The Etherium

The Etherium is a realm, commonly refered to as the etherial plane, that exists between the mortal realm and the Voidfont. Because the Etherium is in such close proximity to the Voidfont, it is nowhere near as consistant or cohesive as physical reality.

Description
The realm of the Etherium is a dark, bleak, strange place to mortals. It fluctuates and blurs as if in a dream. Colors are muted as if always in the shade. Much of the landscape is shrouded in a thick, unpassable black mist.

The Etherium's original state is one of nothingness. This emptiness, umbrus, flows freely through the realm like water. However, as magic and souls float from plane to plane, sometimes they become unable to complete their journey and get caught in the inbetween realm of the etherium. Thus, the etherium is filled with the detritus of all other realms.

The Etherium is host to many creatures and un-life. One may think it impossible for trees or boulders to have spectres, but these things can meet sudden and tragic ends just as easily as a human. Anything that once lived can die and end up in The Etherium. This is everything from individuals, to nations, as well as more nebulous concepts like a dying dream or an idea.

Magic
In the same way that faith and study can empower casters on the physical plane, the lack of faith and study can empower and shape the forces in the umbrus. The realm is shaped by the strength of forgotten knowledge and lost hope. The more powerful the idea that is forgotten, the stronger its shape in the Etherium. This leads to darker magics; those that rely on negative energies, to be much stronger on this plane than others.

Travel
Travel to and from the Etherium is taxing and difficult. As umbrus makes it difficult to determine a location and the realm itself lays on the border of other realms, traveling to the realm is similar to stopping at a particular point in the middle of a road. Likewise, due to the shifting of the realm, it is sometimes nearly impossible to return to the physical plane. Though your location may be stable in the Etherium, the rest of the realm may move around your location, as though on a floating island in the middle of a dark sea.