The Planes: Ethereal Plane
Our next stop in the Planes is the Ethereal Plane - a transitive plane of mist and creation.
What is the Ethereal Plane
The Ethereal Plane, also described as the Waveless Sea, is a mist-filled, colorful dimension that exists alongside the Prime Material Plane and the Inner Planes, the elemental planes that make up the Material Plane like the Plane of Fire or Plane of Water. It acts as an adjacent world where it touches every part of the Material and Inner Planes, and contains a dense fog of what many referred to as “Planar Soup”.
Manual of the Planes, 1987 TSR Inc.
There are two major sections of the Ethereal Plane known as the Border Ethereal and the Deep Ethereal. The Border Ethereal are the sections of this plane that are directly adjacent to a plane of existence, either a Material World, an Inner Plane or a demi-plane, and anyone on the Border can look into that adjacent plane as if they are looking through a frosted window. Peering through this foggy view allows a creature to see into the adjacent world, to see creatures moving, and the landscape around them. Unfortunately for those trying to spy and seek information, being on the Ethereal muddles small details like writing and only the loudest of screams can be faintly heard, muddled by the fog of the Ethereal.
The Deep Ethereal is a section of this plane that is not adjacent to any plane and is used to travel from one Border to the next. The Deep Ethereal is like floating through a vast ocean as the fog obscures your vision almost completely and there is no floor to situate yourself to but rather the endless fogs and colorful curtains that periodically appear as you travel through the plane.
History
The Ethereal Plane is introduced in 1st edition in the Manual of the Planes (1987) and the basic setup for the Ethereal Plane is created with the Border Ethereal followed by the Deep Ethereal. Limited information is provided until the release of A Guide to the Ethereal Plane (1998) for 2nd edition. In the guide, the plane is greatly expanded upon as well as offering a variety of information on the different demiplanes that exist inside the Deep Ethereal as well as introducing a small subsection of the Ethereal Plane devoted to dreams. In 3rd edition, the lore is altered for the Ethereal Plane and you can reach the Outer Planes and the Astral Plane from the Ethereal, and the Plane of Shadow is given its own plane and is no longer a demiplane of the Ethereal. Dreams are also separated from the Ethereal given their own, small realm.
4th edition continues making changes to the Ethereal, and removes it completely from the cosmology and changes the Plane of Shadow into the Shadowfell and creates a Plane of Dreams. 5th edition returns the Ethereal Plane to the cosmology, keeps the Plane of Shadow as the Shadowfell and the Plane of Dreams is nowhere to be found currently.
A Guide to the Ethereal Plane, 1998 TSR Inc.
An Outsider’s Perspective
A Guide to the Ethereal Plane, 1998 TSR Inc.
Most visitors to this plane are typically here for a specific purpose, either to seek information on their own world or to travel to another plane of existence. Those seeking information rarely leave the Border Ethereal, and those traveling from one plane to the next quickly move through the Deep Ethereal. Due to the limited visibility in both planes, there are hidden dangers that lurk in the multi-colored fog that unwary visitors might stumble into and never out.
The Border Ethereal is a foggy reflection of the adjacent plane you are viewing. If you venture into the Border from your Material World, you see a multi-colored fog-filled world as if seeing the world through frosted glass. You can journey forward and backward, to the side or anywhere you want, including moving up into the ‘sky’ and down into the ‘ground’. Drifting through objects is easy as walking and bypassing stone walls, earthen works and guards are trivial when you can simply guide through or around them.
The Deep Ethereal is a plane with no ground or sky, but rather roiling mists that fill and obscure all vision. A visitor drifts through this void, traveling forward with physical effort and mental determination. There are no structures or landmarks to guide a visitor on their path, instead, to continue their journey, they must hold the place they wish to go firmly in mind until they find the correct color curtain to take them to that plane’s Border.
A Native’s Perspective
Very few creatures can claim that they are natives to this plane, though many have developed abilities to allow them to use the plane for their own purposes. Phase spiders are one of the most well-known creatures that use the Ethereal Plane, though they are normally only found in the Border Ethereal where they are close to their nests located on the Material Plane.
There are a variety of creatures who now claim this plane as their home, drifting from countless other worlds and adapting to survive here. Frequent travelers will construct supply drops where they leave rations and water behind in the Deep Ethereal, constructing makeshift ‘shelters’ from the planar stuff that populates this plane. Other creatures will scour the ethereal matter looking for travelers, adventurers, and anything else as it hunts for food and treasure.
A Guide to the Ethereal Plane, 1998 TSR Inc.
