Ethereal Plane
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WARNING! This article is about a player character in the campaign: A Figure in the Mists. If you are a player in that campaign, and do not play this character, please do not read this article!
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WARNING! This article is about a player character in the campaign: A Shadow Behind the Crown. If you are a player in that campaign, and do not play this character, please do not read this article!
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WARNING! This article is about a player character in the campaign: A Trick of the Light. If you are a player in that campaign, and do not play this character, please do not read this article!
WARNING! This article contains spoilers for the campaign: A Trick of the Light. If you are a player in that campaign, please do not read this article.
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This document has been contributed by: Morta
The ethereal plane is commonly regarded as the plane of the afterlife. This is only somewhat true. The ethereal plane connects souls, in a manner of speaking. It has been likened to a river, flowing through the planes, with tides that advance and recede. The ethereal plane is not itself the afterlife, but the gateway between the many places a soul can travel. A nameless soul may wash into the Feywild, or a particularly devout one may drift towards the celestial or infernal domain of their deity. A soul who lived their own life, separate from otherworldly beings and their corruptive influences, may make their way into the Shadowfell, the domain of the dead and the undead. Those tied to the elemental planes may return to them as spirits upon their death.
However, some souls remain floating through the ethereal plane for all eternity, no such afterlife to be found. These souls are the ones who don't fit in any afterlife, or who have a tie to a specific point on the material plane, which they cannot leave until the tie has been severed. These creatures are known as ghosts, and can manifest in a great many ways: as solemn spectres, as wailing banshees, as harmless spirits, even as vengeful revenants. These beings are subject to the tides of the ethereal, but cannot travel within them, trapped eternally in one location.
Even worse a fate, however, are those lost in the ethereal, ever-drifting, never finding an afterlife. These creatures, known as soulshadows, leave near-indetectable trails on the paths they follow, dragged against their will by the force of the ethereal plane. On the rare occasions they can manifest a form on the ethereal plane, they do so for only a few minutes, precious time before fading away.
However, some souls remain floating through the ethereal plane for all eternity, no such afterlife to be found. These souls are the ones who don't fit in any afterlife, or who have a tie to a specific point on the material plane, which they cannot leave until the tie has been severed. These creatures are known as ghosts, and can manifest in a great many ways: as solemn spectres, as wailing banshees, as harmless spirits, even as vengeful revenants. These beings are subject to the tides of the ethereal, but cannot travel within them, trapped eternally in one location.
Even worse a fate, however, are those lost in the ethereal, ever-drifting, never finding an afterlife. These creatures, known as soulshadows, leave near-indetectable trails on the paths they follow, dragged against their will by the force of the ethereal plane. On the rare occasions they can manifest a form on the ethereal plane, they do so for only a few minutes, precious time before fading away.
Alternative Name(s)
Plane of Souls
Domain of Death
River of Souls
Domain of Death
River of Souls
Type
Plane of Existence
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Such a melancholy tone to this article. I feel sad for all the souls stuck in the ethereal plane, never finding rest.