Deep Ethereal Features (GEP)

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There's literally an infinite amount of "space" within the Ethereal Plane, and not a single graybeard in the multiverse has catalogued everything that can be found here. If any berk says otherwise, she's lying, or just plain leatherheaded. 'Course, there are a few things that a body's sure to encounter if she stays in the Deep long enough, and she'd better tumble to their properties if she wants to survive.
==Chronolily==
Most plants and vegetation fare quite poorly in the Ethereal without true sunlight, proper nutrients, and fertilizer. A few, however, have adapted to the swirling mists of the Ethereal. Certain bloods say that these plants feed off the latent possibility of the swirling ether in much the same way that a prime breathes the ethereal mists to survive. If that's true, then the chronolily is one such plant, with one apparent difference: These ethereal blooms subsist on the subtle temporal currents that lace the Deep. Some say that these currents originate in the Demiplane of Time, and they could be right. Fact is, a body stands an increasing chance to encounter a chronolily the closer she comes to that demiplane.
The chronolily itself is an immense flower nearly 50 feet in diameter, and its petals form a bowl that contains a sticky, golden nectar. A short stalk quickly divides into thousands of tiny rootlets that wave freely through the ethereal medium, gathering nourishment. A thick stamen and pistol are centered in the bowl, and thousands of tiny green leaves surround the flower's perimeter. Most cutters only care about the nectar contained within each chronolily, as this thick, golden liquid can reveal images of the past, present, and future!
There are three types of chronolily, distinguished by the color of their four main petals: yellow, violet, and orange. Yellow chronolilies reveal images from the future, violet ones reveal images from the present, and orange versions of this plant reveal past events. Shimmering images continually appear in the chronolily's nectar, the end of one image randomly dissolving into the beginning of the next. A body'd better look fast if she wants to take in the image, because each one typically lasts less than 30 seconds.
Travelers hoping to glimpse their own future may wait their entire lives without a single such image appearing. See, a chronolily displays scenes from the past, present, or future of the entire multiverse, and one single cutter is miniscule in comparison to all of reality-unless of course that cutter's a Signer, and even then it's all in his mind. However, a few exceptionally skilled spellslingers've learned to conjure images of specific events by plucking a chronolily's leaves in a precise sequence.
Now, before a body takes it into her head to run off and pluck her future, she should know that such a skill is quite difficult to master. In fact, an unskilled berk can easily destroy the plant and herself if she's not careful. Each small green leaf plucked bas a cumulative 1 O/o chance to kill the plant, while plucking one of the four main colored leaves has a cumulative 25% chance to kill the chronolily. When killed or reduced to 0 hit points (treat a chronolily as a 3-HD monster with an AC of 10 and an Intelligence between 2 and 4), the chronolily instantly decomposes into a poisonous cloud of ethereal vapor SO feet in diameter. Anyone within this area of affect suffers 3d6 points of damage-though a successful saving throw vs. poison halves the damage.
Of more concern to a would-be leaf gatherer is the fact that a few graybeards believe that anyone who kills a chronolily becomes time-cursed. 'Course, no one's figured out exactly what that means, but it's certainly enough to give a body pause.
Wizards who have mastered the leaf-plucking technique sometimes attempt to transplant cuttings to other planar locations for more traditional gardening, with various levels of success. Though the Uly's nectar loses almost all of its abilities when removed from the bowl, it can serve as a component in a potion of clairvoyance. Evilly aligned bloods are completely out of luck, however, as the semi-sentient chronolily causes its nectar to become black and unresponsive when its constant know alignment field detects their true intentions.
A second technique can sometimes coerce a chronolily to divulge specific images. This technique requires a body to immerse her hand in the nectar and concentrate on the event she wishes to observe. The event has a base 20% chance of appearing (as modified by the parameters below), to a maximum of 90% or a minimum of 5%.
Apply modifiers from any of the following:
: +25% Prognosticator is a wizard or priest.
: +20% Per point of Wisdom above 15 possessed by the prognosticator.
: -20% The event occurred, is occurring, or will occur on a plane different from the home plane of the prognosticator.
Apply only one of the following modifiers:
: +20% Prognosticator participated in the event.
: +10% Prognosticator is well infonned about the event.
: +5% Prognosticator is slightly informed about the event.
Additional considerations:
* Prognosticator must not be of evil alignment.
* Prognosticator must choose a chronolily of the color appropriate to when the event has occurred, is occurring, or will occur.
* Prognosticator must concentrate on a specific image. For example, concentrating on the country of her birth fails; however the desire to see a specific house in a specific village of that country may succeed.
