or at least, a facsimile of the great and terrible sword-spirit. A stunning reproduction of the manifestation of his soul's will to fight, this version is only 50 feet long (a decent bit of that is tail, with some added by the neck), with a wingspan of 60 feet. It is a solid creature, with scales that feel somewhere between "natural scales" and "metal", and the same glowing red eyes (the only bit of color on him that isn't "black"). There is a simple, sturdy saddle strapped to his back, right where his neck meets his shoulders, giving Masaru an excellent perch to both see and "steer" from, as well as an ideal position to attack from.
Power(s): Masaru himself (and his spear) gain no additional abilities, and in fact cannot himself use Night's Breath; Night's Blade, Touch, and Step all work essentially the same way, though the range has been increased to 100 feet, and the shadows under his control are no longer vulnerable to light. He is more easily able to control shadows, and can affect up to approximately 15 square feet of shadow (connected or not) at a time. He can extend the reach of his spear from 7 to 20 feet, or fling a projectile of shadow out to (again) 100 feet. And of course Night's Eyes still work the same.
Most of the power increase is in Ancalagon himself. The dragon-construct is controlled by Masaru's sword spirit, though if it is somehow destroyed, Ancalagon is left ultimately unharmed.
-Night's Bones: Ancalagon is able to actually absorb light in a radius of 100 feet, casting that area (dome or sphere, depending on if he's ground-bound or airborne) into dim lighting that many would struggle to see in. Alternatively, he can actually absorb the shadows cast by people and objects; this offers no harm to those who "lose" their shadow (which seems to return after 15-30 seconds), other than perhaps disorientation. Either way, this absorption allows Ancalagon to heal himself of injury or at least partially replenish his strength (lengthening how long Masaru can maintain his Bankai, at least to a degree).
-Night's Strength: Ancalagon is a large flying dragon. He is very strong, and shockingly agile for such a creature; he could probably out-maneuver (though not out-run) any but the newest of jets in the sky, given the chance. His claws are as hard and sharp as swords, as are his teeth; his tail possesses great strength, and his is fond of swatting foes aside with it. He is even capable of delivering a bite in a strike not dissimilar to a snake's, his head flashing forward in the blink of an eye to tear an unwitting opponent in half. He is difficult, but by no means impossible, to harm; weapons like a spear work best, much better than swords or clubs.
-Night's Black Breath:Ancalagon can breathe great gouts of the same black flame that Masaru summons in his Shikai, reaching out 100 feet. These black flames burn hot and hard, and are difficult to extinguish. They fade after perhaps a minute's time. Ancalagon cannot simply walk around constantly breaking these "shadow flames", but neither is he exhausted after one breath; after each exhalation (of several seconds), he needs several moments to "gather his breath" before he can breath the Black Breath once more.. This is perhaps his most dangerous and potent weapon in this form, at least as much as his size and strength.

Thomas Abel, Bishop of the King

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Full Name: Thomas Gregory Abel
Aliases: "The Mad Preacher", aka "The Apostle of Insanity", aka "Brother Thomas", aka "The White Bishop"
Age: Mid-30s
Gender: Male
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 200 lbs.
Species: Living Arrancar
Station: Bishop and Grand Proselytizer of the Cult of the First Hollow King
Speech/Reiatsu: #000840

Description:

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In his Mortal body, Thomas looks like he always has.

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He stands tall, is handsome and in his prime, and dresses impeccably.
His head is always shaved, leaving only a well-trimmed, stylish brown goatee. His blue eyes glitter with cunning, but sometimes with genuine joy. He is tall and fit, though not exceedingly so; generally average, if not for the fact he's clearly not of Japanese descent. Instead, he bears the looks of a man from Eastern Europe, though his skin bears a healthy bronzed tan.
Most of the time, he is dressed in simple black clothing with a slate-gray collar that makes him appear, at a glance, to be a priest from another, slightly older faith. Tucked in his pocket is a fine silver pendant formed in the image of the symbol of the cult; emeralds help give the three-lobed eye a beautiful contrast. Thomas will sometimes grasp the pendant in one hand, and sometimes drape it around his neck. His right hand's ring finger bears a sturdy ring with three polished pieces of jade. Outside he often wears stylish sunglasses, and on particularly bright or rainy days may don a simple black fedora.
During formal occasions, he dons a robe over his "basic blacks", a dark green affair trimmed in silver, bearing a large version of the Cult's symbol on the back, and patterned with traceries composed of strange words from dead languages.
He always has his beloved, well-worn book, the Utterances of the King, with him, whether tucked in a pocket or grasped in one hand.

His True body, his Living Arrancar form, is a bit taller and more filled-out than his mortal form. His clothing is something of a "photo-negative" of his Mortal clothes; his pants, shirt, boots, and coat (always buttoned up) are pure white, while his "priest's collar" is pure black. He has no jewelry in this form, and his only accessory is the sheathed dagger tucked inside his coat.

Personality:

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Having had his greatest dreams fulfilled, Thomas is, if anything, even more fanatical in his devotion, and perhaps a bit less pantheistic in his "sermon" content, now emphasizing devotion to the First Hollow King a bit more. As well, he is somewhat more hostile toward Shinigami.
Beyond that, he's largely the same as before. This includes his sometimes doting care for his adopted daughter Isabelle, as well as his occasional bouts of over-protectiveness.

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Thomas Abel merely wishes to spread the glorious word of the First Hollow King to the deserving masses. Few may find belief yet, but eventually even more will know the glory of the First Hollow King.
Brother Thomas is likely nearly as insane as Alexandra, but perhaps more disturbingly, it's very difficult to tell so. Oh, he's quite passionate about the message he spreads for the Cult, but in the same way others who are passionate about their beliefs work to convince others. To those in his "flock", Thomas is a helping hand, a friendly smile, and a wise, listening ear. This is what makes him truly dangerous; his ability to seem completely, utterly sane, when the truth is likely the opposite.
This is not to say that his care for the average member of the Cult is in any way insincere. Thomas truly does care about them, and really does try to help them.
No, his insanity is two-fold. First, the fact that he believes that the First Hollow King not only cares about Mortals, but would reward them in any significant way, especially the rather radical manner he proposes in his "sermons". And Second, the fact that he has literally no compunctions about doing whatever it takes to further the aims of the Cult. Just as he can be a kind, caring leader for those within the Cult, for those outside of it, he can be an unholy terror willing to commit terrible, dark deeds...

History:

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Much of who Thomas Abel is today can be laid at the feet of his childhood, and the person who raised him from an early age.
You see, Thomas was always a bright boy, but once upon a time, he was growing up in Romania with his family. Then, some tragedy that's just a haze of fear, blood, and death struck, and much of his village was left dead. Including his parents. Thomas himself, a lad of perhaps 6 years old, was left in the ruin of his house, smeared with the blood of his parents. And that was when Alexandra Dubois found him. And on a whim, decided to raise him as what she thought a son might be like (at least to her already-fractured mind).
So Thomas grew up in the "care" of Alexandra and Clovis. He learned early on to be fairly independent, as his caretakers would often disappear for days at a time. Yet for all that they were flawed in their general child-rearing, both of them did an excellent job of not only indoctrinating him into their mission of freeing the First Hollow King, they also helped foster his staggeringly brilliant mind. They taught him multiple languages, and Alexandra in particular introduced him to the idea of both a semi-formal set of doctrines (something Thomas has solidified on his own initiative), and the use of arcane scripts to reach desired effects. Of course, the latter has only been enhanced by his nature as a Fullbringer. He has taken to (when it's just the 2 or 3 of them) calling her "Aunt Alexandra".
Today, Thomas is only just below Alexandra in rank and prestige within the Cult, and is most often the "public face" of the group, whether it's to try and win converts, or convince concerned authorities that they are a harmless religious sect, who only preaches brotherhood, peace, and hope, after all. In the dark of the night he has done terrible things, but many of his days are spent doing what most perceive as simple good works. But nothing is ever quite simple with the Cult of the First Hollow King...

Story So Far:

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The Cult succeeded beyond its wildest dreams. First the Knights were freed one by one. Then the Queen.
Finally, the First Hollow King was retrieved from his prison in the void between worlds.
As part of his reward, those among the Cult who still lived and had not been blessed with Hollow powers were given said powers, Thomas among them.
Now he moves back and forth between the Mortal World and Hueco Mundo, still doing what he can to recruit mortals to the Cult, while also helping see to the business of re-establishing the holdings of the King.
Thomas has assisted in acquiring the freedom of all of the Knights of the Court, the Queen, and has finally found the being he worships as a god. Said being has, in part of his effort to free himself and reward his faithful servants, transformed Thomas into the "next stage of life itself".

Abilities:

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Arrancar Nature:

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Aspect of Death: Conviction
Mask Fragment: Thomas's Mask Fragment is fairly large, covering the upper left half of his skull (from the bottom of his ear to the top of the skull, stopping exactly halfway across the skull), though on the front only his left eye and upwards is covered. Over his ear there is a small dome shape which, if examined closely, has many small holes (likely to mimic a normal ear. His left eye is covered by a semi-translucent lens that is shaded a navy blue from the outside, but from the inside might as well be clear or not present. The whole mask is covered with intricate fine traceries carved into the bone, all in the Hollow Language.
Hollow hole: Rather than a single hole, Thomas has a total of 12 very small (perhaps a 1/4 of an inch) holes. Four are on each side (2 left 2 right) of his upper chest, just below his collarbone, while the rest run down the side of the front of his chest, spaced evenly. These do not affect his breathing in any way, but do sometimes give his voice slightly odd intonations.

Skills:

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Intelligence, Cunning, & People Skills: Thomas is a brilliant man. He actually holds a Doctorate in Psychology from Oxford (mostly remote study, and he chose not to attend his graduation), with an additional Masters of Business Administration. He is a master of putting people where their talents match up best. As well, he makes what resources he has go as far as possible, a legacy of the beginnings of the Cult and the very meager funds they had.
Thomas is an incredible manipulator of people, able to turn friends against one another with a few carefully-placed words. Despite occasional suspicion from authorities, it is his razor-sharp wits that have kept the Cult from ever being thoroughly investigated. As well, while not a military genius by any means, he is capable of (if necessary) giving competent directions for those few members of the Cult who might take up fisticuffs in defense of their Brotherhood. Thomas is also an advocate of preparedness, manifesting itself in several "backup plans" for himself, Alexandra, Isabelle, and Clovis to (if necessary) leave wherever they are and move halfway around the world within 12 hours.
Fighting Skills: He is skilled in the basics of several forms of unarmed combat, though by no means an expert in any of them; his true strength lies in his unusual combination of them, an approach that seems slightly insane (which fits him perfectly). Recently these skills have had a natural, instinctive boost due to his new-found power. As well, he is an accomplished broadsword fencer and knife user.
Arcane Knowledge: Thomas spent years studying various ancient tomes and works. He knows many secret things, and his transformation brought with it even more knowledge, mainly of a large number of spells and how to cast and use them.

Base Power and Abilities:

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General Strength/Speed/Endurance: Thomas's general physical attributes are fairly standard for an Arrancar formed from a newborn/low-end Adjuchas, or a lower-level Seated Shinigami. He tends to favor Strength over Speed a bit, but not by a large amount. His Endurance is more notable, as he seems to be able to keep fighting and operating for long periods of time without tiring overmuch.
Polyglot: Thomas can speak, read, and otherwise understand and interpret any and all languages ever spoken by sapient beings (including Baby and Dog).
Silver Tongue: Thomas is really, really, really convincing. Supernaturally so; he can often charm his way through whatever he feels like with regular mortals. Particularly encouraging or discouraging words might have more than the usual effect on those with spiritual power, though the stronger or more willful they are the less this power affects them. He also sings like an angel.
Cero: Thomas's Cero is not notable in power or scope, being average for someone of his particular level of power. However, it does have an odd sound, a deep *thrum* as it passes by that might occasionally disorient those who are missed by the beam but still close. Beyond that, it is distinguishable only by its color
Bala: Thomas's Bala are somewhat more unique. They are very pale compared to his Cero, and seem to rely entirely on physical impact, rather than physical impact and a small explosion of energy. They seem to compress all their energy into said impact, however; this makes them perhaps a bit more potent than average, depending on the circumstances. They also have an odd hum to them, rather than the more normal hollow echo. His speed with firing them is average.
Hierro: Thomas's hierro is a bit more potent than average in his sealed form, but otherwise isn't very remarkable.
Regeneration: Thomas's recovery does well with smaller wounds, but he needs time and outside assistance with more major wounds.
Sonido: Thomas is, again, of average skill with Sonido. He has no special tricks with it. As well, his tend to be louder than normal, which makes stealth a bit hard.
Garganta: Completely normal and average, though he's generally pretty accurate with them, and has excellent control of his energy to allow for a nice stable platform to move on.
Pesquisa: Extremely accurate. Very easy to perform and requires no words or gestures, and is quite subtle. He also has an always-on sense of direction.
Demon Arts: Thomas lost his Fullbring powers when he ascended to becoming an Arrancar. However, in exchange, he became capable of casting the Demon Arts first discovered by Ramza de Magier. Thomas is still new to this ability, but his years of study of eldritch tomes, banned books, terrible journals, and all manner of such things means that he's not clueless in this regard. He's definitely above an Apprentice or Novice, and it might not take him long to become an Expert, though Mastery will take some time for sure.

Zanpakuto: Hongo Escarabajo

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Description: A simple dagger with a black hilt bearing the TriFold Eye in green. The sheath is also black and bears the same design.

Resurreccion: Speak the seven thunders, Hongo Escarabajo!

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Description: Thomas undergoes a radical change in his Resurreccion.
He now stands at 7'6", though due to his insectile legs, he can conceivably extend himself to 8' even. His whole body, barring his face, is covered in white bone armor that is shaped to resemble hard chitin.
His legs are thick and powerful, bearing reverse-jointed knees and feet that end in 5 (4 at the front 1 at the back) powerful talons.
His original arms are covered in flexible white plate, with the hands bearing many small plates to allow the same level of flexibility as before. But Thomas has a full 14, not 4, limbs.
On the side of his torso, spaced out evenly from his "true" arms, he bears 2 pairs of small "manipulator" arms. These arms are perhaps 1/3 the size of his (now proportionally larger) true arms, though they are approximately the same length. They have many, many joints, leaving them to operate almost like tentacles. They terminate in 4-digit hands, with each finger equally spaced out from the others, and bearing the same manual dexterity of his true hands.
Growing from his back and coming forward are 3 pairs of "fighting" arms. Each of them bears 4 joints, not counting the wrists; this gives them a good range of motion while still making them sturdy. These arms are about the same size as his true arms, albeit a bit more heavily armored. They terminate in 3 equally-spaced taloned digits that are still remarkably precise.
His True and Manipulator Hands are able to extend claws to become talons similar to his Fighting Hands.
His torso bears his Hollow Holes in the same general locations, and without a size increase (making them proportionally smaller). Otherwise it is heavily armored but still rather flexible.
His face is now completely uncovered, with his eyes retaining their original color, and his beard unmodified. However, beyond his face, his whole head is covered with the same chitin-like bone armor, including both ears being covered by the same dome-like structure he has in his sealed body. From his "scalp", a large collection of what seem to be limp antennae and chitinous tendrils fall down to his shoulders; these tendrils and antennae are almost constantly twitching. He is capable of extending a featureless plate of bone to cover his face, with only a seam down the middle giving a hint it might not be the natural state of his head.
Power(s):
-General: Thomas's Hierro is now very powerful, as it is somewhat "merged" with his protective bone plating. It is incredibly resistant to physical and energy attacks, though obviously not immune. Acidic and strong piercing weapons or powers have the best chance of getting through.
His Regeneration has been slowed further, however; at best it can take care of small, minor wounds, or stave off death if not aggravated further.
His Sonido is barely there at all; his regular speed has increased, but his Sonido is reduced to very short bursts of speed that simply make him a blurrier runner, rather than vanishing from view due to speed for a few moments.
His Bala and Cero themselves are gone, replaced by other abilities.
Garganta still work as normal.
His ability with the Demon Arts is curtailed; he can cast some of the simpler spells, but to accomplish the larger spells takes notably more time and concentration than before. He theorizes it's the somewhat more chaotic nature of his energy in release, combined with his armor "dampening" the spell-weaving a bit. He tends to rely on his release's unique abilities instead.
And he can still speak all languages, and sings even better than before!
-Echolocation: Thomas's Pesquisa is now almost constantly on, run through the new appendages attached to his scalp. Now using extremely high and low frequencies (beyond the detection range of even bats and dolphins/whales) along with reiatsu, Thomas is able to achieve 360-degree vision at all times (and process it with no ill effects), in all lighting conditions. Fogs, mists, clouds, miasmas, and similar obstacles server little barrier to this 6th sense. It cannot go through any but the thinnest of solid walls (perhaps rice paper or the like). Rain or a similar situation would blunt the effects but not eliminate them. Submersion in liquid ultimately blunts it less due to the consistent nature of the medium (the range increase of sound is offset by the different way it handles the sound). It has a range out to 500 feet, with the reiatsu-based Pesquisa ranging out to about half a mile by itself.
-Strength of Conviction: Thomas's strength is expanded alongside his Hierro. His increased foot speed is due to the powerful leg muscles he possesses. This also allows him to leap great heights and distances. Further, his Fighting Arms can fully hold his weight if anchored in stone or a similar material. He sometimes likes to anchor into a wall with 4 of his Fighting Arms and scuttle about, using his remaining limbs to fight and harry an opponent.
His strength in this form is sufficient to tear metal and crush rock with almost terrifying ease.
-Harrying Song: The first of Thomas's unique abilities, the Harrying Song is when he starts making clicking sounds with his Manipulator Hands that begin echoing strangely. These echoes (even if he's in a wide, flat expanse of sand) begin to disorient opponents (he can target who is and isn't affected). It is not a true illusion or the like; rather, it starts to induce the equivalent of fatigue or other such symptoms, causing slightly blurred senses, shaky hands, slowed reactions, and other similar detrimental effects. Skilled or powerful opponents can often ignore the effects, but as it is composed of sub- and ultra-sonic sound waves, someone who is deaf is just as vulnerable.
-Encouraging Song: By carrying a snappy tune with his True or Manipulator Hands, or by actually singing, Thomas can insert his own energy into the words and give them an uplifting affect. It can help encourage and uplift allies, giving them a chance to gather themselves again (though not actually restoring energy), or clearing their mind of something muddling, or even helping them focus against an illusion (though not breaking it in and of itself).
-Rending Song: A combination of his affinity for sound, his strength, and his excellent control Rending Song is Thomas's greatest offensive weapon. By concentrating his energy and clicking his talons on his limbs, he is able to generate powerful sonic shock waves of varying intensity. A single Manipulator hand can produce something about half as powerful as his sealed-state Bala. All 4 at once make something somewhere between his Bala and Cero. Each Fighting Arm can generate a wave not unlike a Cero. Each True Arm generates one about 25% stronger than his Cero. All of these shockwaves are invisible, and show themselves only by their impact, their sonic boom after passing by, and perhaps the disturbance of dust and the like.
By combining arms, he can generate stronger and stronger blasts. If using all 12 arms, it's an enormously powerful blast of sonic energy, though it can be quite draining for him.
If he adds in a verbal yell to the larger blasts, it can shape it into a cone, rather than the more straight-line or projectile-like blasts his arms themselves create.

