The Astral Plane
"Time. Or rather the absence of it. In the Astral Plane, everything is eternal." -Gale
The Astral can be reached from almost any point in the Prime Material Plane or first layer of any Outer plane by spell, psionic ability, or device. It is described as a barren place of other-dimensional nothingness extending in all directions. What little solid substance that floated in the bright, gray void was typically chunks of matter broken off from their original plane. The Astral has no gravity but objects did retain their mass, enabling creatures to throw small items or push off from large objects to move in the weightless environment.
Time in the Astral flows at the same rate on a Prime Material plane but the effects of time depend on where on the Astral plane you are. Most explorers, travelersn and residents of the Astral have experienced The Astral Sea, a place where Time is slowed almost to a stop―a thousand years in the Astral plane feels like only a day to the traveler. Hence, it was sometimes considered effectively timeless. Creatures do not go hungry or age while conducting their lives in the Astral Sea. For that reason, its mortal inhabitants needed to return to the Material Plane in order to have children or to reach adulthood.
For many, this is all they have experienced in 'The Astral' and so they ascribe the entire plane to operating as such, though they are inprecise in their observations. Along the colloquial shorelines of the Astral Sea exists Wildspace, previously known as 'Crystalspheres'. These airless, environmentally hostile voids where Time functions as normal are regions where the Material Plane have overlapped with the Astral and cover such large expanses of territory that only those traveling utilizing Spelljammer vessels have experienced it and lived to tell the tale.
Entering the Astral plane can be accomplished in one of two ways: projecting your astral form into the plane via the astral projection spell, or by physically entering the plane. Astral projection was the safest way to travel but still involved risk because the traveler still left their physical body behind on their plane of origin. The astral body would be accompanied by the astral forms of any items and clothing that were magical or radiated a magic aura. While projecting, the traveler's astral self was connected to their physical body by a silver cord that stretched out behind them for about 10 feet (3 meters), or 1 foot (30 centimeters) depending on the version of the spell, and then became invisible and intangible. Very few things could sever this silver cord: a powerful psychic wind, a githyanki silver sword, or the will of gods. The physical body left behind appeared alive but did not require food, water, or air and did not age. It could be moved and was vulnerable to damage and death. If the traveler's physical body was slain, death followed the projection some minutes later. If the astral self was slain, the traveler then returned to his or her physical body in a coma. Physically entering the Astral plane required a spell such as plane shift and brought travelers wholly into the Astral with no silver cord to anchor them to their plane of origin or traversal utilizing a Spelljammer.
Geographical Features
Upon entering the Astral plane, travelers saw a silvery color pool nearby—a portal to the location on the Prime Material plane from which they originated. Astral projecting travelers saw their silver cord leading back to this pool. Color pools appeared as two-dimensional circles about 10‒60 ft (3‒18 m) in diameter and only visible from one side unless they had some way to detect invisible objects. Pools of different colors were portals to the different Outer planes. Each Outer plane had its own unique color, but the traveler's home portal was always a metallic silver, rippling like mercury in a pan. Color pools could be used to view the destination plane before stepping through by mentally concentrating on the nearby pool until it became transparent. A viewer could also move (with some limitations) the portal's viewpoint by concentration. Astral projecting travelers formed a new physical body (with silver cord attached) when they stepped through a color pool to their destination plane. The new body was formed out of local materials so the greater the similarity between one's home plane and the destination, the more one's new body looked like the original one.
It was considered to be boundless.
Cosmology
Within the cosmology of 'The Crucible of Creation' world setting, there is an understanding by the inhabitants of the Astral Plane that throughout the ages there have been numerous sages, chroniclers, and historians who have all tried to make sense of the wider world. And, thanks to the aforemented features of the Astral Plane, many of those beings are still alive to this day and continue to bicker with one another as to the 'current' state of the Astral Plane, its very nature, and the properties with which it operates. These topics are hotly debated, with points and counter-points, evidence and refutations swaying public and academic opinion for centuries at this point.
Those who have entered the Astral Plane more recently tend to believe that their understanding of the 'Great Wheel' appears to be the most accurate, based on the current state of observable reactions. Others have been drifting in and out of the Astral Plane since the times of the 'World Tree' understanding and so refer to the areas where the material plane overlaps not as 'Wildspace systems', but as 'Crystalspheres'. And still others have lived through or where ejected into the Astral Plane as a result of the upheavel and turmoil brought about by the Spellplague, and so still ascribe to the teachings and understandings that came out of 'The World Axis' cosmology.
It is difficult to ascribe any one of these as outright 'wrong', as they have all existed within the Astral Plane at one point or another. It may be the case that the properties and observations from each of these cosmology's have existed or continue to exist, just in certain locations and regions across the Astral Plane, much like how the landscape of a planet can vary quite greatly as one traverses and explores it. However, the extent and truth for each one is still openly debatable and are as commonly discussed in beer halls and taverns as they are in academic lecturns and governmental forums across the cosmos.