* Only one viewing attempt per day can be made using this method on any given chronolily, regardless of the attempt's success or failure.
==Ether Cyclones==
Sometimes, the rub of infinitely large dimensions spawns appalling storms that rip through the Waveless Sea more violently than a volcano-spawned tsunami on a prime world. These storms are known as ether cyclones, and most bashers who encounter one don't live to tell about it.
Cutters who accidentally stumble into the path of an ether cyclone first hear a low rumble that reverberates through the mists like the approaching thunder of a demonic war legion. Only those bloods with particularly sharp hearing (those who make a successful hear noise check) have a chance to determine the true direction of the approaching storm 1 d4 rounds before it comes into visual range (100 yards off). With such forewarning, wise travelers can move at full speed away from the ominous noise, escaping an encounter with one of the most powerful forces on the Ethereal Plane.
Cutters who cannot determine the direction of the approaching front, or those berks whose curiosity overcomes caution, witness an impossibly colossal, serpentine column of furiously spinning ether, violently sucking up everything in its path-including the ethereal mists, solid ether, and any poor sods who didn't flee when they had a chance. Travelers have one last chance to escape:
Anyone within 1 round of the curtain of vaporous color has a 50% chance to dive through it before the ether cyclone hits. Anyone caught in an ether cyclone suffers the effects as described on the table on page 24; roll for each group caught in the cyclone. Note that those forced further from their original goal must spend more time upon the Ethereal and stand a correspondingly greater chance for random encounters.
==Ether Gaps==
An ether gap's not something a cutter wants to encounter; that's rule number one. Only bashers with enough wit to steer clear of this unfamiliar ethereal sight usually survive an encounter with an ether gap. 'Course, as knowledge about the existence of ether gaps has spread, curious souls have managed to learn a few things about these oddities without putting themselves in the dead-book.
The first thing a traveler senses about a nearby ether gap is a strange tugging in the ethereal mists, like a current running through the Deep. A body who continues along on her previous business soon leaves the tug behind and has avoided a nasty encounter. Those with more I curiosity 1 than sense might be tempted to follow the tug, and so encounter an ether gap.
Within the vicinity of an ether gap, visual ranges increase dramatically, as the ever-increasing tug strips the ethereal mist and fog away. In fact, a body within 5 miles of an ether gap suddenly has an unobstructed view of a series of solid ether rings, slowly churning round and round like liquid being sucked down a drain. At the center of this gap, an opaque maw many hundreds of yards in diameter greedily sucks in all material that falls within its influence. Rarely, a phantom curtain shimmers briefly into being across the face of the gap, possibly signifying the abortive beginnings of a true derniplane, or more likely, its guttering end.
Some graybeards've figured that an ether gap is a tiny rip in the Ethereal Plane, and the ethereal medium in a gap's vicinity rushes out of the plane like water from the side of a holed skin. On the Ethereal side of the rip, they say, the mists and all within them feel a "pull" toward the gap, but cutters are actually feeling the "push" of planar pressure as the ethereal medium rushes out of the plane. This same pressure is responsible for compacting the ethereal medium into 100- or 200-foot-thick solid disks that surround ether gaps.
Ether gaps exert a constant current that pulls everything toward its center. A body near a gap must consciously move against this current in order to hold his position relative to the hole and its spiraling disks.
Some bloods've sworn that they've seen creatures living in the swirling ether of a gap's disks, collecting all sorts of objects before they fall into the ether gap, lost forever. Such creatures freely "burrow" from one side of the disk to another, leaving brief tunnels through the ether. If this claim is true, then these creatures must swim "upstream" their entire lives, but this seems a small price to pay for the opportunity to sift through all the ethereal flotsam that might otherwise be permanently lost. 
The outermost edges of a gap's disk move at a right angle from the direction of the current's pull. Because of the gap's strong pull, the compressed ethereal matter making up the disk is relatively stable (see the "Protomatter" section), and it provides a convenient source to anchor against the tug. Of course, a body who anchors herself on a disk without moving against the gap's pull swirls inward at an everincreasing speed, until she falls into the gap's mouth.
Not every ether gap possesses the exact same conditions (lending credence to the idea that they may not all lead to the same place), but all gaps share in a few things in common. The table above lists these general conditions by distance from a gap's center. Note that a body engaged in melee or other engrossing activities cannot actively resist the pull of an ether gap.