Segunda Etapa: *Not Achieved*

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Description: *Not Achieved*
Power(s): *Not Achieved*

[Kuroimaken]

Hishikawa Setsurou (Last Name, First Name) - Returning Exile

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Gender: Male
Age: 319 (appears to be either in his mid-to-late twenties, or early thirties; sometimes acts much younger)
Height: 1,90meters
Weight: 75 kg
Reiatsu: Like water washing over its path, either the kindness of a babbling brook or the terror and inexorability of a tidal wave.
Rank: Captain?
Known Affiliation: House of Hishikawa, the old Onmitsukidou, various artists throughout Seireitei.


Appearance:

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Setsurou is a very unsettling man to be in the presence of. Though by no means the tallest of his peers, he is still very tall for someone so apparently gentle, absent-minded and, shall we say, goofy.

Despite all this and his reputation for being a klutz, he rarely seems to actually deal any real damage with the way he carries himself. His appearance is actually fairly common for a shinigami, dressed in a plain shihakusho, a hat of some kind often on his head (which frequently changes). He has long, black hair tied in a braid. His expression is often twisted into a large, harmless smile, and his eyes are frequently closed (if something grabs his attention, he will sometimes open one eye, sporting a blue iris. Opening both eyes is generally a bad sign).

He will often change into a number of disguises, many of which are fairly easy to recognize him in.

History:

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The Hishikawa minor house was considered a fairly unimportant, but nonetheless proud integrant of the many that figured into the Onmitsukidou. Despite not wielding as much power of decision as their leaderships, its members were usually known for significant feats of espionage of some kind or another, often surfacing on the obscure mission logs of that shady organization. They were also fairly small in number, being fairly criterious about their choices of espouses.

Setsurou was, from an early age, not very interested in his family's heritage. He considered the grooming for his adult age a bore, being a much more intelectually-minded and artistic individual. Despite no small amount of talent, his life had been laid out for him from birth. He was born into a family of spies and fated to be a spy.

But what no one seemed to understand was that he didn't resent the grooming due to abhorring his fate. No, he resented the constant reminders because by age 12, he had already mastered many of the arts relative to spy work - subterfuge, stealth, camouflage, disguise, information-gathering, all of these were his toys. But he didn't wish to be pressed into service early, so he feigned disinterest and incompetence. He had each and every last member of his house fooled, save for his grandfather, whom compactuated with his ambition: to become the ultimate artist, a master of every art.

But eventually, even the "clumsy" Setsurou couldn't delay his entrance into military life any more. While he mantained a facade of general ineptitude, his service record was actually fairly impressive. Despite the occasional blunder or mistake, his missions always seemed to work by sheer luck, and even his mistakes eventually bore fruit. Because of this "luck", Setsurou found himself being promoted fairly constantly. Paradoxically, because of his lax "attitude", he never rose beyond the rank of 3rd seat, despite in truth being closer to a Vice-Captain in raw strength. This unusual combination of traits earned him the nickname "Kitsurou" or "Lucky Wolf" (after the kanji for wolf in his first name).

And yet for some reason, 55 years ago, Setsurou was assumed to have been KIA. His companions couldn't explain why, but on a seemingly routine mission, Setsurou decided to accompany a certain patrol. That same patrol met with an unusually strong ambush, and Setsurou was 'injured' and 'could not outrun the enemy'. The rest of the patrol returned intact, however.

And then one day, he waltzed back into Seireitei like nothing had happened...

Personality:

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Setsurou looks like a stupid klutz most of the time, and rarely seems like he takes much of anything seriously. He speaks of things like sweets and horrible murder in much the same breath, then seems to realize what he says and shocks himself. The truth is that he prefers to be underestimated, and takes great pains to disguise much of what he does as luck or happenstance.

While those skilled in the arts he masters can sometimes see through the facade, he is a DAMN fine actor, so even they have a hard time telling for certain whether he's good or just too lucky for his own good.

The truth is that Setsurou is equal parts happy, idealistic, and grim. He has a kind heart and wishes the best for those around him, but he abhors hipocrisy and cruelty - which doesn't mean he is not cruel to those who threaten the happiness of those he cares about. Still, he's hard to get through. His real emotions surface so rarely that sometimes even he isn't sure whether he's acting or not.

Zanpakuto: Senbi Sourin (Thousand Beauties Gemini)

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Unreleased Zanpakuto:

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In its unreleased state, Senbi Sourin is an unmarked tanto, which looks like it might as well be something you buy in the street. He usually keeps it in the breast of his shihakusho.

Inner World:

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A humongous museum with many, many rooms. Books, sculptures, paintings, everything is a testament to the arts.

Zanpakuto Spirit:

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Personality:

Senbi Sourin loves Setsurou for his drive, but simultaneously pities him for the constant facade he must put up. Truth be told, without their support, Setsurou would have probably gone a bit crazier than he likely already is.

Appearance:

Senbi Sourin is a creepy pair of twin little girls with one wing each. The only constant about them is that they are always the same size and their wing is always visible. Otherwise, they are constantly changing.

Shikai:

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Release Command: "Nake! Utae! Odore! Senbi Sourin!" (Cry! Sing! Dance! Thousand Beauties Gemini!)

Appearance:
See abilities.

Abilities:

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Senbi Sourin is used by thrusting the tanto in his own body. In doing so, the sword disappears, and fuses with Setsurou's own body. What it does is change his blood into "living ink", which is controlled by his Reiatsu.

This alone grants him a small subset of abilities as he becomes able to turn Reiatsu into blood and control his own bloodflow, such as purging poison and stopping bleeding. He can also do the opposite and turn his own blood into Reiatsu, but this is considerably more dangerous: first, because controlling the exact volume to be changed is very difficult, and second, because the process of turning blood into Reiatsu produces much more Reiatsu than the opposite (so if we're talking math, 1 pint of blood equals 5 "points" of Reiatsu, but it takes 6-8 "points" of Reiatsu to regain 1 pint of blood).

Through this living ink, Setsurou can paint living "illusions" for myriad purposes, with strength proportional to his Reiatsu. Because there is a practical limit to how much "living ink" he can control (after all, he needs enough blood in his own system), there is a limit to the size of his illusions as well. This is fairly relative, however, as the living ink can be "reused" once an illusion has run its "course" - dispelled or struck illusions harmlessly evaporate and become a part of his "pool" once more, unless the "ink" is effectively destroyed (which usually requires fires or very high temperatures).

Finally, and perhaps most important, Senbi Sourin can inflict "suggestion" and "self-suggestion". Essentially, what this does is directly inflict the target with a very elaborate illusion - usually one that hampers the target in some way. For example, Setsurou might paint the target's leg with the word "bound" and the victim would feel as though his leg is bound, or he could paint an enemy's Zanpakutou with the word "Seal" and he would believe his sword has been resealed. Breaking any of these illusions is relatively simple: all it takes is the expenditure of Reiatsu focused on the illusion itself, which "burns" at it, but effectively wastes the target's Reiatsu as he "cleans" himself. And, of course, the target has to realize this for it to work; while the amount of Reiatsu it takes to "burn" through an illusion is equal to the amount of Reiatsu Setsurou spent on it, the victim may well go overboard. "Self-suggestion" uses the same principle, but applied to Setsurou, except it can be cancelled at any time (and any Reiatsu spent on it is gone). Common uses of this ability include:

Tempo up: Both the victim and Setsurou feel as though time has sped up. This can be extremely disconcerting, as most targets aren't used to changing speed in such a fashion in a fight. Tempo down does the same, but making targets slower.

Bound: Whichever part of the body is painted is now bound and cannot be moved. (There is no need to actually paint the target, this is a stylistic choice by Setsurou. It does, however, accurately hide the moment he projects his Reiatsu to inflict the illusion.)

Seal: Target believes it has had its powers back to a sealed state (Arrancars "lose" their Ressurreccion, Shinigami "reseal" their Zanpakutou, etc.).

"It's not working!": Setsurou illudes the target into thinking that whatever previous illusion they were trying to break simply isn't broken (an effective way to keep a victim expending Reiatsu uselessly to end an effect that has already ended).

The more powerful the suggestion, the more Reiatsu is invested in it. Multiple victims require multiple expenditures of Reiatsu. A given suggestion may have an "area" that affects anyone that enters it; in this case, the suggestion is broken when enough Reiatsu "burns" through it, whether by the efforts of a single victim or a combined effort of a number of victims.

General Abilities:

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Hakuda: Excellent ability. To make up for his lack of physical strength, Setsurou has developed his own technique, which allows him to find a flaw, however minuscule, in the opponent's defense and body, and exploit it to great effect with relatively little effort. The technique looks remniscent of pressure point strikes in old styles of kung fu and is yet unnamed. He is also an avid practitioner of bare-handed blade blocking.

Shunpou: Well above average. While not the fastest practitioner, Setsurou nonetheless combines his unique Zanpakutou's powers to create his own special steps, in addition to the Shunpou techniques made infamous by the old Onmitsukidou. His Shunpou is absolutely silent - in order to track his movements, his opponent needs to have a very sharp intuition, or a very accurate form of Reiatsu tracking.

Zanjutsu: Average. Since his Zanpakutou does not create a specific weapon, but can rather create anything else, this is an area that Setsurou has not studied in-depth. That, however, is only from the point of view of "attack and defense". While he can't handle a weapon all that well, he can comprehend the arts of swordsmanship to an intimate level; given time, he can understand the technique behind nearly any enemy trick performed with a sword. Given training, he might even be able to replicate it.

Kidou: Average, for someone in his level of strength. Someone with his Zanpakutou is bound to find the constrained forms of Kidou rather boring: always the same forms of attack and defense, over and over! He has, however, developed several low-level utilitary Kidou to facilitate spy work. He can cast up to level 30 without a chant, and up to level 45 with it. As a matter of personal preference, though he knows it, he NEVER uses Kyokko. "Cheapens the art of stealth" is his personal opinion of it.

Artistic Master: If there is an art under the sun, Setsurou has studied it, practiced it, and strived to master it at some point. While he does have more aptitude towards some arts rather than others, like everyone else, Setsurou has such a deep understanding of the concept of art itself that anything he sees as art can be gleaned and comprehended by him at some level, and practiced with above-average skill. As of this point, he is a very accomplished actor, painter, sculptor, poet, writer, martial artist, musician, gardener, cook, interior decorator, dancer, singer, gambler and gamer. In addition to this, he has written or created several techniques on the arts of subterfuge, stealth, and disguise. In many senses, he is already one of the greatest artists and spies alive, though his overall demeanor tends to cloud much of the fame he would otherwise have.

Stealth: Because he despises Kyokko, Setsurou has perfected the ability to hide his Reiatsu and presence well enough that he doesn't need it. He can effectively turn invisible without the use of Kidou (though Shunpou may be necessary).

Tracking: Setsurou is an expert at tracking anything and anyone. In the event of teleportation, he can even pick up the trail from the exit point (provided not too much time has passed and he can find it). Escaping the Lucky Wolf's nose takes a hefty amount of luck of your own...

Obfuscating Stupidity: Yes, this is an ability. Read it up on TVTropes. Alternatively: Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass.

[Edge]

Isabelle Nishimura

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Age: 24
Gender: Female
Height: 6'1''
Weight: 183lbs.
Station: Crusader of the Cult of the First Hollow King
Reiatsu: Dark Slate Grey

Description:

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Isabelle is a tall woman of mixed Japanese and French parentage with an athletic build featuring lean, powerful muscle and enough in the way of feminine curves to be counted average in that department. Her face possesses delicate features that others might well call beautiful, framed by dark eyes and even darker hair, which she normally wears in an immaculate bob cut.

In terms of clothing, she prefers practicality and comfort (in that order) to fashionable appearance, which sees her make frequent use of jeans, cargo pants and t-shirts. When required to dress to impress, she prefers elegant business suits to dresses.

Personality:

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Isabelle is, in a word, devoted. The Cult of the First Hollow King gave her purpose, faith and family after the death of her parents. The Cult and its members are the centre of Isabelle's world, and she is more than glad to defend them when necessary. Almost equally strong is her love of Arthurian myth, and it is rare for her not be reading Le Morte Darthur or a academic text on the subject during the few moments of downtime she permits herself between training, research and prayer. She is a zealot, through and through, but an intelligent and perceptive one. She knows that preaching her faith in public or smiting the unfaithful does not help the cult's cause, and in fact probably harms it, and so she abstains. However, once a spiritual battlefield is opened, she takes the fight to the enemy with a fervour that is outright disturbing.

History:

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Isabelle's parents met when her mother, a professor of Mediaeval Literature, was in Japan for research for a paper comparing the contemporary heroic literature of Europe and Japan. Her father was the curator at a local museum. Theirs was a whirlwind affair that resulted in marriage within the year, and Isabelle but another year after. Her mother told her stories of heroic knights and vile villains, and Isabelle became entranced by Arthurian legend, devouring every retelling she could get her hands on. She imagined Arthur and his men having adventures alongside or against the strange people she saw wandering around that no one else could. Her father impressed a strong work ethic and group before the self philosophy. Between her dedication and enthusiasm for an academic subject, it seemed like Isabelle would go far in life.

She was thirteen when her parents died. She and her parents were in their car, on a trip to a relative's
when their car was hit by something. When the rolling stopped and Isabelle scrambled out of the wreckage, she saw a shinigami wielding what looked like a wrecking ball (the right size and shape for the indent in the car's front half) and a Hollow standing between the shinigami and the Nishimura's car, not that Isabelle knew what either of them were.

It was in that moment she became convinced that the shinigami had killed her parents, and that the Hollow was attempting to protect her and her parents. The shinigami won the ensuing fight and fled the scene, leaving Isabelle to risk flagging down the next passing vehicle and get help.

It was Thomas Gregory Abel who adopted her, told her the truth about what she had seen that night, inducted her into the Cult of the First Hollow King and helped her realise her spiritual prowess. Since then, Isabelle has studied and trained, devoting her life to the betterment and preservation of the Cult.

Story So Far:
None.

Abilities:

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Education: Isabelle has a degree in Mediaeval Literature, one she worked hard to attain. She is not a genius by any stretch of the imagination, but she is bright, and a hard worker.

Fitness: Isabelle has been training for spiritual combat since her mid teens, and has always pushed herself to excellency. Her natural, unenhanced strength, speed and agility are at near human peak.

Supernatural Endurance: Innate spiritual potency combined with years of training to push her upper limits have resulted in Isabelle's resilience reaching astounding levels. Whilst not on par with a shinigami or Hollow's supernatural toughness, Isabelle is vastly more resistant to harm than a normal human.

Bringer Light: Isabelle is competent in using Bringer Light to enhance her speed, and highly accomplished in using it to manipulate the momentum of her attacks and increase their effective strength.

Personal Fullbring: Lyonnesse

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Description: Lyonnesse is a silver charm bracelet featuring three charms: a crucifix, a shield with a miniature coat of arms featuring a lion and a dragon rampant, and a fleur de lys. Each charm is technically a separate Fullbring, but the emotional source for each of them is the same.

Crucifix – La Lame: The crucifix charm's Fullbring is La Lame – The Blade. It transforms into a Western longsword with a cross-guard in the style of the fleur de lys and a hilt bound in black leather. Short chain hangs from the pommel, but it only consists of a few links, the last one of which is broken.

Shield – Le Rempart: The coat of arm's Fullbring is Le Rempart – The Wall. Upon activation, it armours Isabelle in a suit of black plate armour with silver trim. The armour's design features a number of fleur de lys, and several pieces of script are affixed with wax seals. Two small cloth tapestries hand from underneath the suit's pauldrons, hanging down to Isabelle's elbow, but the designs on them have faded and otherwise been ruined beyond any comprehensibility.

Fleur de Lys – La Foi: The fleur de lys charm's Fullbring is La Foi – The Faith. Upon activation, it transforms into an ornate silver amulet with black filigree that incorporates both the fleur de lys and the symbol of the Cult of the First Hollow King into its design.

Powers:
La Lame – Admonition of the Unclean: The blade of La Lame is encased in an invisible field of energy that disintegrates the spiritual matter of reishi on contact. However, it has no effect on reiryoku projections such as hado or cero. Since zanpakutou are as much an extension of an individual's soul as they are a physical object, they are immune to the effects of Admonition of the Unclean. Whilst in contact with reishi, the field flares into a visible pale blue aura around the blade that hums, crackles and reeks of ozone.

La Lame – Clemency of the Just: Any deathblow landed by La Lame guarantees that without any further outside interference, the target's soul will become a Hollow at the next available opportunity in the cycle of reincarnation.

Le Rempart – Resolution of the Zealous: Upon activation, Le Rempart surrounds Isabelle in an invisible field of absolute reiatsu. This field only extends a few inches away from the surface of her armour and provides no physical protection. However, reiatsu within the field remains constant, regardless of outside effects. This effectively renders Isabelle immune to negative of effects of being in the presence of reiatsu much greater than her own.