The creatures that can truly claim they are the natives of the Ethereal Plane are just as strange as the plane itself. Creatures like the Meme, a creature that resembles a humanoid under a bedsheet of strange phantasmal material, or the Tween, shadow creatures that latch onto living creatures and acts as a sort of second shadow to them, are all the strange types you might find hunting and haunting throughout the Ethereal Plane. These creatures behave in strange ways, though they are mostly solitary which is good news for any traveler caught in an ambush by the natives.
Atmosphere
The Ethereal Plane has no atmosphere beyond the mist that fills every part of this plane. This strange mist is thought to be the bleed-off residue of materials from the planes it connects and is called the mists of creation; many theorize that the mist is not a distinct element but rather the possibility of an element. This means, that all a creature must do is force the mist into an element, and it could transform into any element of that creature's choice, though no one has been able to do much with the material. Luckily, a creature can easily breathe in this atmosphere as if their mind and body are unconsciously able to transform the mist into whatever atmosphere they require to breathe. A few of the more dedicated travelers and explorers of the Ethereal can turn the possibilities of this mist into actual sustenance, allowing them to subsist solely off of the mist they breathe, though many claim that they still feel the pangs of hunger.
Traits
The Ethereal Plane is a transitive plane, and so the plane is often associated only with travelers and traveling across it. Rarely do people stay long to enjoy all the plane has to offer.
Travel to the Plane
Traveling to the Ethereal Plane can be difficult for anyone without magic or enough wealth to buy magical items. The most common way of arriving in the Ethereal Plane is by casting etherealness or using a gate or plane shift spell to arrive in the plane. Magic items that allow for temporary travel in the Ethereal Plane are objects like the Oil of Etherealness or the Armor of Etherealness, once the item wears out of its magic, the user is immediately returned to the world they originated on.
Some travelers have claimed to have found portals to the Ethereal Plane, and that instead of the color pools, like those found on the Astral Plane, they resemble glimmering curtains of light similar to the strange lights that appear in the far northern or southern skies known as auroras. Other creatures have developed their own methods of traveling to the Ethereal Plane, like the phase spiders' innate ability or the hag’s heartstone that allows them to move into the Ethereal.
Traversing the Plane
Moving through the plane is much like physically walking on the adjacent plane, except you don’t have to worry about objects or walls getting in your way. Creatures can walk in any direction they wish, walking through the ground or over walls. While walking in the Border Ethereal, a creature sees a multi-colored fog that resembles their location in the adjacent plane and they can walk through and around any object they wish. If they were standing in the Material Plane in front of a castle, and then cast etherealness on themselves, they would be standing in that same spot but on the Ethereal Plane, they could then walk through the stone walls and up into the sky to spy on the royal family.
Though there are limitations to where you can go while in the Ethereal Plane, and many assassins have been disappointed when they simply couldn’t reappear in the Material Plane with a dagger re-materializing inside of their target. Every living creature gives off an aura into the Ethereal Plane that is impossible to pass through, extending about a foot from them. Dense metals, like gold or lead, also block passage through them, their composition too dense for a creature to flow through it. This allows people on their planes to protect important locations, like treasuries, from would-be thieves - though lining a substantial-sized room can be a very costly process.
Manual of the Planes, 1987 TSR Inc.
To travel from the Border Ethereal to the Deep Ethereal, a creature must will themselves to the Deep Ethereal and find the color curtain that will transport them into the Deep. For travelers going through the Deep Ethereal, not only must they physically move through the mists, but they must also will themselves to their destination, picturing it in their mind. This is a long process that might require several days or hundreds of hours of walking to journey from a Border Ethereal bordering the Material World to a Border bordering the Plane of Fire. If a creature decides to walk through the Deep Ethereal without a clear picture in their head of the destination, they will never find a way out of the Deep Ethereal and live out the rest of their days in its roiling mists.
Protomatter
The mists of the Ethereal are made up of existence itself, though it doesn’t take on a specific appearance but rather appears as a dense fog that is white and blue-tinged. This material is thought to be reality, the material that creates the planes and makes ideas and laws of the universe real. This material is more than just an abstraction, but reality as those with the mind to do so can shape and collect this matter in the Ethereal Plane. This material comes in three different forms: Ephemeral, Quintessential, and Stable.
