Ethereal Plane

The Ethereal Plane or Ethereal Realm is a transitory dimensional plane that lies between the Material Plane and the Inner Planes. It is often referred to in literature and philosophical works as "the Place Between Places" or "the Realm Between." As a transitory dimension, the Ethereal Realm exists in the same physical space as the Inner Planes but is generally imperceptible and impervious to external interaction.

Properties & Cosmography

The boundaries between the Ethereal Realm and the physical planes it borders are called its shores. These shores are located throughout Holos and the other physical planes and they vary in their size and permeability. Much of the time, a shore is indistinguishable from the area around it and impossible to cross. However, on certain days of the year when the orbit of the planes is in conjunction, the boundary between the Material Realm and the Inner Planes thins, allowing for the crossing of magically gifted or fated creatures. Well known examples of this phenomena on Holos include the Moon's Eve and the Day of Omens. The Ethereal Realm harbors no natural ecosystem or naturally occurring life forms. Living creatures that enter the Ethereal Realm either through its "shores" or with the aid of arcane or divine magic, have described the Ethereal Realm as a place of eternal, immovable fog. These reports claim that the dimension is broken into two distinct regions—the Border Ethereal and the Deep Ethereal. The Border Ethereal forms along the shores of the Realm. Their proximity to the shores allows a visitor to the realm to peer through the border and witness events happening directly on the other side. This is usually described as viewing fuzzy or distorted images, and the visibility from the Border Ethereal is limited to within 30 ft. The terrain of the Border Ethereal seems to also defy many of the laws of gravity, allowing for travelers to move up or down in space as easily as walking left to right. The Deep Ethereal lacks any fixed shoreline along the adjoining planes. The only secure points of transition between the Deep Ethereal and the Inner Planes are the Ethereal Curtains, shimmering cascades of colored mist that act as portals to other realms. Laws of relativity and spacial distance change drastically from moment to moment, resulting in many travelers wandering for days in search of an Ethereal Curtain, despite it seeming only a few meters away. These curtains seal each time they are used, making the construction of any kind of map or guide for the Deep Ethereal pointless. Though largely bereft of formal geography or weather, the Ethereal Realm does experience a unique kind of phenomena known as ether cyclones. Eye-witness accounts of these cyclones describe great serpentine towers of rapidly swirling smoke and mist that overwhelm the senses. These cyclones appear to be generated by the constant flux of the Ethereal Plane's shores. Individuals caught in one of these cyclones can be tossed deeper into the Ethereal Plane or out to its shores. Some have even reported cyclones ripping holes in the Ethereal Plane and casting their contents into the Astral Sea, the enveloping dimension that encompasses all of known reality.

In Religion & Mythology

In most mortal religions, the Ethereal Realm is believed to be a gateway from the world of the living to the world of the dead. Though many disagree as to the specifics of the realm and its phenomena, it is generally believed that when a creature dies, their spirit is disconnected from their physical body. Without the anchoring of a physical body, the spirit is able to move into the Ethereal Realm. Here they are guided, typically by ancestral spirits or by agents of the gods of death, to the afterlife. While many faiths claim the journey to be treacherous and full of uncertainty, most maintain that if the dead has undergone the proper burial rites and remains in the company of their guide, they will arrive in the Realm of the Dead unharmed. From here, the specifics of the dead's afterlife journey are disputed by each religion. Despite being naturally devoid of lifeforms, the Ethereal Realm is home to a large population of transitioning spirits. These spirits, often known as ghosts in the Material Plane, are always on the move and rarely stay in the Ethereal Realm for long. Those that do often use the Ethereal Realm as a means of moving from where they died to a place of significance to them when they were alive. Occasionally, these spirits can become corrupted by agents of the Unspoken Six that patrol the Ethereal Realm looking for easy targets. For this reason, many good-aligned gods of death send forth spirits or animal harbingers to help protect the wandering dead and lead them to the afterlife. For followers of the Heavenly Council, the god Milcon is thought to guide the dead to the Underworld using death dogs, fierce twin headed canines that can freely travel between the worlds of the living and the dead. Worshipers of the Silent Watchman claim that all dogs are in fact servants of Milcon and that those who are particularly close to this god are often reincarnated as dogs to help ease the burdens of life among the living. Jackals and coyotes fill a similar role, though they are more often thought of as devotees of Milcon that have returned to Holos as penance for sins during their lifetime and must work to overcome their selfish nature. In nautical folklore, the god Milcon is unable to guide souls that have been lost at sea. This is because a drowned soul's spirit can become untethered from its body and float into the abyss, leaving the spirit suspended underwater. Sailors believe that the task of guiding the dead through the Ethereal Realm falls to instead Lacorré, the Sea's Lover. They claim that the goddess sends forth ghost sharks , ethereal predatory fish to protect and lead the dead to afterlife beneath the surface of the waves. In many seafaring societies, certain sharks have been known to be friendly to non-threatening mortals. These sharks are thought to be reincarnated followers of Lacorré and have even been known to lead swimmers and shipwrecked sailors to safety.

Type

Dimensional plane

Contested By

During the cosmic alignment created every Moon's Eve, the barriers between the Material and the Ethereal Realms become thin and more permeable