Le Rempart – The Invisible War: Whilst wearing Le Rempart, Isabelle is as intangible to the senses of the spiritually unaware as a shinigami or hollow is. In addition, Le Rempart empowers its wearer for the travails of the battlefield, increasing their strength to superhuman levels, and providing excellent physical protection.

La Foi – Miracles of the Devout: Whilst La Foi is active, Isabelle may hold the amulet aloft and concentrate on a prayer to the First Hollow King for several seconds. Upon finishing her prayer, she may bathe one creature other than herself in a silver light that rapidly heals their wounds.

La Foi – Judgements of the True: Whilst La Foi is active, Isabelle may hold the amulet aloft and concentrate on a prayer to the First Hollow King for several seconds. Upon finishing her prayer, a pillar of silver energy instantly falls from the heavens upon a target of her choosing. The potency of the blast is comparable to the cero of an Arrancar of similar reiryoku to Isabelle.

[5a Violista]

Here's a Quincy Clan Write-up:

A Clan Divided: The Belenus Clan

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The Quincies across the mortal world are very fractured in their ideology, nationality, and so on. The Quincy Clan spread throughout Southern Europe is possibly the most fractured of them all. At the moment, they’re split into three ‘ruling’ families, each vying for the leadership of the clan. One, in Portugal; another, in France; and the third is in Italy. At the moment, the French family, is in charge. What the leader commands, they all do, even if grudgingly. All three claim to be the original Great Quincy Family. All three are descended from siblings who split away from each other, so each claim may be valid.

Sure, they still see each other as family, so they won’t go as low as to physically injure one another. But they’ve been subtly manipulating politics to destroy the leading family. Over time, they’ve manipulated nations against each other to weaken the others.

This fracturing began soon after the beginning of this Clan, three hundred years ago. Its cracks and weaknesses amplified with the destruction of the Weisweide clan, one hundred and fifty years ago. Many of this European clan disagreed on what they should have done. One influential leader believed they should avenge their fallen brothers, the Weisweide, and declare all-out war on the Shinigami. He died in a duel before his plans were finished, and that possibly saved the Belenus clan from being discovered and destroyed by the Shinigami as well.

The differences between the three families in this clan are as marked as their similarities. While the family in Portugal believe neither Shinigami nor Hollow should even be in the mortal world, the French family are a bit lighter. They think Spiritual Beings should not put mortals’ lives at stake. If they visit the Mortal World to deal with Spiritual threats, that’s fine. But the instant their power grows out of hand, they should be shot on sight. The family fragment in Italy, on the other hand, would be as likely to help any Spiritual creature as they would betray it, depending on how much they like that person. The same goes with other mortals: if they like them, they live. If not…they’d better run fast.

They all similarly think that there’s nothing inherently wrong with destroying a Hollow. What exactly happens varies from belief to belief, but none of them see something morally wrong with using their arrows. Whether they believe the soul returns to Mother Earth, or what, it doesn’t matter to them.

The Spirit Weapons they use, in general, either appear as bows, crossbows, or swords. Occasionally, there's a shield made from a rotating Steele Schneider, as is the case of Caeyrn.

More recent and brief description:
As far as I remember, here's the three factions I made for the Belenus family:
1. French: The ones currently in charge. Are fine with Shinigami and other spirits (and, consequently, the Arrancar) so long as they mind their own business away from the Mortal Happenings. (i.e. Mortals don't get hurt or affected)
2. Portuguese: All powerful Spirits (Hollows, Shinigami, Arrancars) should be killed without mercy as soon as you meet one. So far, of course, they haven't gone out of their way to hunt them (yet), out of fear for being discovered and destroyed by the Shinigami.
3. Italian: Are willing to side with whichever side benefits them the most at the time and are willing to betray both sides to come out on top.

[horngeek]

Quincy

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The Quincy are a relatively new group on the spiritual stage- 300 years, after all, is tiny compared to the sheer age of Seretei and Hueco Mundo. Still, they may become mighty... if they survive the growing splits in the group.

The organisation was formed 300 years ago, as a collaborative effort between 5 families from both Europe and Asia, and while it has certainly expanded since then, those five families remain the heart of the group. Mortals who had all suffered at the hands of Hollows and watched as no one came to their aid, they all sought out others who had the same drive to make a difference- and they pooled their resources and knowledge to create the modern Quincy arts.

Recently, however, the Quincy have come into growing levels of contact with Shinigami, and although they have been quite successful as passing themselves off as simple spiritually empowered mortals instead of the growing organisation they truly are, the leadership realises that this cannot continue. And there lies the problem, for the Quincy are aware of the different effects on defeated Hollows that their techniques and Shinigami methods have, and they are aware that while Seretei may be willing to let induviduals use such methods, they will not stand for an organised group that does as such. They have proof of this, for the five families are now four, after the Bosch family entered into a conflict against the Gotei one hundred and fifty years ago, a conflict which wiped them out. All the families consider themselves fortunate that Seretei believed the Kurosawa were the extent of the organised Quincy, but this cannot last for much longer as the alert levels of the Gotei- and the size of the Quincy themselves- has increased dramatically over recent years.

The Quincy are a house dividing, now. The faction lead by the Akiyama family do not desire conflict with the Shinigami, for such would lead to both sides removing their attention from the Hollows- more to the point, they believe that purifying Hollows is a preferable path, and are advocating that the Quincy research how to do so, instead of permanently destroying souls.

The other faction, however, wants no alliance with Shinigami, who abandoned their loved ones to die. They want no mercy towards Hollows, who have killed family and devoured them. As of yet, the argument hase remained restricted to just that, argument. But there are fears that a spark- any spark- would lead to civil war.

Akiyama Clan

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The Akiyama are one of the four remaining of the Five Great Quincy Families, and is based in Japan. Out of all the Clans, they are, perhaps, the one which is most interested in advancing and improving the Quincy arts- not all those under the Akiyama Clan are researchers, to be sure, but they have a higher proportion than any other of the Clans. At the moment, a large number of these researchers are pushing along various routes to figure out the difference between Quincy and Shinigami abilities as it relates to destruction vs. purification of Hollows. In addition, they are, perhaps, the most dedicated of the Quincy to peace as an ideal- in the eyes of the actual Akiyama Family, certainly, the Quincy were founded in order to protect mortals against Hollows, and having Shinigami as their enemies would only distract from this. Far better to find a way to work with the Gotei against Hollows, and by doing so protect even more people.

In terms of organisation, the Akiyama Clan are much like the other Quincy Clans- the Akiyama Family itself acts as the main branch of the Clan, with other families as vassals to the Akiyama in matters relevant to the Quincy. The current head of the Akiyama is Akiyama Kaede, with her daughter, Kohaku as the heir- Kohaku will have a lot to live up to when she steps up to head of the family, though, as her mother earned the informal title of 'Ace of the Quincy' for a very good reason, and has been able to keep many of the tensions simmering among the Quincy Clans from erupting through her skill. Her death may well preceded a major internal conflict among the clans, as cracks that were previously kept closed will reform.

And even the most optimistic estimate places her death as coming soon.

The Winchester Branch of the Quincy Family

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In 1851, Jebediah "the Pariah" Winchester-Quincy left the main branch of his family under suspicious circumstances, headed across the Atlantic to America, and traveled west to seek his fortunes. Along the way he fulfilled his family duties by eradicating the many restless spirits of the wild west. In the entire time he was there, Jeb never saw a shinigami, which made him wonder if they just had no stake in that part of the world, or whether they even existed altogether.

He roamed all over the west from the Canadian Rockies to the Mexican desert all the way to the Californian coast, doling out his version of justice. He returned to the U.S.A. during the civil war and fought as a Confederate soldier, not out of any loyalty to the South or slavery, frankly he hated it. But most of the death and destruction was in the South and therefore so were most of the restless spirits. It was a few years after the civil war ended that some of his illegitimate children from conquests across the frontier began to display spiritual powers. Some were labeled as witches and executed out of superstition. Others were ostracized from their communities. Eventually Jeb learned of one child and realized there were probably many more. During the 1870's and 1880's he gathered whichever of his children he could find and started educating them in the ways of the Quincy, exterminating hollows wherever they went. He eventually settled down in a small ghost town in Texas. Before his arrival, the term 'ghost town' was much more literal.

The town of Pariah eventually prospered into a small community as his sons and daughters took wives and husbands, but Jeb had strict rules in the community and made sure that all of the families stayed and worked in town so he could find any potential grandchildren with Quincy powers before they suffered the same fate as his less fortunate children. Thus the Winchester branch of the Quincy family was born. Boys and girls alike were taught how to craft and use Quincy-grade weapons, which had long since progressed past the traditional bow into Quincy firearms. Daughters of the family who got pregnant were kept in the community so their children could be raised as what Jeb thought to be proper Quincy. Children fathered outside the community had little choice but to come and stay with the Winchesters or be ostracized for their abilities in the outside world. The Winchester family welcomed all who followed their rules with open arms. Jebediah died in 1934 at a ripe old age of 101, getting to know four generations of his children, but his traditions live on. The town of Pariah had to be relocated in 1957 when much of the family were slaughtered by shinigami who saw the Winchester family for the threat they were. The community was damaged and scarred forever, but not wiped out. They build the town of New Pariah and warded and hid it from Soul Society.

The "controversy" regarding Hollows and Shinigami is treated very simply in the Winchester family. The only good Hollow is a dead Hollow, and the only good Shinigami is a dead Shinigami. The best way to preserve any balance there might be is to wipe both sides out and leave a clean slate for all the "pure" souls. The Winchester family also does not believe that the known afterlife is the only afterlife, that there may be a step beyond even Soul Society, though admittedly their beliefs are based on faith alone. Nowadays the Winchesters often go out on expeditions to find and eradicate as many hollows and shinigami as possible, though they're usually much more wary about confronting the latter.

[KnightDisciple]

Charles "Chuck" Leonard Anderson

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Age: 17
Gender: Male
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 200lbs
Station: Student, Anderson Reiniger Clan Hunter (Senior Grade)
Reiatsu/Speech: #FF8000

Description:

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Charles is a slightly stocky (in a fit sort of way), fairly well-tanned teenager. His face has a somewhat square look to it, and he's often wearing a smile. His eyes are gray with just a hint of blue in them. He wears his sandy hair in a slightly roguish cut. Not that people can generally tell, as he's almost always wearing a dark brown leather slouch hat with the right side pinned up. The rest of his clothing is equally robust; jeans, heavy-duty leather boots (complete with steel toes), leather belt with big round buckle, button-up primary color shirt (sleeves rolled up, top button undone) or t-shirt, a leather vest that matches his hat (and includes a few handy pockets), and a pair of slightly orange-tinted aviator shades.

In combat situations, Charles wears an outfit somewhat reminiscent of special operations soldiers.
The base layer consists of a long-sleeved shirt, BDU-style pants, and armored combat boots. All of these are a flat black. Space along his limbs, Charles has several small, strap-on plates of semi-stiff armor that is also flat black. His chest has a sleeveless vest that bears multiple pockets on the front, and seems to contain some of the same kind of armor plates. It, too, is black, though perhaps a slightly glossier shade.
His head is covered by a thick mask with two red glowing lenses. He can detach the bottom of the mask and pull it down (to bunch around his neck) and push the lenses/goggles up, giving him a more normalized appearance.
His hands are normally covered only by fairly thin black gloves, while his wrists each bear a gunmetal gray band with small runes on it. These bands can expand into flexible metallic gauntlets that encase his hands and cover his forearms almost to the elbow. The entirety of these gauntlets bear further runes, and a few key places carry what look to be small dark red gemstones.

Personality:

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If Charles had to be summed up in one word, it would be "tricksy". He's got a downright playful spirit, always trying to get the most out of life, enjoying each day as it comes. He prefers comfort to formality. Taste to "healthy". And he's not afraid to, gently, let an attractive young lady know how her beauty enhances the world with its presence. He has a very "live and let live" attitude about the likes of Shinigami or empowered mortals that aren't his family; they leave him and his alone, he leaves them alone, by and large. Hollows don't get a free pass, but there's no real hatred when he takes them down. Just duty to protect the living, or innocent Pluses.
Even in the middle of a terrible fight, Charles will keep things light and fun, making sure to play up his Australian accent as much as possible. Unless someone he knows and cares about gets hurt. Then the jokes stop, and it's time for anyone he's fighting to get very, very worried. Because if Charles is not joking, and his accent is barely noticeable, it means every ounce of his focus is solely on "kill the enemy". That's not a place many would want to be.

History:

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Charles grew up as one of the "prodigies" of the Anderson Family. He may not be one of the ones being groomed for leadership in the Family Council, but he is being groomed to be one of the top soldiers for the family. His parents are descended from some of the first members of the family, albeit ones who abandoned their old names to fully cement their alliance to David Anderson's vision.
Even at the age of 5, Charles displayed enough talent to summon up a crude Spirit Weapon. Still, the Andersons believe in safety and oversight in training their younger members, so it wasn't until he was 12 and accompanied by his father (still the single best shot in the Family, with a 2.5-mile kill shot that has yet to be beaten) and uncle on his first hunt. He performed marvelously of course. It was clear he was going to be a great Hunter (the family's term for those who dedicated themselves to fighting Hollows and other spiritual threats).
Things were changing, though. The Family knew that something was going down, even if they didn't know what. There were rumors about the Akiyama Clan, and research and experiments they were performing. The Andersons inquired, and after a combination trade proposal and marriage contract were signed, the secret was revealed (but only to the Family Council): The Akiyama sought to change the very nature of what Heilig Pfeil did to Hollows. Instead of annihilation, they sought purification. It was unusual news, though perhaps not quite so much from the Akiyamas. They'd always had a soft spot for the Shinigami, moreso than even the Andersons could quite respect. They had professional respect for the Grim Reapers, but...well, even the misfits couldn't forget the death and destruction from centuries ago. Not completely.
It was determined that someone would have to go and keep an eye on things in the "home turf" of the Clan. And who better than the hotshot teenager who was a rising sensation within the Anderson Family, and the Next Big Thing when it came to the ranks of the Hunters?

Story So Far:

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Charles Anderson has spent a little under 18 months preparing for his trip to Ikari, Japan, a place that's not only a big bit of news in technology and sociology ("5 years ahead" and all that), but also (apparently) a hotbed of spiritual activity. He learned the Japanese language, and as many basic points of etiquette as possible. While he wasn't cleared to know just what the Akiyama clan was working on, he was given a general overview of the Clan's culture and attitudes, as well as a few "persons of interest" to keep his eyes on.

Upon arriving in town, Charles made fast friendships with Katsuo, Naito, and Shinji, and even began to train Naito in some of the basics of the Quincy skills and inducted his friend as a Trainee Hunter.
These four, alongside Tamaki and some of the other kids, clashed with local Hollows a fair number of times.
They met a rogue Shinigami, Alice, who kept tabs on them, and ran into Jehoel Yurius (and somehow decided that the Andersons, Las Noches, and Soul Society might end up living in peace).
Then, Naito's curiosity about origins became unbearable, and Naito, Charles, and Shinji traveled to an abandoned bunker where Naito might have been altered to possess powers.
It ended up that Naito was a tank-born being, one with a more sinister alternate personality. Also, Naito was apparently a girl. A fight with the atlernate personality, Alpha-1, ensued, and Charles, Katsuo, and Shinji only just escaped with their lives.
A few days later, Charles was part of the Anderson delegation that hammered out the Unseelie Accords with Las Noches and Soul Society, ensuring their recognition as an independent and sovereign nation. The meeting also gave the Andersons the means to begin Purifying instead of Destroying Hollows.
But a frame job left the Andersons looking responsible for the death of the Akiyama matriarch (among others), and without the time to try and clear their names, Charles and the others made to leave. But before he could go, Charles was cornered by Alpha-1, who proceeded to destroy every last bit of his hunting gear, break an arm and a leg, and only barely be driven back by the rest of the Andersons.
After a brief stop at the Kuzonoha house for healing, Chuck left Japan in disgrace, returning to Australia.

Now, 3 months later, he has returned, at the darkest part of the war between the Akiyama and Zerreißen Himmel, with new weapons, greater skill, and perhaps just a bit more maturity. Hopefully it will be enough to turn the tide against the encroaching darkness.

Abilities:

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Skills

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Intelligence: While not a genius or anything, Charles is still fairly smart. More than book-smarts, though, he possesses a finely-honed set of hunter's instincts, and a boatload of cunning (some of his cousins who keep getting pranked say too much cunning). Currently, he can speak Australian English, British English, and is conversational in Japanese (he has a bit more trouble with reading it, though he carries a small translation book inside one of his many pockets, and his goggles can translate for him).
He also really enjoys working with computers, but he tries not to let anyone know about that skillset (which is definitely still developing).
Survival Skills: Charles is excellent at surviving in hostile environmental conditions. I mean, he's Australian, and he's been trained, to boot. He can "live off the land" in a decent variety of landscapes.
He's also good at picking locks and generally getting into places he shouldn't. Sometimes even with a computer.
He's a solid driver, with emphasis on SUVs and motorcycles.
Hand-to-Hand Training: Charles has been thoroughly trained by his family, in a style that's a slightly-modified version of Krav Maga. He's equally adept at knife-fighting and unarmed combat (on top of his marksmanship).
Swordsmanship: Though he only has seriously trained with sword-length Seele Schneider for a few months, his skill is already nearly Expert level, though he has some ways to go before he is truly a Master. Charles is able to use a sword with one hand, and manifest a Streik der Purificatio or Fassen der Gerechten with the other. He favors the Fassen der Gerechten, which he uses as a sort of buckler shield while using a Seele Schneider as a sword. His sword fighting style is a blend of European and Japanese fencing, perhaps appropriate for the way Seele Schneider can pierce and cut from virtually any angle.
Spiritual Awareness: Charles has sharp eyes, sharp ears, and sharp spiritual senses.
His ability to locate and track spiritual signals of all sorts has grown by leaps and bounds, and at this point his awareness can cover a city, though it's at its keenest within the space of a mile or so.
If necessary, Charles can fight an opponent without sight, relying on hearing and his awareness to deal with them.
While it is not the perfect anti-stealth measure, it is difficult to hide from Charles if you're comparatively close to him. Dedicated stealth Kido or unique abilities can defeat this sense, but those simply trying to hide must have excellent control of their own Reiryoku and Reiatsu to not at least risk detection.
While he is decidedly an Expert with locating and tracking presences, Charles is lacking in the ability to "discern intent" with his Awareness. He cannot make determinations about the potential capabilities of an opponent beyond "powerful" or "not very powerful", either.
Reishi Absorption: Charles was trained in a continent that was very "feast or famine" with Reishi; while some of the cities and "old places" in Australia were fairly rich with the stuff, other sections were barely more saturated with Reishi than they were with water. Consequently, Charles is extremely efficient not only in his gathering of energy, but also his shaping, storing, and using of it.
Archery/Marksmanship: With a bow, Charles is a competent shot, able to hit the bullseye every time out to about 30 yards, and generally land a solid hit out to 100, depending on the size of the target.
Using his Bolt der Richter, Charles has regularly made half-mile shots, and could conceivably make longer ones given the chance to set up and "zone in" for a couple of minutes. Even on the fly, he can fire and hit reliably on virtually any target.
Using his Streik der Purificatio is only slightly less accurate, more due to the nature of pistols and lack of stock or bipod. Even firing them at full automatic he is comparatively accurate, though unless focusing on a single large target he typically uses automatic for suppressive fire. When using the burst fire mode his accuracy is good enough to reliably hit most targets.