While the material is Ephemeral, it is light and fluffy like a snowflake and is easy to walk through and not even notice on your journeys. This material flows through the Ethereal Plane as if stirred up by a wind and can be compacted into the next form. Quintessential feels like heavy, dense cork and is protomatter in a temporary state of physicalness. Quintessential can form quickly when too much Ephemeral matter sticks together or by a willful creature trying to produce a solid object out of matter, though this form is always temporary. Stable matter feels like metal sheathed in thin layers of leather and is stable for eons unless forced back into its previous states. While this Stable matter floats through the Ethereal Plane, it slowly gathers more and more matter, building larger and larger bergs of Stable matter.
Locations
The Ethereal Plane is often compared to an ocean, its strange mists and fogs making it a strange and alien location. The Border, in this analogy, is the shallow waves on the beach while the Deep Ethereal is the deep ocean filled with strange and unique creatures. Occasionally the ocean is broken up by islands, the demiplanes, that are created out of protomatter by an unknown force strong enough to create worlds in reality. To travel from one sandy shore to another always requires you to swim through the deep ocean, braving hidden dangers that lurk in the mists.
Border
There is no single Border Ethereal, but rather almost every plane and demiplane that the Ethereal Plane touches, has its own Border. While on the Border Ethereal of a plane, you can see the adjacent world as if looking through a glazed and cloudy window, tiny details are largely obscured and your vision doesn’t go much further than 60 feet while here. You can see the adjacent world while you reside on the Border, though objects and people are made up of multi-colored fogs and almost no sound can ever escape from the plane to the Border.
While you are on the Border Ethereal, you are completely invisible to those on the adjacent plane unless they have some magical means of seeing you. Spies and assassins use this ability to glean information, to bypass walls and guards, and to ambush their prey. Depending on the plane you are bordering, the Border may see a lot of traffic, the Inner Planes see many genies moving through the Border and Deep Ethereal.
Every Border can behave differently based on what plane you are bordering on, with every Border taking on traits that bleed over from the adjacent worlds. The Material Worlds are largely safe to visit, though visiting the Border of the Plane of Lightning might give you horrible shocks the longer you stay in it, whereas the Border of the Positive Energy Plane may fill you with so much life that you explode in radiant energy.
Deep
While there are multiple Borders, there is only one Deep Ethereal where all travelers must journey through if they hope to reach another world. To arrive in the Deep Ethereal, you must leave the Border through a color curtain, similar to the color pools of the Astral Plane or cast a spell to immediately transport you here. These curtains appear to be glittering lights in different colors depending on where you are going to, and hover in the air, slowly moving as if by an unfelt wind.
While in the Deep Ethereal, visibility is severely limited and dangers unknown lurk in its mist-filled depths. There is no ground, though luckily a sort of gravity can be felt, allowing for groups to quickly orientate themselves with it. Traveling from one Border to another Border is a dangerous proposition and could take several hundred hours of moving towards your goal. Due to how long this takes, and that there is no natural sustenance to be found in the Deep, travelers must come prepared for travel that might take them over a month to finish.
Many claim that the Ethereal Plane is far more populated than the Astral Plane, though it can be difficult to tell due to the severely limited vision provided on the plane. For this reason, travelers are recommended to stick together in groups, no one should wander off on their own, and you should be on guard at all times. Strange creatures, with many of them never having been seen before, lurk in the thick mists.
Demiplanes
While the Ethereal Plane is separated into two distinct locations, the Border Ethereal and the Deep Ethereal, there are also smaller locations known as Demiplanes that seem to have been created out of nowhere in the Ethereal Plane. Many believe that these demiplanes were created by massive clusters of Stable protomatter that grew so large that it created a demiplane in the Deep Ethereal, though others dispute such claims.
Regardless of how they form, they are all different with their own realities. Some demiplanes may be a massive writhing mass of worms, another may have severely powerful gravity, and another may even have two Border Ethereals. Every Demiplane twists and distorts reality, and many of them feature hidden dangers that swallow up travelers.
The Black Abyss
This demiplane is in a permanent state of decay and those who journey here are first met with a mass of stone. Moving through the Border allows a traveler to find caverns and tunnels until the Border abruptly jettisons a traveler out into the demiplane. Following these tunnels and moving deeper into the plane, the rocks give way until explorers see bridges extending out into a void, at the very ends of these bridges, the rocks are crumbling away and slowly circling down into a black abyss far below. It is said that space and time are heavily distorted in this demiplane and that staying here too long can cause years to pass outside. No one knows what is in the abyss, and no one has ever returned.
A Guide to the Ethereal Plane, 1998 TSR Inc.