A lot of cutters wonder how ether gaps form: Are they the cinders of failed or burnt out demiplanes, or are they something else entirely? If a body knew the answer to this question, she's be well on her way to determining where these gaps lead, a bit of chant that no one claims to know. Some bloods postulate that these holes lead directly into the Negative Energy Plane, but that's just a guess. Others don't think the Negative Energy theory holds any water; these naysayers believe that the gaps lead into another, undiscovered plane. Finally, a growing number of addle-coves hold that ether gaps are all that remain of timelines that were negated and abolished by temporal paradoxes caused by ignorant berks mucking about on the Demiplane of Time. If those cutters're to be believed, ether gaps might be the tombstones of extinguished planes. Whatever their origin, ether gaps are plain deadly, and a body should steer clear of them whenever possible.
See "Leicester's Gap" on page 86 for an example of an ether gap possessed of unique properties.
 Table 4: Ether Cyclone Effects
d20 	Effect
01-02	Travelers are flung off course: add 10 hours to travel time.
03-04	Travelers are flung off course: add 20 hours to travel time.
05-06	Travelers violently flung off course: add 10 hours to travel time. All travelers suffer 1d10 points of damage.
07-11	Travelers violently flung off course: add 20 hours to travel time. All travelers suffer 2d 10 points of damage.
12-13	Travelers are blown through the curtain into the Border of a random demiplane. Check for encounters and add 1d4 days to travel time.
14-15	Travelers are blown through the curtain onto the Border1 of a random crystal sphere on the Prime and suffer 1d8+2 points of damage. Check for encounters and add 2d4 days to travel time.
16-17	Travelers are blown through the curtain onto the Border near a random Inner Plane2, suffering 1d8+3 points of damage. Check for encounters and add 3d4 days to travel time.
18-19	Travelers are blown through the curtain to a random plane or demiplane. They are rendered corporeal and suffer 1d8+4 points of damage. Check for encounters and add 4d4 day to travel time.
20 	The lowest-level traveler in any group must save vs. spell. If successful, travelers are blown into the Deep Ethereal and suffer 2d 10+5 points of damage; add 1d10+10 months to travel time. Failure indicates that the entire group is blown into the maw of an ether gap (see below).
﻿: 1 Each person blown through the curtain onto a Border must make a saving throw vs. spell. Success indicates the individual remains on the Border. Failure results in the individual's sudden transfer onto the adjoining plane (she is no longer ethereal). Note that some planes are inhospitable and may prove incapable of supporting life without further spells.
: 2 The area of the Border Ethereal surrounding an Inner Plane may have some effect on ethereal travelers. See "The Inner Planes and the Border Ethereal" section on page 16 for more details.
 Table 5: Ether Gap Proximity Conditions
Distance From Gap	Effect
5 miles 	Current pulls at movement rate of 1; travelers must move at least 1 or the gap pulls them inward.
4 miles 	Current pulls at a rate of 2; travelers must move at least 2 or the gap pulls them inward. Anyone anchored to a disk swirls ever closer to the disk.
1 mile 	Current pulls at a rate of 4; travelers must move at least 4 or the gap pulls them inward. Anyone anchored to a disk moves tangentially to the hole, swirling at a rate of 8; they will fall into the gap in 2d20 rounds. For every 3 turns spent at this distance, travelers must save vs. para- lyzation or be struck by random debris for 1d10 points of damage; struck characters move one step (on this chart) closer to the gap.
mile 	Current pulls at a rate of 8; travelers must move at least 8 or the gap pulls them inward. The inner hub of the disks disintegrates, sending anyone anchored to them spinning into the gap in 1d4 rounds. For every 10 rounds spent at this distance, travelers must save vs. paralyzation or be struck by random debris for 1d10 points of damage; struck characters move one step (on this chart) closer to the gap.
300 feet 	Current pulls at a rate of 16: travelers must move at least 16 or the gap pulls them inward. The disks have disintegrated at this distance and no one can anchor to them. For every round spent at this distance, travelers must save vs. paralyzation or be struck by random debris for 2d10 points of damage; struck characters fall into the gap.
The Gap 	Travelers pass through and are lost to the mul tiverse-even a wish cannot bring them back. Whenever a living being passes through the gap, a shimmering light that resembles the cur- tain of vaporous color ripples over the face of the gap and quickly vanishes.
==Protomatter==
The mists of the Deep Ethereal contain small amounts of existence itself. These tendrils of possibility swirl about the plane, touching and surrounding everything. Sometimes, the latent power within the ethereal fog manifests itself as solid ether. Also called protomatter or prima matera by graybeards, this substance is concentrated ethereal mist.
