Aether

“You do not collect it. You do not refine it. You merely witness it and pray your vessel is worthy.” -Isildeth Throm, Grand Savant of the Astral Veil

Aether is the raw, unseen thread of existence, an ancient and volatile essence believed to predate the world itself. Known as the Breath of the Arcane or the Fifth Medium, it is not mined, distilled, or forged in the traditional sense. It is harvested, often reluctantly, in fleeting moments when the boundary between the physical world and the Arcane grows thin. Though many dispute whether it is matter, energy, or something entirely beyond understanding, its influence is absolute: everything magickal bends to it, and everything real is touched by it. It is said that Aether defines the form and function of all matter it flows through, not by intention, but by inevitability. Where Forge Spice burns and Wraith Salts whisper, Aether simply is, subtle, cosmic, and unknowable. Alchemists who master it often refer to themselves not as creators, but as translators of divinity. Most die insane or enlightened. Occasionally both.

Properties

Material Characteristics

Aether appears as a flickering shimmer in air, a ripple of starlight where none should exist. In containment, it takes on the hue of the caster or object that channels it, blue for healing, gold for mindwork, red for force, but its natural state is colorless and cold. It smells faintly of ozone and something that reminds all who inhale it of home, even if they’ve never had one.

Physical & Chemical Properties

Aether is neither fully physical nor immaterial. It can be frozen, but not touched. It can be contained, but not weighed. It reacts violently with unaligned magick, causing spells to implode or birth unintended effects. When combined with pure elemental material, fire, earth, wind, or water, it amplifies their natural properties tenfold but often introduces wild instability unless anchored by ritual.

Compounds

• Dreamgilt Tincture – A mild alchemical drink used to heighten magical awareness. Often consumed by Scribes before recording divine texts. Grants temporary clairvoyance, though sometimes opens the mind to foreign thoughts.

• Aetherlace Thread – Enchanted silk used to weave into spell-robes, allowing the garments to “remember” a single cast spell and repeat it when triggered. Unstable when worn by novices.

• Oathglass Shards – Crystallized droplets of Aether used in memory charms and psychic bonds. Shatter when a vow is broken or when the user’s soul fractures.

• Soul-Aught Ink – Used to pen “Living Contracts,” documents bound to the life-force of the signers. Violations result in real pain or magical feedback. Rare, highly controlled.

Geology & Geography

Aether is not bound to rock or soil. It seeps through fault lines during arcane storms, pools in forgotten sanctums, and bleeds from sites of great ritual death. The greatest source of ambient Aether in Everwealth is beneath the ruins of old capital cities, where magick once ran rampant before the Schism. Some say leyline nexuses can be tapped to channel it directly, but doing so risks breaching reality itself.

Origin & Source

The true origin of Aether is unknown as The Arcane itself. Scholar-Saints claim it is the blood of fallen gods; Texts of The Arcane Coalition suggest it predates time, a byproduct of the Dawn where The Folklands and the Arcane first touched marking the creation of the world as we know it. In the modern age, it is most often found at leyline convergence points, wild mage-deaths, and ruined Aether-engines from the Lost Age.

Life & Expiration

Once contained, Aether begins to degrade after a few days unless stabilized. Exposure to sound, sunlight, or raw emotion accelerates its dissipation. Some ancient scrolls claim it never truly “dies,” but instead migrates, like a restless spirit, to another vessel more deserving.

History & Usage

History

Before the Schism, Aether was common among the elite: poured into weapons, siphoned into temples, infused into language. The Elfese used it to power their skybound cities, and it is said the last words of Xaethra herself were written in Soul-Aught Ink. After the war, its unregulated use became taboo, then illegal. The Arcane Coalition now regulates all public use of Aether, despite knowing full well they cannot control it.

Discovery

The first “discovery” of Aether came not from scholars, but from shepherds who wandered too close to ancient ruins and returned weeks later with glowing veins, perfect memories, and voices not their own. Most died. A few became the first warlocks.

Everyday use

Aether is rarely used directly by commoners. Its applications are limited to high-level Spellcraft:, elite enchantment work, or divine relic forging. However, many urban apothecaries dilute trace Aether into elixirs to enhance healing brews or to awaken “sleeping” talismans.