Demiplane of Moil
Long ago there was a city of immense wealth and glistening, marble structures. The citizens of this city had grown lustful of more wealth and more power and had made a deal with a dark force known as Orcus. Over time, the citizens realized that it was a mistake to follow the demon lord, and began turning to other powers to worship. This angered Orcus and he forced the city into a magical slumber and made it so that the only way to ever break this enchantment was for the sun to rise once again over the city, he then ripped the city from its Material World and threw it into the Deep Ethereal where there is no sun.
Hundreds of years later, the city still exists as a demiplane in the Deep Ethereal, though the citizens are no longer sleeping. Not long ago a powerful entity known as the Devourer arrived at the city and found the slumbering masses. The Devourer transformed the people into undead and forced them to build a massive fortification for it, destroying many of the undead in the process.
One of the more dangerous aspects of this demiplane is that it has no Border Ethereal, instead, when a traveler passes through the demiplane’s color curtain, they immediately arrive on the demiplane. Rumors persist that no one, once they step onto the demiplane, can ever leave it again. Instead, they are ripped apart by the Devourer and its undead for pleasure and entertainment.
The Mazes
When someone attempts to usurp the Lady of Pain, or makes a large enough scene in Sigil to attract the Lady’s attention, she may choose to not kill them outright but rather send them to the Mazes. These mazes are created in the Deep Ethereal by the Lady of Pain with a single, hidden exit out of it. Those trapped in the Mazes can spend lifetimes wandering the twisting corridors as punishment for going against the Lady of Pain, with only a handful ever actually finding the way out of them.
Stable Protomatter
Some believe that if you gather enough Stable protomatter into one place, you can craft your own demiplane and reality. Whether that is true or not, no one has been able to prove but plenty have attempted it. There are locations in the Deep Ethereal that have miles and miles of Stable Protomatter put together piece by piece by an individual.
The Realm of Dreams
Between the Deep and every Border Ethereal is a different colored curtain that glistens and sways as if in a breeze, to most travelers it is thought to be two dimensional and merely act as a portal to move from one section of the Ethereal to the next. For those who have studied such things, it is, in fact, three dimensional and there is a space inside of the curtain that only dreamers of that neighboring plane can reach, though unlucky travelers caught in an ether storm may be thrown inside of a curtain. Here is the land of dreams, where creatures can move from one realm to the next and where the dreams of the plane’s inhabitants can influence what is seen here. Occasionally, travelers may wind up in here and, unless they find a way out, might be destroyed by the nightmarish creatures dreamed up by dreamers.
Factions & People
The Ethereal Plane is a transitive plane and all sorts of travelers of all the different worlds and planes can be found here. While the Ethereal links only the Prime Material Plane and the Inner Planes, even celestials and fiends can be found drifting through the Ethereal, looking for lost artifacts, for people to drag into the Blood War, and their mysterious reasons.
Ghosts
When a creature of great evil dies, they may be unwilling to move on and have their soul judged and then sent off to the Outer Planes to their eternal rest, or torment as the case may be. Instead, they form into ghosts, creatures that reside on the Ethereal Plane and look into the plane. Here, they look on with jealousy and hatred at those who still live. They can partially materialize themselves from the Border to the adjacent world and lash out at those they hate, quickly moving back into the Border so as not to be destroyed.
Neth, the Demiplane that Lives
A Guide to the Ethereal Plane, 1998 TSR Inc.
Neth is a massive creature and demiplane onto itself, which may cause most travelers pause. Neth, the demiplane, thinks that it is alive and is constantly searching for answers as to why it is alive and how it happened. Unfortunately, no one has the answers it is seeking. When a creature arrives on the Border of Neth, they can only see pink mists everywhere they look. If they materialize on the demiplane, they find themselves suspended in oxygen-laden fluids with the pulsing membranes of Neth beneath them.
Travelers can swim through this fluid, exploring the chaotically folded membrane of Neth, seeing the massive organs under the membrane, and large antibodies that float about, protecting Neth. When Neth notices visitors, it can maneuver it’s membranes so that the fluid is forced to flow to different locations on its body, and it will flood the fluid into a special part of Neth called the Visage Wall. Here, thousands of faces appear in the membrane like bumpy busts. This is where Neth questions visitors, demanding answers and information about worlds outside of the Ethereal and the meaning of life. If Neth finds them boring or lacking answers, Neth will simply absorb them into its body, on the other hand, if they are found to be charming and informative, Neth can remove a portion of itself and produce a Nethling. This Nethling can act as a guide to the Ethereal, and help the travelers get to their destinations and protect them from other threats.
Ommiad, the Matriarch
A Guide to the Ethereal Plane, 1998 TSR Inc.
