Long overdue but do share your thoughts. I hope this sticks to Cuerva's Aspect even better than the previous set.

Necromancia, Cuerva de Sangre: Emperatriz oscura de la sombra hambrienta (Dark Empress of the Starving Shadow)

History (tl:dr - very long fluff)
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Starvation was medically defined as a severe reduction in vitamin, nutrient and energy intake. But for Hollows, it merely represents the most fundamental basic urges of their kind. As amalgamations of a myriad souls, each possessed a strong will and power folded into each other as a conglomerate after a frenzy of cannibalization, Hollows of Menos grade and later were not just about hunger anymore, especially those that comprise of a single soul powerful enough to emerge as the dominant will.

Cuerva de Sangre's great ancient age marks her as one of the few, if not first few of Vasto Lordes that emerged from the already rare ranks of adjuchas. And as one of the few and what Cuerva had initially assumed, as a series of natural evolution cycles as the Hollow forms attempt to refine and improve themselves. And as far as she was concerned, as one of the first few, her persistent state of hunger might be an evolutionary throwback that never allowed her to really walk away from her past and a very consistent and real reminder that developed as she may be she must never forget what she came from and what she will devolve back into if she slips back.

But as evolution and will came further down the years, Cuerva's development into Arrancar-hood bestowed further levels of higher-order thinking and a new paradigm of thought as well. Why did she, as a complete Hollow being now still feel the pangs of starvation? This question led her to think further on herself, her own nature. History may have written itself as that all Hollow-kind have an Aspect of Death. Because all Hollows comprise of souls that have faced Death. But perhaps Cuerva was the only if not one of the first few, to really spare some thought wondering the big "Why".

The construction of the Aerie of Slaughter was simply a means of having a place where she could have some peace and quiet for her own thoughts. The tall spires, each of a better build than the last, was a series of thoughts turned into reality as Cuerva built spire after spire in order to make sense of her nesting instinct and the logical conclusion that she must be trying to build a place where she can have a peaceful shelter. The act of building the spires gave her more ideas of how to think, by starting with a foundation and building upward, each failure and redesign symbolises her own intellectual growth and with it a recognition that her starvation was not linked to just the basic of feeding necessities. But so much more than that.

When the Aerie was complete, the attention of the gathered lower Hollows was evident, and with them a clear distinction of those who can fly and those who couldn't. Those that could have access to higher will and intelligence than many of those that spend their time on the dusty ground. And as they gather around her, thinking the isolated being an easy prey they came to learn too why Cuerva desired solitude by paying for their knowledge with their lives and bodies as they were gradually slain and consumed. With the first foolish few that got too close as examples, the others settled themselves around her and built a society right where the Aerie was built. Using Cuerva as a living-idol and proof of their superiority they ruled the ground crawlers below them with extreme prejudice. Their own intelligence and cunning allowed a form of hierarchy and society to form in the Aerie. A place meant for a single being's peace became one of the first few civilizations in Hueco Mundo.

Cuerva did not care for that, but as time spent in the company of those that tried to pretend that she was not around yet used her as their unmoving and uncaring figurehead was a curious social experience. The pangs of starvation jumped a few beats everytime one of the Avian Hollows stole a glance at her and quickly averted their eyes when Cuerva's own gaze returned the look. Contemplation on this experience led to the discovery of another starvation, a social kind. And to satisfy that, Cuerva finally moved from her 'alloted space' to interact with the other Avian Hollows, who were more than willing to challenge her when they think her weakened after such an extended period of time of not eating. Well, one benefit of letting Hollows accumulate around her was the ease in finding meals. As she consumed the leadership of the Aerie, she took on leadership responsibilities as the social starvation led to that of power and leadership.

Her time spent in the Aerie alone before that was not fruitless either. The growing understanding of her nature, and the Aspect of Death that she finally figured out led to a development born from understanding oneself. Whatever Cuerva figured out during her retreat and the passing of time was known only to her, but the powers she developed as a result were not a secret.


Fundamental - Embodiment of Shadowy Starvation
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Understanding something lets people use it. And knowing oneself allows the greatest usage of energy for the greatest potential. Understanding Starvation as her Aspect of Death allows Cuerva to wrap herself with the very essence of her existence. Appearing as a black dress the inkly shadowy reiatsu turns into protective clothing that enhances Cuerva's appearance as well, infusing a look of predatory hunger in the silken veils of grace and elegance. The less-dark wisps of reiatsu that cling around the more substantial 'dress' are more reactive and agile to Cuerva's senses and will spring around to form a lighter shade of reactive protection.