Great Wheel
According to the Great Wheel cosmology model, the Astral plane connected the Prime Material Planes to the first layers of the Outer planes.
In some versions of the Great Wheel cosmology held in the late 15th century DR, it was possible to travel to the Astral plane directly from wildspace aboard a spelljammer. In this cosmology, wildspace was a region where the Prime and the Astral overlapped. Moreover, upon exiting a wildspace system such as Realmspace, a ship would leave this overlapping region and fully enter the Astral. The border between wildspace and the Astral Sea had the appearance of a silvery haze.
Once in the Astral, spelljamming captains could steer their ships in the direction of other wildspace systems or specific locations in the Astral in the same way that individuals would traverse the plane: by concentrating their thoughts on the destination.
This view was in contrast with the prevailing Great Wheel cosmology of the 14th and earlier centuries DR, according to which a ship would encounter a crystal sphere at the edge of its system and, if capable of traversing it, would enter the phlogiston.
World Tree
In the World Tree cosmology, the Astral plane was described as a shapeless cloud that surrounded all the other planes (including the Inner Planes which were not accessible via the Astral in the Great Wheel model). The World Tree cosmology model interpreted the Astral plane as tree-shaped, touching nearly all planes, and overlapping the World Tree as well. The ramification of this was that travel between planes was not easily accomplished without going through the "trunk" of the tree (the Material plane). Direct connections between separate dominions of the gods was only possible by cooperation between the deities in question.
The Astral Plane had the following traits in the World Tree cosmology model:
- Subjective Directional Gravity: a traveler picked a "down" direction and "fell" in the direction until a new direction was chosen.
- Timeless: the effects of time were suspended until the traveler exited the Astral Plane, whereupon the effects retroactively occurred.
- Mildly Neutral-Aligned: no circumstance penalties.
- Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities required less time to be cast.
Color pools still existed in this model, but an Astral traveler had to choose the destination plane before setting out and would only encounter pools that lead to the chosen plane. To change destinations, the traveler had to reenter the Material plane and then begin the journey anew.
Toril's Material plane actually linked to several other Astral planes, each of which connected Toril to the outer-planer homes of a different set of deities. They were based on the geographical areas of control held by the different pantheons. As such, there was an Astral Plane for the Maztican and Zakharan pantheons (even though many of the Zakharan deities resided on the Material Plane). The Kara-Turan faiths were not connected to their own astral plane, as instead their deities connected to the Spirit World. Very little was known in Faerûn about these other astral planes, but it was theorized that Ao supervised them just as he adjudicated the conflicts between the pantheons.
Older, more seasoned spelljamming explorer's found on the Rock of Bral will still insist that there are certain crystalsphere (wildspace) systems that operate according to such principles, particularly as a ship begins to travel towards the edges of the Astral Plane and away from the more common destinations for voyages. Such comments are often met with skepticism and jokes involving senility by the younger generation, with the prevailing attitude being that Phlogiston is a thing of legends and myths from a bygone era.
World Axis
According to the World Axis cosmology, the Spellplague set the dominions adrift—they were no longer linked to a tree-shaped Astral plane but floated aimlessly in the Astral Sea.
The Astral Sea was described as being "above" the Prime Material plane and its two reflections, the Feywild and the Shadowfell. The Spellplague destroyed the World Tree and set the dominions of the gods adrift to wander about in the silvery void. Access to the Astral Sea was accomplished through passages found in the world or using the proper ritual. Once in the Sea, travel was initiated by thought and was very similar to flying.
In addition to the astral dominions, the Astral Sea could be used by powerful beings to create demiplanes by focusing on an idea and applying a strong will. Each demiplane had its own traits and physical laws as dictated by the one who created it, and was always smaller than an astral dominion. If abandoned, it would break apart and fade from existence just like an astral dominion.
Seasoned Spelljamming sailors and explorers will almost always have one wayward story of a situation they heard from a crewmate of a crewmate where the residual powers from the time of the world axis still exist within the Astral. Systems would be locked off and inaccessible unless first traversed through a particular order or ritual is conducted, allowing access through the shrouded barrier. Likewise, explorers may sudden encounter someone or something the entire crew expected to find, whether that thing be a boon or something horrific.
Inhabitants
On this plane of thought, the existence of true natives is doubtful. The githyanki, however, have been a dominating presence for long ages, ruled from their great city of Tu'narath but mostly spread about innumerable fortresses.
Astral searchers, astral streakers, astral whales, the mighty astral dragons, and the tiny kodragons inhabit the Silver Void. The dreaded astral dreadnoughts are believed by some to be a manifestation of the Astral Plane itself, while others point to their indefinitely long tails as an indicator for an origin elsewhere.
Brain collectors, dhours, and foo creatures can all be found here.
All manner of fiends, celestials, slaadi and other planars used the Astral as shortcuts to their business elsewhere, but both astral devas and shedu patrolled the plane regularly to keep evil in check. Despite their connection to the Abyss, bebiliths were thought to be at home on the Astral plane.
Spectral hounds are usually found with githyanki communities as guard animals.
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