Cleric Sphere - Astral

The astral sphere governs the subtle and treacherous pathways between thought, soul, and eternity, granting priests access to the luminous hinterlands that lie between the mortal world and the dominions of the gods. Unlike spheres that act directly upon flesh, stone, or flame, the astral operates upon distance itself—distance between bodies, between worlds, and between states of being. Through this magic, clerics glimpse the silver currents that bind planes together, walk unseen through the void between realities, or brush against the raw scaffolding of the multiverse. It is a sphere of thresholds and trespass, where every working risks carrying the caster one step closer to realms not meant for prolonged mortal occupation.

To wield the astral sphere is to accept that certainty dissolves beyond the skin of the world. Spells drawn from this domain often feel weightless and disorienting, unmoored from the reassuring logic of earthbound cause and effect. Time drifts, directions invert, and familiar measures of safety lose authority. Priests trained in the astral arts are taught rigorous mental disciplines, for a wandering will is far more dangerous here than any hostile entity. Many faiths insist that prolonged reliance upon this sphere subtly alters perception, as if the soul grows accustomed to standing halfway outside itself.

Within priesthoods that revere travel, fate, secrets, or the afterlife, the astral sphere is regarded with equal parts reverence and alarm. It is indispensable to rites of soul-guidance, divine messaging, and planar communion, yet always hedged with prohibitions and layered safeguards. Even gods who freely grant access to other spheres often ration their astral gifts with conspicuous caution. For while the sphere offers passage, revelation, and terrible perspective, it also exposes the fragile artifice of reality itself—an exposure from which neither mortals nor their patrons emerge entirely unchanged.