Astral Sea

"You look out and you see an infinite world of endless potential, and monsters that devour worlds in equal measure. Immortality, divinity, immeasurable wealth. What are you waiting for?"

— Astral Traveler

The Astral Sea is a wild and dangerous space. It is a fierce battleground between various factions that try to hold dominion over it, carve out their own empires or simply seek to make a profit.
It is also known as the 'Star Sea' or 'The Rift'

The Astral is extremely dangerous despite it being a mostly empty void. Floating through the void are chunks of Long-dead worlds, Pockets of elemental energy, Floating cities and openly accessible pocket dimensions.

Description

The Astral is a mostly empty space of ethereal light and debris. Depending on the area, the astral can however be plunged into twilight or darkness, or can be filled with elemental nebulae and clusters of civilization.

The Astral Sea is the space between Realms. It is filled with great dangers in the form of primordial titans, elemental nebulae and all consuming black holes.
Even the gods tend to avoid the astral sea as there is simply so little of interest there.

Astral Currents

Anything in the astral is at all times being moved. These movements are referred to as the astral currents. They can be slower or faster, depending on the area, and change frequently. However, no place in the astral is ever truly free of these currents.

All Astral currents inevitably lead towards one of the many all-consuming black holes that are small gateways into the world of Sedulon. Everything set adrift in the astral Ends up there, even if it takes eons.

Elemental Nebulae

In the Astral sea the laws of reality can be unstable and inconsistent. Due to this, it is possible for massive pockets to form where things like fire, lightning or the like spontaneously manifest. These elemental nebulae are highly hazardous for those that try to cross them.
Countless Elementals are attracted by the energies that form within these pockets and spontaneously manifest. In particularly large clouds, immeasurably old and powerful elementals are known to dwell.
If such a nebula gets too close to a material world's realm cloud, traces of it might start to manifest inside the world and cause great destruction.

Settlements

There are very few settlements inside the astral sea. The lack of food, the constant dragging currents, the difficulty of transportation and the inconsistency of the rules of reality make life almost impossible.
The most famous City within the Astral is the city of Ezria, at the center of the astral sea, high above The Brass Heart.

Travel

The astral is used by a select few species of the realms as a means of travel, but most don't bother and exclusively use Gateways . It is possible to deliberately sail the astral currents downstream, as well as opening passages into realm clouds that are downstream. However going upstream is only possible if the currents are calm enough to allow it and takes a lot of energy.

Realm Clouds

Inside the Astral drift the so called Realm Clouds, the spots where one can enter a world most easily. These clouds hang in the astral, usually surrounded by a cloud of local astral creatures.
Realm clouds slowly drift across the astral, though they are usually easy to keep track of as they move relatively slowly.
As they are major points of interest, these clouds are very dangerous to be around. There is always predators lurking near one, and it is best to remember there is always a bigger fish.

Twisted Space

The Fabric of the Astral is inconsistent at the best of times. Routes can shorten or lengthen, pathways can be cut off or be made anew, the geometry of space itself can shift, making high-speed travel lethal, the target might have drifted significantly if the map was made a long time ago, the list goes on.
It is highly likely for any voyage on the Astral Sea to encounter one or multiple of these phenomena, adding a significant risk and unpredictability to any mission.

Astral storms

The Astral is often weathered by storms of psionic or magical energies. The origins of these storms can be a variety of things, but they are usually imbued with exotic energies.
These Storms are highly dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. While some storms, like a storm of Elemental Air might damage a ship, others, like a storm of necromantic magic might outright be lethal to any crew.

Type

Dimensional plane