Equipment

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Seele Stechen: Charles's focus device is radically different from any Quincy Cross ever seen. But then, it's a Seele Stechen for a Reiniger. Instead of a cross or bangle, it is a pair of metal gauntlets that cover Charles's hands, wrist, and forearm, stopping a bit short of his elbow. The backplate on the hand has a cross pattern with red jewels at the center and each of the endpoints; the fingers, meanwhile, have small, simple cross engravings on them. The wrist is covered by a thinner, more flexible section engraved with runic patterns. From the end of the wrist to just before the elbow, the rest of the Seele Stechen is divided into 3 ring-like sections engraved with runes and patterns that, when spun around, produce 3 different designs on top. The 3 sections spin independent of each other, and when using Hohe Rotationsmodus they continually spin, though after 30 seconds they have to lock down to prevent overheating damage.
Seele Schneider: Charles typically carries 10 Seele Schneider in his vest's pockets. These sword-bullets are full-sized, though their handles are rounded instead of squared and they have some texturing for grips (since Charles's Bolt der Richter is purely energy, the possible friction isn't an issue). The blade produced is 3 feet in length, though no wider than the handle itself; it is colored a bright red, matching the rest of the manifestations of Chuck's spiritual power. When fired, the blade is compacted to a third of its length (1 foot projection), tripling its piercing power.
Ginto: Charles typically carries about 10 "Ginto Flashbangs" on his person at all times; these Ginto are a bit bigger than the "classic" model, but are specially designed to explode in an extremely bright flash of red light, accompanied by a fairly loud sound. They can be set for remote detonation, or timed detonation. Their actual damage is minimal. He also carries another 10 regular Ginto that he can load into his Bolt der Richter and fire as impact or proximity grenade rounds (this is accomplished almost subconsciously with his interface with Bolt der Richter), or use as components in the more standard Quincy Ginto techniques.
Hunter's Hood: Technically 3 pieces that lock together, the Hunter's Hood is a full-head mask with goggles. The upper "cap", the goggles, and the lower "mask" lock together in an airtight seal, but can be separated; the mask can be pushed down and ends up looking somewhat like a small scarf, while the upper section looks like a fancy knit cap. The goggles can be removed and stored in a pocket. The whole thing provides moderate protection against major airborne irritants, as well as excellent temperature protection. The goggles have multiple night vision modes, as well as spiritual sensors and a general HUD display, as well as windspeed indicators. They also have a scope-like zoom feature, but as it produces notable tunnel vision Charles only activates this when making a long-range shot.
Hunter Uniform: The all-black armored outfit Charles sports in combat situations is a semi-standard (as much as the Andersons have standard) uniform. The base layer provides comfort and temperature protection, and limited protection against irritants. The armor plating isn't the equal of Hierro, Blut Vene, or some Shinigami's dense Reiatsu, but it does protect against threats both material and spiritual (thanks to its weave of fine Spiritual Silver woven in).
Miscellaneous: Beyond his spiritual "arsenal", Charles tends to carry around several useful items. A multi-tool, a couple sets of lockpicks, a few zip-ties, an "Anderson Special" grapnel gun (up to 200 feet of line! can carry up to 350 pounds!), a smartphone with an excellent plan (unlimited minutes, text, and data, world-wide!), a strap-on filter mask good for about 10 minutes (hooks right onto his Hood), and a watch that automatically switches time-zones as well as keeping track of the day/month/year.

Powers

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Reinigung Bow: Hochroter Beschützer (Purifying Bow: Crimson Protector): Charles's new bow, Hochroter Beschützer is manifested by concentrating his energy through his Seele Stechen. Hochroter Beschützer has 3 distinct forms/modes. While many Andersons only have 1 Reinigung Bow form, Charles has always been a believer in adaptability and versatility, and that seems to have manifested in his weaponry. It takes him approximately 3 seconds to switch from one form to the other. Charles has determined that the special ability of Hochroter Beschützer is, in fact, the very flexibility of form that it gives him.
-Hochroter Beschützer: Fassen der Gerechten (Crimson Protector: Grasp of the Righteous): The first mode, Fassen der Gerechten, manifests itself as two thick gauntlets on Charles's forearms (just a bit longer than the Seele Stechen is). These gauntlets are condensed Reishi, making them extremely durable, and they serve as impact amplifiers. While Charles himself lacks anything like "super-strength", the Fassen der Gerechten let him at least affect some of the tougher spiritual beings in the world. He can manifest a single glove of Fassen der Gerechten while using his other hand for somethign else. The major downside of Fassen der Gerechten is that his hands are actually encased and locked into a fist form, meaning he cannot manipulate objects or use items while it is active.
--Hochroter Beschützer: Fassen der Gerechten, Hohe Rotationsmodus (Crimson Protector: Grasp of the Righteous, High Rotation Mode): The 3 rings of the Seele Stechen begin spinning at high speed, which transforms the outer half of Fassen der Gerechten into a tightly-controlled spinning maelstrom of Reishi. This mode, which can only last 30 seconds before cooldown, gives Charles something like 6 times the normal damage from his punches, and adds a degree of penetration (through an effect not dissimilar to a drill) to those strikes.
-Hochroter Beschützer: Streik der Purificatio (Crimson Protector: Strike of Purification): The second mode, Streik der Purificatio, manifests a pair of machine pistols that are entirely red. These pistols are capable of single shot, 3-round burst, and automatic (1000 RPM) fire. Each shot is comparatively weak, but they are highly accurate and have decent penetration capability. Charles can manifest a single pistol in one hand to either manifest a Fassen der Gerechten glove on the other, or hold a piece of equipment in it.
-Hochroter Beschützer: Bolt der Richter (Crimson Protector: Bolt of the Judge): The third and final mode of Charles's Reinigung Bow, Bolt der Richter is a comparatively compact, but still lean and powerful looking, sniper rifle (lacking a scope or bipod) that is (like all manifestations of Hochroter Beschützer) completely red. By default, the barrel is the normal length, but with a bit of focus, it extends half again as long for truly long-distance shots. Using Bolt der Richter's extended barrel, Charles is able to fire out to a range of 1.5 miles fairly reliably. The rifle lacks burst or automatic fire, but Charles is skilled and steady enough to keep up a respectable rate of fire nonetheless. Bolt der Richter requires both of the gloves of Starke Reichweite be attuned to the same configuration mode.
Reinigung Pfeil (Cleaner Arrow): Charle's projectiles, now also red themselves, are an example of the new Purification technique the Andersons have embraced whole-heartedly. Having had time to resonate and practice with his powers, Charles's strikes have a 100% success rate at sending the target on to Soul Society, though there's still presumably some trauma to the affair (sadly unavoidable with Reinigung Pfeil; it can only be lessened with time). They lack the comparative raw power of his old Heilig Pfeil, but their penetration power is about 90% what it used to be, and his rate of fire has generally increased, making it a completely worthwhile tradeoff (in Charles's eyes).
Ginto Techniques: Charles is accomplished in the use of Ginto, but would not be considered an expert. He can perform Heizen, Gritz, and Wolke with average skill and power. He is a bit better at Sprenger, and has learned how to set up the pattern remotely, firing first the Seele Schneider, and then the Ginto itself, at a target area.
Hirenkyaku: Charles would be ranked as an Expert in the Flying Screen Step. He cannot generate platforms, but the basic high-speed movement comes easily to him, and it doesn't really exhaust him at all. He can perform quieter but slower Steps that he often uses when stalking prey. As well, he has discovered a way to combine Hirenkyaku and Ransōtengai to moderately increase the speed (and thus the kinetic energy) of physical blows with Seele Schneider or Fassen der Gerechten.
Blut: Charles is a low-level Expert with Blut. He can now use both forms equally effectively, and is able to switch between them given about 2 seconds of time.
--Blut Vene: Charles defaults to Blut Vene, and keeps a low-key version of it running most all of the time. At its fullest strength, he has protection roughly equal to a mid-Seated Shinigami or an equivalent Arrancar (who does not specialize for or against Hierro).
--Blut Arterie: Most often, Charles will use Arterie when in a heated Seele Schneider duel, making a strike with Fassen der Gerechten, Hohe Rotationsmodus, or when lining up a critical shot with Bolt der Richter. Currently the power increase is about twice his non-Arterie attacks. The main downside is the loss of all Vene protection, hence his tendency to use it only at critical moments.
Ransōtengai: Charles had no skill with the Heavenly Wild Puppet Suit when he was originally in Japan. At this point, he's still a comparative novice with it. At most, he can keep 1 completely disabled limb mobile, or shore up a couple of injured but functional joints. He is actually better at combining the reinforcing properties of his technique with a brief burst of Hirenkyaku to increase the speed of melee strikes with healthy limbs.
Vollständig: Romakhiel (Spear of God): Charles knows how to use Vollständig, but is somewhat reluctant to use it. Not so much for lack of skill, as there's a certain innate skill the power brings with it. Instead, the sheer, raw power flowing through his veins means he tries to avoid activating it unless absolutely necessary. Because he actually likes that power. A lot. Despite the risks of prolonged usage, at leas for now.

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When in Vollständig, Charles is clad in armor of red light so dark it might as well be black, a positively medieval affair. From his back sprout a pair of wings that seem more like a collection of ribbons of crackling black energy that somehow manage to shine with black light. In his hands is a spear of the same black energy, but perfectly molded, a simple design with a 5-foot haft and a 1-foot blade shaped like a gladius's blade. He's still capable of using Seele Schneider in this form (as his control improves along with his power input), though the color of the blade shifts to match what is conjured by his spear.
-Sklaverei: A universal ability of Vollständig, while Romakhiel is active Charles's Reishi Dominance becomes far stronger, allowing him to dissolve and absorb spiritual constructions to fuel his powers.
-Dunkelklinge (Dark Blade): The spear Charles summons in Vollständig is his primary weapon. The entire thing is raw, condensed reishi; the haft is as hard as steel, while the blade has about 50% of the cutting power of a Seele Schneider. Charles can throw Dunkelklinge and, after it strikes an enemy (or he wills it), it will dissipate and reform in his hands. He can also fire Reinigung Pfeil from the spear, which have the same power as the projectiles from Bolt der Richter, along with the same fire rate; the projectiles share the coloration of Dunkelklinge, though.
-Dunkelheit Blitz (Darkness Lightning): Charles can dismiss Dunkelklinge and instead channel that same power into bolts of energy that resemble nothing so much as black lightning. These bolts hit with the same force as Bolt der Richter's projectiles, but can be held continuously on a target, or even make a single "jump" to between 1 and 3 other targets, though these secondary bolts carry 1/3 the power of the original and require the secondary target to be within a few feet of the original target.. As he can fire from both hands, Charles could hit a maximum of 8 targets (2 primary and 6 secondary). His range on this is only about 20 feet.
-Finsternis Licht-Schild (Darkness Light Shield): Charles can channel his power into producing a shield of dark energy that can withstand large amounts of damage. If Sklaverei is fully active this shield can extend upwards of 30 feet; without Sklaverei fully active, it can only go about 5 feet. He can make it into several basic 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes. Once created, the shield is static; if damaged enough, it shatters. Alternatively, Charles can conjure small sections of shield along his arms, like a set of weightless bucklers on his shoulders, upper arms, and forearms. He cannot maintain both the arm-mounted shields and emplaced shields at the same time.
-Dunkelklinge, Das Schwert spaltet Böse (Dark Blade, Sword That Cleaves Evil): If Charles activates Sklaverei and channels most of that power into Dunkelklinge, he is able to shape the Dark Blade into its truest form, the Sword That Cleaves Evil. The haft shorteds to 4 feet long, thickening a bit. Meanwhile, the blade shifts and becomes a wide guard, from which emits a blade 1.5 feet wide and 8 feet long. This blade has the same cutting power as a Seele Schneider, and Charles is able to handle the over-sized weapon with surprising dexterity. In addition, Das Schwert spaltet Böse can, with but a thought from Charles, become harmless light for a few moments. In this way, he is able to cut only those he needs to, sparing the innocent while striking down the guilty.
--Dunkelklinge, Das Schwert spaltet Böse, Putzmitteilung (Dark Blade, Sword That Cleaves Evil, Shine Release): The culmination of Charle's Vollständig, Putzmitteilung gathers up every last shred of power he can spare, including the power vested in his ribbon-wings and everything he can gather with Sklaverei, Charles takes a strong, stable stance and raises up Dunkelklinge, Das Schwert spaltet Böse. He then brings it down in a powerful forward slash that sends off the entire blade of the dark sword at his enemy. The projectile-blade is guided by his will, and can only be avoided by fleeing at top speed, or possibly blocked by a truly powerful barrier. The power invested in Putzmitteilung is staggering, but if Charles uses it, it not only brings him out of Vollständig, it leaves him exhausted enough he needs a few minutes to recover his strength to even try reactivating the True Form of the Reiniger.

The Anderson Reiniger Clan

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Family Home: Australia
Clan Age: About 200 years.
Clan Size: Approximately 175, with about 110 capable of Reiniger combat.
Clan Motto: Polite and Professional.

The Anderson Family is something of a...unique case...among the Quincy. While the other Clans are either whole "sections" of the original family, or founded by 1-2 charismatic, strong-willed individuals, the Anderson Family was founded by, well, the "dregs" of the other families. Over the years, it has grown slowly but steadily larger as those disaffected with their birth clan take walkabout, and somehow end up in Australia (likely from hearing rumors of a perhaps slightly insane family of Quincy living there).

This began in 1800 when several "malcontents" from the European families were loaded on one of the boats headed for the newly-founded colonies there and shipped off. After all, out of sight out of mind. On the journey over, the Quincy outcasts found each other. Most of them were young, hale, and headstrong. They were chomping at the bit to deal with whatever Australia held.

In this case, it held a lot of Hollows.

For while Australia had not, up until that point, had a very large native human population, it had always held plenty of animals. Many of which were aggressive and deadly, even to humans. All those animals, fighting and dying and struggling to survive. Somehow, more so than in any other places, the animals of Australia formed Hollows.

The Shinigami did what they could, but the numbers assigned to the Island Continent were never very large. They had a well-hidden "base" (more of a bunker, really), and they conducted regular patrols, and were even helped by a very small number of empowered mortals among the natives. But even still, there were a lot of dead animals all the time, and somehow, they kept becoming Hollows. The Shinigami relegated themselves to protecting the scattered humans, and purifying the Hollows made from human souls.

When the rag-tag group of Quincy learned of the situation (from a combination of observation, and overhearing a couple of tired Shinigami grumbling about how hard they had to work), they practically threw a party. One David Anderson helped forge them into a cohesive group that would start working to not only protect the living residents of this dangerous continent, but also "thin the herd" of the animal-based Hollows that roamed about.

So for the next two centuries, the group grew from about a dozen, to two dozen, and so on. Every once in a while, they'd get a few more "exiles" from different places around the world. At first it was intentional on the part of the original clans, but after a while, it was more these "lone wolves" ending up in Australia of their own machinations. As well, the Anderson clan wasn't too worried about marrying non-Quincy, though they did encourage their members to at least marry those with strong spiritual potential.

Meanwhile, they kept their heads low and avoided the Shinigami as much as possible. They didn't want the trouble, but they didn't really hold anything against the overworked psychopomps. Even without the animal Hollow problem Australia would be a tough assignment, and with all these new people moving in, it just got worse! So the Andersons focused on fighting from range, slowly finding ways to mold their bows (either through sheer willpower, or devices constructed to aid them) into the shapes of long-range rifles. Hollows were dispatched with single high-powered headshots that no one would ever properly hear out in the "sticks". Roaming packs of Hollows were erased, and the workload for the Shinigami eased every so slightly.

All the while, the "gear heads" of the family did their best to not only improve the tools at the disposal of the Andersons, but also bring in money by creating more "mundane" technologies (many of which focused on things like alternative power, wast disposal, water purification, and other techniques for living in remote sections of Australia and other parts of the world). Of course, many of those same technologies were being used by the Andersons in their ever-improving Family home, located in an abandoned opal mine a couple hours' drive outside of Sydney. The location is more than isolated enough to allow indoor and outdoor training, but close enough to "real civilization" to make life easier. Those members whose fighting prowess is lower help maintain the compound, or the family company based in Sydney (the one always coming up with new pieces of technology).

And of course, they're still a family of "misfits and malcontents", harboring not only a variety of (often eccentric) personalities, but also a fairly diverse ethnicity. The family emphasis on not marrying only Quincy, combined with the mix of pre-existing and "imported" people groups of the continent, means that there are interesting "mixtures" running amok in the family. Still, they're unified by their familial pride, accents, skill, and sharp sense of dress.

