Sōkyoku Hill Located In: Soul Society Controlled By: Central 46 Primary Function: Place of Execution
The hill is visible from most of Seireitei. It has sheer cliffs on all sides. There are two known access points to the Sōkyoku Hill -a long bridge connecting to the Senzaikyū (懺罪宮, lit. "Palace of Remorseful Sin"), and has a long, zigzagging stairway carved into one side of the hill. One end of the hill is heavily undercut, where the Sōkyoku and the bridge are located. The opposite end is covered by a white forest. The Sōkyoku (双殛, Twinned Punishment) is a large halberd which the Gotei 13 uses at Sōkyoku Hill to execute Shinigami who have severely broken the law. When not in use, the Sōkyoku is sealed by a number of thick ropes wrapped around its pole, which, piercing the ground, hold the halberd in place. During an execution, the Kidō Corps unseals it, causing these ropes to unwind and shoot off away from the hill. As the Sōkyoku activates, emitting an immense amount of flames, it rises into the air, pointing towards the victim, who is held before it by support beams. The flames, enveloping the halberd, reveal its true form; a massive, phoenix-like entity called Kikōō (燬鷇王, Blaze Fledgling King). In this state, the Sōkyoku’s offensive and defensive power is said to be equivalent to that of a million Zanpakutō. As it pierces the victim, this power increases by tenfold, and creates so much heat it vaporizes their soul.
Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 11:46 am
✚ Yojimbo Kakita ✚
✚ Division ❶ Third Seat ✚
"There are a thousand steps one must walk before they can wield the sword."
≦ Yoji was calm as he stood in the forest of the Hill, his sword in one hand. He stood silent, with his eyes closed breathing shallowly as he felt the breeze in the air, the subtle movements of the branches around him. The world was in his mind's eye. Few could understand the truth of swordsmanship was not merely knowing the sword, but knowing the world around you just as well. Every sound, every detail needed to be painted in perfect motion in one's mind. It was here that the third seat of Squad One was currently in a state one would call, zen-like. He was in harmony with the world around him, but he was kept from reaching true zen but a limitation he himself had not yet recognized.
There was a strong breeze, as several of the branches released their petals, Yoji suddenly disappeared into motion, dozens of petals suddenly had their number doubled exactly as he cut cleanly through each of them without disturbing another from its resting place upon its branch. Slowly opening his eyes Yojimbo took not of the petals he'd cut and was annoyed to see so many of them cut with a slim margin on one side or the other. He had again failed to achieve perfection. No that he expected to stumble upon it, but he wondered at times if it was his destiny to achieve it again, or would the legend of the Blade Emperor remain forever that. Yoji shook his head, and turned walking away from the woods. That was unacceptable, he had to show that his family wasn't a dead branch, that they weren't just a fluke. The Blade Emperor's line will give birth to another legend. Yoji was confident that he would prove his title of Kensei to the entire Soul Society.
Walking to the edge of the massive cliff with a passive look to the massive city below, Yoji took a seat, and pulled out his lunch, and tea set. With a calm motion he set himself up with nice placement, and mediated again while the tea boiled. He let out a small sigh of relief, as he began the second phase of his training. Lunch. He wondered for a moment where his Captain was, as she usually interrupted his training with work, or at least the Vice Captain would, it was strange to see neither of them all day. Though a day of bettering himself would do him well. It was when he poured his first cup and took a sip that he felt a slow shudder crawl up his spine. It had apparently been a while since he'd cleaned his tea set, as the unmistakable taste of mold filled his mouth, he violently spit out the corrupted liquid. Sighing as he considered that it was probably due to his captain's constant work load getting to him, that he'd merely overlooked the upkeep of the pot, but for now, his meal had been ruined by moldy tea, and his tea set was garbage now, thus he had to new goals in bettering himself. A new lunch, and a new tea set. Thus he stood, and with a sigh took a leave of the central hill of the Seireitei, and walked towards a establishment known for good food.≧
After leaving the Captains' Meeting Room, Amaranth walked for a time, finalizing her plans before making her way to the Kido Corps Headquarters with shunpo, where she conscripted eight of the more powerful barrier users. With her fellow Kido users in tow, the Fifth Division Captain relocated once more, moving to the Sōkyoku Hill.