One of the creatures that have used the Ethereal Plane for their own end are the phase spiders, here they have produced massive colonies and massive webs that slowly float through the Deep Ethereal. If a traveler is suddenly swept up by a massive web, dozens of phase spiders can envelop them as the sticky web restricts the traveler’s movement. The greatest of these webs is controlled by the phase spider matriarch, Ommiad. This massive web slowly spins through the Deep Ethereal and has hundreds of phase spiders that live on it, always searching for food. Ommiad is said to be massive in size and wears many powerful magic items, and recently many have claimed that Ommiad has put in a policy that merchants are to be traded with, not eaten.
Other Inhabitants
There are other inhabitants in the Ethereal Plane, though they are all strange and their bodies created out of strange realities. Many believe that several of these creatures were created from the ruptured dreams of the Dreamscape, slowly reproducing more of their kind in the Ethereal Plane. These inhabitants offer very different abilities and unique talents, with many wizards drifting into the Ethereal Plane searching for strange creatures to fill their towers as guards.
Cerebral Parasite
These parasites exist on the Border Ethereal, searching for creatures with immense psionic powers. Once they find someone on the adjacent plane, they begin draining their psionic and mental powers, slowly feeding away and producing more parasites the more they eat. These parasites’ infliction is hard to discern from the adjacent plane, making them incredibly dangerous if a sudden surge in the parasitic population occurs.
Terithans
These humanoid-like creatures reside in tombs of their own making in the Deep Ethereal where they search for sleep. They have an innate ability to sense great displays of magic and when they sense them on any plane whose color curtain is near their tomb, they angrily rise and seek out the spellcaster quickly. Finding the magic-user, whether in the Ethereal Plane or an adjacent plane, it will quickly attack, draining all magic from the magic-user and transporting the offending creature back to the Ethereal where it rips out and eats the creature's heart. It despises magic above all else and is quick to destroy it.
Tween
These shadow creatures are rarely found without a host, and incredibly difficult to detect, even on the Ethereal Plane. They appear on the adjacent worlds where their hosts live as faint, secondary shadows. They are known to be parasites, and it is almost impossible to get rid of them once they are bound to their host, only able to be destroyed on the Ethereal Plane. They suck luck from other creatures around their hosts, and feed on it, giving some of it to their host, allowing their attacks the ability to hit more often, to help their host avoid getting hit, and more. If the host dies, a tween goes through immense emotional pain and splits into two, each immediately searching for a new host.
Encounters
The Ethereal Plane can be a dangerous place, especially for first time travelers who know little of the plane.
Building Home - Stumbling through the Deep Ethereal, the sound of a creature whistling can be heard. Investigating this strange noise cutting through the otherworldly quiet of the Deep Ethereal is a halfling, busily moving the mists through her hands. As she slowly works, more and more of the protomatter is transformed into Stable blocks, where she quickly moves it into place with more blocks of matter. The halfling is attempting to build a demiplane of her own and claims to have created 3 miles of Stable protomatter, she reckons she only has a few more miles to go!
A Guide to the Ethereal Plane, 1998 TSR Inc.
Chronolilly - A massive flower grows in the Deep Ethereal that has a large central bowl shape in the middle of its petals. In this bowl is a thick, deep gold nectar that many might mistake for honey. Viewers can see images of the past, the current or the future from these flowers, and they are highly prized for their visions. Wizards and sages constantly search the Ethereal for these strange flowers, many unwilling to leave once they find them.
Ether Storm - An ether storm has erupted near a group of adventurers and thrown them off course in the Deep Ethereal. They have landed into a random demiplane with a strange reality, it feels as if the ground itself is pulsing and the air seems to be making them laugh uncontrollably.
Ghosts - A spirit or ghost is attempting to communicate to people on the Material World by haunting a house. Those who spend a night here claim that chairs are stacked on one another, that portraits are flipped upside down and more. No one knows what is going on or how to make it stop.
Hags - A coven of night hags are arguing on the Border Ethereal over which child to take next when a merchant stumbled upon them. Quickly escaping from the Border onto the adjacent plane, the merchant quickly begins searching for the child the hags were talking about, trying to find anyone to help as soon as possible.
Shadow Haunted - A tween has attached itself to a random member of the party, draining the luck out of those around the host and giving it to the host. This is especially dangerous during combat as allies are missing on easy blows and shots.
Resources & Further Reading
Manual of the Planes (1st edition)
For information on the Ethereal Plane and travel.
A Guide to the Ethereal Plane (2nd edition)
For more information on the demiplanes, the inhabitants and the ether storms.
Manual of the Planes (3rd edition)
For more information on an Ethereal Plane that reaches the Outer Planes.
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