The recent introduction of the ability to Purify instead of Destroy has taken the family by storm. The adoption of Seele Stechen was swift and thorough, with most all old Quincy-style weapons being disassembled for recycling. Only a few heirlooms have been kept intact, and those have had a few components removed to render them mere display pieces. With the signing of the Unseelie Accords alongside the Kuzonoha Family, Las Noches, and Soul Society, the Andersons are now working to establish themselves as a true independent power. They have renamed themselves Reiniger, to signify their commitment to Purification instead of Destruction.

Notable Inventions:
-Spirit Sensor Visor/Scope: Even the most sensitive Reiniger can't naturally see in the dark or through mist. As well, not all members of the Anderson Clan have the same level of skill or sensitivity. But being the rough and tumble go-getters that they are, they decided that wasn't going to stop them from shooting some Hollows in the face from range. So the gear-heads put their heads together and came up with the Spirit Sensor Visor (SSV). These visors are all individually styled for their user, as some prefer 1 lens, some 2, and some a true *visor*. All of them greatly enhance resolution on spiritual signals, as well as helping see in low-light/no-light conditions, increase visibility in cloudy or misty conditions, and even provide things like wind speed and direction (to assist with making a long-distance shot). A few models even allow "normal" humans (the Andersons think the word "normal" is over-rated anyways) to see spiritual beings, though not with the same resolution someone truly aware could hold. They also produce Scopes that hold most of the same functions, albeit tweaked for use as a Rifle's Scope. The recent radical shift to using Seele Stechen means that many, but not all, Anderson members are changing the form of their SSV to more of a goggle or helmet setup. Still, the precise setup varies from
-Seele Schneider Bullets: The other major invention alongside their Rifles was the Seele Schneider Bullets. These SS are made shorter and a bit thinner, and if used as blades cannot achieve anything more than a long knife in length and width. But for all that their size is less, their edge and potency remain the same. And the biggest advantage is that they can be loaded and fired from many Seele Stechen-generated weapons, assuming the weapon allows for such a setup (instead of being, say, a sword or the like). Still, they fly even farther and truer than the regular arrow-bullets, and pierce even the strongest spiritual defenses, physical or magic. The Andersons tend to carry several on their person, but use them as arrows (they can still fire from a traditional bow) or bullets very sparingly. They're for "special" foes that require the extra power and penetration. (Note: Some Andersons now use regular full-size Seele Schneiders, or ones modified to switch between the more compact "Bullet" size and the regular "arrow" size. With the advent of Seele Strechen, there is less of a standard for usage.)

[Draken]

Shinigami Post

Koutetsu Hideki

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Age: 83.
Gender: Male.
Height: 6'.
Weight: 200 lb.
Station: Analytic Officer in the Surveillance Division, 5th seat.

Description:

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Hideki wears lightweight metal plating on his shoulders, arms, legs, chest and waist, as well as a closed helmet with a glass visor, long hair flows from underneath the helmet and over his shoulders.

Beneath his mask, Hideki has a pretty normal appearance.

Personality:

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Hideki appreciates the easy life, the calm, the peace, the placate song before a good, sudden refrain. This leads to an easygoing personality prone to bouts of enthusiasm whenever his attention is picked.

Hideki honestly isn't much a fan of his job present, but considers it an improvement over the stress he was starting to accumulate in the S.S.I. due to drug-addled 'seekers of cosmic mysteries' (damn junkies in his opinion) being steadily funneled into his team as Soul Society became complacent due to the lack of external threats.

History:

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A member of a minor noble family, Hideki led an easy life from the moment he was born, his needs provided, servants always at his call, his requests granted. Such a background allowed him plenty of time to exercise his true passion.

Explosions.

In his family's state, Hideki's playground was a forge and laboratory where he made a variety of fireworks and... "Stronger" fireworks, as well as the means of delivering them, sidearms, cannons, shoes, you name it, he set it on fire once, and then made it work after a few iterations. All in good fun, except for whatever poor animal his family went hunting on the weekends.

Hideki led an uneventful time in academy, other than dealing with the antics of his friend and underclassman, Takenaka Chouko, whom he eventually met again in the Shinigami Science Institute.

In the S.S.I. Hideki found his calling in weapon development, many of his projects never left the prototype stage on grounds of being excessive and unwieldy, if interesting to watch in action. His career in the division was promising, but at some point he left for personal reasons, transferring to the Surveillance Division and moving most of his projects into the realm of personal funding.

Story So Far:

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Hideki has ignored an old alarm that started flaring in the middle of a large number of other alarms during the espada visit of Soul Society.

Abilities:

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Hakuda: Hideki finds the very prospect of fighting with his bare hands to be laughable.

Zanjutsu: Hideki stands proud among the most skilled weapon masters of soul society outside of the Combat Division.

Kidõ: Hideki has excellent proficiency with hadou... Not so much with bakudou.

Shunpo: Hideki can shunpo with some proficience, but some of the heavier weapons in his shikai limit mobility somewhat, so he never focused much on it.

Craftsman Genius: Hideki is exceptionally talented as an artisan, he has great knowledge of spiritual chemistry, electronics, and is a skilled blacksmith. His prime skill is in developing weapons and armor.

Kidõtech Armor: Hideki has built a special armor for himself, the plates are lightweight but provide localized defense equivalent to adjuchas hierro. His helmet in particular holds a number of useful devices, in its specially designed HUD.

Zanpakuto: Heiki (Weaponry)

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Description: Heiki is a nodachi with a black hilt and guard, the later shaped like a cog with eleven teeth.
Spirit: Heiki is a man in simple attire, his hair, eyebrows and beard are unkept and dirty with cinders and soot, nothing else of his face is visible besides his long, crooked nose and a cinder-like glow on his eyes. On his back is a basket holding an improbable number of weapons.
Inner World: Heiki lives in a hut in the middle of a ruined plain that has seen a great battle, remains of which still dot the landscape.

Shikai: Opress, Heiki!
Description: Upon being released, Heiki becomes a weapon chosen from among twelve available to Hideki, at any given time it can change into the form of a second weapon, however each time it is released it is limited to two specific choices from among the total eleven.
Power(s): Heiki's shikai grants Hideki the use of two among eleven different weapons, chosen from this list. The projectile weapons available to him generate their own ammunition when needed, but have limited cartridges that require a few moments to reload once emptied.

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Bolt Repeater: The bolt repeater fires projectiles that home in on their target. These darts can be dodged, but the more such a defense is used, the larger the cloud of darts tracking the target will grow. They stop moving once their momentum is broken, however, either by being blocked or by striking something else before they have the chance to turn. The bolt repeater's cartridge holds up to twenty darts at a time.

Bow: Heiki's bow fires arrows that penetrate deeply due to vibrating reishi tips. Unlike other ranged weapons, the bow has no cartridge, relying solely on Hideki's draw speed.

Carbine: The carbine is similar to the bow, but packs a heavier punch and is accordingly heavier, very few defenses can hold against it. It can shoot up to six times before it must reload.

Demon Cannon: The demon cannon is Heiki's most brutal weapon, it releases a burst of concentrated reiryoku that travels at an extremely fast speed until it strikes something, upon which it detonates into an explosion of flame similar to kido. The demon cannon has no cartridge, it requires a short loading time before it fires and it is too heavy for Hideki to move while using it.

Flame Bellows: This peculiar artifact emits a stream of flame when fired, it has a short range but the cone of intensely hot burning oil is perhaps Heiki's most destructive melee weapon.

Hammer: Heiki's Hammer boasts pneumatic augmentations on its head that add a secondary impact to each blow, as if an aftershock.

Machete The machete's vibrating reishi edge makes it ideal for fast attacks. It can be thrown, and the weapon invariably returns to Hideki's hand when such is done.

Mortar: The mortar is an emplaced, heavy cannon with long range, the longest of all Heiki's weapons besides the demon cannon. It fires explosive shells and takes awhile to setup each shot. Besides the shells that the cannon naturally generates, Hideki usually carries a variety of chemical bombs that he can manually load into the mortar and fire.

Musket: This weapon would be best called a shotgun, but Heiki insists on calling it a musket. It fires a hail of pellets over a large area and can be fire twice before needing to reload.

Pike: This simple spear boasts an edge of vibrating reishi, like the machete, it can be thrown and returns to Hideki afterwards.

Pistols: This weapon is unusual in that it comes in a pair (but still counts as a single weapon for the shikai), each pistol holds twelve shots.

Bankai: Not achieved.
Description: Who knows.
Power(s): Probably something to do with a very large number of weapons.

[DiscipleofBob]

Charlotte Winchester

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Name: Charlotte Winchester
Age: 21
Gender: Female
Type: Mortal/Quincy
Description: Charlotte is a youthful, attractive, bubbly blond woman who could pass for anywhere between 16 and 26. Her body is fairly busty and curvy, which is only highlighted that she usually wears very little. Her typical casual wear is a yellow bikini top and blue jean shorts, though she also sports a brown ten-gallon hat, finger gloves, and cowboy boots. Her left arm is adorned with various tattoos that she adds to every time she kills a hollow. Sometimes just a small mark, sometimes a full illustration of a particularly nasty hollow. Although she's caucasian, her skin is very tanned from the sun.

Personality: Charlotte is outgoing and kind to nearly everyone. She's slow to anger but quick to make friends. Although there are many things about Japan that ignore her (the lack of authentic barbecue being one of them), she tries to be respectful and embrace others' cultures as well as showcase some of her own. She can be quite the party girl and drinker given the chance and is used to traveling from town to town. Charlotte refers to all Quincies as "cousins" regardless of actual familial relations. And while she's not one to hold personal grudges, or even take personal offense to Hollows or Shinigami, she'll kill both without a second thought because that's what she was raised to do. She's never actually met or killed a Shinigami yet. That's what the other arm is for.

History: Charlotte was raised on her clan's compound, hidden from the eyes of hollows and shinigami alike until she was old enough to start roaming the world on her own. One of the few direct descendants of Jebediah Winchester, Charlotte's heritage and her skill (easily surpassing most of her class) earned her the right to carry Law and Order as she traveled the Old West. Recently, the Winchester family has tried sending members farther, both to possibly rekindle old relationships with other Quincies, to educate other possible mortals who would aid them in their quest, and to vanquish the evils of Hollows and Shinigami where no one else will. Charlotte was sent to Japan where she had her trusty van shipped overseas and is now searching to see if there's anything a good charity worker like herself can overcome.

Abilities:
Rudimentary Japanese - Charlotte read up on her Japanese before coming to town, but she still has a thick accent which betrays her origins.

Trained Fighter, Ghosthunter, Master Marksman - Charlotte like most of her clan has been trained to hunt and fight hollows and other spirits since she was old enough to hold a gun (by Texas standards mind you). She's a superb hand-to-hand fighter, well-versed in tracking hollows, and is one of the better shots in her clan, exemplifying the gunslinger sharpshooter stereotype. Instant quick-draw reflexes, the ability to fire her revolvers so fast they resemble machine gun fire, and able to hit her targets dead-on. She can even wield her guns as melee weapons proficiently.

Quincy Arms Crafter - Charlotte has been trained to create and craft objects out of Reishi, Soul-Infused Silver, Soul-Infused Glass and other materials. She can craft Ginto capsules, or even fashion them into bullets, and can make, repair, or upgrade Quincy weapons. She doesn't just specialize in Quincy items, but she's an accomplished tinkerer, engineer, and mechanic on her own that she can jury-rig quite a bit.

Reishi Absorption - Like all Quincy, Charlotte primarily fuels her abilities by absorbing spiritual energy from the atmosphere. Her ability to collect spiritual particles would be greatly enhanced in an environment like Soul Society or Hueco Mundo, though she's never been to either of those places.

Hirenkyaku - The Quincy version of Shunpo and Sonido, it can be used for dashes or for hovering on platforms of Reishi.

Blut - Charlotte is well-trained in both in Blut Vene (for defense) and Blut Arterie (for offense) by directing the Reishi into her blood vessels. She can only use one at a time, but she is coordinated enough that she can use Blue Vene in one limb while using Blut Arterie in the other. Either her Blut Vene or Blut Arterie when making contact with a spiritual being of any kind not only stops or strikes an opponent, but disperses a small portion of their spiritual particles which her body then naturally reads like an oscilloscope. It takes time for her body to process this information, but once it does, if she encounters her opponent again, she can make tailor-made Reishi bullets designed specifically for that opponent. These signature bullets arc slightly towards their given target (but can still miss), and are usually able to pierce the target's specific defenses. The best (but not only way) to block said bullets is to somehow alter the signature of their own defenses.

Ransotengai - Charlotte is skilled in forming and manipulating strings of Reishi with only her mind. If she's bound, she can use this technique to manipulate her weapons regardless of her condition, but she can also use this for low-level telekinesis, including manipulating her pistols in the air without directly having to hold them.

Equipment:
Utility Knife - Standard issue combat knife. Very useful. Nothing special.

Ginto Bullets - What to some Quincies are antiquated capsules, to the Winchester clan are specialized bullets capable of a wide variety of effects. She can also use the Ginto Capsules themselves as Reishi grenades.

Law & Order - Charlotte's primary weapons. They are both simultaneously valuable relics of her clan and part of her very being that she can dismiss and recreate almost instantly. Although they are six-shooter revolvers, neither needs to be loaded except when using Charlotte's special bullets. Charlotte can instantly fill each slot with a Reishi bullet that would be the equivalent of a Quincy Arrow. She has the most skill and familiarity with these two weapons.

The Last Rites - This Shotgun only needs to be cocked, never loaded, as like Law and Order Charlotte can fill the empty clip instantly, although the rounds in the shotgun are vastly different. What they lack in range they make up for in punch and a small cone burst. They aren't viable at long-range, and are still inaccurate at a medium-range, but the blasts can be very powerful at close-range.

The Death Sentence - This longbarrel rifle is Charlotte's go-to long-range weapon, able to hit her target accurately at 1500 yards. Charlotte can even alter the arc of the bullet mid-flight for extra difficult shots. It's not very practical in a close-up fight.

The Purifier - This flamethrower blasts waves of pure Reishi, only damaging to those with spiritual powers as it literally burns the particles that form their beings, constructs, and energy. It is by no means an auto-kill, but its flames can surprisingly hurt even bolstered defenses.

The Alamo - What looks like a beat up old hick van is Charlotte's main home and method of transportation. Not only is it reinforced with Soul-Infused Steel to make it highly resistant to even powerful spiritual attacks, with shutters on the windows for further protection, and all-terrain capability, but the rear doors reveal a set of stairs which lead down into a basement which can't possibly fit in the van. A small pocket dimension that contains everything Charlotte would need to store her weapons and perform her various crafts. There's even a small bed, kitchen, couch, and television. Jarring the van or destroying it doesn't actually destroy this 'garage' of Charlotte's, it just destroys the entrance until she can create a new one: something that's easy but time-consuming.

Special Attacks:

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Twilight Spark - Charlotte fires two bullets simultaneously from her two revolvers. The bullets arc and spiral around each other, and collide usually just before the intended target. They then explode in an array of shrapnel and Reishi particles. Effectively becomes an exploding bullet.

Tackle Jack - Combines Hirenkyaku and Blut Vene to steel her body and then ram her target, turning her own body into a brutal battering ram.

Pinkie Shot - Her Ransotengai is well-practiced, but especially with her revolvers. She can aim and fire a revolver remotely with just her pinkie, and as long as one of her other weapons is already set up, she can use her pinkie to pull the trigger as well. She can use this strategy to pull off many difficult shots.

Rare Bullet - These special bullets are more difficult and time-consuming to create than her regular bullets which are near instantaneous. Unless she gets a break they're difficult to produce from Reishi in the middle of combat, just like her signature bullets. The Rare Bullets don't favor any target in particular, but they seem to just be lucky shots. If the enemy has the slightest chink in their armor, this bullet will somehow find its way to the center of that weak spot. If there's a piece of terrain that when shot could actually ricochet and hurt the target more, the Rare Bullet will strike it perfectly. If there is a one in a million shot, these Rare Bullets are the best bet to get it done. Unfortunately they are pretty rare, and Charlotte can only make about one a day.

Rainbow Dash - A special application of Hirenkyaku, Charlotte not only dashes with the platform of Reishi beneath her feet, but causes the Reishi to explode as her feet pass over them, creating a blinding display of light and pyrotechnics which can damage targets that happen to be close, or simply blind targets who are looking too closely.

Fluttershot - A maneuver which mostly involves Charlotte leaping through the air and firing so quickly with her gun(s) it may as well be rapid-fire. The recoil is enough to push her around or even make her hover with the sheer amount of bullets (somewhat redundant given Hirenkyaku), but the effect also produces a virtual wall of bullets.

Sanbo Kojin , the Apprentice

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Name: Sanbo Kojin
Age: Appears to be a 12-year old. Actually probably over 1000, but she's not very forthcoming with her age.
Gender: Female
Type: Shinigami, former apprentice to Squad Zero.
Description: She's a short young child, freckled with very short unkempt hair, tomboyish in nature. She'll wear a Shinigami uniform if she absolutely has to, but normally chooses to wear a very thick, heavy set of armor that almost makes her look like a black tea kettle.

Personality: She may look like a child, but Spekio has the personality of a cranky old woman. She's short-tempered, poorly mannered, and expects everything to be done her way. Sometimes because that's how her craft HAS to be done, sometimes because she's just being picky, and there's not much of a way to tell the difference. Despite her temper and attitude, Kojin takes her craft VERY seriously. She will not tolerate goofing off around her forge or disrespect to any Zanpakuto or Asauchi. She rarely shows it, but Spekio has an appreciation for all things technological. She's more likely to respect someone that actually shows her something bold and new. She also speaks with a very thick accent, and whether this is something shared with her Master is unknown.

