Over a thousand years ago, even before the founding of the Research and development institute, Shinigami scientists were playing with the concepts of eternal life. A Shinigami scientist by the name of Ran Tao thought she had a way to do it by using pieces of her soul and the souls of those around her to create artificial souls. This would later bring the existence of mod souls, but at the time the experiments were very rudimentary and unstable. 

 

This would lead to a catastrophic disaster as the Jōkaishō that held the artificial souls ruptures and sends the created artificial souls into the soul stream. This causes an influx of souls being born into the world, the artificial souls being born to normal humans but they themselves not  being human were quickly ostracised. 

 

Being born roughly around the same time, give or take 100 or so years, most Bounts grow old, and even die without even knowing what exactly they are, never forced to push that issue. But for some, they found they were able to absorb reishi to extend their life, rejuvenating their skin and stopping them from aging, sometimes even reverting the effects if enough reishi is consumed.

 

As such, local people of all sects of the world started to tell legends and tales of these beings that lived off of humans and never aged. Bloodsuckers, vampires, lamia, nosferatu, ghouls, monsters, incubus/succubus; All names that were given to the Bounts throughout history. Many became adept at hiding in society, blending in and moving every so often as to not raise suspicion. They would feed on any source of Reishi they could find. From Hollows, Shinigami, humans, where they got their nourishment didn’t matter, only the power they gained from it did.

 

Many Bount found out that along with their ability to absorb Reishi, this gave them powers akin to a Shinigami, the very people who created their artificial souls. They gained the ability to manipulate different things, meeting the needs of the Bount and once strong enough, this allowed them to call forth their doll, an oftentimes physical manifestation of their abilities. This doll acted a lot like a zanpaktou spirit would, but was not bound to a zanpaktou. Instead, they would be bound to an object of the Bount’s choosing, their mark laid upon it to seal the Doll’s true form until called upon.

 

Once called upon, their Doll would act independently from the Bount, some even having completely different motives or morals than it’s master. These Dolls evolve over time while their bond with their master continues to further develop. And once true synergy was found between the two, they would be able to fuse with their doll, increasing their power to that even rivalling a Shinigami Captain.

 

Upon learning this, the Bounts all rallied together, seeking out the Shinigami that created them in hopes of having a home among them and helping in their quest of balance. However, once the Shinigami learn of their existence, they seek to destroy the Bounts causing a war to break out between the two forces. Not enough Bounts were strong enough to take on the Shinigami forces, and all but those who were still in hiding or that fled the battlefield, were exterminated.

 

Afterwards, the Bounts that were left went into hiding. They separated, all going to different parts of the world to further throw Shinigami off their tracks. They can be found in very small covens, but mostly they seem to work alone for fear of being discovered by a Shinigami.