Azley
03-20-2013, 10:45 PM
Recycled from old BA:
I've noticed more new people joining, or thinking of joining, as well as some people lurking in the background, so I've decided to update an old post of mine, to help people understand the roleplay. So welcome to my unofficial guide to the Bleach Asylum Roleplay!
Bleach Asylum Roleplay - Basic info
The Bleach Asylum RP is a roleplay that takes place in the Bleach universe, as one might expect. However, the Bleach Asylum RP does not actually take place in the same universe as the Bleach manga or anime. Consider it a parallel universe of sorts. So, there is no Ichigo in this RP, no Aizen, no Orihime.
But many of the other details of the RP are very similar to that of the manga and anime. In the Living World, for example, pretty much all the characters live in Japan, inside or around Karakura Town. Like in the manga, Karakura Town is a moderately large city full of people with unique spiritual powers. There are Quincies there, and like the manga the Quincies were nearly wiped out by the Shinigami, for the same reasons they were in the manga. Of course, since Quincies are a playable race, the number of surviviors is a bit higher.
Go to Soul Society, and you'll find that despite the fact that all the Captains and other characters are different, squads still have the same basic functions. Sqaud 11 is still a combat based division, Squad 4 is a bunch of healers, etc.
In Hueco Mundo, the palace of Las Noches exists, and so do the Espada. Since there is no Aizen, the Espada are instead led and ruled by the current number 1, a woman named Mircalla.
One important thing to note is that the Hougyoku does still exist in this RP. Or it did. Naturally, its history is a bit different than it was in the manga, and in this RP it disappeared about 100 years ago. Not many characters are aware that it ever existed in the first place, from what I can tell.
Characters - Stat-based and NPC and RP-only, or my!
So, perhaps you're interested in participating in the RP, and you're trying to decide what character to make. You see thread titled "Current RP character listing," and you think to yourself, "I better check that thread so that I don't create a character that fills a spot that is already taken." There, you find out about the multiple character types that exist in this RP. You also find out about something called Soul Points.
Perhaps you already understand everything perfectly, or perhaps there are still a few details you're not quite clear on. If the latter is the case, then click the spoiler tag and read on. If not, feel free to skip to the next section.
Soul Points are an important number that serves as an indication of how powerful a character is. A normal character starts with 100 Soul Points. As a character participates in the RP, it is awarded additional Soul Points by the staff. This is how a character "levels up", and becomes more powerful.
What is known as a "RP-only" character is a bit different. It is a way for someone to create a brand new character that is already significantly more powerful than a basic, 100 Soul Point normal character. A RP-only character is assigned a quota after it is approved, which serves as an indication of its power. For example, a character might be assigned a 3,000 point quota, meaning that particular character is as powerful as a 3,000 Soul Point normal character.
The downside is that a RP-only character's actual Soul Point amount is still only 100. It cannot "level up" or increase its power until its actual Soul Points match its quota. Once a RP-only character's Soul Points are equal to its quota, it becomes a normal character.
Thus, a RP-only character has a nice bit of power early on, but doesn't have an advantage over a regular character in the long run.
If you look at the Character Sheet Template thread, you'll notice several stats listed, such as Strength and Defense and the like. But you may have trouble finding a thread that explains exactly how each stat works. The reason why is because in the past the Bleach Asylum RP has had a hard stat system that governs fights, but currently that system and the way it works is going through a revamp.
So don't worry about the stat system too much just yet. For the meantime, you can probably guess the basic idea behind most of them. Strength is an indication of offensive potential, for example, Speed is an indication of speed, etc. Recharge is basically how much stamina your character has, how well it does in long fights.
If you've played computer RPGs, you can probably guess what NPCs are already. NPC is short for "Non Player Character." NPCs are characters that fill in the gaps, so to speak. They serve a variety of roles, from villians to important leaders. They don't earn points the way a normal character does, and can be controlled by a variety of players depending on the circumstances.
