Ether

Ether is the metaphysical lifeforce found in all living creatures. Ether is the "fuel" of magic - magic cannot be performed without it. There's an estimated 150,000 mages on Elos.

Manifestation

For mortals ether is invisible. For etherbeings and keepers who have the sense of ethersight, ether manifests as a fluid source of energy that flows freely between points. Creatures with ethersight may be able to learn information about a creature through their ether or the ambient ether they've left behind, such as where a creature is from or where it recently traveled by identifying the ether a creature has absorbed through etheric transference.
Ambient ether becomes weaker overtime and fades until it's no longer visible.

Localization

Internal ether, ether that exists within the body of a person, is localized in the center of their chest with ribbons of ether spreading out from that point to reach all limbs and extremities. Ambient ether, ether that is left behind by use of magic, is centered around the point where the magic was used. Afterwards the ether expands from that point and dissipates as time goes on. The amount of ether that exists within a given area is referred to as ambient ether.

Ether in Creatures

All creatures have a completely unique etheric signature, no two creature's ether's are exactly alike. This allows for creatures with ethersight to recognize and identify a creature based on their etheric signature, but etheric identification is a specialized skill that typically only appears among keepers; although etherbeings also have ethersight, it is rarely nessecary for an etherbeing to differentiate between two different etheric signatures.

Ambient Ether

Ambient ether is the ether that exists within a given area which is not tethered to a specific creature. Ambient ether flows throughout Elos freely.

Etheric Transference

Ether is not a genetic property, ether is malleable and changes throughout the course of a persons lifetime. Ether passively mutates to resemble the surrounding ambient ether, the ether of the people and nature in an area. Different ecosystems can have widely varying ambient ether and analysis of ether can determine locations that a creature frequents.
The level of ambient ether is also transferrable to creatures whose etheric density will increase or decrease based on the ambient etheric density. This is why people living in high density areas may be more naturally inclined towards magic. If ones etheric density is raised past their etheric threshold, they may suffer etherification - a condition in which a mortal may transform into an etherbeing as their physical form is replaced by an etheric form.

Etheric Density

Etheric Density represents the amount of ether that exists within a creature or space. The etheric density of a creature is directly proportional to how much magic they can do. Etheric density also plays a large part in the process of etheric transferrence, things with a high etheric density transfers larger amounts of ether than things with a low etheric density.

Measurement

Ether is measured in etheric units (eu). The eu scale was developed in 212 by Grandmaster Ramsey Lavanet.

eu	meaning
-5	No ether whatsoever. Alberin.
-2	This is the etheric density of the average mortal. There is almost no etheric transfer between two creatures at -2 eu. Creatures at -2 eu are advised to avoid locations at 3 eu or higher, as that could be dangerous levels of etheric transfer.
0	At 0 eu there is enough ether for transference to effect those with low thresholds, but not enough to cause etherification. When the eu scale was developed, Lavanet used Néos Miléa's amount ambient ether as the base of 0. In modern day, Néos Miléa's ambient ether is 2 eu.
2	Etherification may occur. 2 eu is not dangerous to most people, but people with ether deficiencies may experience negative effects from being around 2 eu for long periods of time. This is the average level of ambient ether in Néos Miléa.
4	Dangerous levels of ether. At 4 eu etherification starts to become an actual threat for the average person, but creatures with large thresholds may be fine.
5	Average level of etherbeings.
7	Etherification is virtually guaranteed for all mortals.
10	Etherification is guaranteed and occurs very quickly.
???	The ambient ether of the Neverplane is incalculable, returning an error when one attempts to measure it.