The Aether

“It’s not air. It’s not void. It’s something in between—something that breathes us as much as we breathe it.”
—Captain Jorah “Ironwind”, veteran airship pilot

Quick Reference

The Aether - The Breathable Void

Overview

The Aether is the medium in which the shattered world now exists. It is not empty space, nor is it truly a substance in the conventional sense. It defies categorization, existing in a state that seems to violate multiple laws of physics simultaneously.

To stand on an island and look out into the Aether is to look into infinity—a luminous void that extends in all directions without boundary or bottom. It is beautiful, terrifying, and fundamentally alien to human experience.

Physical Properties

Breathability

The most miraculous (or horrifying) property of the Aether: humans can breathe it indefinitely.

It’s not that the Aether contains oxygen—chemical analysis shows no oxygen molecules at all. Yet lungs function normally. Blood oxygenates. People can talk, shout, and breathe deeply without issue. Even newborns can survive in pure Aether.

Theories on how this works: - The Clergy: “The Aether is not matter but grace—the constellations sustain us through faith alone.” - Alchemists: “The Aether directly transmutes cellular waste into usable energy. It bypasses lungs entirely.” - Folk Belief: “We’re already dead. We just haven’t realized it yet.”

Practical Implications: - Drowning is impossible (though suffocation by physical obstruction still occurs) - Airship design doesn’t require pressurized cabins - Fire still needs air/fuel—it doesn’t burn in pure Aether - Singing and music sound slightly different (richer, with more resonance)

Luminosity

The Aether glows. There is no external light source, yet visibility extends for kilometers in all directions.

Characteristics of Aether light: - Color shifts from silver-blue to pale gold over the course of a “day” (24-hour cycle maintained by tradition, not astronomy) - Intensity varies: bright enough to read by at “midday,” dim but visible at “night” - No shadows in deep Aether (light comes from all directions) - Constellations appear at “night” as glowing patterns overlaid on the dimmed Aether

Effects on life: - Plants still photosynthesize (somehow) - Circadian rhythms remain relatively normal - Some people find the constant twilight unsettling (linked to Aether-Sickness) - Artists note that colors appear subtly different—more saturated, almost hyper-real

Temperature Regulation

The Aether maintains a constant, comfortable temperature regardless of location. Whether you’re in the Bright Reaches or the frozen Veiled Heights, the Aether itself is always mild.

Exceptions: - Islands retain their own microclimates (snow on mountain fragments, heat on desert shards) - Proximity to Rot-corruption causes local cold spots (5-10°C drop) - Aether-Storms generate extreme temperature fluctuations

Zero Gravity

In deep Aether, there is no “down.” Gravity only exists in bubbles around Sky-Islands.

Gravity Wells: - Each island generates a spherical field of gravity extending 50-100 meters from its surface - Size of the well roughly correlates with island mass - Well boundaries are gradual, not sharp—you feel gravity weakening as you approach the edge - Between wells, you float in zero-g

Practical Applications: - Experienced Sky-Striders “jump” between islands by pushing off from one gravity well to drift to another - Airships use this to conserve fuel—coast through zero-g zones - Combat in zero-g requires specialized training - Falling off an island edge means drifting away until another island’s gravity catches you (rarely happens)

Psychological Effects

Aether-Sickness

Prolonged exposure to the Aether without setting foot on solid islands causes Aether-Sickness, a psychological condition with physical symptoms.

Symptoms (Progressive): 1. Week 1-2: Mild disorientation, difficulty judging distances 2. Week 3-4: Memory lapses, forgetting what day it is 3. Month 2-3: Derealization—feeling that the Aether is more real than you are 4. Month 4+: Severe dissociation, catatonia, or complete mental breakdown

High-Risk Groups: - Long-haul airship crews - Deep Aether explorers - Nomadic clans who live entirely on ships - Soldiers stationed on tiny waypoint islands

Treatment: - Immediate: Set foot on solid island for at least 1 hour per day - Severe cases: Weeks of recovery on stable ground, often never fully recover - Prevention: Rotating crew shifts, mandatory shore leave

Theories on cause: - The human brain evolved for solid ground and horizons; infinite void breaks it - The Aether is subtly conscious and prolonged exposure merges your mind with it - It’s simply loneliness and sensory deprivation, not Aether-specific

The Whispers

Some people claim to hear whispers when floating alone in deep Aether—voices speaking in languages they don’t know, or worse, voices that sound like dead loved ones calling from below.