Bleach Asylum NPCs can generally be divided into two groups. The first group are the plot-related characters that are usually controlled by the RP staff. One example of such a character is Mircalla, the number 1 Espada. She is a very important character who rules the Espada.
Other NPCs are not created by the staff, but by players, and they are often related to specific other characters. For an example of this, one of the player controlled Espada, Durante, has 3 Fraccion. These Fraccion are all NPCs, and are related to Durante's personal story and background. In some ways, they can be considered an extension of the character Durante.
Now that I have finished describing the various character types, I should probably note a few other things. Currently, no new characters are allowed to be Espada or Captains or Vice Captains, as all those spots are filled up or empty for a reason.
Aside from that, a character can fill pretty much any spot, but one should look at the Official Character listing first. That way, you don't accidentally make your character the third seat of Squad 11 when that spot is already taken, for example.
All characters have to be approved by the staff before they can be used, but this usually doesn't take too long. Each realm has a character roster thread where new characters can be posted.
Plots and schemes, and whatever else is going on
So, you know the basic idea behind the RP, you know what the different character types are. You've created a character, and posted it in the proper thread for approval. While waiting, you think to yourself, "If this takes place in an alternate universe, I really don't know what's going on in it at the moment." So you decide to check out some of the threads in the various realms, to see if you can get an idea.
In the Living World, you notice a thread called Mission 1D. You then realize it's 46 pages, is a continuation of an earlier thread, and isn't even finished yet. In Soul Society, you notice Mission 1B, which is finished, and a mere 35 pages. In Hueco Mundo, you find threads with similar titles. They are shorter, but there are 5 of them. Plus a 17 page Las Noches thread. And all these threads you've glanced at are a mere fraction of the total amount of threads in all the 3 realms.
Don't worry, I'm here to help. You don't have to read every old thread in order to get a basic idea of the overall plot, I'll sum up everything here. Keep in mind, of course, that what I'm writing is a fairly brief summery, and it doesn't take into acount any of the complex relationships between specific characters that have developed. But it should give you a good idea of some of the more important plot points that have developed.
Hueco Mundo
Hueco Mundo is ruled by the Espada. Sort of. The Espada live in Las Noches, and their leader is Mircalla, the number 1 Espada. The top 4 Espada are all NPCs, controlled by the RP Staff, and the bottom 6 are all player characters. There are weaker Arrancar there as well, some of them Fraccion, some of them Numeros. There are also some Hollows who have alligned themselves with the Espada.
The Espada and their allies are powerful, but they have a whole horde of enemies and issues to deal with.
Dios de Diablo
A huge danger, Diablo is an absurdly powerful Vasto Lorde Hollow, who believes in the supremacy of "pure" Hollows. He hates Arrancar, believing them to have betrayed their Hollow sides by gaining Shinigami powers. As a result, he is an enemy of all the Espada and their allies.
So far, he has not made any noticable moves against them, other than sending a warning. But how long that will be the case remains to be seen...
Oh yah, the 3rd Espada might be a traitor serving Diablo. Good news, right?
Mysterious Shinigami
A visit to a an odd cave in Hueco Mundo revealed a small group of Shinigami who were conducting horrible experiments on Hollows and Arrancars. A very powerful Shinigami named Luca, who seems to have his own goals, ultimately destroyed the cave and disappeared with most of the other Shinigami. Their current whereabouts are unknown.
Los Arcanos
As if Hollows and Shinigami weren't bad enough, the Espada and their allies have Arrancar to deal with as well. The Arcanos are a bizare group of Arrancar who oppose the Espada. Their group's design and method of numbering themselves is based on the Major Arcana of Tarot cards, and their ultimate purpose and goal is unknown.
Recently, the Arcanos managed to capture one half of the 5th Espada. This may sound weird, but the 5th Espada is actually a pair of twins who share the spot. Earlier, the Arcanos managed to acquire a curious parasyte that takes over and forcibly increases the powers of its host. The Arcanos stole the parasyte from the Espada mere minutes after the Espada got a hold of it.
