Ethereal Plane

A plane that exists in a pocket between the elemental and material planes. It is a large plain of forests and mountains that were leftover from the material plane's formation and is corrupted with the energies of the upper gods that reside there. The plane itself is filled with a colorful mist that looks like darker water and obscures the rest of the plane to seem more vibrant. Magic and nature are affected strangely by the energies, to an extent that prolonged human exposure will likely result in death.

Geography

The terrain of the Ethereal plane is condensed and random, and not subject to natural law as the material world is. Everything there is suspended, thus not dead nor alive. The actual biomes are close together and cut off abruptly, sometimes mixing in strange ways such as desert sands covering the floor of a forest or volcanic ashes floating aimlessly around icy tundras. The climate has no emission of heat, though since life is suspended the lack of heat does not harm them. They are exempt from temporal conditions like progressing sicknesses or growing fatigue and remain in the state that they entered unless physically harmed. The ice does not melt and the oceans do not freeze as they are suspended in their current state, and the actual terrain is scaled up from the material plane by almost triple. The trees would tower into the skies, ravines are massive pits of death, dunes pile up intensely. The geography of this plane, as it is random, is also impossible to predict unless previously mapped or divined. There are strange properties of suspended life: its glow, and its magnetism. Life in suspension is the only thing in the Ethereal plane that emits light, and lifeless areas such as large deserts are pitch black. A human within it would only see a few feet in front of them from the light their body emits. Forests and grassy areas are extremely bright, almost blindingly so. Living forces also attract metals and suspended inanimate magnetic objects, making armor difficult to doff and weapons difficult to fight with (the blade is being pulled towards the torso).

Ecosystem

The Ethereal plane's ecosystem mimics the random biome. If there is a lake, regular animal and creature life for a lake will be native to the area. Because the geography is random, the wildlife is too, and the plant life or creature life is often very unusual. Animals and creatures in the Ethereal plane have no veins, have bright blue-glowing nails and fur, and green-blue blood. When an ethereal body is exposed to the material plane, it adapts and grows veins while losing the properties of its nails and blood in favor of the regular translucent nails and blue blood. Because life is suspended, the plants do not need water but are still capable of reproducing and growing. Because of this, hospitable areas for plantlife like swamps or ponds are often overgrown with large plants, flowers, and weeds. There are no seasons in the Ethereal plane as the astrological bodies which would normally manipulate weather and climate are suspended.

Natural Resources

Natural recourses harvested from the Ethereal plane are highly sought after by artificers, engineers, warriors, spellcasters, merchants, and craftsmen. This is because they are very rare in the Material plane, they are difficult to harvest or access, and their properties make them both valuable and powerful. Not only are Ethereal recourses imbued with a great deal of mana (ether), but they have unusual and unexplored properties and are more reactive with spells or enchantments. Some of the greatest artifacts in history were forged or crafted from Ethereal substances.

History

When Avion and Adikas formed the Material plane from the Elemental planes, a pocket realm of unused material and elements of the Material plane formed between it and the Elemental planes. This is how the Ethereal plane was formed, and it was later adopted as a place of residence among the Upper Gods.

Alternative Name(s)

The Source, Source Plane

Type

Dimensional, Pocket