Upon arriving atop the hill, Amaranth spent some time surveying the area, using the hill's height to look over the entirety of Soul Society, while she waited for the Kido Corps to arrive. Appearing as a group, the Kido Corps members held their position for a moment, before spreading out and following their Commander's orders, one facing each cardinal direction, with another positioned in the gaps between, giving the combined group vision over the entire area.
The group started working simultaneously, the sheer density of the combined reiryoku flattening the grass and compacting the dirt, sending a cloud of dust out in all directions as barriers began to form, countless planes of multihued light, which quickly formed a rough dome over the hill. Once the barriers had enveloped the group, and there was enough Kido flying around to make detection of what was being used impossible, Amaranth herself began to work.
Brilliant light blazed around Amaranth's hands as she worked on the trap for the Time Rogues, her mouth constantly moving as incantations flew from her lips, ensuring that each spell was at maximum power. Bakudo #82: Ishuku no Kēji, to latch on to the targets and act as a conduct for the other Kido. Bakudo #77: Tenteikūra, to alert all Captains and Lieutenants should the trap be triggered. Junshin #1: Heaven Light on Earth, to illuminate the invaders, making them blazing beacons of light and destroying any attempt they may have at stealth. Wrapping each Kido in reiatsu as it was about to be released, using her incredibly precise reiatsu control, Amaranth slowly moved the trap further and further towards completion.
With a sphere of pulsating, scintillating light hovering before her, the pale redhead hesitated for a moment, and then shook her head, pressing forwards and conjuring cylinders of emerald light between her hands. Placing the two Forbidden Kido spells in amongst the others, in a nearly released state and only held back by her weave of reiatsu, Amaranth stepped back from her work at last, leaving only her fingers touching the top of the orb.
After a quick glance around the area, confirming that the Kido Corps members had all finished preparing their barriers, she swept her hands outwards, sending the radiant light of Junshin #1 lancing out of the sphere, and connecting a beam to each barrier. Signaling to her assembled subordinates, Amaranth watched briefly as they all raised their hands, sending the barriers hurtling off into the distance, not stopping until they only just overlapped, and surrounded the boundaries of Soul Society, where they remained for a second before the colour faded, rendering them invisible until an intruder forced their way in, and broke one.
As the Kido Corps left, Amaranth placed one hand on the trap and muttered "Bakudo #26: Kyokkō", before turning and walking towards one of the huge posts and leaning against it to rest, as light twisted around the sphere of Kido and concealed it completely.
Gan'yū Status Bakudō: #79, #63, #61 Hadō: #88, #12, #01
Sasuke approached his Captain as he had tracked her by her spirit signature. "Hey captain, I brought you back something while I was vacationing in the human world." He handed her a cook book on different types of cookies. "So what exactly happened? My brother said we were attacked, but was too busy to explain." He looked around and studied the barrier and his eyes widened. "Surely it wasn't that bad, this is a powerful barrier....was it hallows? How did they get in?" Sasuke took a seat in front of his Captain in the grass and removed his hood finally so he wouldn't have to strain so much to look up at her. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his Lt arm band and fitted it over his hoodie sleeve as he only wore the standard uniform when is was a formal event.
"PARTY!!!"
OCC: I basically am making it he went to the human world before the attack and is just now returning.
Glancing up as she felt one of her lieutenants near her position, Amaranth absently twirled a tendril of reddish hair around a finger, idly passing time until Sasuke arrived atop the hill, and approached. "Ah, Sasuke, welcome back. Oh? A book? Thanks." Reaching out to accept the offered book, the Kido Commander quickly skimmed through it, before nodding cheerfully and setting it down beside her, "Looks good, will definitely need to try it at some point."
At the mention of the attack, Amaranth's normal bubbly cheerfulness was dampened slightly, and her purple eyes scanned the horizon for a time, watching the last of the barriers fade from sight, with Bakudo #26 finally making it to the outer edge, and bending light around the planes of energy. After a sigh, she answered, "It was pretty bad. The Time Rogues returned, delivering the corpse of the previous Division Six Captain, before commencing an attack in the Captains' Meeting Hall itself. The barriers just serve as a precaution, they had the element of surprise for their first attack, but they won't have it again."