Fortunately, the Espada did capture some of the Arcanos themselves, one of which was lobotimized in the process. Of course, during her fight with a member of the Espada, one of the captured Arcanos, Vidal, did happen to blurt something out about spys inside Las Noches. More good news it seems.
Butterfly Ladies and Soul Society incursions.
The Espada have recently investigated a Hollow colony that had a mysterious lake of water. The water increased the power of Hollows, and reduced their need and desire to feed. Turns out the water was actually the blood of a Vasto Lorde class Arrancar, who wanted to bring peace to Hueco Mundo using it. Didn't exactly work out.
The aforementioned Arrancar, a butterfly lady named Pulele, has currently joined up with the Espada. Unfortunately, it seems that being in her released state for 100 years and bleeding the whole time has weakened her powers a bit. Ah well.
Another recent event that has happened is that the Espada have invaded Soul Society, sending Hollows to rampage in the Rukongai while some Arrancars sneak into the Science Division to steal communications systems. This nearly ended in a disastrous failure, but the defection of one of the shinigami magically reversed it to complete success.
Currently, a meeting of the Espada is underway, and the Primera Espada has revealed several sensitive details regarding Dios, the war between hollow and arrancar, and the shinigami.
Soul Society
Things in Soul Society aren't exactly going well either. One of its Captains has disappeared in Hueco Mundo, for reasons unknown, and has refused to return to Soul Society. An attempt to retrieve said Captain resulted in the discovery that he had Hollow powers. Another of them was killed in the same expedition.
In addition, Soul Society has a murderer who is killing Shinigami and making loyal clones of them, clones who seem to possess all the abilities of their original. Soul Society has finally captured one of those clones, but its interrogation was not very successful - the clone wound up going seemingly insane and then detonating a bomb inside its body, though not before leaving a possible hint as to another one of its kind.
A recent mission to the Living World attempted to discover what happened to a group of Shinigami that had suddenly disappeared earlier. The rescue party encontered a bizare human with great spiritual powers, Mani, and an Arrancar lady, Masaki, who fought against them briefly. Despite the fact that they could have easily crushed all the Shinigami, they let most of them go after testing them a bit.
The Shinigami rescue party then found themselves sucked in a special dimension by a bird-like Hollow, where they encountered what was left of the missing Shinigami, along with several powerful Hollow. It seems the missing Shinigami had been betrayed by one of their own, who was working with the Hollows for some reason. But there is more to the the story, and a possible connection to the clone murders has been discovered.
The Shinigami only just made it out of the weird dimension, after killing most of the Hollows and managing to rescue one of the missing Shinigami. Their team leader, who had been holding off the vastoroode so that the other shinigami could continue the mission, was found crucified between two trees, the message 'The Espada shall rise again' inscribed on his back.
In Soul Society itself, a Hollow incursion has occured, and powerful Hollows are rampaging throughout Rukongai. This is the same incursion mentioned in the Hueco Mundo section. The 12th Division managed to repel the invasion in their labs and capture one of the arrancar involved, resulting to the withdrawal of the others as well. However, a traitor later freed the arrancar and returned everything that she had failed to steal, although the shinigami are as of yet unaware.
Current events include Captain Takada Ren's reshuffling of the 4th Division ranks to account for a recent casualty, as well as 3rd Seat Miyazaki Kaoru's application for the job of Captain of the 11th. The active plot threads take place six years in the past, where a string of mysterious attacks are befalling the Shinigami Academy ...
Living World
In the Living World, a mysterious man with great powers, named Mani, and his Arrancar ally, a woman named Masaki, have been recruiting people with spiritual powers. This is the same Mani and Masaki mentioned in the Soul Society section. Their purpose and goals have not yet been revealed, and their method of "recruiting" was interesting to say the least.
