Plotline: Paths of Rebirth

For years and years the current system of the Gotei Thirteen has maintained a rather stable peace. Of course the typical power struggles between the more powerful shinigami, the noble families, and Central 46 continue in the shadows, but everything seems to be going smoothly for the most part. With strong leadership and uncompromising authority from the standing captain commander, the Gotei Thirteen stay extremely efficient though not without loss of life.

Hollows and Quincy stay in their own paths. Hollows have been following the status quo, eating humans and their own kind in order to gain more and more power, though the cannibalism has been quelled somewhat by the orders of the False King who presides in Hueco Mundo. The Quincy have all but disappeared from around the world. In order to preserve their numbers against subtle movements from the shinigami, they have all migrated to their own city. Young Quincy receive training and deal with hollows, as well as any other species that might come, who invade their territory.

Fullbringers stand in the shadows of the peace, not wanting to tip the balance in any direction. Their abilities and histories often made them the outcasts of society and thus they have avoided the limelight that using their abilities might cause. At least for the time being.

Recently, however, there have been rumblings from central 46 that the cycle has tipped dangerously due to a mass number of souls vanishing. Around the world and in Hueco Mundo, there have been mass vanishings of both humans and hollows. Despite these events having apparently no connection with any of the races, central 46 has assumed it to be the deed of the Quincy, as they have the history and the power that had removed hollows from this cycle in the past.

The tensions between Shinigami and Quincy as a whole are at an all time high. Some in powerful positions would sooner just wipe the Quincy out than allow the system to be further distorted, but with the protection of their leader, it would take a very large commitment to engage the bowmen on their own land. Thus a continued form of strained peace remains for the time being. But if the vanishings continue, there will be a reckoning, whether the Quincy are responsible or not.