History: Little is known about Spekio or Squad Zero where she hails from. She apprentices under the master blacksmith responsible for most of the Zanpakutos used by Shinigami throughout history, including those regarded with legendary status. She claims she's the top apprentice and was sent down because of Squad Zero's absolute faith in her abilities to handle whatever sort of crisis was cooked up here. In reality, Squad Zero cares even less and her master sent down Kojin because she was the WEAKEST, UNTRAINED apprentice and needed to be taught a lesson in humility. She has plenty of training in the forge, but she lacks in other areas.

Abilities: Kojin is lacking in Zanjutsu, wielding a hammer instead of a sword and not getting much one-on-one practice, Hakuda, Shunpo, and Kido. She excels in Bakudo and various wards, a necessity for her practice. Her true value lies in working the forge, able to create Asauchi, as well as repair and maintain (and in rare cases, even upgrade) Zanpakuto.

Kojin's work as a blacksmith gives her a unique understanding of Zanpakutos. Even without her Soulforge (see below) she understands Zanpakuto enough to be able to seal a Shikai with a well-placed strike either from her hammer or her hand. The sealing strike needs to be precise, not just any touch will do, and it does nothing to prevent future releases. It also doesn't work on Bankai, Resureccion, or anything but the Shikai of a Shinigami.

Soulforge: Kojin's workship is the Soulforge, a large cylindrical building lined with thick layers of Sekisekki, and heavily warded on the inside and outside, resembling a giant kiln for good reason. Very few people can withstand being inside the Soulforge for very long even with endurance training. Inside the Soulforge, if Kojin wills it, a Zanpakuto can manifest its spirit into corporeal form. The fires of the Soulforge severely weaken its power, and even if the spirit tries to leave, or if the wards are disrupted, the spirit is instantly sealed back into the Zanpakuto, the very thing powering its existence no longer working. The primary purpose is to help foster communication between the Shinigami and their Zanpakuto, and the forge is also useful for Repairs and Purification.

Zanpakuto: Kamadogami

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Kamadogami is permanently stuck in its Shikai form of a one-handed hammer, the same one Kojin uses for blacksmithing. Its spirit takes the form of a small man-sized fire elemental with a sarcastic but overall friendly personality, far more personable than Kojin. Legend has it that there was once an all powerful fire Zanpaktuo spirit: Kagutsuchi, so powerful it had to be struck down. It was split into eight fragments, one of which is Kamadogami. When working inside the Soulforge, Kamadogami takes (sort of) corporeal form and personally makes up the flames that power the Soulforge.

The hammer itself has several abilities. In combat, one side of the hammer destroys, while the other constructs. Using the destruction side of the hammer does more than just hurt its target, but weakens the structural integrity. Using the destruction portion of the hammer on a wall or ward, especially with repeated strikes, will erode and eventually break it down piece by piece.

Using the construction side, however, will actually strengthen and reinforce structures and wards. Hitting a cracked wall will seal the crack with repeated strikes, and afterward condense and thicken the wall to be far stronger.

If the Z-pac spirit isn't in the Soulforge itself, but residing in the weapon, the hammer has the additional ability to launch fireballs, about a foot in diameter, whose path can be mentally controlled by either Kojin or Kamadogami. These can be flames of destruction, signified by a black tinge to the flames, which do more damage than simply burn but seem to instantly disintegrate objects it comes into contact with. ((.Actual targets are not disintegrated automatically, but suffer more damage and pain than a mere burn.)) The flames of construction hurt as well, though not quite as much, and are purifying flames able to eliminate poisons, corruption, or other malevolent forces from a target. The flames of construction are particularly damaging to hollows even moreso than the flames of destruction.

Bankai: "Er... o'course I have Bankai? Why wouldn't I? Ah just don't feel like showin' it to ye. Now'r ever. Period."

Scarlet Whitechapel, Leader of the Combat Kido Squad

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Name: Scarlet Whitechapel
Age: 124, appears to be a woman of early-20's.
Gender: Female
Type: Shinigami, Combat Division, Seated Officer, Leader of Kido Squad.
Description: In life, and in the beginning of her afterlife, she resembles a proper lady (at least for what was considered that at the time). Petit. Delicate. Now she's cut her bright red hair down to a more manageable state, her once extremely feminine body now muscled and toned, and although she is still somewhat short, she is less a petit flower and instead a fast, spry, Amazonian warrior.

Personality: Scarlet can vary between different moods. She can be an unforgiving combat instructor, an easygoing party-girl, a sensitive ear, a defensive mama bear, a doting mother-figure to those that need it, a big sister, a little sister, or in rare, unwanted cases, the same frightened girl she was when she died. No matter what, she tends to see denials as a challenge. When someone says she can't do something, her first instinct is to prove them wrong. Scarlet's not only the one often dealing with the paperwork, but dealing with negotiations from other Divisions, though the chaos of the Kenpachi's death has been an obstacle in that regard.

History: Scarlet Whitechapel is not her real name. Her death was so traumatic most of her mortal life was instantly repressed, including her birth name. Region and math figures her time of death in London in 1888, giving anyone with knowledge in history the impression she may have been one of Jack the Ripper's victims. It took her a long time to get over the trauma of dying, the name Scarlet coming from a nickname associated with her red hair, Whitechapel being one of the few details of her life she remembers. When Scarlet entered the academy, she displayed absolutely no aptitude for spiritual powers. Denied, Scarlet only tried again five more times, each time showing no aptitude whatsoever, until her persistence won out. At first she was always behind in her classes, but hard work and persistence eventually made her top of her class when it came to Kido. The previous Grand Sorcerer even took interest in her. An aptitude test she took near graduation suggested she would succeed the most in the SSI, and would do the most poorly in the Combat Division. Naturally, she forced her way into the Combat Division despite disapproval from her instructors. Once again she was at the bottom of her class, struggling to keep up, especially since her specialty in Kido didn't do her much good when it came to most of the training sessions. Everyone had expected her to quit over and over and over again, all except Kenpachi Osuma, who only pushed her farther. Ironically, the Combat Division actually mellowed her out a little, no longer seeing those around her as obstacles once it became clear that they were supporting her desire to suprass expectations. It took her four tries to complete the Hellpath over a three-year period, in large due to her unresolved issues with her traumatic death. Her final try took seven months, but she finally completed it, earning the rank of Seated Officer, her natural Kido talents finally coming to use as head of her own squad of combat kido practicioners. Although official numbered ranks aren't as prevalent in the Combat Division, Scarlet is usually ranked the lowest just by losing the most duels with her fellow Seated Officers, but for once she's actually okay with her position.

Abilities: Like her fellow Seated Officers, Scarlet is trained extensively in combat, able to keep fighting for days on end under extreme conditions without giving ground. She has trained under every type of condition the Thousand Deaths has to offer and although she usually loses to other Seated Officers of her division, she is a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. She's also well-versed in the tactical plans of the Combat Division, as all members are supposed to be. Her Shunpo is on par for someone of her rank in her division.

Her specialty is in Kido, both Hado and Bakudo, especially combat applications. She's one of the better Kido users outside of the SSI, and is able to produce lower-level kido, up to the mid-30's of Hado and Bakudo not just without incantation, but, where applicable, fire Kido after Kido in quick succession, enabling her to rapid-fire Hakkasho or spam Bakudo barriers. Of course using the incantation produces much more powerful Kido instead, but isn't as easily repeatable.

Zanpakuto: Carbuncle

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Command: "Reflect, Carbuncle!"
Spirit: A small blue faerie-like creature with a red jewel on its forehead.
Spirit World: A vast, infinite cavern illuminated by sparkling diamonds and other jewels embedded in the floors, ceilings, and seemingly naturally forming pillars. Carbuncle often bobs and weaves in between pillars, a playful spirit who enjoys hiding and seeking.

Shikai: Carbuncle becomes a gladius and buckler. The shield is adorned with various clear jewels, and the sword's blade seems to be made of crystal.

Carbuncle's special ability is to absorb spiritual energy, be it from a Kido spell, a hollow's Cero, a Quincy Arrow, or anything remotely similar. As long as it's up to Scarlet's current power level, she can store the energy either in the sword or the shield in one of the gems, the gem turning into a color to appropriately match the absorbed attack. The shield can then fire that energy at its full power then or later. If stored in the sword, the blade takes the properties and power-level of the absorbed energy or can be fired out of the blade as well. If the incoming attack is above Scarlet's current power level, say a powerful Cero, she can still absorb the attack, but since she is unable to store it she must instantly redirect it through whichever tool did not absorb it originally. Extremely powerful attacks, like a Gran Rey Cero, she can still absorb and redirect but the act of doing so severely fatigues her, and cannot do so repeatedly.

Takahashi Tetsuo, Internal Security Enforcer

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Name: Takahashi Tetsuo
Age: 87
Gender: Male
Type: Shinigami, Internal Security, Unseated
Description: A gruff, middle-aged Japanese military man, despite being younger than many Shinigami who look far younger than him. If any of the mortal kids saw him they may immediately think he looks like their teacher Takahashi Tanaka, though without the American influence.

Personality: Tetsuo is friendly enough, but takes his duties very seriously and with pride. He's a career soldier, and his goal is to be promoted, but he's not overzealous in his ambition. He's reliable and follows orders, though not blindly so.

History: Tetsuo served in the Japanese military for many years and died in the line of duty, but not before fathering a son who is currently alive and well in the mortal world. He's progressing rather quickly through the ranks of Soul Society, but he's still an unseated. There were talks with his commanding officer about a potential promotion coming up soon, possibly to a Seated position, but with the chaos of the Arrancar attack, that talk vanished as there were more important things to do. Tetsuo didn't complain about the missed opportunity however. Another would eventually present itself, and right now Internal Security was needed to restore order.

Abilities: Tetsuo's one of the stronger unseateds. His primary duty is pursuing criminals and undesirables within the walls of Soul Society and the outside districts as well, and is good at his job. He's not extremely proficient in Kido, but he's trying to learn.

Zanpakuto: Ushioni

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A medium-length jitte with a blunted edge, the better to stun and incapacitate fleeing targets.
Spirit: A green-skinned oni of stereotypical look.

Shikai: "Bludgeon, Ushioni!"
Ushioni becomes a dark-colored iron tonfa. At first this seems like almost a downgrade, but the tonfa can not only extend and retract at will, but it can suddenly grow new "limbs" which can also extrend and retract at will. The maximum distance is abstract, but Tetsuo has launched an extension as far as a football field, and created enough "limbs" to pin someone to the ground completely.

Plans for Character:

Tsukimoto Hikari, Doting Mother

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Name: Tsikumoto Hikari
Age: died in her 60s
Gender: Female
Height: Tallish (to give the genes to Miya)
Station: Was a Substitute Shinigami

Description and Personality:
Old, kind lady.

History: Due to a chance meeting and a hollow attack during the last Hollow War, fifty years ago, Hikari became a Substitute Shinigami while she was still a young teenager. Before that, she was already spiritually aware and she saw becoming a Substitute as an opportunity to help those she couldn't before.

Near the end of the war, she let her friend Haro in on the secret. He supported her, and became very interested in the Spiritual World and how science applies to it. After all, every scientist is on a quest for knowledge, right? After the Hollow War ended, they got married, but were unable to have children for several years. Finally, they had Miya as a daughter.

Things were peaceful.

Hikari taught her daughter martial arts to protect herself in case the peace ended; however, she secretly hoped Miya would never find out about the Shinigami nor the Hollows, as that could ruin her life (she thought). Namely, she taught Aikido (a martial art that focuses on not harming the opponent) and Kendo (swordplay martial arts). Hikari also took up gardening (possibly on account of her Shikkai).

One hot summer day, when Miya was 3 years old, Hikari and Haro were outside, talking about the 'good old days' when she sensed a Hollow nearby. Upon chasing down the Hollow, she found it about to attack young Miya.

She quickly dispatched the Hollow, but was struck once in the shoulder by the Hollow. She thought it nothing, and her husband agreed with her.

Over the years, the wound didn't heal. Instead it festered and grew. Haro convinced Hikari to not go to the Soul Society to get it healed, and instead said he would take care of it. (They told Miya her mother had cancer.)

Finally, when it became apparent that Hikari's soul was becoming more Hollow-like due to the 'cancer', Haro took his family to Venezuela to spend time with Hikari's brother, out of the immediate view of Shinigami.

Haro told Miya that her mother died of breast cancer, and they returned to Japan; Haro, with a new top-secret (government?) job.

Story So Far: Somehow, Hikari is back from the dead, thanks to some unknown benefactor. Fully tangible and everything. She's not entirely sure how, but she is nontheless grateful, though she is VERY suspicious of any spirit-hunting mortals or Shinigami, especially after the latter failed to immediately purify her soul when she died.

Abilities: Hikari had reached Shikkai. Her Shikkai can control plants to do her bidding (attack, usually, or set traps) so long as the sword's in Shikkai state. Because of her extensive training (around fifty years as a Substitute!), she was agile, strong, and had a powerful Spiritual Energy. Definitely among Seated Officer level of power.

Hikari seems to no longer have her Zanpakuto or any abilities she had as a Sub Soul Reaper. Whether she has other abilities now is unknown, she seems to be a perfectly normal woman.

Dr. Nakiyama

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Name: Dr. Nakiyama, first name not given.
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Type: Mortal
Description: An aging man, still in good health of course. A stereotypical Japanese doctor in prime physical condition. Though not a combatant by any means.

Personality: Dr. Nakiyama is neither overly friendly nor impersonal, and he doesn't rush patients nor does he waste their time. He is well-liked for his professional behavior and his patience with his many patients. He tends to keep quiet about the spiritual stuff.

History: Dr. Nakiyama is one of the senior doctors at Memorial General Hospital (or a different name if preferred). He's worked there since his internship way back when he was fresh out of med school. He practically lives in the hospital, often working 80-hour weeks, though it doesn't show in his performance. He's still a top surgeon and proficient in multiple medical fields. He just doesn't have much of a personal life. He's well-liked by the community. It seems every other week he takes in a patient who is seemingly lost but under his care makes a miraculous recovery. This isn't to say he saves every life that comes in. Many are just too far gone, even for him. He's even taken it upon himself to assume legal guardianship of orphans just so they continue their treatment at the hospital.

Abilities: Although he won't outwardly admit it, Dr. Nakiyama is able to see spirits and somehow has an instinctual knowledge on how to treat wounds of a more supernatural nature. He keeps this knowledge to himself, as he'd probably be laughed out of the hospital if he insisted ghosts were real, but if a patient suffering from a hollow attack or something similar comes into the hospital, Dr. Nakiyama can usually fix them up after an overnight stay. Somehow this knowledge seems to apply to even unique specimens, even those that might not even be human, or creatures that Dr. Nakiyama never has seen before.

Memorial General Hospital:

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A large hospital in the city that does not register any spiritual activity, hollow, plus, or even spiritually powered mortals (barring one visiting of course). The only thing remarkable about it is how unremarkable it is, as inclinations that anyone has that the hospital might actually contain something interesting seem to be... repressed by a sudden sense of apathy.

[Kuroimaken]

Ishinomori Koutarou, Justice Personified

Age: ??? (estimated 450+, apparent age mid-twenties)
Gender: Male
Height: 1,70 meters
Weight: Variable.
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black

Background

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Koutarou was one of the many Rukongai citizens with nothing particularly worthwhile to note for a long time. He was a mostly quiet child, cared for by the neighboring inhabitants of the home he squatted in, and whom people didn't know to smile without really good reason.

The truth is, Koutarou never did like to see how hard life was for those on the lower rung of the strength scale. He was, himself, not too strong; bigger children and young adults would bully him, and try as he might, he never could do much about it. But nothing really incensed him like seeing other people be bullied and hurt. He would change completely then, and try against his better judgement to see to it that things stopped. Most of the time this ended with him in quite a bit of pain and bruises.

But one day that changed. One of the elders who cared for him ended deep in debt with the wrong people because of his no-good gambler son. Loan sharks being what they are, they came by to torment the old man often. The elder constantly told Koutarou not to get involved, but the boy didn't listen. One day, the debt collectors went a little too far. They beat the old man and knocked him unconscious in front of Koutarou.

The boy's rage reached an apex he didn't know was possible to begin with. He faintly remembers beating the crap out of the loan sharks with pure lightning.

A couple of weeks later, he was entering the Shinigami academy.

Koutarou's sheer determination and attitude allowed him to graduate summa *** laude, having obtained Shikai within his first year. He was a smart and strangely magnetic fellow, given his apparent effort to act stoicly and not draw attention to himself. In many ways, this simplicity of character was something that drew others to him, which made him a shoe-in for the command division. His lack of interest in politics and his inability to reach Bankai prevented him from rising beyond the post of Vice-Captain - and that's before considering the Commander-General herself.

Personality:

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Calm, collected, strict but fair. In many ways, Koutarou wears the moniker of "Judge" well. While he has a tendency to place himself at risk before others if possible, and while he always acts towards the goal of 'everyone returns alive', the gruesome reality of war can be heavy on his shoulders. He never lets it get to him while on the job, however. Perhaps for this very reason, he seems to have trouble making friends if the initiative is up to him.

For him, the fight against Hollows is a matter of justice. If the Hollows didn't harm anyone besides themselves, that'd be one thing - heck, he might try to keep the weaker Hollows from getting eaten if he could. Luckily, he keeps such seemingly naïve notions of justice to himself.

This tends to come heavily to the fore, however, when he activates his Shikai.

Description

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Koutarou's build is... average for a Shinigami. While some lean, wiry muscle is there, he doesn't look like he has much physical strength. His black hair is kept short with a few errant strands occasionally gracing his brow. Aside from the traditional Shinigami shihakusho and the Vice-Captain's emblem, he wears a billowy red muffler.

Abilities

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General:

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Hakuda: Average. See Zanjutsu.
Zanjutsu: While by themselves Koutarou's Zanjutsu and Hakuda are not particularly impressive, necessity has caused him to create a fighting style that blends unarmed attacks and weapon-based skills. This unique fighting form makes use of varying ranges and strengths to keep the opponent guessing, and also mixes slower and faster attacks to keep the enemy from learning his rhythm. Each attack is not particularly refined, but the flow from one movement to the next gives the outward impression of absolutely relentless assault.
Bakudou: Koutarou is surprisingly competent with this form of Kidou. He can cast up to level 81, and use up to level 64 unchanted.
Hadou: By contrast, his Hadou only reaches up to level 60, or 33 unchanted.
Shunpou:Skilled. One of Koutarou's most unusual characteristics is that Shunpou doesn't take quite as much out of him as it probably ought to. Stamina-wise, he can dodge pretty well, though he isn't particularly good at using his Shunpou to set up feints, preferring to attack head-on.