In addition, a mysterious man named Philippe has been recruiting people with spiritual powers for his own purposes. Apparently, he wants to use their abilities to solve various cases and investigations. Philippe's ultimate goals have not yet been revealed.
Recently, Philippe has met with Masaki, and revealed something of his past as a member of a clan with spiritual powers that once tried to invade Soul Society. Philippe's reason for meeting with Masaki, and what will ultimately come of it, have not been revealed.
The people recruited by Philippe are currently in the middle of their first case, investigating a string of robberies and murders. They have learned that the people behind it are actually a pair of Quincies who have been trying to get a hold of a specific Quincy artifact. Following a trip through an abandoned hospital, the artifact as been found to be in Phillipe's possession, and currently all efforts are being made to stop the would-be thieves from escaping.
Threads and more Threads
So, you've created your character, you've learned the overall plot, now you're ready to jump into the RP. Except... how exactly do you do that? When can you join a thread, and what are the different thread types?
The first type of thread you need to be aware of are the Plot threads. These are threads created by the RP staff that develop the overall plot of the RP. The Mission threads mentioned earlier in this post are an example of this thread type.
A Plot thread is usually open to specific character types and ranks, and after it has progressed enough, it may no longer be possible for new characters to join. This is because it simply doesn't make logicial sense otherwise. For example, in "Mission 1D: Melencholic Moon", once the Shinigami rescue party had already formed up and departed to the Living World, then gotten trapped in the special Slime World dimension, it became impossible for other Shinigami to join them.
So what if there are currently no Plot Threads for your character to join, but you want to start RPing immediately? Well, you can try joining one of the Location threads. These are threads like "Las Noches" over in Hueco Mundo, or "The Wolf" cafe over in the Living World. These threads represent specific locations, and are places where characters can hang out and interact with each other between missions.
In addition, you can create a RP thread for your character. RP threads are exactly what they sound like - threads (set in the present) in which you write for your character (or characters), and have their personal plots or whatever else develop without the cumbersome burdens of a specific objective or the restrictions that might come with plot or location threads. They can be private, or they can be open to anybody you like.
These threads are to have your character interact with other players or NPC characters, to brood about recent or past happenings, or even a generic shonen power-up. Really, they can have anything you feel like writing in them. A good example here is Lexi and Keiji's "the unwilling subconscious" thread.
They can can be threads that show a character's backstory and history, or can be a place where they record their thoughts like a journal, or other a combination of the two, or other similar things. See my own "Madness" thread in Hueco Mundo for an example of a backstory style RP thread, Shdo's "the thoughts of the specter" for a journal one, or DarkPulsar's "Soaring with Broken Wings" in Soul Society for a thread that combines the two.
Sometimes these threads can be more complicated, and develop into something a bit more, such as the "Gunz for all!" thread in the Living World. This was a thread that involves the backstory and abilities of one of Shdo's Living World characters, but it included multiple other characters and involved them in the story.
Finally, there are the "Omake/Side Story" type of threads. These include things like the Birthday Party threads over in the General RP section, and the Sand Fury thread over in Soul Society. These threads may function similarly to a Location or Plot thread, but they involve events that don't actually happen as far as the Roleplay is concerned.
Staff
You got a question, and you want to know who to talk to? Well, here's the list of the people behind the curtain, who keep this RP running.
Before I begin, a special shout out goes to Primera Espada, who created the RP originally. He passed control of the RP on to another, though.
Mystic Serenade: The current boss and leader of the RP. Also head of the Living World. So now you know who to bug about things.
Dizzy: Soul Society head, and the chief point grader.
Kolbertt: Hueco Mundo head. Also evil and sadistic.
Hiraeth: Living World assistant, creator of Philippe and the Wolf cases.
DarkPulsar: Another of Mystic's assistants, she's been heavily involved in points grading.
Unicorn: Soul Society assistant.
