
The Hundred Floor Pagoda
Headquarters of the Kidō Corps
Headquarters of the Kidō Corps
The Hundred Floor Pagoda certainly lives up to its name. This structure is a dominant feature in the Seireitei cityscape and open to all who wish to enter. Once inside, the most striking feature of the pagoda is the fact that it has no stairs. The first level is merely a large, empty circular room with a marble floor and torches that line the wall. In the very center of the interior is a sizable hole in the ceiling through which one can look up to see all the other floors up to the very top, where there are two massive closed doors leading to the Grand Kidō Chief's office. In order to step into the other floors, one must travel through that hole either by means of Kidō or by means of Hohō (ie. air walking). On every floor past the first, there is a similar design in that there doesn't seem to be any furniture apart from a few mats and pillows, though now the walls have images and incantations engraved on them. As one goes higher up through the building, they'll find the higher-leveled spells. At night when the grounds are closed, the pillows are pulled out and the members fill each floor to meditate/rest.
The towering structure hugs the side of what is now referred to as the Sekkiseki Grottos, where the material used to construct the walls surrounding the Seireitei was mined from centuries ago. As such, the building was built to withstand reiryoku-based attacks of all kind, making the walls impervious to the effects of even the strongest of Kidō. This makes the building an ideal place for people to train their Kidō without having to worry about damaging their own barracks/training grounds. However, for higher-level spells, the Grand Kidō Chief asks that such training is conducted in the Sekkiseki Grotto where there is much more available space, so as not to disturb the peace within the Pagoda and distract the members who are training their less-flashy spells.
The Arcane Kido Hall can be accessed by going through the pagoda or up the 'mountain' to the top, where one will find a floating footpath made of perfectly circular stone floating in midair. Each stone is roughly six feet in diameter and spaced roughly a meter apart, creating a zig-zag pathway towards the Hall. Members of the Division guard this path at both ends, and will request any visitors to remove their Zanpakuto if they wish to cross through the pathway into the Hall.
