Ethereal Plane

Dying isn't the worst part... it's being dead

— Ligia Thorne

  Death is commonplace in Tairos. Life is hard, resources can be scarce, and threats prowl the land or cities unchecked. Death is unavoidable, and for many, a gruesome end is expected. In ages past, there was some solace in meeting one's end. The gods were known to people and spoke through their priests. A dying person was certain that something waited to welcome them on the other side. Now, in the face of the Silence of the Gods, there is no comfort here.   There still exist the spells and talents required to pierce the veil between life and death; they've just become rare enough to border on mythology. Necromancy will be the most obvious path to understand the happenings in the Ethereal Plane. The Baradradi are frequently the people turned to when wisdom from the realm of the dead is required. While not every Baradradi possessed the means to do so, they're universally familiar with the concept. Divination and Conjuration are also helpful tools in this endeavor. Those with certain gifts, such as mediums sorcerers, and the exceptionally rare few with psychic talents are another source to approach for communing or conjuring the dead. Such people are often viewed with a great deal of mistrust or even outright fear, as is the case for the Talboti and many other conservative nations. If any clerics of Neros or Tatayne still existed, they would certainly have the power to open the way, but organized faith died with the gods. Now, lurking powers offer such abilities to desperate individuals in exchange for pacts of service as warlocks. Should all else fail, one can seek out the Undead themselves. The intelligent sort have a certain sense for what's happening on the other side. They may be able to share valuable insights, assuming their hunger doesn't get the better of them.   Regardless of how one views or passes into the Ethereal Plane, what they find there is nothing short of a nightmare. Writings from ages past describe a peaceful, idyllic, and melancholy realm that overlaps with our own. Some described it as a lonely reflection of the living world where spirits could still watch their loved ones as they traveled to their final destination. Whatever existed of the realm of the dead before is gone now, struck by the tidal wave of arcane destruction unleashed by The Queen's Rebuke. In the wake of this shattering force, the Ethereal Plane was left forever changed, forever broken.   The new realm of the dead is an apocalyptic mirror to our own—dead, colorless, and crumbling wastes where tortured spirits wander. The entropic nature of this place claws at them, constantly shredding away at their memories and physical form, turning the recently deceased into maddened specters. These derranged spirits seek each other out, often feeding on each other to preserve their crumbling sense of self. They desperately try to find a way back to the world of the living, frequently crossing over as life-hungry wraiths, banshees, and ghosts who hungrily consume the living. Every life taken helps them hold onto more of their fading identities. Other things creep about, denizens of far realms that have crept in to hunt spirits. These never-living entities are alien beings with minds too complex and destructive to reason with.   Not every dead soul is found here, though. It's unknown if this nightmarish existence is the fate that awaits all who will die or if only a few become stuck here. Some believe these missing souls can cross over into whatever mystery now lies beyond and find peace. Others think some souls don't even survive the passage into the Ethereal Realm and are erased entirely. Or worse still, they cross over only to be stalked and devoured by those that came before.   Those among the living who can look into this realm often become obsessed with remaining alive for as long as possible. The existential dread of an eternity in a grey waste such as this can weigh heavily on the mind, especially because it seems indifferent to the sort of life you've led. Sinners and paragons alike seem equally destined for the same miserable end. Knowing this truth becomes the first step for many as they chase immortality... by any means necessary. For what is the point of morality if nothing remains to judge you, only to punish you?