Some cutters like to say that solid ether is just a possibility that has moved toward actuality, but it's more than just a philosophical concept. See, a body can touch and hold protomatter in her hand. Depending on its density and stability, this substance can be as fluffy and fleeting as a snowfall in a desert, or as oppressive and dangerous as a rockfall in close quarters. Usually, concentrated ether compacts into a solid or semi-solid substance; this substance is generally white, tinged with bluish highlights. If significant amounts of protomatter accumulate, the chance exists for natural demiplane formation (see "Islands in the Mist: The Demiplanes" on page 42).
A body doesn't have to stay long in the Deep Ethereal to witness the formation of protomatter. Fact is, it happens · all the time. Whenever a fluctuation of sufficient force takes place in the Deep, the ethereal mists compact to form solid ether. Of course, the compaction associated with the wake of a particularly fast moving body or exceptionally loud sounds creates fleeting patches of unstable ether that evaporate only moments after forming. Such common occurrences are usually too brief and of such little volume and consequence for most cutters to even notice.
Larger fluctuations in ethereal density cause longer lasting (stable) and denser forms of solid ether. Such fluctuations usually come about through natural stresses caused by the flexing of the curtain of vaporous color, ether cyclones, vortex fronts, and other energetic features found on the Ethereal. A canny blood can use artificial methods to stabilize small, unstable patches of prima matera as well (see below). 'Course, sometimes a body just stumbles onto solid ether without any clue as to how it formed. 
Even though the ethereal mists swirl around an infinite plane, observant bloods have categorized three distinct phases that solid ether undergoes before a possibility can become a reality. Since compacted ether is very dynamic, these phasesthe ephemeral phase, the quintessential phase, and finally the stable phase-are tied to the degree that the mists remain concentrated. Since compacted ether is very dynamic, these phasesthe ephemeral phase, the quintessential phase, and finally the stable phase-are tied to the degree that the mists remain concentrated.
==Ephemeral==
The least stable, most fleeting form of prima matera, ephemeral protomatter (also called ephemeral ether) makes up the most common type of protomatter in the Deep, as even a relatively low impact or concentration of the ethereal medium creates a small patch. A body might expect ephemeral protomatter to choke the whole plane, but it doesn't. This type of solid ether quickly slips back into a swirling fog. Fact is, 99% of the time ephemeral protomatter transforms back into ethereal mist in just a few (1d4+1) seconds. The rest of the time, a patch of this substance makes the leap to quintessential protomatter, and thus lasts longer. A body'll have no success trying to take ephemeral prima matera back to another plane; this substance simply swirls away into nothingness once it leaves the Ethereal. 
Ephemeral protomatter feels like a clump of fluffy snowflakes, although it's not wet or cold when touched. In almost every case, this least stable configuration lasts so briefly that most cutters rarely encounter it-unless they run across a stream or fall of protomatter. However, the formation of brief patches of ephemeral ether during moderately swift motion may help account for the sensation of "softness" that many primes associate with the Ethereal Plane.
Because ephemeral protomatter forms so readily, a body can create it simply by slapping her hands together. If a canny traveler smashes together two concave items, the solid ether that forms from the movement rests in the hollow created by the objects. This contained protomatter has a 1% chance to form into quintessential solid ether. If a body cups her hands when she claps, she can achieve this effect as well. In this least stable of configurations, ephemeral protomatter has no real utility. Only by providing some rigor and stability can a body create useful effects from it.
Canny bloods with the vapor weave nonweapon proficiency (see page 31) can temporarily stabilize this substance if they make a successful proficiency check. Ephemeral protomatter acts like longer lasting quintessential ether while vapor weave continues to act upon the affected patch, but it evaporates immediately if a body's concentration lapses.
==Quintessential==
Occasionally, a clump of ephemeral protomatter spontaneously changes state, forming a more stable type of solid ether called "quintessential protomatter" or "quintessential ether." This can happen in extremely small quantities or on large scales in the case of wide density fluctuations brought about by shifting curtain areas. Alternatively, use of the vapor weave nonweapon proficiency can temporarily produce a small quantity of quintessential ether.
Quintessential ether lasts for 1d100 hours before reverting back into ephemeral protomatter 99% of the time. The remaining time, a patch of quintessential protomatter reaches the next phase of development, becoming completely stable.
