Astral Plane

The Astral Plane

The Astral Plane, also known as the Astral Sea, is one of the planes of existence in various models of cosmology.

Geography

It is the space between everything. It is the road that goes everywhere. It is where you are when you aren't anywhere else. — Manual of the Planes

The Astral Plane can be reached from almost any point in a 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 floating in the bright, gray void is typically chunks of matter broken off from their original plane. The Astral Plane has no gravity but objects do retain their mass so you could throw small items or push off from large objects to move in the weightless environment.
Time in the Astral flows at the same rate as in a Prime Material plane, but the effects of time are slowed almost to a stop―a thousand years in the Astral plane feels like only a day to the traveler. Creatures do not go hungry or age while in the Astral plane. For that reason, its mortal inhabitants need to return to the Material Plane in order to have children or to reach adulthood.
Entering the Astral Plane can be accomplished in one of two ways: 1) Projecting your astral form into the plane via the astral projection spell, or 2) by physically entering the plane. Astral projection is the safest way to travel but still involves risk because you leave your physical body behind on the traveler's plane of origin. The astral body is accompanied by the astral forms of any items and clothing that are magical or radiate a magical aura. While projecting, your astral self is connected to your physical body by a silver cord that stretches out behind you for about 10 feet (3 meters), or 1 foot (30 centimeters) depending on the version of the spell, and then becomes invisible and intangible. Very few things can sever this silver cord: a powerful psychic wind, a githyanki silver sword, or the will of gods. The physical body left behind appears alive but does not require food, water, or air and does not age. It can be moved and is vulnerable to damage and death. If the traveler's physical body is slain, death follows the projection some minutes later. If the astral self is slain, the traveler returns to his or her physical body in a coma. Physically entering the Astral plane requires a spell such as plane shift and brings the traveler wholly into the Astral Plane with no silver cord to anchor the traveller to their plane of origin.

Geographical Features

Upon entering the Astral Plane, the traveler sees a silvery colored pool nearby—a portal to the location on the Prime Material plane from which he or she originated. Astral projecting travelers see their silver cord leading back to this pool. Color pools appear as two-dimensional circles about 10‒60 ft (3‒18 m) in diameter and are only visible from one side unless they have some way to detect invisible objects. Pools of different colors are portals to the different Outer planes. Each Outer plane has its own unique color, but the traveler's home portal is always a metallic silver, rippling like mercury in a pan. Color pools can be used to view the destination plane before stepping through by mentally concentrating on the nearby pool until it becomes transparent. A viewer can also move (with some limitations) the portal's viewpoint by concentration. Astral projecting travelers form a new physical body (with silver cord attached) when they step through a color pool to their destination plane. The new body is formed out of local materials so the greater the similarity between one's home plane and the destination, the more one's new body looks like the original one.

Cosmology

Great Wheel

According to the Great Wheel cosmology model, the Astral plane connects the Prime Material Planes to the first layers of the Outer planes.

World Tree

In the World Tree cosmology, the Astral plane is described as a shapeless cloud that surrounds all the other planes (including the Inner Planes which are not accessible via the Astral in the Great Wheel model). The World Tree cosmology model interprets the Astral plane as tree-shaped, touching nearly all planes, and overlapping the World Tree as well. The ramification of this is that travel between planes is not easily accomplished without going through the "trunk" of the tree (the Material plane). Direct connections between separate dominions of the gods is 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 picks a "down" direction and "falls" in that direction until a new direction is chosen
• Timeless: The effects of time are suspended until the traveler exits the Astral Plane, whereupon the effects retroactively occur
• Mildly Neutral-Aligned: No circumstance penalties
• Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities require less time to be cast

Color pools still exist in this model, but an Astral traveler has to choose the destination plane before setting out and only encounters pools that lead to the chosen plane. To change destinations, the traveler has to reenter the Material plane and then begin the journey anew.
Toril's Material plane actually links to several other Astral planes, each of which connects Toril to the outer-planer homes of a different set of deities. They are based on the geographical areas of control held by the different pantheons. As such, there is 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 are not connected to their own astral plane, as instead their deities connect to the Spirit World. Very little is known in Faerûn about these other astral planes, but it is theorized that Ao supervised them just as he adjudicates the conflicts between the pantheons.

World Axis

According to the World Axis cosmology, the Spellplague set the dominions adrift—they are no longer linked to a tree-shaped Astral plane but float aimlessly in the Astral Sea.
The Astral Sea is 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 is accomplished through passages found in the world or using the proper ritual. Once in the Sea, travel is initiated by thought and is very similar to flying.
In addition to the astral dominions, the Astral Sea can be used by powerful beings to create demiplanes by focusing on an idea and applying a strong will. Each demiplane has its own traits and physical laws as dictated by the one who created it, and is always smaller than an astral dominion. If abandoned, it breaks apart and fades from existence just like an astral dominion.

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. Spectral hounds are usually found with githyanki communities as guard animals. 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, dhour, and foo creatures can all be found in some numbers here.
All manner of fiends, celestials, slaadi, and other planars used the Astral Plane as short-cuts to their business elsewhere, but both astral devas and shedu patrol the plane regularly to keep evil in check. Despite their connection to the Abyss, bebilith are thought to be at home on the Astral plane.

Deities

The Astral Plane is the graveyard of the gods. If a deity, which can be considered among the greatest of concepts, dies, its remnants are cast into this realm of thought. Here it remains as a floating "god-isle", a piece of solid matter within the endless empty void, with only a fraction of residual energy left. An exception to these rules was the god Celestian from Oerth. This deity of travellers kept no permanent realm, but wandered the Astral (and sometimes beyond).
Sardior's Ruby Palace also rests in the Astral Plane between its travels through the planes.

Type

Dimensional plane