Mad_Scientist: Hueco Mundo assistant.
I've noticed more new people joining, or thinking of joining, as well as some people lurking in the background, so I've decided to update an old post of mine, to help people understand the roleplay. So welcome to my unofficial guide to the Bleach Asylum Roleplay!
Bleach Asylum Roleplay - Basic info
The Bleach Asylum RP is a roleplay that takes place in the Bleach universe, as one might expect. However, the Bleach Asylum RP does not actually take place in the same universe as the Bleach manga or anime. Consider it a parallel universe of sorts. So, there is no Ichigo in this RP, no Aizen, no Orihime.
But many of the other details of the RP are very similar to that of the manga and anime. In the Living World, for example, pretty much all the characters live in Japan, inside or around Karakura Town. Like in the manga, Karakura Town is a moderately large city full of people with unique spiritual powers. There are Quincies there, and like the manga the Quincies were nearly wiped out by the Shinigami, for the same reasons they were in the manga. Of course, since Quincies are a playable race, the number of surviviors is a bit higher.
Go to Soul Society, and you'll find that despite the fact that all the Captains and other characters are different, squads still have the same basic functions. Sqaud 11 is still a combat based division, Squad 4 is a bunch of healers, etc.
In Hueco Mundo, the palace of Las Noches exists, and so do the Espada. Since there is no Aizen, the Espada are instead led and ruled by the current number 1, a woman named Mircalla.
One important thing to note is that the Hougyoku does still exist in this RP. Or it did. Naturally, its history is a bit different than it was in the manga, and in this RP it disappeared about 100 years ago. Not many characters are aware that it ever existed in the first place, from what I can tell.
Characters - Stat-based and NPC and RP-only, or my!
So, perhaps you're interested in participating in the RP, and you're trying to decide what character to make. You see thread titled "Current RP character listing," and you think to yourself, "I better check that thread so that I don't create a character that fills a spot that is already taken." There, you find out about the multiple character types that exist in this RP. You also find out about something called Soul Points.
Perhaps you already understand everything perfectly, or perhaps there are still a few details you're not quite clear on. If the latter is the case, then click the spoiler tag and read on. If not, feel free to skip to the next section.
Soul Points are an important number that serves as an indication of how powerful a character is. A normal character starts with 100 Soul Points. As a character participates in the RP, it is awarded additional Soul Points by the staff. This is how a character "levels up", and becomes more powerful.
What is known as a "RP-only" character is a bit different. It is a way for someone to create a brand new character that is already significantly more powerful than a basic, 100 Soul Point normal character. A RP-only character is assigned a quota after it is approved, which serves as an indication of its power. For example, a character might be assigned a 3,000 point quota, meaning that particular character is as powerful as a 3,000 Soul Point normal character.
The downside is that a RP-only character's actual Soul Point amount is still only 100. It cannot "level up" or increase its power until its actual Soul Points match its quota. Once a RP-only character's Soul Points are equal to its quota, it becomes a normal character.
Thus, a RP-only character has a nice bit of power early on, but doesn't have an advantage over a regular character in the long run.
If you look at the Character Sheet Template thread, you'll notice several stats listed, such as Strength and Defense and the like. But you may have trouble finding a thread that explains exactly how each stat works. The reason why is because in the past the Bleach Asylum RP has had a hard stat system that governs fights, but currently that system and the way it works is going through a revamp.
So don't worry about the stat system too much just yet. For the meantime, you can probably guess the basic idea behind most of them. Strength is an indication of offensive potential, for example, Speed is an indication of speed, etc. Recharge is basically how much stamina your character has, how well it does in long fights.
If you've played computer RPGs, you can probably guess what NPCs are already. NPC is short for "Non Player Character." NPCs are characters that fill in the gaps, so to speak. They serve a variety of roles, from villians to important leaders. They don't earn points the way a normal character does, and can be controlled by a variety of players depending on the circumstances.
