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T H E...G O T E I...1 3
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Base: Seireitei, Soul Society
Presided by: jighthigh
Race(s): Shinigami
Purpose: Manage the passage of souls to maintain the balance between worlds.
History:

Birth

Founded two millenniums ago under the Royal Guard's guidance and under the Soul King's order, the Gotei had been nothing more than thirteen factions lead by powerful warlords that had threatened to rip Soul Society apart with perpetual war. Getting them to submit to a higher, invisible power had not been an easy task and had required more bloodshed than any of the involved parties would have liked. These warlords were given the titles of Captains, and the strongest one would be the Head Commander. They came from all corners of Soul Society, a chaotic and lawless world at the time, and each had ruled over their own dominion with an iron fist before being united under a single banner. Thirteen warlords, thirteen divisions, that had been the start of the Gotei thirteen. Thirteen unruly men and women forced to work together for a cause imposed upon them, but to reward their efforts and tolerance, the Royal Guards gifted them with the knowledge of forging Asauchi blades, the source of the Royal Guards' strength. It was to show the Gotei their gratitude and a proof that they acknowledged their contribution to the Soul King's rule, but the Asauchis needed to be cultivated to really reveal its wielder's true potential and assist them in maintaining peace. It also granted the Captains the potential to join the Royal Guards should they change for the better, should they be deemed worthy by their other self.


Baptism

Though peace had settled upon Soul Society, the same could not be said of the Soul King's realm. The Royal Guards would notice upon their return that their King had started losing interest in its task of maintaining the balance between worlds. Slowly, it would distance itself from the happenings of both the Human Realm and Soul Society and, though the Royal Guards did their best to carry on their King's duties, they were no transcendent beings. The delicate equilibrium of Souls would soon be shattered, Soul Society threatening to spill into the Human Realm. The Royal Guards had no choice, but to appear before the Gotei once more. These warriors they had united, it was perhaps time to give them a bigger purpose. This time, the Royal Guards came with the gift of knowledge, the knowledge needed to travel between worlds, the knowledge to open Senkaimons that connected the Human Realm with Soul Society. In exchange, the Gotei 13 would take up their King's duty, they would travel between worlds so as to reap manage the passing of Souls. Crossing to the Human Realm was not a process without risks as the Dangai, the precipice between worlds, was full of dangers. Only the highest ranking officers had the speed and strength to travel back and forth between worlds, but they were numerous enough to restore the balance of both worlds. This new task assigned to them earned them the title of Shinigamis, Reapers of Souls.


Hardened Wings

Even with a purpose and the means to accomplish it, the Gotei was still too young to properly function autonomously. Though they were great warriors and rulers, warlords turned captains oftentimes neglected their people and were at lost as to what to do during times of peace. One of the Royal Guards decided to stay in Soul Society to oversee their activities. This individual would be the founder of Central 46, a group of politicians and diplomats handpicked for their administrative skills and worldly experiences and for many years, they ran the Gotei well enough for their founder to retire and vanish. If the Gotei was the brawn, Central 46 would be the brains.


Taking Flight

In the late VII century, a young captain, one that was part of the second generation of captains, would discover Jigokuchōs and their ability to cross through the Dangai unperturbed despite their frail body. It would mark an age of discovery and scientific development for the Shinigamis. A century later, a colleague would discover Kido and it took another century before Kaido was born at the hands of a promising lieutenant. Rukongai had also been divided into a multitude of districts, but it had only developed as far as the thirtieth districts. By then, the majority of the original captains had retired after helping build a peaceful and prosperous world, but with new-found knowledge came some risky experiments and by accident, a new world would be discovered: Hueco Mundo.