Documented Reports: - ~15% of deep Aether travelers report hearing something - No correlation with Rot-exposure (happens even in clean Aether) - More common in The Deeps and The Periphery - Survivors often refuse to speak about what they heard

Competing Explanations: - Hallucinations from Aether-Sickness - Echoes of the Shattering trapped in Aether - The Voice Beneath is always present, just harder to hear in uncorrupted areas - The dead actually do whisper from The Deeps

The Void Gaze

Looking too long into the “depths” of the Aether—staring outward into the infinite luminous void—can trigger panic attacks, existential dread, or a condition called Void Gaze, where the victim becomes catatonic, staring blankly into distance.

Prevention: - Focus on islands, airships, or close objects - Avoid looking “outward” for extended periods - Experienced pilots learn to see through Aether without seeing into it

Cultural Impact: - Children are taught: “Eyes on the ground, not on the void” - Meditation facing inward (toward islands) is common - Windows on airships often have curtains or are positioned to show islands, not empty Aether

The Aether-Currents

Invisible flows of force move through the Aether like ocean currents, though they follow no predictable pattern.

Discovery and Navigation

Year 5 S.: First Aether-Currents discovered when an island drifted faster than expected
Year 10 S.: Pilots learned to sense currents and use them for navigation
Current Status: ~40% of Aether-Currents are mapped; 60% remain unknown or shifting

How Pilots Detect Currents: - Intuition: Experienced pilots “feel” currents through subtle changes in air pressure or temperature - Observation: Watching the drift of debris or small islands - Star-Readers: Some can detect currents through constellation positions (unreliable) - Instruments: Aether-Needles (compass-like devices) that vibrate near currents (expensive, rare)

Types of Currents

Trade Currents - Stable flows connecting major settlements - Used by cargo ships for consistent routes - Mapped and named (e.g., “Ironhold Run,” “Eos Stream”) - Heavily trafficked

Drift Currents - Slower, meandering flows - Cause islands to gradually change position - Can separate settlements that were once close - Responsible for The Hollow’s expansion spread

Storm Currents - Violent, turbulent flows associated with Aether-Storms - Dangerous but fast - Used by smugglers and desperados - Can tear apart poorly-built ships

Deep Currents - Found in The Deeps - Pull downward (or what feels like downward) - No known way to escape if caught - Possibly lead to “The Bottom” (if such a place exists)

Mysteries

• Why do they move? No one knows what drives Aether-Currents
• Do they flow through the Aether, or is the Aether itself flowing? Debated by scholars
• Can they be controlled? The Returners believe yes; most think no
• Are they natural or artificial? Some theorize they’re the Aether’s “circulatory system”

Dangers of the Aether

The Fall

The Universal Fear: Step off an island’s edge without a tether or airship, and you fall forever.

What Happens When You Fall: 1. First Seconds: You drift away from the island’s gravity well 2. First Minutes: You enter zero-g, floating helplessly 3. First Hours: You may drift into an Aether-Current (random direction) 4. First Days: Dehydration, starvation set in (you can still breathe) 5. First Weeks: You die of thirst/hunger, your body continues drifting 6. Forever: Your corpse floats through the Aether until it encounters corruption or dissolves into nothing

No Confirmed Returns: Not one person who has fallen has ever been rescued or returned. The Aether is too vast, and people drift too fast.

Cultural Impact: - Falling is the ultimate curse: “May you fall forever.” - Parents hold children’s hands obsessively near edges - Tether-belts are common safety gear - Nightmares of falling are near-universal

Aether-Storms

Turbulent regions where the Aether itself churns and writhes.

Characteristics: - Visible as darker, roiling clouds in the Aether - Lightning-like discharges (not electrical—something else) - Crushing pressure fluctuations - Hallucinations (vivid, often disturbing) - Temperature swings (freezing to burning in seconds)

Formation: Unknown. Some storms are permanent (The Howling Expanse), others appear and vanish randomly.

Survival Rate: ~40% for experienced pilots who enter storms voluntarily; ~10% for those caught by surprise

Why Anyone Enters Them: - Shortcuts through otherwise empty Aether - Hiding from pursuers - Testing airship designs - Proving bravery (young fools) - Desperation

Rot-Clouds

Drifting patches of corruption that infect anything they touch.

Appearance: Dark purple-green mist, smells metallic and wrong
Size: Varies from small wisps to kilometer-wide clouds
Movement: Slow drift with Aether-Currents
Origin: Emanate from heavily corrupted islands

Effects on Contact: - Airships: Sails rot, wood softens, metal corrodes - People: Early-stage Rot infection (skin discoloration, coughing black fluid) - Islands: If a cloud drifts over an island, corruption begins spreading

Avoidance: Pilots learn to recognize Rot-Clouds and steer clear. Most are detectable by smell before visual confirmation.

Aether-Beasts

Creatures native to the Aether itself (not island-born).

