Sara'lor

Sara'lor is the Aurum phrase meaning "plane of magic", and is a higher plane in which the most raw manifestation of The Aura exists. On this plane, things appear very similar to the material plane, with the exception that everything appears in various shades of a blue-green glow. Additionally, inscribed on every object and living thing in existence are Aurum runes that describe what the object is and the properties that define it. Depending on how complicated an object is, it can be absolutely littered with runes. An object as simple as stone may simply have the rune for "stone" inscribed on it, and other runes defining its properties, such as weight, hardness, etc. Living creatures are much more complicated, and impossible for mortals to decipher completely. If a mortal were to witness the form of one of the Seven Sisters or the other deities in this realm, their mind would unravel.

Additionally, enchantments and magical phenomena appear in Sara'lor as an intense light, with its intensity determined by the power of the enchantment and how many effects are tied into it. They appear as threads snaking out from the light that tie to fundamental forces that enable the enchantment to function. These threads are wispy and those trained in enchantment and who have experience gazing into Sara'lor can determine what an enchantment does by looking into this plane. For example, a Wand of Fireballs might have a thread tied to the elemental plane of fire to gather the fire energy to shape the Fireball, and an enchantment to project the Fireball outwards from the wand.

Mortals were not meant to look into Sara'lor, much less enter it. Its appearance alone is too much information for the mortal mind to process, and as such, even gazing into it can be incredibly taxing on the mind and if one is not careful, it can drive you mad. However, those who have reached true mastery over the Aura can learn to attune their sight to this plane, allowing them to see what lies within. Doing so comes at great risk to their mental health. However, the benefits of being able to access this plane are innumerable. Being able to study the runes composing an object allows you to know everything about it. If you had enough practice to look at a living creature and discern anything about it, you could theoretically learn their weaknesses and maybe even how long they have left to live.

If one were able to interact with Sara'lor, they could rewrite reality itself. For this reason, planar travel to Sara'lor is impossible, as Aellor herself bars entry to the plane. The most a mortal can hope to achieve is to witness what lies within. Because Sara'lor contains the very bonds that compose enchantments, this allows greater insight into the effects of enchantments and magic itself. While mortals cannot enter the plane, there is one method of interacting with it that has only relatively recently been discovered, and has been kept a closely guarded secret -- Zegrumite.

Previously known to have the ability to manifest itself on all planes, as it turns out, Zegrumite can in fact manifest itself in Sara'lor. Normally this would pose no danger because mortals never use pure refined Zegrumite, and either create alloys out of it or powderize it and add it as a tempering agent to other materials. However, if you were to make a dagger out of pure refined Zegrumite, you could in theory use it to sever the bonds of enchantments in Sara'lor. Simply creating an alloy out of it or using it as a tempering agent would create a porous object that the bonds of these enchantments could safely pass through. However, a solid object can rip right through these threads, which tie an enchantment to the fundamental forces that create its effect. Doing so can cause an enchantment to malfunction unpredictably if you just cut at random. If you know what to look for, though, you could target specific bonds and cause an enchantment to malfunction in a specific way. In the previous example of a Wand of Fireballs, if you were to sever the bond controlling the projection of the constructed Fireball, you could cause the wand to malfunction so that the Fireball, when conjured, simply explodes in the wielder's face. If you were to sever all bonds to a magical effect or enchanted item, they would cease to function unless repaired by a skilled enchanter. Novice enchanters might not even spot these malfunctions, as the bond still exists, but is just cut off.

When Zegrumite was first discovered and someone tried making a dagger out of it, they noticed rather quickly that magic would act erratically around them, and their own enchanted items ceased to function. The connection was made to the dagger, and it was discovered that simply walking around with the dagger out was enough to inadvertently slice through the bonds of enchantments around it. It wasn't until the arrival of Shadesteel that a Zegrumite dagger became feasible to carry around safely. Because Shadesteel blocks Flow, a sheath lined with Shadesteel sheets can prevent Zegrumite from manifesting on the other planes, as Zegrumite only manifests on other planes upon contact with Flow.