A Brave New World

The twelfth division was pleased beyond belief: they had finally located the home of their natural enemies, the Hollows. The Shinigamis could finally get their hands on even more samples to dissect and study, perhaps even wipe out the nest! But they had not stumbled into any normal nest, it was a hornet's nest. Underneath the endless sea of white sands lay the Menos Grandes. Gillians, Adjuchas, Vasto Lorde, all were a threat to even Bankai wielders, but the Shinigamis were bold, persisting in their efforts to annihilate their enemies. It was one crusade they were not willing to give up on, that is, until their presence became unwanted by all, even the most reclusive inhabitants of Hueco Mundo. This would be the Shinigami's first encounter with the race known as Arrancars. Imperfect as they may have been at the time, they were powerful enough to discourage all further attempts to explore the land of Hollows and spark interest in Hollowfication. The twelfth division was given the task to build a weapon capable of rivaling the Arrancars they had encountered in Hueco Mundo, but the project was extremely short-lived, even costing the lives of numerous of the Gotei's high-ranking officers. The project would eventually be swiped under the rug, all material destroyed.



First Blood

Centuries went by, second-generation captains making way for their successors, before another major event struck the Shinigamis. The balance of the worlds had been threatened again, but not for a lack of diligence when it came to purging Hollows and performing Konso. It was the living, the Quincies, more precisely. They were spiritually aware humans that would destroy souls instead of purifying them with their spiritual powers. They needed to be stopped, but weren't they doing the same thing as Shinigamis? Or even acting out of self-defense? This sparked dissension among the Shinigami ranks. One side argued that the Quincy, humans that could even pose a threat to Shinigamis in terms of spiritual power, should be annihilated while others argued that the Shinigamis and Quincies were intelligent and civilized beings capable of finding a peaceful solution to all this.

Negotiations resulted in a complete failure, however, and the Shinigamis could only carry out their plan to exterminate all the Quincies, to remove this unexpected threat to the balance of the worlds. Simply killing their mortal bodies weren't enough, it was actually the easy part because it simply freed them from their physical bodies. The Quincies souls would move on to Soul Society where they would need to be hunted and killed without mercy as soon as possible due to the Reishi density of the spirit realms. The Shinigami caught on to it a bit too late, and the Quincies would initially have the upper-hand, having had the time to regroup, but the Gotei countered with the creation of forbidden Kido spells that could completely incinerate the souls of a living being, essentially doing to the Quincies what the Quincies had been doing to the Hollows.

It was a grim war known to the Shinigamis as the Great Purge or the Hundred Years Killing to surviving Quincies. It was a war that cost the lives of many captains, but in the end, the Shinigamis were victorious. Centuries would pass before the events would finally be buried away in a restricted corner of the archives, forgotten by all but those that had been directly involved in it. It was a dark blotch in the history of an organization that had been tasked with the duty of protecting souls and one that many were eager to forget.


Convalescence

The large amount of Shinigami casualties forced them to start actively scouting for recruits. The Shino Academy was founded at that time, at the end of the XV century, by a seated officer who would later on become a captain. I served to recruit and train volunteers while the officers scouted Rukongai for seasoned warriors. Years went on in relative peace, with nothing more than occasional spike in Hollow activities in the Human Realm, but the Hollows had learned their lesson and fled the sight of humanoids in black robes. This gave the Gotei time to rebuild itself after its costly war and have the rethink their policies.


Ghosts of the Past

In the XIX century, however, anomalies in the traffic of souls from the Human Realm to Soul Societies was brought to the Head Commander and Central 46. An investigation led to a startling sighting: Quincies. This brought back the old moral debate as to what to do with the Quincies. Should the Shinigamis pursue with their initial plan and double their efforts to annihilate the Quincies or should they learn to tolerate the Quincy's presence, keeping their heads down and working harder to maintain the balance of the worlds they had been assigned to protect? Protocol sent the Gotei into a war frenzy, hunting the humans down once more to erase their miraculous existence, but the Quincies had learned from the past and were much more organized this time around. They had had the time to regroup and build themselves into a considerable force while hiding in the shadows. Try as they may, the Gotei could not locate their headquarter let alone kill them all.

To make matters worse, Hollows have become emboldened, even going as far as attacking lone Shinigamis in groups. It forced the Gotei's attention off of the Quincies, if only temporarily, in favor or protecting their own people and re-establishing their dominance over the greedy beasts. The Quincies had not made any offensive move so they would be pushed back on the list of priorities the Gotei had to deal with. Whether or not it is a wise choice, only time will tell.

