The Ether

The Ether, also called the Etherial Realm or the Astral Plane is a dimension that exists separately from the physical world of Hysal, and is only accessible to those who have a connexion to it, namely Soulmages.

Manifestation

The Ether and Hysal

It is generally though by most commoners, including inexperienced Soulmages themselves, that the Ether is physicaly located just above Hysal's surface, however, that is not exactly the case. This is a widely believed myth rooted in a misinterpretation of the common knowledge that Soulmages have a easier time connecting and traveling to the Ether while being higher in altitude. While this is true, it is instead due to the fact that they are closer to Veos. In fact, this moon has a profound impact on the abilities of Soulmages, including their ability to travel to the Ether.

A Mysterious Realm

While the Ether has been known to exist at least since the end of the Long Winter, more than 2000 years ago, the knowledge that scholars posses about the dimension itself is minuscule. This is because written and oral records of soulmages traveling to this dimension and exploring it are extremely rare. This is due to two main reasons. the first one is because of the sheer raretty of soulmages themselves and their historic systemic oppression in most Hysalian societies. The second is because only a fraction of those soulmages can ever access it to begin with. Because of this, compiling information about this mysterious realm is very challenging to this day.

Accessing the Ether

The Ether can theoretically be accessed by anyone with a link or tether to the dimension. These people are called Soulmages. However, not all Soulmages can enter the Ether, as it require the person to have an exceptionally strong tether connecting them to the dimension. It also requires having the right state of mind while attempting to access it. It requires extreme concentration and meditation to reach said state. Once the connection becomes strong enough, their bodies disappear from the physical realm and they enter the Etherial realm. While they are gone, other soulmages will be able to see a sort of echo of the person's body, described as a sort of bluish silhouette taking its place. The echo will slowly fade in the following minutes until it is nearly imperceptible. This is when the person will reappears into the physical realm.

Exploration

Once a soulmage manages to travel to this realm, they cannot remain for long, meaning that any exploration will be severely limited. The longest trip to the Ether that was ever officially recorded was 11 hours long. While this is rather long, that is because time in both dimension seem to work differently. Time seems to move much faster in the Ether, although some would argue that it doesn't exist at all. This means that it the case of this 11 hours long trip, for the person, he was there for less than 20 minutes per their estimation. Time is limited for the exploration and there the fact that terrain is often not suited for exploration, and persistent rumors of monsters residing inside the dimension only adds to the complexity regarding any attempted exploration of the Ether.

Inside the Ether

The Ether has been described as a vast, mostly empty land with a vague sense of familiarity to Hysal, but with very uncanny characteristics and overwhelmingly saturated in blue. The terrain in the Ether has been described as both complete chaos, with hardly any flat surfaces to be seen, but also as a series of gentle rolling hills with small lakes of mysterious liquid dispersed around in between, with little patches of weird other worldly vegetation growing around it. These vastly different descriptions do not seem to be of permanant geographical locations, as two people can access the Ether in the same location in Hysal, but get vastly different locations within the Ether. There does not seem to be any relation regarding the type of Soulmage the person is but rather an interesting correlation between the type of terrain someone gets and their personality. This suggests that the Ether either reacts to the person entering it, or that the person's perception is altered is a way that is based of of their personality. More research is needed to fully understand this phenomena
The climate inside the Ether is mild. Not too hot, but not cold either. There doesn't seem to be any type of season in the Ether. Furthermore, weather is very predictable. During the day, light rain will fall. It will pool and flow into the aforementioned lake. The liquid is assumed to be water, but soulmages who have tasted it had fell sick for weeks afterwards. During the night, a strong breeze flows through the land, drying it and the plant patches.

Testimonies

Here is a compilation of written record and oral transcript given to us by Soulmages explorers about their experiences while traveling within this realm.

"...And so when i appeared, i was at the top of a big mountain. Or at least, i though so, but when i walked towards the horizon, i realized it was actually the edge of a cliff. I was on some sort of floating island. I... didn't get far." Part of a testimony given by a Soothsayer after a recent travel to the Ether.

"...If i am completely honest with you, i did not see any monsters in there. In fact, i didn't see anything. The land was almost completely flat. There was nothing except some patches of that weird water and some spiky grass..." Part of a testimony given by a Soulweaver, recounting a past travel to the Ether.

When a Soulmages's echo is near gone, it seems as if the Soulmage that is physically in the Ether can feel it and know that they are about to leave the Etherial plane. Here is one testimony that describes this phenomena;

"...The air was getting a bit hazy, like on a hot summer's day. You know when you look just above the sun baked pavement and you see the air kind of moving... yeah, it was like that, but everywhere... and then, just blackness. When i opened my eyes, i was back in bed, inside the temple." Part of a testimony given by a Shapeshifter.

Etherial Beings

Inside the Ether, there is no life like on Hysal. Nonetheless, Humans aren't the only ones who can travel to this realm, or otherwise end up in it. Animals and regular non-magic user humans also seem to end up here quite often, but only as spirits. If the testimonies of these Soulmages are to be believed, then i would seem that the soul or spirit from these living creatures temporarily end up here before moving on to The celestial plane. Necromancers, Shapeshifters and to a lesser extent, Soothsayers, can communicate, interact and use these beings for their own purpose.

Nexurium in the Ether

The Ether is also believed to be made from Nexurium, or at least, believed to contain a very large amount of the energy. This is because unlike Elemental mages, who are constraint by the amount of nexurium they naturally possess as well as the nexurium present around them in the physical world, Soulmages do not have such constraint. In Fact, Soulmages, through their link to the Ether, do not run out of energy like their Elemental counterpart. This means that, depending on the scenario, Soulmages are generally more powerful than Elemental mages.

Type

Metaphysical, Astral