Bleach Asylum NPCs can generally be divided into two groups. The first group are the plot-related characters that are usually controlled by the RP staff. One example of such a character is Mircalla, the number 1 Espada. She is a very important character who rules the Espada.
Other NPCs are not created by the staff, but by players, and they are often related to specific other characters. For an example of this, one of the player controlled Espada, Durante, has 3 Fraccion. These Fraccion are all NPCs, and are related to Durante's personal story and background. In some ways, they can be considered an extension of the character Durante.
Now that I have finished describing the various character types, I should probably note a few other things. Currently, no new characters are allowed to be Espada or Captains or Vice Captains, as all those spots are filled up or empty for a reason.
Aside from that, a character can fill pretty much any spot, but one should look at the Official Character listing first. That way, you don't accidentally make your character the third seat of Squad 11 when that spot is already taken, for example.
All characters have to be approved by the staff before they can be used, but this usually doesn't take too long. Each realm has a character roster thread where new characters can be posted.
Plots and schemes, and whatever else is going on
So, you know the basic idea behind the RP, you know what the different character types are. You've created a character, and posted it in the proper thread for approval. While waiting, you think to yourself, "If this takes place in an alternate universe, I really don't know what's going on in it at the moment." So you decide to check out some of the threads in the various realms, to see if you can get an idea.
In the Living World, you notice a thread called Mission 1D. You then realize it's 46 pages, is a continuation of an earlier thread, and isn't even finished yet. In Soul Society, you notice Mission 1B, which is finished, and a mere 35 pages. In Hueco Mundo, you find threads with similar titles. They are shorter, but there are 5 of them. Plus a 17 page Las Noches thread. And all these threads you've glanced at are a mere fraction of the total amount of threads in all the 3 realms.
Don't worry, I'm here to help. You don't have to read every old thread in order to get a basic idea of the overall plot, I'll sum up everything here. Keep in mind, of course, that what I'm writing is a fairly brief summery, and it doesn't take into acount any of the complex relationships between specific characters that have developed. But it should give you a good idea of some of the more important plot points that have developed.
Hueco Mundo
Hueco Mundo is ruled by the Espada. Sort of. The Espada live in Las Noches, and their leader is Mircalla, the number 1 Espada. The top 4 Espada are all NPCs, controlled by the RP Staff, and the bottom 6 are all player characters. There are weaker Arrancar there as well, some of them Fraccion, some of them Numeros. There are also some Hollows who have alligned themselves with the Espada.
The Espada and their allies are powerful, but they have a whole horde of enemies and issues to deal with.
Dios de Diablo
A huge danger, Diablo is an absurdly powerful Vasto Lorde Hollow, who believes in the supremacy of "pure" Hollows. He hates Arrancar, believing them to have betrayed their Hollow sides by gaining Shinigami powers. As a result, he is an enemy of all the Espada and their allies.
So far, he has not made any noticable moves against them, other than sending a warning. But how long that will be the case remains to be seen...
Oh yah, the 3rd Espada might be a traitor serving Diablo. Good news, right?
Mysterious Shinigami
A visit to a an odd cave in Hueco Mundo revealed a small group of Shinigami who were conducting horrible experiments on Hollows and Arrancars. A very powerful Shinigami named Luca, who seems to have his own goals, ultimately destroyed the cave and disappeared with most of the other Shinigami. Their current whereabouts are unknown.
Los Arcanos
As if Hollows and Shinigami weren't bad enough, the Espada and their allies have Arrancar to deal with as well. The Arcanos are a bizare group of Arrancar who oppose the Espada. Their group's design and method of numbering themselves is based on the Major Arcana of Tarot cards, and their ultimate purpose and goal is unknown.
Recently, the Arcanos managed to capture one half of the 5th Espada. This may sound weird, but the 5th Espada is actually a pair of twins who share the spot. Earlier, the Arcanos managed to acquire a curious parasyte that takes over and forcibly increases the powers of its host. The Arcanos stole the parasyte from the Espada mere minutes after the Espada got a hold of it.