Taboo(s):

• Employing Hollow related powers
  
• Destroying Souls
  

Ranks:
(Ranks)
1 Kido Master, a Captain capable of using all canon Kido spells
1 Kaido Master, a captain capable of using all forms of Kaido to heal even the gravest injuries
3 Captains capable of using Kaido
1 Kenpachi
2 Senior Lieutenants capable of using Bankai
2 Lieutenants capable of using Kaido

Non Canon Powers:
-Forbidden Kido Spells that can destroy souls much like how Quincies destroy Hollows. It was employed during the Great Purge and is forbidden for a reason as it would destroy the balance of the worlds if used excessively. No one may use this. No one may know how to use this. Only the oldest Shinigamis have even heard of this. The scrolls containing information on them have been erased from all records. They still exist...but no one knows where.

X C U T I O N......
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Base: The Factory, Naruki City
Presided by: King of Eternal Night
Race(s): Fullbringers
Purpose: Rid the weak and naive of their powers for the betterment of the race's best warriors.
History:

Xcution was founded at the turn of the twenty first century. Their origins were nothing more than an online forum for those dabbling in the bizarre and the occult, but took a darker turn when chance encounters brought individuals that had lived through similar experiences together. Though the Fullbringers had existed for as long as one could recall, they were so sparse and scattered throughout the world that one could go through their whole life without meeting another. The net and keywords brought the community closer to that particular site until it was the got-to for Fullbringers, new and experienced. Once they learned that they could share and absorb powers from other Fullbringers, a group of extremists banded together for the sole purpose of strengthening themselves. They worked to lure others of their kind to them before stealing their powers. For that, they needed to remain anonymous on the net, taking on multiple personas. All of the Xcution members have some basic knowledge in programming so as to protect themselves from online police sent after then and the people they had wronged.

Laws:

• All new recruits must share at least part of their powers with every single one of the Elders and the Lead Programmer
  
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Ranks:
(Ranks)
Head Elder and Elders with fully mastered Fullbring and the power to take and give other Fullbringers' abilities (with permission of RPer)
Each of the elder can create 1 additional power obtained from a NPC Fullbringer. All of the Elders and Lead Programmer will receive the NPC power.


Non Canon Power:
-Bringer Infinity Breaker: A defensive release obtained by feeding on the quartz of Hueco Mundo and merging it with Fullbringers' Reiryoku. It is activated as their body's last resort, when all other powers are failing. They will then glow with a sheen made of pure reiryoku similar to the quartz coloring and their form will appear. It grants its user one supreme power, one that is even stronger than their mastered Fullbring item and amplifies the rest of their powers. It renders their Reiatsu unstable, making the process excruciatingly painful both physically and mentally, often drawing out the user's true nature. This may only be used once per battle, and after it wears off, the user will be left weakened and desperately craving for more of the quartz that had been the fuel of this power. Excessive use of this will lead to a dependency and prolonged periods without consuming quartz will lead to withdrawal symptoms. This form cannot be shared or stolen by other Fullbringers no matter what.
-Bringer Sealing: Fullbringers have the ability to seal up to 2 Hollow powers, including their Segunda Etapa. This can only be undone should the Fullbringer willingly releases it or is killed.

T H E...M A S K E D...C O V E N A N T
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Base: Lune Corps, Karakura Town
Presided by: King of Eternal Night
Race(s): Vizard
Purpose: The complete and utter annihilation of Soul Society and Hueco Mundo in order to establish a state of peace permanently in the world.

History:

It was increasingly clear that the war in the 900's against Hueco Mundo and the Arrancar was failing. In skirmishes between Shinigami and Arrancar, it was a coin toss as to which side would be victorious. And the worst part, was that only the Shinigami who developed shikai mastery could even stand up to face the Arrancar. Any without, had their lives destined for death. In order for this to change and for Soul Society to finally tip the balance, they felt they needed to employ drastic measures. They wanted to create a weapon. And so, the 12th Division answered this call. It was the year 966. Using what knowledge they had of the hollow genetic structure as well as knowledge of souls, they devised a plan to create what could be considered a plague.