Cultural Significance and Usage

To The Scholar's Guild, Aether is the key to everything—the language of gods carved into existence itself. To the Arcane Coalition, it is dangerous, unpredictable, and best left sealed. Religious orders view it as sacrament: “the first breath of the world.” Peasants fear it as soul-stealer’s mist. Yet, despite fears, every major cultural relic, crowning jewels, oath-rings, burial blades, contains a sliver of stabilized Aether.

Industrial Use

• Enchantment Reactivation – Revitalizes old magick items.

• Relic Restoration – Used to “wake” ancient items for brief periods.

• Soul-Thread Weaving – In binding contracts or blood-bond armor.

• Potion Infusion – Acts as a channel to increase potency of base reagents.

Due to its instability, Aether is rarely used in mass industry but is vital for elite works.

Refinement

True Aether cannot be “refined,” only stabilized. Stabilization involves ritual grounding using star-metal, mirrored runes, and a silent room. Disruption, such as a spoken word, ruins the process. Some Alchemists claim humming helps. This has never been proven safe, nor has any 'consistent' attempt to harvest it, one slip of the wind or itch of the nose the difference between harvesting a mere morsel of this cosmic runoff and taking the raw, unchecked power of The Arcane into yourself and blown apart so violently there aren't even stains left.

Manufacturing & Products

• Memory Charms – Necklaces or rings that store personal truths. If destroyed, the wearer forgets specific memories.

• Writs of Fate – Magical contracts enforced by pain or fate-shift when broken. Typically used by nobles or devout warlocks.

• Veilcloth – Robes woven with Aetherlace, said to shimmer when lies are spoken. Often worn by Guild Inquisitors.

• Etherbells – Delicate, silver-lined chimes that ring only when truth is spoken nearby. Used in high-court trials.

Byproducts & Sideproducts

• Fade-Soot – A silvery ash left after Aether dissipates; used in dream wards.

• Shudderglass – A cracked, volatile form of Aether that reflects things “as they might have been.” Dangerous to the depressed.

• Arc-Spill – A liquid residue of failed Aether rituals. Used to erase low-level enchantments.

Hazards

• Touching raw Aether causes soul burns, a sense of dissociation, mania, or euphoric grief.

• Exposure may cause Arcane Echo, replaying fragments of nearby thoughts.

• Long-term contact results in “Waning,” a condition where the caster’s soul thins, becoming barely tethered to the body.

• Known to attract wraiths, particularly those formed from failed spellcasters.

Environmental Impact

Aether dissipates unevenly in natural environments. Wildflowers may bloom in winter, corpses may rise in confused prayer, or rain may fall upward for minutes at a time. Entire glades have vanished into Arcane fogbanks after Aether was mishandled nearby.

Reusability & Recycling

Extremely limited. Aether can be redirected but not recycled. Once spent, it either leaves or becomes something else. Soul-Aught Ink, however, can be scraped from failed scrolls and reused in theory, though often with unpredictable results.

Distribution

Trade & Market

Aether is not legally traded in pure form. It is occasionally embedded in relics, scrolls, or sealed phials licensed by the Arcane Coalition. The Dwarfish Cartel and Syndicate both move traces illegally under the guise of “ritual reagents” or “priest's dust.”

Storage

Stored in mirror-lined containers with null-metal seals. Exposure to thought, voice, or blood destabilizes it. Ritual containment circles are often drawn on the inside of the jar of immense quality, those fortunate enough to obtain a sample of Aether are most unwilling to improperly handle and potentially lose a material so valuable it can bankroll a new city.

Law & Regulation

Classified as a Tier One Arcane Substance. Only licensed enchanters, Guild Savants, or Coalition-approved clergy may possess or use it. Use without documentation is considered Arcane Poaching, punishable by memory erasure, fines, or forced magical nullification.

Value

Immeasurable for some; forbidden for others. Worth more than all the world's gold with the right ritual to some.

Rarity

Ultra-rare, requires both magickal and environmental phenomena to form.

Odor

Faint ozone with notes of one's favorite memory.

Taste

Not safe to consume; causes mouth-bleeding and dream-hallucinations.

Color

Varies by user, but usually colorless or starlight silver.

Boiling / Condensation Point

Undefined; reacts instead of boiling.

Melting / Freezing Point

Exists in perpetual flux; changes under observation.

Density

Zero in mass, infinite in meaning.

Common State

Vapor or light; only briefly becomes liquid during specific rites.