Zanpakutou:

Kokuden-ou (Black Legend King)

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Release command: There isn't one. Kokuden-ou is a bratty Zanpakutou. It will go from the form of a katana to the form of a golden, scaled whip-looking weapon (which can be used as a whip, or locked into the form of a staff or sword, and discharge lightning on contact) at the owner's need and mental request. However...

Shikai: ...it will only release its true power when wrapped around his waist and worn like a belt, and upon Koutarou's cry of...

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen...SHIN!

And then it grants him the ability to transform into Kamen Rider Rei!

Becoming Kamen Rider Rei allows Koutarou to change between different modes, or "forms", which boost him in various ways. Kamen Rider Rei has the following forms (known so far):

Rider Form:

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The "balanced" form. In this form, Koutarou's strength, speed and defensive power are all boosted equally. Kokuden-ou forms a cloth-like armor around him, flexible but resistant to impact, complete with its whip-like form. When swung, the whip becomes lightning itself, which is about as devastating as you might expect. Alternatively, Koutarou can wrap it around his limbs to add a shocking effect to his unarmed attacks.

Finishing move: Rider Thunder Kick. Rei focuses the lightning in either foot and accelerates his leg with Shunpo to deliver a devastating kick. This can be a roundhouse or a flying kick.

Metallica Form:

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The "attack" form. In this form, Koutarou's attack power increases substantially, but his defensive ability remains about the same as when he is not transformed, and his speed is only marginally boosted compared to Rider Form. Kokuden-Ou takes on the form of a monstrous-looking katana. When swung, the blade becomes "solid" lightning, so it has a shocking effect in addition to being a sword.

Finishing Move: Rider Bolt Slash. Koutarou focuses the lightning on the blade and delivers a particularly devastating slash.

Judas Form:

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The "ranged" form. This form doesn't boost attack, defense or speed by as much as Rider Form, but it DOES allow him to summon lightning as either bolts or localized strikes, allowing ranged versatility. Kokuden-ou becomes a staff, which can be snapped in two to make "guns", doubling his fire rate but halving his attack power.

Finishing Move: Rider Storm Cannon. Focuses lightning into a massive, cannon-like blast that rivals some of the highest-level Hadou in terms of sheer destructive power.

Sabbath Form:

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The "speedy" form. This form focuses on speed at the expense of both sheer attack and defense power. It does, however, allow for truly brutal attack sequences. Kokuden-ou becomes a pair of claw-like gauntlets and boots that allow for slashing attacks with hands and feet, which shocking effects as usual.

Finishing Move: Rider Lightning Tackle. Koutarou briefly BECOMES a lightning bolt and rams THROUGH the opponent, coming out on the other side. Unlike the other finishing moves, this does not have a charge-up, but it can only be "fired" in a straight line once it's started. It IS, however, very fast.

Blind Guardian Form:

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The "defensive" form. This form focuses on defense at the expense of speed (Koutarou actually becomes a bit slower than his regular self), though attack power doesn't drop by as much. In this form, Koutarou can manipulate an electromagnetic field capable of diverting energy away or towards himself, making him able to attract the enemy towards him or deflect energy attacks. The more pressure (i.e. the more powerful) the attack, the more effort he must put into deflection. This EM field has a maximum range of 50 meters. Kokuden-ou's armor becomes thicker in this mode, and it becomes a large battlehammer.

Finishing Move: Rider Railgun. First, Koutarou designates a specific area underneath the opponent. Then, he tosses his hammer upwards and begins to accelerate the electromagnetic field downward until the hammer is caught up in it and promptly accelerated towards the unfortunate soul.

While in any form, Kamen Rider Rei can summon his trusty battle bike Kokurai to ride. It is much faster than his Shunpou, but it maneuvers like a motorcycle.

[Eternis]

Erm, how's this for a character?
[WIP]
Chishio Zuiichi

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Gender: Male
Age: Unknown, looks 16-18 years old (in human terms).
Height: 6'1" (1.85m)
Weight: 165lb. (75kg) [roughly]
Eyes: Ice-blue.
Hair: Very dark brown (nearly black, but not quite)

Background:

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Chisio woke up in the middle of the street, with no memories apart from his name, which he remains certain is his. He had barely walked ten metres when he noticed an old man being beaten by thugs in the alley. Quickly subduing them due to an unexplained thrill of fear running through them, the old man thanked him, claiming that he would guide him to where he would both fit in and be of greatest use. Leading him to the Shinōreijutsuin, the man knocked on the door and told him to wait. ((This is where he is now))

Personality:

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Chishio is unsure as to who he is, but when he sees people in trouble he feels the urge to step in and help. He doesn't quite know how to talk with people, making him seem aloof, and generally has a bad memory for faces, forgetting immediately any of what the old man's assailants looked like. Something comes out when he's fighting, however; A combination of exultation and ruthless efficiency, allowing him to plot out multiple courses of action based upon reasonably skilled predictive ability.

Description:

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Chishio is slightly taller than average, but that's about it for unusually. His straight brown hair is loosely cropped, sticking up like a cockatoo's plumage at the back of his head, and his clothing makes him look like a nondescript worker.

Abilities:

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As of yet, he is untrained in any official skills, only maintaining a high intelligence (Top 0.01%) and the various perks that go with it.

Current Location: Outside the Spiritual Arts academy.

[Frozen_Feet]

The Faceless / Los Sin Rostro

Arrancars are the result of Hollows removing their mask. But an ordinary Hollow doesn't gain much from the process; at best, they recover a small bit of their former reason and identity in exchange of focusing all their power in a small and easily-destroyed device. Such "Fingido Arrancar" ("Mock-Arrancars") are not much more dangerous than the common Hollows fought by Unseated Shinigami troopers.

Only Menos-level Hollows really make worthwhile Arrancars. But there's a wee-bit problem - 90% of Menos are mindless, uniform Gillians that lack an identity of their own. They could never become Arrancars "naturally", as they would never think to purposefully remove their masks. Even if their masks were broken by accident, they would just heal back to how they were in time.

However, the process pioneered by Dainichi Nyoria can be applied to an ordinary Menos! The results are just... underwhelming. You see, normally when a Hollow's mask is broken, it is the person they were who is revealed underneath. But an ordinary Menos has no personality to speak of. So who will you find?

You find no-one.

Faces of such Arrancars are just smooth slates of white with two, usually empty black, eyes roughly where they should be. If sufficiently agitated, a thin line might appear to cross their faces and then open up into a maw filled with sharp teeth, but usually there isn't much to look at. Their skin is grayish-white, and their nails black, giving them a pallid, corpse-like appearance. They have no definite sexual features or navel, and are generally dull to look at. They are 170 centimeters tall, and weigh 65 kilos. Their Hollow holes go through the heart, and their Estigmata (Mask fragments) are just broken halves of their former masks set to cover the right side of their head. They are generally given leftover clothes, not because they need them, but so they can be told apart from one another.

Because they are all. The. Same.

These depressing creatures are called Sin Rostro, the Faceless. All of them carry identical, katana-like Zanpakuto, but show no signs of knowing how to use them. Measured in raw power, each could stand up to a Shinigami Lieutenant. However, they have not been created in great numbers since the Espada were chosen. They are, in many ways, even less useful to Las Noches than ordinary Gillians are.

How come?

Well, usually when you make an Arrancar, the basic instincts and endless hunger of a Hollow give way to reason, to higher forms of thought and personal ambitions. But ordinary Gillians have none of the latter. When you remove their hunger and their instincts, you remove even the last shreds of motivation or any sort of driving force from them.

And thus, Sin Rostro are perfectly content to just sit, stand or lay still, without doing a damn thing. Neither wanting or requiring anything from their surroundings, they are usually completely apathetic to them. They do not speak, or interact in any other way with each other. Only stimulant that commonly catches their attention is pain - if possible, they seek to avoid it, but if that is not possible, they will try to remove or fight source of that pain to the bitter end.

What should one do with such a creature? No-one really knows yet. They are a phenomenom that has never appeared before in history, so they're extremely ill-researched. For now, Las Noches has deemed the process of "Arrancarification" a waste on ordinary Gillians. They are more useful as mindless beasts, than they are as mindless no-bodies.

Powers:

Raw Strenght: The most notable quality of Sin Rostro. Each of them has raw strenght in excess of what is required to break Bakudo 60. This is way above what most Shinigami ever display. It is rather fortunate they are not particularly inclined to escape most bindings.

Hierro: Sin Rostro lose their powers of regeneration, but in exchange they become very durable physically. Asauchi-level Zanpakuto glance harmlessly from their skin. Only a very competent Shinigami could cut through them like one cuts through an ordinary Menos.

Kumon: Sin Rostro retain primitive dimensional travel ability from their time as a Gillian.

Cero: Each Sin Rostro can shoot a crimson Cero, roughly comparable to fully chanted Hado #50 in power.

Negación: It takes two Sin Rostro to create a Negacion field covering one square-meter in area, and extending a maximum of 1000 meters upward. For every two additional Sin Rostro creating a field, the area it covers is tripled. The field aligns itself to a plane's gravity, so it can't be created "on its side" etc. - it always manifests as a pillar rising upwards, no matter how its creators are aligned.

Resurrección: All Sin Rostro have Zanpakutos, so they theoretically have the capability to return to their gigantic past states. No-one has seen them do this, so what form they might take, or what new powers (if any) they might display is unknown.

[Tebryn]

Kisaragi Saruhiko
Age: 800
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 2''
Weight: unknown
Side: Representative of the Royal Guard
Contribution: Creation of Kaido

Appearance: Kisaragi Saruhiko dresses in a long robe and almost knee length shawl that wraps about his body fully in oranges and golds. His lower face is obscured by a long scarf with a similar pattern and color. Long white hair flows almost to the floor, held back in a thick braid.

Personality: Few remember Saruhiko as he was before joining the Royal Guard, the man who has returned to Soul Society bares little resemblance to the man he once was. Quiet and cryptic, Saruhiko does his best not to interfere to directly in the affairs of Soul Society.

Abilities: Saruhiko is quite proficient with shunpo and kido though having been in the Soul King's palace for so long he has lost much of his physical combat skills. Even before he was transferred to the Soul King's palace he was only a passable swordsman and had little skill in hakuda. It's possible that both skills have completely atrophied in favor of his kido. Alongside his Shinigami powers, Saruhiko possesses the Oken, making his body insanely heavy or light at will along with several other potent abilities. Saruhkio's body regenerates from wounds swiftly, his flesh hard like iron.

Zanpakuto: Gyoza
Appearance: Gyoza is worn about Saruhiko's face, the long scarf it's true form.

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Shikai: Until they're full! Gyoza! - Saruhiko pulls a length of cloth from his scarf, transforming it into a massive bamboo steamer basket. Saruhiko's reiatsu becomes warm and oddly filling for those around him, healing wounds and restoring spiritual energy just by proximity though this is quite slow. The steamer can create large gyoza as the name might suggest, ingesting these morsels restoring a person's spiritual pressure to full and healing their wounds with miraculous speed.

Bankai: Not achived

[NikolaTesla]

Mikoto, Kokugen

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Age: 136, appears roughly 28
Gender: Male
Weight: 160lbs
Station: Shinōreijutsuin Kido instructor and 4th seat in the Gotei Resevoir.

Description:

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Kokugen Mikoto in gigai form

Personality:

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As a general rule, Mikoto keeps up a rather relaxed persona, but every now and then he slips up. Though he despises himself for it, he thirsts for power, and is rather shrewd when it comes to maneuvering himself in politics. Though very much a believer in his own strength, he isn't too stupid to recognize when he's out of his league, and will (outwardly) graciously accept aid. Doing so bothers him on the inside though. Despite his relaxed nature, he can be rather stubborn.

History:

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Mikoto is the second son of a minor noble family, though his older brother has no Reiatsu to speak of, and so it is an open secret that he will be the next head of the family. Mikoto enrolled in the Shinōreijutsuin at the age of 16, where he established himself as quite talented at Kido. Upon graduation, he was picked up by the Reconnaissance division as a foot soldier. Though his zanpakuto did not reveal itself to him, he proved himself a capable warrior when dealing with hollows in the world of the living, and by virtue of his excellent ability with Kido was promoted to a seated officer when he was 40, despite not having achieved shikai.

Though initially he led small teams gainst hollows that were to strong for one shinigami in the world of the living, he was drafted as a healer after a surprise raid on a healing center in Rukongai left the healing division a little short handed. He was a little sore about not being allowed to participate in the primary fighting anymore, but seeing as he hadn't even achieved shikai he couldn't really argue too much.

Following the war, Mikoto retired from active military duty and became a kido instructor at the Shinōreijutsuin. He began leading student excursions into the world of the living to fight hollows, but eventually returned to military duty as a researcher on some healing devices at the SSI, though he elected to keep his position as a kido instructor. Only then did his zanpakuto begin revealing itself to him.

It started small; a strange dream involving webs of energy, odd illusions here and there, but things really started getting interesting when he woke up one morning to find his zanpakuto glowing, and an ultra-thin strand of blue light leading out the door. Of course, he did the only logical thing to do: he grabbed his zanpakuto and followed the light.

The light seemed to lead toward a remote place in rukongai, but without realizing when it happened, Mikoto found himself in his inner world. One moment he was hurrying along through some woods, and the next he was exiting the woods into a floating island surrounded by a number of smaller islands, with a mound with a pool of blue reishi sitting in the middle of the main island. There were 10 islands, including the main one, and 5 of the surrounding ones were glowing. Intuitively knowing what he should do next, he lowered his zanpakuto's blade into the energy, where it stuck fast. Webs of energy appeared throughout island, and his zanpakuto materialized before him.

By the end of their meeting, Mikoto knew two things: one, his zanpakuto didn't want to tell him its name, and two, it had no intention of telling him its name. Instead, it instructed him in some advanced kido techniques, much to Mikoto's dissatisfaction, but a 6th island began glowing as he left.

Upon returning from his inner world, he was somewhat startled to find that his zanpakuto had not returned with him, and he has not been able to locate it since, though it is always present in the pool of reishi in his inner world when he returns there.

It has now been 9 years since then, and a 7th island began glowing when he fell in love with and married the beautiful Myu Igarashi, sister to Naganori Igarashi, and a former student of his. Having grown tired of the rampent immorality of the SSI, he recently transferred to the Gotei Reservoir, where he was appointed 4th seat.

Powers:

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Zanjutsu:

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While he does not currently carry a Zanpakuto, he's no pushover when it comes to swordsmanship. His preferred method of melee fighting is Hado 42 Tekkourankan (Moonbeam Fence), which creates two solid beams of reiatsu which can be wielded like clubs/swords. It is more or less a variation of Bakudo 62.

Hoho:

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Slightly above average speed, gained from continual practice as a healer, though generally he prefers up front fighting to dodging around all over the place.

Kido:

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Hado:

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Capable of casting Hado up to level 54 without an incantation, up to 73 with an incantation. Favorite spell: Hado 42, Tekkourankan (Moonbeam Fence) which creates two solid beams of reiatsu which can be wielded like clubs/swords. It is more or less a variation of Bakudo 62. It's incantation (when he uses it) is: "Angel fall from on high, Lash out and blind, become servant of mankind"

Bakudo:

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Capable of casting Bakudo up to level 58 without an incantation and up to level 75 with an incantation.

Healing Magic:

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Proficient with all healing magic, has done some technical research on the subject at the SSI.

Other Kido:

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Possesses some of the more refined skills with Kido than the cut and dry Hado and Bakudo spells (he is a kido instructor after all).

Zanpakuto:

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Mikoto currently does not wield a Zanpakuto, though it has revealed itself to him. His Zanpakuto takes on the form of what appears to be a dark rift, and Mikoto still can't decide if it has limbs or not.

Ryoushi Jikuu (Currently does not possess.)

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Zanpakuto: Ryoushi Jikuu
Description: Long slender blade that seems almost faded, almost as if it doesn't quite exist. In years to come it will be rumored that it's made of glass, though this is entirely untrue. The hilt consists of a crescent from which the blade extends, and a hexagram on the bottom.
Spirit: When he decides to step out from the void Mikoto currently thinks is actually him, he will appear to be a translucent man with one eye glowing blue and the other red.
Inner World: 9 islands slowly orbit a central one. Each island represents something that Mikoto must learn before his zanpakuto will entrust his power to him. The central island is barren except for a mound in the middle with a reishi pool, but the other 9 islands have a variety of ecologies. A dark rift hovers over the pool. When an island glows, it means Mikoto has learned that principle. The 7 principles currently mastered by Mikoto are: Magic, Healing, Ambition, Teaching, Mercy, Leadership, and Love. The two remaining islands represent Humility and Protection. When those islands glow, Mikoto will gain his Shikai.

Shikai: Rend, Ryoushi Jikuu! (Currently does not possess.)
Description: The Ryoushi Jikuu's blade disconnects from the hilt, though it still rigidly holds its position. It remains just far away enough that the circle that the crescent on the hilt would be part of has enough space to be complete (About 4 inches).
Powers: Ryoushi Jikuu has the following abilities:

Kuukan Yugami (Space Distortion): A bolt of reality distorting energy is fired from Ryoushi Jikuu, causing minor to moderate injuries. At it's lowest and fastest level, the distortion is minor enough that all but the weakest of souls are for the most part able to retain their form and receive only superficial injury. It is almost always fatal to humans however, as their innards are simply incapable of pulling themselves together when separated even by only a millimeter or so. The power of this ability can be adjusted, but as the distortion grows stronger, the speed of the bolt decreases. Alternatively, the bolt may be charged, then fired, eliminating the penalty to the actual speed of the bolt.