Fortunately, the Espada did capture some of the Arcanos themselves, one of which was lobotimized in the process. Of course, during her fight with a member of the Espada, one of the captured Arcanos, Vidal, did happen to blurt something out about spys inside Las Noches. More good news it seems.
Butterfly Ladies and Soul Society incursions.
The Espada have recently investigated a Hollow colony that had a mysterious lake of water. The water increased the power of Hollows, and reduced their need and desire to feed. Turns out the water was actually the blood of a Vasto Lorde class Arrancar, who wanted to bring peace to Hueco Mundo using it. Didn't exactly work out.
The aforementioned Arrancar, a butterfly lady named Pulele, has currently joined up with the Espada. Unfortunately, it seems that being in her released state for 100 years and bleeding the whole time has weakened her powers a bit. Ah well.
Another recent event that has happened is that the Espada have invaded Soul Society, sending Hollows to rampage in the Rukongai while some Arrancars sneak into the Science Division to steal communications systems. This nearly ended in a disastrous failure, but the defection of one of the shinigami magically reversed it to complete success.
Currently, a meeting of the Espada is underway, and the Primera Espada has revealed several sensitive details regarding Dios, the war between hollow and arrancar, and the shinigami.
Soul Society
Things in Soul Society aren't exactly going well either. One of its Captains has disappeared in Hueco Mundo, for reasons unknown, and has refused to return to Soul Society. An attempt to retrieve said Captain resulted in the discovery that he had Hollow powers. Another of them was killed in the same expedition.
In addition, Soul Society has a murderer who is killing Shinigami and making loyal clones of them, clones who seem to possess all the abilities of their original. Soul Society has finally captured one of those clones, but its interrogation was not very successful - the clone wound up going seemingly insane and then detonating a bomb inside its body, though not before leaving a possible hint as to another one of its kind.
A recent mission to the Living World attempted to discover what happened to a group of Shinigami that had suddenly disappeared earlier. The rescue party encontered a bizare human with great spiritual powers, Mani, and an Arrancar lady, Masaki, who fought against them briefly. Despite the fact that they could have easily crushed all the Shinigami, they let most of them go after testing them a bit.
The Shinigami rescue party then found themselves sucked in a special dimension by a bird-like Hollow, where they encountered what was left of the missing Shinigami, along with several powerful Hollow. It seems the missing Shinigami had been betrayed by one of their own, who was working with the Hollows for some reason. But there is more to the the story, and a possible connection to the clone murders has been discovered.
The Shinigami only just made it out of the weird dimension, after killing most of the Hollows and managing to rescue one of the missing Shinigami. Their team leader, who had been holding off the vastoroode so that the other shinigami could continue the mission, was found crucified between two trees, the message 'The Espada shall rise again' inscribed on his back.
In Soul Society itself, a Hollow incursion has occured, and powerful Hollows are rampaging throughout Rukongai. This is the same incursion mentioned in the Hueco Mundo section. The 12th Division managed to repel the invasion in their labs and capture one of the arrancar involved, resulting to the withdrawal of the others as well. However, a traitor later freed the arrancar and returned everything that she had failed to steal, although the shinigami are as of yet unaware.
Current events include Captain Takada Ren's reshuffling of the 4th Division ranks to account for a recent casualty, as well as 3rd Seat Miyazaki Kaoru's application for the job of Captain of the 11th. The active plot threads take place six years in the past, where a string of mysterious attacks are befalling the Shinigami Academy ...
Living World
In the Living World, a mysterious man with great powers, named Mani, and his Arrancar ally, a woman named Masaki, have been recruiting people with spiritual powers. This is the same Mani and Masaki mentioned in the Soul Society section. Their purpose and goals have not yet been revealed, and their method of "recruiting" was interesting to say the least.