In mechanical terms, this Fundamental allows Cuerva to clad herself with her reiatsu in a more physical and cosmetic appearance and all attacks that strike at Cuerva have their force of impact or energy output reduced by way of consumption, allowing strong blows to weaken and energy blasts to be depleted some before exploding or discharging. The absorped energy feeds Cuerva directly. This protective clothing and aura cannot completely stop attacks, only weaken them to a relative degree before allowing it through to affect Cuerva's Hierro. As such sufficiently strong attacks will not notice the weakening much and can deal grievous attacks if sufficiently overpowers Cuerva's Hierro as well.


Lesser Spells:
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Dark Sustenance: Cuerva can manipulate her reiryoku to produce semi-tangible items that are as small as grapes or as large as oranges in various shapes and details. Colors reproduced are a tint darker in shade. These items are edible, providing sustenance for a full day per item consumed. The price to pay for such supernatural sources of food is that the consumer has to consume twice as much food for two days. Eating these dark substances satisfies the side-effect, but adds the accumulated days of extra starvation to the overal 'debit'. It is very possible to overconsume and literally die from a sudden onset of lethal malnutrition and starvation. At greater level Dark Sustenance can fuel a body for a full week, with a two week 'repayment'. Horrific level allows a full month of sustenance from consuming a single dark sustenance with two months repayment.

Elegant Consumption: Sometimes you want to eat quickly, so quickly that you aren't bothered to even chew your food. Cuerva extends the shadowy dark tendrils of energy from the hem of her 'dress' to unconscious or knocked-out or dead targets. These tendrils give a rough gauge of how badly injured they are and how much spiritual particles and energy they have. If satisfactory, the tendrils proceed to latch and consume the target quickly within seconds. At greater and horrific level Elegant Consumption just increases the amount of targets to feed simultaneously from one target at lesser to two at greater and 4 at horrific. The speed improves according to the level as well.

Shadowy Sustenance: Sometimes there is no purpose in feeding your foes, or subordinates for that matter. This is an alternative version of Dark Sustenance which does not satisfy hunger but may exact the price as if consuming Dark Sustenance.

Illuminate Starvation: Cuerva can cast a sustained light over an area no larger than 30ft radius and any being within this field of light who fails to resist this effect will begin to feel the effects of hunger that increases the longer they remain in the light. This spell is largely effective only against unseated Shinigami and similarly weaker entities.

Mark of Starvation: Using a bit of her reiryoku, Cuerva allows food to wither/rot/dry/spoil at a faster rate. If the mark is drawn on a container holding food all foodstuffs within that container are simultaneously affected. Cuerva's effective area of effect for this power is no larger than 10ft by 10ft. At greater and horrific level the size increases to 20ft by 20ft and 40ft by 40ft respectively.

Follow the Stomach: Cuerva uses this spell in conjunction to her Pesquisa to pinpoint concentrations of food or consumable spirit particles. The range and accuracy of this ability improves with greater and horrific levels.


Greater Spells:
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Remove Starvation: With a successful touch from Cuerva and an application of her reiryoku, the struck target loses all sense of hunger and thirst. This ability lasts for one week and can be resisted by spiritual beings of low seated officer level and above. Even when consuming food or drinking water, the taste and sensation of such activity will be altered to be as unpleasant as possible. Water may smell and taste of sewage sludge and food can have the texture of cardboard soaked in mud and such stuff. At horrific level this effect lasts for a month.

Acquired Appetite: Cuerva may use this spell to transform one specific sort of object into food of similar volume or size with perfect replication of texture and taste, but not the nutritional value. When using this spell in conjuction with Dark Sustenance or Shadowy Sustenance, this allows a perfect disguise of the items the lesser spells have wrought. This allows Cuerva to turn bricks into bread, or poison into fine wine. At horrific level this spell makes inedibles edible but removes any changes in taste, texture, smell and the like. It is as though when you are starving enough, even bricks would be edible, furthermore at horrific level this spell has almost no limit in the size of the item to be affected. People can chew through a building if Cuerva affects it so.

Feast for the Gods: Cuerva distills her hunger for food into a refined palate and the ability to memorize all tastes and smell and texture of food she encounters. From this encyclopedic knowledge of food, Cuerva gains the skills of a capable chef as well. This allows her to identify all ingredients and cooking style of the food she tastes and allows her to instantly learn and replicate the success as well. However, beyond that, this spell does not just let Cuerva blindly copy, but also to be creative in cooking and coming up with new dishes if she wishes to as well. This spell allows faster cooking at horrific level.

Energy Stripping: At this level of release, much subtlety would be lost. This spell represents a more brutal form of satisfying hunger by directly stripping reishi particles and energy. Cuerva may attack a single chosen target which her own reiryoku will adjust to the opponent's in order to attempt to strip and pull reishi particles from the target everytime Cuerva draws blood. When this ability is in effect, all Cuerva's weapons have a reddish blood mist tinge. At horrific level this spell affects all targets that Cuerva engages with.

