Aether

Is the amount of Aether in the world infinite? A question that not many consider as they weave their spellwork.
It certainly seems as if it is as we have used it for as long as history can remember and we've never been left without, but we must consider that it may not be. It flows like water or smoke, which would indicate that it has a physical presence, does it not? A physical presence implies an amount, which is reinforced by the fact that all the Aether in an area can be removed if the pains are taken to do so.
Yet, the weaving of great spells seems to do nothing to diminish the Aether within the area of their castings, even when the spell in question leaves a colossal amount of crystals behind in it's inefficiency. A person who sits upon a location and dedicates all of their energy to condensing Aether into something like a cube of Blackstone will not want for the ephemeral stuff.
But then how can regions be sparse of Aether or individual examples of it's aspected types? They are not like spaces devoid of Aether entirely, as there is nothing working to make it so. No device that is expelling the Aether.

-Excerpt from Questions of the Ephemeral, by Professor Clemens Sepp of Katenja College

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Aether. The lifeblood of the world. It's in the stones, the air, and you and me. It is tasteless, scentless, and seems to have no affect on the mass of areas it exists within. It defies understanding if one attempts to adhere to the rules that the rest of the world follow.
It is a singular source of change within the world, unique in every way, and yet it interacts with everything in some way. Nothing is left untouched.
The change that Aether brings is what we refer to as magic. Be it the breath of the Great Wyrms, or a spellweavers attempt to heal a wound, magic exacts change upon the world in a myriad ways, and through Aether that change is alway a possibility, even down to the lowliest of beings. It's saturation is what allows animals to produce their own magical effects through the processes of their body.

Type

Natural

It is nearly impossible, but not completely, to expend the bodies entier reserve of Aether which results in sever sickness or a painful death, reportedly akin to drowning. Thankfully, the body and human mind inherently attempt to retain the bare minimum of Aether to survive, much in the same way that the mind refuses to let an individual bite their own finger off, even though it should be fairly easy to do so.