In addition, a mysterious man named Philippe has been recruiting people with spiritual powers for his own purposes. Apparently, he wants to use their abilities to solve various cases and investigations. Philippe's ultimate goals have not yet been revealed.
Recently, Philippe has met with Masaki, and revealed something of his past as a member of a clan with spiritual powers that once tried to invade Soul Society. Philippe's reason for meeting with Masaki, and what will ultimately come of it, have not been revealed.
The people recruited by Philippe are currently in the middle of their first case, investigating a string of robberies and murders. They have learned that the people behind it are actually a pair of Quincies who have been trying to get a hold of a specific Quincy artifact. Following a trip through an abandoned hospital, the artifact as been found to be in Phillipe's possession, and currently all efforts are being made to stop the would-be thieves from escaping.
Threads and more Threads
So, you've created your character, you've learned the overall plot, now you're ready to jump into the RP. Except... how exactly do you do that? When can you join a thread, and what are the different thread types?
The first type of thread you need to be aware of are the Plot threads. These are threads created by the RP staff that develop the overall plot of the RP. The Mission threads mentioned earlier in this post are an example of this thread type.
A Plot thread is usually open to specific character types and ranks, and after it has progressed enough, it may no longer be possible for new characters to join. This is because it simply doesn't make logicial sense otherwise. For example, in "Mission 1D: Melencholic Moon", once the Shinigami rescue party had already formed up and departed to the Living World, then gotten trapped in the special Slime World dimension, it became impossible for other Shinigami to join them.
So what if there are currently no Plot Threads for your character to join, but you want to start RPing immediately? Well, you can try joining one of the Location threads. These are threads like "Las Noches" over in Hueco Mundo, or "The Wolf" cafe over in the Living World. These threads represent specific locations, and are places where characters can hang out and interact with each other between missions.
In addition, you can create a RP thread for your character. RP threads are exactly what they sound like - threads (set in the present) in which you write for your character (or characters), and have their personal plots or whatever else develop without the cumbersome burdens of a specific objective or the restrictions that might come with plot or location threads. They can be private, or they can be open to anybody you like.
These threads are to have your character interact with other players or NPC characters, to brood about recent or past happenings, or even a generic shonen power-up. Really, they can have anything you feel like writing in them. A good example here is Lexi and Keiji's "the unwilling subconscious" thread.
They can can be threads that show a character's backstory and history, or can be a place where they record their thoughts like a journal, or other a combination of the two, or other similar things. See my own "Madness" thread in Hueco Mundo for an example of a backstory style RP thread, Shdo's "the thoughts of the specter" for a journal one, or DarkPulsar's "Soaring with Broken Wings" in Soul Society for a thread that combines the two.
Sometimes these threads can be more complicated, and develop into something a bit more, such as the "Gunz for all!" thread in the Living World. This was a thread that involves the backstory and abilities of one of Shdo's Living World characters, but it included multiple other characters and involved them in the story.
Finally, there are the "Omake/Side Story" type of threads. These include things like the Birthday Party threads over in the General RP section, and the Sand Fury thread over in Soul Society. These threads may function similarly to a Location or Plot thread, but they involve events that don't actually happen as far as the Roleplay is concerned.
Staff
You got a question, and you want to know who to talk to? Well, here's the list of the people behind the curtain, who keep this RP running.
Before I begin, a special shout out goes to Primera Espada, who created the RP originally. He passed control of the RP on to another, though.
Mystic Serenade: The current boss and leader of the RP. Also head of the Living World. So now you know who to bug about things.
Dizzy: Soul Society head, and the chief point grader.
Kolbertt: Hueco Mundo head. Also evil and sadistic.
Hiraeth: Living World assistant, creator of Philippe and the Wolf cases.
DarkPulsar: Another of Mystic's assistants, she's been heavily involved in points grading.
Unicorn: Soul Society assistant.
Mad_Scientist: Hueco Mundo assistant.