See Bestiary for full details, but notable species: - Aether-Fish: Harmless, swim through void - Void-Whales: Enormous, majestic, harmless - Storm-Serpents: Aggressive, lightning-fast predators - Unknown Entities: Deep Aether explorers report things moving in the far distance—vast shapes that might be creatures, islands, or something else

The Breath

A rhythmic pulse felt throughout the Aetherium every 27 hours.

Phenomenon Description: - The Aether’s glow brightens and dims slightly over ~30 seconds - Some people feel a subtle pressure change - Animals become briefly agitated - Rot-corruption pulses visibly (blackens, then fades)

Cultural Significance: - Used as a timekeeping reference - Some believe it’s the “heartbeat” of the Aether - Prayer at the moment of Breath is considered more effective - Births during the Breath are seen as auspicious

Theories: - Religious: The Aether is alive, and this is its breath - Scientific: Resonance pattern from the Shattering, still echoing - Horrifying: Something vast is breathing in The Deeps

Composition Theories

What IS the Aether?

Three centuries of study have produced no consensus.

The Substance Theory - The Aether is exotic matter with properties unlike normal elements - Alchemists have tried to capture and analyze it (results: inconclusive) - It may be breathable because it interacts directly with life force, not lungs

The Dimensional Theory - The Aether is not a place but a transition state between dimensions - We’re caught “between” the old reality and somewhere else - Its properties arise from existing in multiple states at once

The Living Aether Theory - The Aether is a single vast organism - We exist inside it like microbes in a bloodstream - The Breath is literal—it’s breathing - The Rot is its immune response to foreign matter (us)

The Void Theory - The Aether is true void—absolute nothingness - Its breathability is a miracle maintained by the constellations - If the constellations die, the Aether will become lethal - This theory is unpopular (too terrifying)

Mysteries

Does the Aether Have Boundaries?

The Periphery suggests yes—explorers report the Aether fading to absolute darkness at extreme distances. But no one knows what lies beyond, or if “beyond” even exists.

Does the Aether Have a Bottom?

The Deeps suggest something exists “below,” but no expedition has returned from deep enough to confirm. Legends speak of “The Bottom,” but it may be myth.

Is the Aether Expanding?

Some scholars believe the Aether is growing, with islands drifting further apart over time. Others say islands are simply being consumed by Rot, making distances feel larger. No consensus.

Can You Swim Through It?

No. Despite being breathable, the Aether has no resistance. Swimming motions do nothing. You need something to push against (an island, another person, debris) or accept that you’ll drift in whatever direction your initial momentum takes you.

Does the Aether Preserve Things?

Yes, partially. Bodies don’t decay in the Aether (no bacteria, no oxygen for decomposition). Objects remain intact for centuries. This is why The Boneyards still contain salvageable ship parts, and why some pre-Shattering artifacts found floating in Aether are in perfect condition.

Living in the Aether

Adaptation

Humanity has adapted to the Aether in three centuries:

Physical Adaptations (Minor): - Void-Kin generation born post-Shattering sometimes have unusual eyes (silver flecks, adapted for Aether’s light) - Balance issues less common in younger generations - Lung capacity slightly increased on average

Cultural Adaptations (Major): - Architecture designed around edges (railings, walls, barriers everywhere) - Children are taught edge-awareness from infancy - Tether-belts are ubiquitous - “Ground” and “solid” have become synonymous with “safe”

Psychological Adaptations: - Acceptance that infinity is the normal backdrop of life - Horror of falling is culturally reinforced but personally managed - Nomadic clans born on airships never find the Aether strange

The Aether and Religion

The Clergy teaches that the Aether is a testing ground—a purgatory where humanity must prove itself worthy of restoration. Prayer in the Aether is considered more difficult but more meaningful than prayer on solid ground.

The Rot-Touched believe the opposite: the Aether is reality’s true form, and solid matter (islands, flesh) is the aberration.

Related Topics

• The Shattering - How the Aether came to contain the world
• Sky-Islands - The solid fragments within the Aether
• Aether Phenomena - Strange occurrences in the void
• The Deeps - The darkest reaches of Aether
• Airships - How humanity traverses the Aether

In-World Documents

“A Pilot’s Guide to the Aether” by Captain Jorah Ironwind

Rule One: Trust your instincts. The Aether doesn’t follow maps. It flows, it shifts, it changes. Charts are suggestions, not laws.

Rule Two: Never look down. There is no down. Thinking about down makes it real, and then you’re useless to your crew.

Rule Three: The Aether is not your friend. It’s not your enemy either. It’s a road. You don’t make friends with roads—you travel them and respect their dangers.

Rule Four: If you hear whispers, ignore them. If you can’t ignore them, turn back. If you can’t turn back, pray. If prayer doesn’t help, you’re already lost.

Rule Five: The Aether will outlast us all. Make your peace with that.

“In the Aether, we are all falling. Some of us just fall more gracefully than others.”
—Common saying among airship crews