Post by Neliel on Nov 29, 2012 3:26:30 GMT -5
Soul Society
Soul Society consists of the Rukongai, where souls live when they arrive in Soul Society, and Seireitei, which is at the center of Soul Society. The mode of life here closely resembles that of feudal Japan.
The Living Realm and Soul Society are parallel to each other and are two sides of the same coin. Families separated by death are rarely reunited in the Soul Society unless they arrive in Soul Society together. People live nestled together like a family of strangers.One never gets hungry (if she or he doesn't have spiritual powers) and aging is slowed to a great extent, with lifespans of 2000 or more years not being unheard of, though such ages are limited to Shinigami or other Soul Society dwellers with high spiritual power. Children can be born as they are in the Living Realm. People can also be killed as regular Humans are, though they are capable of surviving wounds that would normally be considered fatal. A soul that dies in Soul Society is reincarnated on Earth as a new Human with no past memories.
Seireitei
Seireitei is a circular shiro with four main entrances, ten days walk apart, each guarded by a Gatekeeper. These gates are collectively called the Four Great Seireimon (Seirei Gates): these gates are made up of the Black Ridge Gate (Kokuryōmon), the Blue Stream Gate (Shōryūmon), the Red Hollow Gate (Shuwaimon) and the White Way Gate (Hakutōmon). The gates are so heavy that it takes the full might of one of the Gatekeepers to lift one. There are however, doors within the gates, often seen when Rukongai citizens first enter the Shin'ō Academy to become Shinigami.
The walls of Seireitei are made of lethality stone, a rare type of stone known to negate all Reiryoku, similar to magnetic lodestones. The stone also forms a spherical barrier around the city, extending above and below, stopping anything spiritual from breaching it from ground level, from the sky or from underground.
The wall that surrounds the Seireitei is commonly held up, only closing down when there is an emergency. When it is not down protecting the Seireitei, the wall protects the Palace of the Soul King, located in a inner dimension.
Information about the Seireitei is confidential. What is known is that in the center of the Seireitei is a white tower known as the Senzaikyū, where criminals are imprisoned (similar to death row); on the hill adjacent to it is the Sōkyoku, where prisoners are executed. Those permitted to live in the tranquility of the Seireitei are Shinigami and the few families of the nobility. Shinigami live in the 6th Division barracks, while high-ranking officers commute from their own homes.
The majority of the residents of Seireitei, nobility and Shinigami alike, do not interact with the citizens of Rukongai. However, residents of Rukongai are allowed to apply for the Shin'ō Academy, which is often the only escape from the poorest conditions of Rukongai.
Rukongai
Rukongai is divided into 320 districts (80 in each), each numbered in descending order on how far they are from the center; this results in the higher-numbered (and further) districts decaying into slums. Thus, while District 1 is peaceful and lawful, much like the antiseptic lifestyle of early-Edo Era Kyoto, District 80 is a hardscrabble, violent, crime-infested area that more depicts Heian era Kyoto. The duties of the Gotei 13 Divisions include defending allocated districts of Rukongai. However, which Division is responsible for which district has not been stated. The living standards in Rukongai decline sharply beyond the fiftieth district, with an increase in people wearing rags and no footwear.
Rukongai is full of families that are not related by blood. People die at different times and places, and it is rare for a person to find their real family in the vast Rukongai. When a soul arrives in Soul Society, they are given a ticket according to the time they died and are sent off in different directions. Even if two people were to die together, if they do not receive tickets at the same time, they will not know where the other is.
When the balance of souls between the Human World and Soul Society is endangered, the Shinigami can request permission to kill citizens in Rukongai in order to restore the balance of souls between the two worlds.