Ethereal Plane

It might have been screams or it might have been the wind. Either way, it was muffled by the fog. That damned fog. It seemed to form shapes, but when you got closer, there was nothing. Distant lights might give hope of some company or a guide, but they always remain far in the distance. In fact, everything feels distant here. Even your own voice seems to come from somewhere else. All you can do is watch the world, but never be part of it.

This plane, along with the Astral Plane, is a bit special in that it exists in-between other realms. It touches the prime material plane, the Feywild and Shadowfell, the elemental planes, and the astral plane. In contact with each, it forms what is known as the near etheral plane which overlaps that plane.
In the near ethereal realm, one can see everything in the adjacent plane as if through a dense fog. In the same way, it is difficult to see more than a dozen metres or so through this eirie landscape. One can't interact with the other plane without special abilities to do so but is only limited by it if something has been established on that plane over a long time. Newer walls can easily be walked through.
In the far ethereal plane, things get weirder. Winding paths lead through disturbing landscapes warped by the ever-present mist. Now and then, a traveller might come across portals to other realms or to the near ethereal of one of the planes it touches. Navigating is very difficult, and it is easy to get lost for years, centuries, or forever. Or, the unweary might end up crossing a portal they don't want.

Fauna & Flora

There are several plants and creatures native to the ethereal realm; most of them are more spirits than something with physical form. Souls that fail to reach the Raven Queen or are otherwise stuck between life and death as ghosts. This doesn't just apply to humanoids; animals and other creatures might linger in the same way and only fade with time.
The strange nature of this plane has made any study about its native life very difficult. Most of the expeditions sent to do so have never returned.

Type

Dimensional plane

Location under

Realmspace