Aether

There are two planes of existence that make up the universe of Babikiye: the aether, or the spiritual plane, and the corporal, or the material plane. Every being and object alike exist in both realms at once, though most people are only conscious of the material plane. The aether is the intangible, spiritual plane in which we may trace the very origins of our universe, for it is believed that it not only predates the material plane, but that the aether spawned it in its entirety.   The exact manner in which the aether may have spawned the material plane is unknown, since few people are capable of seeing it in any detail. Those who can, have described it as a colorful, densely woven web of spiritual energy that covers, connects, and is everyone and everything.   For most folks residing in the universe of Babikiye, the aether is entirely invisible except under extraordinary circumstances. Individuals of the Yashelin species are best able to parse the aether, since they are more strongly spiritual than corporeal creatures. Even then, each individual is finely attuned to specific, small parts of the aether. Only members of the Cardinal Pantheon can see the aether mostly clearly, but even then only two of them can perceive it in its entirety, let alone manipulate more than a mere sliver.   An example of a person about to manipulate a sliver of the aether: although all Yashelin are able to heal others, only Rafa is able to heal successfully without intensive training, as if the aether simply bends to zir will as the Healer. Seri, meanwhile, is able to see the threads which bind individuals to one another and, because of that, they can interpret the quality and/or health of the relationships around them.