The Ethereal Plane
The Ethereal plane exists adjacent to the Prime Material Plane and connects it to the Inner planes. The Ethereal touches the Prime at all points through what was called the Border Ethereal. The non-Border region is called the Deep Ethereal. While in the Border Ethereal, a traveler can still see into the adjacent plane, but only dimly and not very far, whereas those on the bordering plane can't see the traveler without magical detection. Verbal communication is not possible between the Border Ethereal and the bordered plane. The Ethereal is unique among the many planes in that an individual can exist in two planes simultaneously: the Border Ethereal and the adjacent plane.
When a traveler crosses into the Border Ethereal, they and all their possessions are converted to their Ethereal equivalents, metal becomes ethereal metal, flesh becomes ethereal flesh and so on, allowing free movement (in most cases) in any direction through the solid matter of the adjacent plane. Since everything is permeated with ethereality, an air-breathing creature can breathe ethereal air and can't drown in an ethereal lake nor be crushed by an ethereal rock. However, not all in the adjacent plane is insubstantial. Living things larger than one-celled animals generate an aura that radiates around them and prevents passage to their interior, so an ethereal traveler can't place a weapon inside a living creature where it could materialize and cause damage. Dense metals such as lead or gold also prevent passage of ethereal matter. And finally, some magic spells and alchemical mixtures can form an effective barrier.
Travel in the Ethereal and Border Ethereal is accomplished by force of will—you wish to go somewhere and you do so, at your normal rate of movement. There is a sense of up and down, but no real gravity exists. Objects released from possession hover where they are dropped; it is impossible to fall in the Ethereal plane. To get to another plane, one has to pass through a curtain of vaporous color into the Deep Ethereal, then traverse that region until reaching the curtain that demarcates the Border Ethereal of the destination plane. Each Inner plane and demiplane has a curtain with a unique color. The Prime Material Plane's curtain is turquoise. If the (usually magical) ethereal effect wears off while a traveler is in the Deep Ethereal, they are immediately forced through a random curtain at a random location in the Border Ethereal and deposited on the plane which it bordered.
When you pass through a curtain into the Deep Ethereal, time slows down to one tenth the rate it flows in the Border Ethereal and the plane that it borders. For every ten hours spent in the Deep Ethereal, only one hour passes on the other side of the curtain. Metabolic and other natural processes slow down also, so it does not feel like ten hours, when you cross back through a curtain into a Border Ethereal you are only an hour older and an hour hungrier. The Deep Ethereal swirls with large blobs of proto-matter which can form a demiplane when a critical size is reached. Powerful wizards, technologists, or demigods can also bend the proto-matter to their will and create a demiplane. These nascent planes might exhibit some of the characteristics of the Inner planes or the Prime, but with their own rules of gravity, material make-up, etc., and even support life. Most demiplanes eventually collapse into themselves and break up or merge with another Inner or The Prime Material Plane.
When a traveler crosses into the Border Ethereal, they and all their possessions are converted to their Ethereal equivalents, metal becomes ethereal metal, flesh becomes ethereal flesh and so on, allowing free movement (in most cases) in any direction through the solid matter of the adjacent plane. Since everything is permeated with ethereality, an air-breathing creature can breathe ethereal air and can't drown in an ethereal lake nor be crushed by an ethereal rock. However, not all in the adjacent plane is insubstantial. Living things larger than one-celled animals generate an aura that radiates around them and prevents passage to their interior, so an ethereal traveler can't place a weapon inside a living creature where it could materialize and cause damage. Dense metals such as lead or gold also prevent passage of ethereal matter. And finally, some magic spells and alchemical mixtures can form an effective barrier.
Travel in the Ethereal and Border Ethereal is accomplished by force of will—you wish to go somewhere and you do so, at your normal rate of movement. There is a sense of up and down, but no real gravity exists. Objects released from possession hover where they are dropped; it is impossible to fall in the Ethereal plane. To get to another plane, one has to pass through a curtain of vaporous color into the Deep Ethereal, then traverse that region until reaching the curtain that demarcates the Border Ethereal of the destination plane. Each Inner plane and demiplane has a curtain with a unique color. The Prime Material Plane's curtain is turquoise. If the (usually magical) ethereal effect wears off while a traveler is in the Deep Ethereal, they are immediately forced through a random curtain at a random location in the Border Ethereal and deposited on the plane which it bordered.
When you pass through a curtain into the Deep Ethereal, time slows down to one tenth the rate it flows in the Border Ethereal and the plane that it borders. For every ten hours spent in the Deep Ethereal, only one hour passes on the other side of the curtain. Metabolic and other natural processes slow down also, so it does not feel like ten hours, when you cross back through a curtain into a Border Ethereal you are only an hour older and an hour hungrier. The Deep Ethereal swirls with large blobs of proto-matter which can form a demiplane when a critical size is reached. Powerful wizards, technologists, or demigods can also bend the proto-matter to their will and create a demiplane. These nascent planes might exhibit some of the characteristics of the Inner planes or the Prime, but with their own rules of gravity, material make-up, etc., and even support life. Most demiplanes eventually collapse into themselves and break up or merge with another Inner or The Prime Material Plane.
Type
Planar Sphere/Grouping
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