The Void

"Don't... Don't send me back. I beg of ye. Do anything else, but don't send me back." - Tena Shapter, sole survivor of the first officially recorded expedition into the Void

The Dark Corner. The Outside. The Unforgiving Cold. The World Behind the Wallpaper. It goes by many names, but everyone in the Empire knows, and fears, the Void. Little is understood about it, but the expeditions organized by the Abbey of the Everyman have yielded a few scant details. It is a realm that defines itself by our own reality, primarily by being everything that our world can never be, occasionally leaking into dreams. Semi-solid islands float, collide, and reform in mid-air. Darkness envelops crystalline labyrinths, only to recede and reveal a pit that extends beyond reason. Thought becomes action, action becomes form, form becomes anything and everything. Time dilates and contracts unexpectedly, meaning that a few scant seconds in the Void can be weeks or even months in reality, and vice versa. Small wonder, then, that most who make direct contact with this eldritch domain go mad.
All experts agree, however, the worst aspect of the Void isn't any of the above, but the fact that it isn't uninhabited. Unnameable things fly, burrow, and crawl through every nook and cranny, eager to devour and corrupt anything unlucky enough to wander into their clutches. These creatures, these Others, collect pieces of broken souls to use as playthings, and eternally patrol their endless world to find a way into ours. They have demonstrated intelligence, in that they do not kill their prey quickly, but take sadistic glee in the slaying. How their territory is divided is unknown, but a crude hierarchy has been determined: those with names rule over those who don't. The number of Others who aren't hostile is a limited minority and the Abbey of the Everyman has, in turn, placed a complete ban on Otherial rituals, attempting to contact the Void, and utilizing magic of any kind, lest the Void take notice of the spellcaster and see a new means of entry into our world.

Otherite

While the Void is an extremely dangerous place, there are certain benefits to conducting expeditions there, such as the acquisition of otherite. Otherite is a type of void-matter that takes on the appearance of a black-and-white crystal, which has numerous useful applications. If properly (and carefully) distilled, otherite can be consumed to provide a temporary boost to one's magical prowess and potential. Alternatively, otherite can be likewise used as a powerful source of fuel, though it is often extremely volatile when serving this purpose. Otherite, however, comes with its own host of dangers. Despite appearing as an ordinary piece of (sparking, often vibrating) quartz, otherite will often behave as if it were biological, growing and spreading across all surfaces it makes contact with if left alone for enough time. Moreover, inhalation of otherite dust is commonplace among those who mine it, which leads to lethal otherite growths within their bodies. Such victims are prime targets for otherial possession.

Type

Dimensional plane