This ability has a variation: Shōten Kuukan Yugami (Focused Space Distortion) . With this technique, the distortion is focused to a single plane, which then distorts and causes things to be cut clean through. The necessary focus required, the amount of time that must be spent, and the sheer amount of reiatsu needed and make this ability work makes it extremely difficult to use, and losing focus can have dangerous consequences.

Uchuu Shifuto (Universe Shift): Two parts of space are temporarily linked, allowing for incredibly fast travel and even travel between dimensions. Connecting to and from the precipice world can be dangerous however, but only if Mikoto's concentration is disrupted.

Parareru (Parallel): A plane of space is chosen (generally vertical and through an enemy. Attacks that Mikoto makes with his Zanpakuto on his side of the dividing plane are mirrored on the other, splitting the power between the two attacks. With practice, some finesse can be aquired: splitting the power of the strikes unequally, and mirroring kido attacks as well as zanpakuto attacks. The dividing plane is always visible as translucent energy, and it can be moved in any direction with little to no effort. At no time can Mikoto cross this dividing plane, but his zanpakuto and kido can pass through, making it possible for Mikoto to actuall hit himself with this technique. Only the attack itself is mirrored however, so there is no mirror image of Mikoto that can also be attacked.

Tōgoku suru (Imprison): An octohedral field of energy imprisons the target and transports them to another dimension of Mikoto's choice (usually a a random spot in the precipice world), where the field is maintained by absorbing energy from it's surroundings. Hence, prisons transported to the world of the living generally last only a minute or so against even the weakest of souls.

This prison can be broken out of by brute spiritual force, but to avoid getting stranded wherever Mikoto sent you requires a bit more finesse, as the field must first be broken off from Mikoto's control, then fueled by the prisoner's reiatsu (you can't draw energy from your surroundings while traveling), and then directed back to wherever they want to go. A non-offensive version of this ability exists where Mikoto willingly transfers control of the energy field to the person inside so that they can travel accross dimensions. This field can transport more than one being at a time, but doing so requires more reiatsu.

This ability requires prior set up, and the field must be charged for a full minute before it actually teleports. Before teleporting, the prison is directly fueled by Mikoto's reiatsu, both for purposes of transport and for imprisoning, though control can be transfered. Those within the field are protected from outside harm.

Story So Far:

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Accompanied Lieutenant Igarashi to the Dangai on a research mission, where he shared some of his discoveries at the SSI, that may lead to a method to block hollows from entering Soul Society. Shortly after their return, a large fight broke out at the Senkaimon. Worried that his old partner from the SSI might have tried something, he rushes over, but is stopped by a manifestation from his Zanpakuto, who tells him that the Senkaimon is open and may cause immense harm if the dangai is allowed to be drawn out by the powerful reiatsu outside. Mikoto sets up a negation field, and with some impressive help from the captain commander prevents the energy from doing much damage.

Afterward, a band of hollows tries to escape through a garganta, and while unsuccessful in stopping them, Mikoto manages to re-open the garganta behind them to possibly track them. Meanwhile, Death goes on a rampage, and so Mikoto goes to support the other shinigami in putting up barriers to contain her dangerous reiatsu.

[KnightDisciple]

Michael Harada -- KIA (Killed In Action)

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Age: 30 (Apparent); 200 (Actual)
Gender: Male
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 155 pounds
Station: Computer Science Senior Researcher, Engineering Division (Formerly SSI)
Speech/Reiatsu: Dark Green

Description:

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Michael is pretty clearly a "half-breed", even without hearing his name. His face is an interesting mix of English and Japanese features, and his hair is a light brown color, while his eyes are a darker shade of brown. He keeps his hair trimmed short, and his face clean-shaven.
His overall build is rather lean, though it's by no means "soft"; Michael's muscles are defined, he simply hasn't worked hard on packing a lot of them on to his frame. His general movements are very precise, smooth, and measured, reflecting his approach to the world.
He wears the traditional Shinigami uniform, but over the top of it he bears a white lab coat with many pockets. Most of them are typically filled with computer cables, compact storage media, and a small fold-out tablet PC that Michael himself designed.
However, when he knows he is going into a fight, the coat is left behind. As well, if he knows he's going to be using his "signature techniques", he will actually shed his upper body garments, usually just shrugging out of them and letting them hang back off of his waist.
Raikouhime is either in use as a "walking stick", or tucked through a special loop on his belt.

Personality:

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Michael is brusque, focused, and weary.
Brusque, because he dislikes wasting time on unnecessary pleasantries.
Focused, because for him it's often all about the next test, the next result, the next program, the next invention.
Weary, because for many years he's had to deal with the twin problems of "almost nobody here respects my work" and "the few people who do are completely insane".
Mind you, he's not a bad man, and anyone who works with/under him can report he's very reasonable and willing to listen to concerns, ideas, problems, and so forth. He just tends to dislike wasting time on "trivial" matters.
For all that, he does shower praise and (if he can manage it) reward on those who make genuine breakthroughs. He appreciates invention in many forms, not just his branch of scientific study.
That said, he has a cold-burning temper, and carries a grudge for decades, as some have unfortunately discovered.
He's secretly an avid reader of trashy science fiction books from the mortal world, and will vehemently deny such a habit to his dying day.
Finally, he has an appreciation for symphonic metal music when he's in a "coding frenzy", though thankfully for his coworkers he doesn't crank the stereo as loud as Chouko does.

History:

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Michael has very hazy memories of his parents in Soul Society, having been one of the souls born on the spiritual plane, rather than being brought there from the Mortal World. But when your parents die after a bandit raid on your neighborhood out in the 60th district, and you're not even 10 years old yet, of course your memories will be fuzzy at best.
He wandered about the Rukon for a few years before one of the Academy recruiters determined he had potential and got him shipped off to the Academy.
He flourished in the academic environment, striving to excel in every area, though as time went on it was clear his best fields were science (still a burgeoning study, to be sure) and Kido.
Just as he graduated, he started to hear rumors among members of the Shinigami Science Institute (which, not long after joining, he wondered about the naming of) about some strange mortal device recently created in the country of "England". Michael, being curious at least in part thanks to his unique heritage, started looking into it.
And came across the work of Charles Babbage. It was pretty much love at first site for Junior Researcher Harada; the "Difference Engine" all but enraptured him. He simply had to have one!
It didn't take long before he'd copied all the plans and notes down, as well as making some roughshod drawings of the finished product, and he was back in Soul Society, ensconced in a lab and working hard. In the space of a week, Michael had produced a copy of the Difference Engine. But...what to do with it?
Well, as time went on and computing advanced in the Mortal World, Michael continued to push the edge in the Spirit World. There was a yearly fact-finding expedition wherein he and other researchers scoured the globe for any new developments. For about a century, those pickings were slim, even as Michael produced a fair number of unique contraptions that would make a mortal steampunk fan faint in delight.
It wasn't enough. But unfortunately, while he was brilliant, Michael lacked the ability to invent things faster than the Mortals. So for two decades, he set aside his work on his Calculation Engine, citing roadblocks in ideas and applicable uses, and focused on improving his more basic skills.
In particular, he became enamored with the records of the "Shunko" skill-set. It appealed to his love of Kido and his preference of precision over power. He dove into everything there was on it; the inventor had since gone on to Squad Zero, but had documented things rather well.
It took him two years, but finally reached a point where, while not a Master, he was skilled enough to safely use this skill in a fight. Of course, he'd had to take techniques from a few Mortal martial arts as well as the general Shinigami Hakudo techniques, but such was the way of things.
Reinvigorated thanks to focusing on something entirely different, Michael dove into his Calculation Engine research with renewed vigor. His best models were large and somewhat temperamental, but they proved their worth as aides in cataloging data in high volumes, as well as running complex, multi-part calculations.
Still, Michael was often left studying Mortal inventions in the field and improving on them to some degree or another. After a while, he accepted this, seeing as time went on, Computers became an enormous field of study. By the time of the 1980s, he'd gone much further than mortals in the areas of miniaturization, heat management, and so forth. And all without using so many of the exotic components the "tried and true" systems of old did. Some of those things were partially organic, and something about that just offended Michael's sensibilities.
Work continued, and today Soul Society, especially the Gotei, enjoys fairly easy access to a wide range of computing products that are at least 20 years more advanced than anything the Mortal World has to offer.

Story So Far:

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Michael has caught wind of Chouko and Hideki's efforts to create an Engineering division, and intends to join ASAP, likely taking several of his Junior Researchers with him.

Abilities:

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Intelligence: Michael Harada is very much a genius, specifically in any and all matters relating to computers, both their hardware and their software. He's currently on the verge of creating a truly Sapient Artificial Intelligence, though the complexity and scope of this project is not currently known by many. He speaks a couple dozen languages, on top of knowing a dozen or so programming languages (including Assembly Code and Whitespace).
Equipment: While he does not fight with his inventions, Michael does carry a couple into battles with him. He has a modified reiphone that he's merged with one of his more basic palm computers and set in a bracer he can attach to his arm (usually left arm) with a pop-up holographic display. Further, he has a headset with an extendable screen just large enough to go over his eye, while it has a discreet pickup microphone as well as a high-quality earpiece.
Physical Strength, Endurance, and Agility: Michael is in great physical condition, his physical strength being slightly more than what his frame would suggest (though he is by no means a powerhouse). His physical endurance is above average, and his agility and flexibility are incredible. His reflexes and general foot-speed are definitely Seated Officer territory.
Hoho: Michael is a moderate Expert in Hoho. He does not know any of the more advanced techniques of the Flash Step, but his control is superb, with little to no wasted energy or movement. He can vary the speed and distance of his steps with ease, and has a decent ability to change direction mid-step. His overall speed is good, and his distance with each Step is on the high end of average.
Hakudo: Michael is even better at Hakudo than he is at Hoho, having taken a couple periods to "brush up" his hand-to-hand skills. Not only does he use the traditional Shinigami art, he has studied a few Mortal arts: Jujutsu, Akido, and Wing Chun. All are the sorts that focus on precision, quick strikes, and turning the opponent's power and strength against them.
Zanjutsu: Michael is capable enough with his sword, but it shows that it's his least-studied area. He is not even a low Expert in swordplay, and even when using his released sword, tends to rely on his Kido or Hakudo more. As well, he is unable to use his sword and Shunko together, and he has poor results mixing swordplay and unarmed styles, or even using most Kido alongside his sword.
Kido: Michael is a high-level Expert at Kido. While he cannot cast every spell wordlessly, he has extensive levels of control and skill, and can indeed cast some of the lowest-level spells with a flick of the finger and some concentration.
-Bakudo: Michael can perform up to Bakudo 35 without a chant, and knows (and can perform) spells in the 60s.
-Hado: Michael can perform up to Hado 30 without a chant, and knows (and can perform) spells in the 60s.
-General Reiatsu Control/Presence: Michael has incredible control of his own energy, and generally only lets a lot of Reiatsu leak out when he's trying to intimidate an opponent, or using it as part of a specific technique. His spells and Shunpo never waste energy, and thus it can sometimes be difficult to totally exhaust his reserves (which, while not the stuff of a Captain, are still considerable).
Shunko: Michael discovered texts on the "Flash Cry" years ago, and was immediately filled with a desire to master this skill. While he has not fully mastered it yet, he is certainly a moderate Expert in its use.
When he manifests it, an aura of crackling dark green reiatsu all but explodes from his back, arms, and upper chest before being somewhat restrained into a glowing aura about them.
Michael's best aspect of Shunko is his ability to counter and dispel incoming Kido, especially those his opponent hasn't finished casting yet. This works best on a spell he is familiar with (which is many, but not all), and currently only works on Kido (rather than broader ability sets). He is still working on the momentum-canceling effects of the technique, however, and cannot accomplish them at this time.
The more general destructive capabilities are almost as good as his "counter-spelling"; his punches and strikes carry downright explosive force, and he can fire off compact bolts of energy that hit with the force of a Level 20 Hado spell. The range on these "Shunko Bolts" is rather short (50 feet or less), though. The observed effect tends to act somewhat like electricity.
As he has not mastered it yet, and despite his excellent energy control, Shunko can be draining for him over longer fight periods. As well, while he can continue to apply his Hakudo skill-sets, he cannot successfully use his sword with Shunko active, and neither can he use Kido proper, though perhaps in time both of these limitations can be overcome.

Zanpakuto: Raikouhime

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Description: When sealed, Raikouhime is a sword cane that lacks a curved handle, instead having a slight knob at the top that marks the pommel. The wood of the "walking stick" is a brown not dissimilar from Michael's eyes, while the blade itself is a fairly standard steel color.
Spirit: An older woman shrouded in robes of lightning, whose hair is a dark green, while her eyes (the only other feature showing through the robes) are a shining white. She is every inch a "princess", having a polite, well-mannered air that hides a mind and spirit as sharp as her physical self. She has a ruthless streak that's a bit wider than Michael's own natural personality.
Inner World: A tall white stone tower on a tall cliff, topped by 4 lightning rods. The whole place is constantly under a strong thunderstorm, with lightning hitting the rods at least once a minute.

Shikai: Shout, Raikouhime

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Description: When released, Raikouhime becomes a bit thicker and longer, and the blade's shape changes. It is now more of a razor-like shape, with the end tip a straight line that still bears a cutting edge. The end of the hilt takes an angle downward, and the u-shaped guard and the pommel are a dark silver color, while the hilt itself is wrapped in black. The end of the pommel has a short dark green cloth tassel, while directly under the guard there is a thick cloth string of the same color. This string is tied such that there is a small bow on the top and bottom of the hilt, with the bottom trailing a decorative chain of metal "talismans" the same color as the guard and pommel; there are 5 of the lightning-bolt-shaped talismans total.
Power(s):
All of Raikouhime's powers derive from taking Michael's energy and focusing it into shapes without requiring Kido, as well as charging it with electricity.
-Sing, Raikouhime: Fires an arc of energy directly in front of Michael that stretches a few feet in either direction, and has decent range. It carries mostly concussive force, with some secondary electrical nature.
-Emerald Lightning Shield: A dodecagon of green energy crackles to life in front of Raikouhime. It is a powerful shield that is roughly equal to a 60-level Barrier Bakudo. However, its size (approximately 4 feet side-to-side) cannot be altered.
-Bolt, Raikouhime: Fires a crackling, arcing bolt of green lightning in a line out from the blade. This line can travel through air or along the ground, and often will leap between 2-3 enemies (though Michael can control if it leaps or not). He has limited control over its direction.
-Bind, Raikouhime: Creates and flings a net of green energy over a target, typically seeking to anchor to the ground, a floor, or a wall. Resembles a net of lightning.
-Emerald Bolt, Roaring Thunder: Raikouhime's "ultimate attack", Michael must have Bound the target first. When activated (by stabbing the blade into one of the anchor "threads" of the net), it causes the net to surge with electricity for several moments, before exploding in a single huge bolt of lightning, equal to a Level 80 or so Hado. This completely consumes/destroys the net.

Bankai: (Not Achieved!)

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Kagayaku Raikouhime
Description: Michael takes Raikouhime's sheathe (unchanged in Shikai) and tosses it into the air, where it turns into a huge bolt of green lightning. This bolt slams back down onto Michael, obscuring him for a few moments.
When it clears, there is a faint aura of electrical power present around him. His sword has completely transformed, becoming a shakujo with a green wooden haft and a golden head and end-cap. The head of the staff has a design that resembles 3 lightning bolts twisting together, with a smooth round circle mounted perpendicular to the main shaft. Each side of the circle bears 6 small golden rings that constantly strike each other; instead of the normal metal-on-metal sound one would expect, this contact generates the faint sounds of rumbling thunder (enough to notice, but not enough to impede conversation or anything).
Meanwhile, 12 orbs of dark green lightning orbit around Michael's body, and his eyes are shrouded behind crackling green electricity.
Power(s): All of Raikouhime's previous abilities are present, and amplified by about 50%. Michael himself gets no physical boosts or the like, with his Bankai focusing entirely on his mastery over lightning.
-Lightning Mastery: Michael can conjure up raw lightning/electricity, and fire it from his shakujo, hands, or even eyes. These bolts are generally about the strength of Level 30 or so Hado, but he can fire them quickly, easily, and accurately, without any verbal component. If he pours more energy and concentration into it, he can cause a "chain lightning" effect that can jump 2 times after the initial target, though each jump is half as powerful as the previous strike.
Furthermore, Michael has limited ability to bend naturally-occurring lightning, or lightning summoned by other spells and abilities, to his will. He cannot completely take over such spells or natural phenomenon, but he can redirect targets and the like. He has a limited ability to negate electrical damage to himself, but it is not infallible, and it is primarily achieved by shunting the energy into the ground or a very close wall or the like. In completely open air he has no way to negate this.
-Lightning Wizard: Michael can (and often does) imbue any/all of his spells with lightning. Binding Bakudo deliver a stunning shock to their target, Barriers deliver a shock to someone trying to physically break it, and Hado can be lent two elemental effects. The downside is that these spells can be interfered with by the right effects (such as water), and could be vulnerable to another person taking them over given distance from Michael. In general there is a 10% potency increase, but a 15% energy cost increase.
-Lightning Orbs: The 12 orbs that circle Michael's body can, at his will, be sent out to explode into any one of his Shikai-based abilities (but at his Bankai's potency). 2 are required if he wishes to Bind and then use Emerald Bolt, Roaring Thunder. These Orbs renew slowly during his Bankai; perhaps 1 every 30 seconds, until he has 12.
Alternatively, they can be used to cancel out an incoming energy attack, or slam into an opponent in melee range and deliver a powerful shock. In either case, the orb is spent.
-Positive Charge, Negative Charge: Shining Raikouhime's most radical but most subtle ability. If he has several moments to study an opponent's attack, Michael can simply point the head of Raikouhime's form forward, trace a circle in the air, and negate the attack. Unlike his Shunko, this is not restricted to Kido only. However, it is not a one-size-fits-all ability; for each type of attack (Cero, Bala, Kido, Sword, Fist, more esoteric abilities, etc), he must take a few moments to study them. From then on he can negate them...for that particular opponent. It is a useful ability, but each fresh foe requires more study to properly counter them. The delay between observation and his ability to counter can give an opening for a quick enough opponent to strike.