Needing the pure essence of Shinigami reiatsu, they had the former 6th Division Captain and Grand Kid Kidō Chief Noire Mistalune utilize his mastery over kidō to provide the Shinigami essence necessary. Using several captured hollows, they then manipulated them into hollow particles, a process known as hollow miniaturization. From there, Noire was to use kidō to bond with the particles. However, something went critically wrong. There was a chain reaction which resulted in the particles splitting. The bonding of the pure essence had reversed and the hollow particles became dominant. Suddenly, they rushed towards the largest and closest reiatsu signatures - Noire and two others. All that could be heard was screaming as their bodies began to rapidly change. Within minutes, what appeared to be hollow-like monstrosities showed. Their eyes blackened and a mask covered their faces.

In their enraged states, they had killed the 12 Division Captain and his Lieutenant. The third seat having escaped from the travesty which befell that night. As Captain Mistalune finally regained consciousness and realized what they had done, he knew that Soul Society would have them executed. After all, they committed murder on top of becoming abominations. Moving quickly, they were sure to destroy as many documents and whatever information on hollowification they could. They had to make their existence as virtually minimal as possible. Despite, the third seat having escaped, he had very little proof of what went down. Only his memories. Seeing no way to free themselves from inevitable persecution, Captain Mistalune along with the other two fresh Vizards quickly made their way to the senkaimon. Using powerful bakudō to seal the senkaimon behind them, they left for the World of the Living and then proceeded to disappear.

For the next five years, they remained in hiding careful to not exhude any form of reiatsu signatures. Soul Society eventually gave up on the search, assuming that they were dead as hollows in the World of the Living had been increasing their frequency of attacks. In 971, former 6th Division Captain Mistalune had decided that they were going to train and master their powers. They were stuck in between worlds. Neither Shinigami, nor Hollow, but something more. Licking the wounds of the past, they abandoned their former title of Shinigami and Mistalune deemed them "Vizards". Training in secret for the next thousand years, they readied themselves for when they would make their return. They mastered forbidden kidō, advanced their shikai and bankai, and learned to harness their new gift, which many considered a curse, their hollow mask and its hollow powers. Learning how to combine Hollow reiatsu with Shinigami reiatsu, Mistalune created hybrid kidō, which were by nature bastardized forms of kidō that were extremely powerful and superior to normal kidō. He would go on to number these 100-120 in terms of their strength.

After one millennium, in 1971, Mistalune established Mistalune Corps, a powerful corporation which rules the business world of the humans. They had over a thousand years to establish dominion in the marketplace, rising to become tycoons and monopolizing many products, especially petroleum. While they dominated business in Japan up until 2010, when a rival corporation the Fénix Corporation, had formed taking up a decent portion of the market. Soon, Japan's economy was now a warzone. The two major corporations rivalling one another over supremacy. Ironically, the location of Mistalune Corps. would be opposite of Fénix Corporation. However, with themselves now firmly established and financially secure, the Vizards were ready to make their return as The Masked Covenant.

Laws:

• Vizard are the superior race. They have no equals.
  
• The Sovereign is the most powerful Vizard and cannot be challenged.
  
• When the Sovereign enters a room all below him must exclaim, "Hail Sovereign!" Failure results in execution.
  
• Disobeying the Sovereign will result in execution.
  
• Shinigami are enemies. They must be killed on sight.
  
• Hollows, especially Arrancar must be vanquished.
  
• May not commit actions that are not given orders.
  
• Any knowledge of kidō secrets are shared.
  
• All members are shareholders in the Mistalune Corps.
  
• Disagreements amongst Vizard are disputed by fighting to the death.
  
• May challenge a higher ranked Vizard for their position.
  
• Losing a challenge means execution.
  
• Failing to defeat an inner hollow means execution.
  
• Any alliances with minor and inferior races are strictly means to an end.
  
  

Ranks:
(Ranks)
-1 Sovereign (Supreme)
-1 Arbiter (Supreme)
-2 Prophets (Master)
-4 Masked Elites (Expert)
-12 Masked Grunts (Intermediate)
-As many Acolytes. (Novice)

Non-Canon Power:
- Hybrid Kidō
- Forbidden Kidō
- Hollow Mask (per post duration) - Novice [5], Intermediate [10], Expert [15], Master [20], Supreme [30]