Touch of Starvation: With a successful touch from Cuerva and an application of her reiryoku into this spell, the struck target must consume five times its normal amount of food and water intake or risk starving. During the course of this effect which lasts for a week, food will taste horrible and water will resemble toxic sludge. At horrific levels, this effect will last for a month and allows the target to consume inedibles as well.

Lead by Hunger: An experimental spell created in an attempt to leap beyond the common boundaries of common Starvation. The hunger for victory in battle, and one of the key features of Cuerva's fierce reputation as both a powerful Arrancar and Dark Empress is her ability to reach into the essence of hunger in every Hollow she encounters and direct them to her foes. This spell works by tapping into the primordial hunger of all Hollow-kind and create an impression of a really tempting and tasty target, allowing mindless Hollows to be directed effectively. Against Hollows with some cognitive capacity, having fed on Cuerva's Dark Sustenance lowers their resistance against this spell, otherwise they show greater resistance to being 'suggested' that obviously risky or dangerous targets can be anything but delicious. At Horrific level, this spell's ability calls to battle-hunger and affects any Hollow who wish to be lead into battle, or are involved in a conflict with Cuerva.

Imbue with Starvation: Cuerva can imbue a target with a measure of her reiryoku. By forming up to a maximum amount of five obsidian feathers around the target's skin, usually large areas like the chest, stomach or the back, the seal takes the form of a 5-pointed geometrical shape. Each of these feathers can hold a very large amount of Cuerva's reiryoku. This seal can be used as a boon or a bane, at Cuerva's will, with effects determined during casting and can be unique at each casting. Targets with sufficient spiritual power, like Adjuchas Arrancar and Vice-Captains and above, are able to attempt to resist this spell, forcing Cuerva and her target to be locked in a battle of willpower. With the successful casting of this spell, Cuerva reverts back to her sealed form and is unable to perform a Resurrecion for a week as her essence recovers from a massive expenditure of power and will. At horrific level the seal may erupt into a cascade of inky shadows that envelop the target until it forms into a 8ft tall egg-like structure. The target with the seal will receive a horrific transformation. Hollows below Menos grade in this egg become Avian Hollows, while mortals without awakened reiryoku turn into Hollows. Mortals with spiritual powers turn into a Hollow-hybrid. This spell cannot interact with Shinigami or Hollows of Menos or higher grade, they are simply ripped apart and consumed because their wills are too strong to consume in such a delicate manner. Using this spell knocks Cuerva back into her sealed form and prevents her from performing a Resurrection for a month as her essence attempts to recover from a massive expenditure in an attempt to forcibly consume and regurgitate a digested and altered lifeform.


Horrific Spells:
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Soul Trap: Whether it is a trait of the reiryoku or for some other reason, some creatures are truly delicious. For Cuerva, these exceptional individuals are likely to be very dangerous and powerful as well. As such, as a symbol of eternal conquest and domination over her more precious foes, this spell is designed to trap the 'trophies' in order to allow Cuerva the luxury of consuming them slowly, whether within her Deglucion Garganta or her mouths. Resistance is difficult for foes of Vice-Captain level, and the resistance increased the more hurt the target is.

Murder of Crows: Cuerva's hungry reiryoku explodes in a shower of inky-black crow-like shapes that fly around in a huge swarm. Individually these reiryoku-constructs are as big as a grown man's palm and they peck and bite a their target just like a school of starving piranha. A rough approximate area this spell covers is roughly 100ft long, wide and tall. They can be struck down and dispersed by attacks equivalent to an unsealed Zanpakuto, but taking them down without the aid of wide-area attacks is too slow to have any significant effect in the short run. They peck and bite as hard as an unsealed Zanpakuto as well, hence allowing this massive swarm to chow down on a target really quickly.

Black Hole of Starvation: This is a spell that when activated created a gravity well for spirit particles centered on a location determined by Cuerva within her line of sight. A small bead of blackness appears on the location, which when determined before the creation, can trigger upon contact or at a timer set at a determined length of time. Either way when the bead triggers, a massive rip in the fabric of reality occurs and an immensely strong suction force pulls all spiritual particles into the center of the effect. Loose particles and inanimate objects that are light and brittle have effectively no chance of resisting, while more solid structures and beings capable of motion can attempt to move out of the area, however only strongly rooted structures and similar creatures can resist the pull. This force generated is equivalent of a devastating hurricane. At the conclusion of this implosion, a perfectly spherical zone of dead-zone (area devoid of any spiritual particles) will remain in the affected area for days and weeks. The size of this effect is about 120ft radius.