Gan'yū Status Bakudō: #79, #63, #61 Hadō: #88, #12, #01
Sasuke sat in silence for a good while, taking in what she had said. He had never seen a Rouge before and wasn't even a Soul Reaper during the Great Ash War, but between his brother and his books, he knew all about the Rouge and this terrified him. After a while, he looked up at her and spoke. "How can they be back if they were sealed away? And, if they are back, and they make all their sacrifices......." He trailed off "How will this barrier even hold them back? We would need a barrier able to hold back multiple head captain levels right? I read once they enter something called a pure state they become ten times stronger or something right?" Sasuke just sat there thinking of what this could mean and then spoke once again. "This only makes what I originally wanted to ask more important. I would like to request to train under you and learn higher leveled kidos....I think I also have an idea for a possible new set of kido abilities, but I don't know if it is possible, just a theory at the moment."
"PARTY!!!"
OCC:
XIII Distant Dream
Shirtless Genius
Offline
Leiden Lancaster
Wealthy Prophet
Offline
Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 11:50 pm
❀XX❀XX❀XX❀XX❀XX❀
Sakura finally reach the top of Sokyoku Hill. This was Sakura's first chance at exploring the Seireitei. Sakura spotted two other shinigami she could tell one was a captain. Sakura walked over to the shinigamis and stated, "Hello I'm Sakura Takada... You must be Amaranth Trammel I have heard stories of you back home." Amaranth was very easy on the eyes. Even though Sakura was straight she still admired anyone's beauty be it man or woman.
Sakura had no clue why a Captain would be here nor was she going to ask. Sakura would love to learn how to master kido but even weak kido was hard for her to keep stable.
Amaranth merely shrugged, "What has been sealed can always be unsealed. We're not yet sure how, but they did it. Will need to figure out a better seal, so they stay defeated this time." Reaching into a pouch, the pale Captain withdrew a cookie, munching away at it while the Kido Corps Lieutenant finished speaking. "Soul Society is protected by more than these barriers, and strength alone cannot overcome everything. Don't worry about the defences, they'll be fine."
Standing up as she felt another Shinigami near her location, grabbing the book beside her as she did so, the plump Captain nodded, "I'll see what I can do. After that attack, we're not going to have much time to rest. And anything we can do to surprise the enemy will help. Gather up some notes, work on the ideas, and we'll show these Rogues what Kido can really do."
Glancing down at the small Shinigami as she arrived, Amaranth tilted her head slightly, "Hello, yes I'm Amaranth, and who might you be...?"
Gan'yū Status Bakudō: #79, #63, #61 Hadō: #88, #12, #01
"I will do as you wish Captain. I am going to go find my niece and then I will begin working on this theory. Kido is my passion and I won't let you down." Sasuke stood up and dusted himself off and grabbed the long board he usually had and put the hood of his hoodie back on. He turned to see someone approaching them and smirked at her name. "Sakura? Same name as my Zanpaktuo. Fantastic." With that he threw his long board down and hopped on and road it down the hill.
[EXIT]
"PARTY!!!"
OCC:
Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 5:48 pm
❀XX❀XX❀XX❀XX❀XX❀
"Well I am Sakura Takada of Squad 10 Seat 5." Sakura replied with a cheerful smile at the captain and her lieutenant. "Oh gosh your squad 5! You must have meet Hiro-kun I haven't spoken to him in awhile and I know he joined squad 5." Sakura added on as a breeze cause her long ponytails to follow in the breeze. Sakura felt her heart tug her the words she said. Sakura's father rule was still in effect Do not speak to Hiroshi Takada until he has brought out honor back." even though her heart lied with him his would never lie with hers.
Upon hearing the surname, Amaranth nodded, and the link was confirmed when the girl before her asked about Hiroshi, "Ah yes, the Lieutenant. He seems to be doing well. Is he a relative of yours, then?"
Idly shifting her grasp on the cookbook, the 5th Division Captain turned and shifted her gaze, to look over Soul Society for a time, "So, what brings you up here? There generally isn't too many people here."
While she awaited a response, Amaranth absently reached back into her pouch, moving to consume another cookie before she returned to her duties.
Gan'yū Status Bakudō: #79, #63, #61 Hadō: #88, #12, #01
Leiden Lancaster
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:39 pm
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.נσυsαкє нιяσѕнι ▭"You don’t have to force a party."
Jousake was back in his office, as he was preparing for the funeral of one of his former comrades. It was a sad day for Jousake, as he hated these type of things, as funerals never were Jousake's kind of thing. However, he wanted to pay this man proper respects for all that he did for the Gotei 13. Sighing, he got up and got ready for the funeral. He reached inside his closet, as he reached out for a special Captain's Haori.
It was a jet black haori, which was devoid of the standard white in the haori. The Fourth Division insignia printed on the black was purely back, as it could still be seen, but required some attention to see clearly. Jousake took off his headdress, as he found it inappropriate for this occasion. Once complete, Jousake placed his zanpakuto down on a stand in his office, as he wouldn't need it for the occasion. Once complete, he then got up and walked over to Sōkyoku Hill.
Talking his time, Jousake eventually arrived, noticing that not many people had arrived yet, as the only people he noticed were Yojimbo and Captain Trammel. Avoiding his usual loud entrances, Jousake merely waved hello at everyone, as he just walked towards everyone and stood in place. "How's everyone doing today?"
"Just love life and the party happens effortlessly."▭
┏xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx┓ Mood: Sad Location: Sōkyoku Hill Thoughts: Why did he have to die? Zanpakutō State: Sleeping! Shh! You'll wake her up.... ┗..xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx┛
Roka slowly walked up the hill and as he did so his scarf blew in the wind that was created by his body. His scarf looked like twins snakes that danced an elegant dance together. Roka was wearing the same style of cloathing except they were a black color. However he did not wear his Captain Haori. He decided today was not an acceptable day to show ranks because everyone was the same in Death's eyes. Roka's creamy gold eyes scanned the steps in front of him as he slowly walked up. He would eventually reach the top and notice that a few of the Soul Reapers had showed up. Roka's natural instinct was to introduce himself as it was his first day not to be stuck in his office after being promoted. However, Roka just held back and waited. Roka just wanted to pay his respects to the deceased even though he did not know them well.
Roka just hung off to the side and watched all the events from the side. He decided the best bet for him to do today was lay low and stay away from those who were extremly hurt. Roka's heart dod hurt for all of the dead but not as bad as the Soul Reapers that surrounded him.
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"Are you prepared to meet your inner demon through my looking glass?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 2:14 pm
"Some say I was just flare in the fire..."
Stopping at her quarters for just a few moments, Akarui made sure to have a shinigami in her division to help round up the others. Meanwhile, she had bathed and got ready for the funeral. She stared blankly at her reflection in the mirror as she tied her uniform in place. Making a contemplating face, Akarui decided to tie her hair up into a loose, but traditional bun. The captain sighed as she pulled out the black version of her haori and made her way out the door.
Walking up Sōkyoku Hill, she felt the presence of her own seated members, Sakura. She saw Amaranth and her lieutenant there, as well as Jousake. "The air is rather somber today, hm...?" she said, looking at him and his matching haori. She stood next to Sakura and put a hand on her shoulder. "I was looking for you earlier, Sakura- chan." Akarui said in a rather soft tone.
She couldn't find her voice today. She couldn't help it either. A comrade had fallen. Whether or not she knew him, it was still upsetting.
xxxAfter rounding up the squad and telling them what was going on, Suke quickly rushed Ai to Sokyoku Hill where it was supposed to happen. He sighed a bit in relief as he arrived and noticed that there wasn't many people there. Good. He wasn't late. He relaxed a bit as he set Ai down. Though Ai, being how she was, immediately clung onto his arm and refused to let go. Though it suited Suke perfectly fine to hide in the back a bit. He didn't know many of the other Captain's well enough to just walk up and say hello, and most of the other Lieutenants were more than happy to just leave them be. Though he didn't give off the friendly attitude to come say hello either. For once, his usual Somber mood and unreadable mask for the most part fit in right here in this atmosphere. The only exceptions of people who might approach him, are Shu and Jousake, and he didn't feel like dealing with their normal happiness right now. His hand was still kinda hurting him, and he was straining it a bit by using it. But he didn't have much of a choice in that. As long as nobody noticed, everything would be alright.
Ooc: Sorry for being late~ I wasn't near a computer around 1 today~ sweatdrop