To the touch, quintessential protomatter feels like heavy, dense cork; a blood with a strong grip can deform the substance, but it springs back immediately once she releases the pressure. Depending on how it formed, this version of protomatter can be encountered in thousands of discrete pellets, fist-sized randomly shaped clumps, or huge plates that range in size from 10 to 1,000 feet (or even much larger) from end to end.
Because quintessential ether lingers for a time, canny cutters can utilize it in various ways. Fact is, a body can carve this substance just like wood to form various implements and objects. Some bloods've even used tools to form this substance into bricks, beams, columns, and webs for the purposes of creating ethereal structures (temporary unless stabilized) or swords, daggers, clubs, and other weapons. 
Alternatively, a mage with access to spells from the illusion/phantasm school can use appropriate spells to "sculpt" an amount of quintessential protomatter equal to the spell's area of effect into a desired item or object. When an illusionist uses an illusion spell in this fashion, the spell fades after he sculpts the solid ether. For example, if a spellslinger uses phantasmal force to map the form of a bow and a quiver of arrows onto the appropriate amount of quintessential protomatter, he couldn't further move or manipulate them as per a normal illusion. However, the items created last Id 100 hours (the normal lifespan of quintessential ether).
All items formed of quintessential protomatter share the following properties:
* Reverts to ephemeral protomatter in 1dl00 hours.
* Saves as bone on the Item Saving Throw table; failed save indicates reversion to ephemeral protomatter.
* Instantly reverts to ephemeral protomatter (vanishing) if brought to another plane.
* Objects crafted of quintessential solid ether stand a 1 °10 chance of manifesting a peculiar property equal to a 1st- through 3rd-level spell accessible once per day, as determined by the Dungeon Master.
==Stable==
On occasion, a mass of quintessential ether transforms into stable protomatter (also called stable ether). The formation of stable ether occurs on both a minute and a massive scale. Alternatively, use of the stabilize ether spell (see page 38) produces a quantity of stable protomatter from quintessential ether.
Stable protomatter does not have a predetermined life span. If a body leaves it alone, continue to float about the Deep for eons, slowly gathering similar clumps of stability to itself. Welllanned folks say that once a mass of stable ether gains sufficient mass, it forms a demiplane. No one knows exactly how much stable ether is enough to create a demiplane, but many cutters spend most of their time gathering shards of this substance in hopes of making their own little worlds. To date, some of these accumulations are quite impressive, spanning many ethereal miles, but so far none of these masses have formed into demiplanes. See "Urunaland, a Plane in Progress" on page 92 for more information on one such area.
Just like matter on the Prime, stable ether's subject to damage and destruction. Extreme force or magical energy can cause it to slip back into a quintessential state (stable protomatter saves as metal on the Item Saving Throw table). If a body brings a clump of stable protomatter or an item crafted from stable protomatter onto another plane, it instantly reverts into quintessential ether, lasting for only 1 d 100 hours before evaporating. Such items are easily distinguishable by the way they constantly "steam."
Stable ether feels like metal sheathed in a very thin layer of leather. Like quintessential protomatter, stable protomatter is encountered naturally in the Deep in a wide variety of shapes and circumstances. A body can't shape, carve, or magically manipulate this substance, however. A body who wishes for permanent items of stable ether must first form them of quintessential protomatter, then stabilize the result using a spell. During this process, the final shift to stable protomatter provides a 1% chance for the item to gain an ability equal to a 1st- through 3rd-level spell usable once per day.
==Streams and Falls==
Naturally occurring ephemeral ether sometimes falls into a reproductive cycle, constantly forming more protomatter. No one's tumbled to the reason why this happens, but a body's sure to know when she's encountered ephemeral ether in such a state, as it often resembles an ether stream or fall.
Protomatter streams can wend _and wind in threedimensional freedom through the ethereal mists for miles before eventually evaporating like ephemeral protomatter normally does. These streams generally measure between 30 and 90 feet in diameter. On extremely rare occasions, protomatter streams remain relatively stable for centuries, and many creatures call kip near such places. When scooped free of the stream without any preparation, the protomatter evaporates just like ephemeral ether. 'Course, canny bloods with the right tools can exploit these streams to produce large amounts of quintessential protomatter.
Sometimes ephemeral ether caught in a cycle of production generates small randomly occurring protomatter squalls, where bits of ephemeral ether fall up, down, horizontally, or diagonally in a manner similar to snowfall on the Prime. Pro-tomatter falls generally occur in a roughly spherical area with a radius vazying between 100 and 1,000 feet. Bashers caught in a fall should take care, since there is a 5% chance that these gentle ether falls produce "flakes" of quintessential protomatter. Anyone caught in such a traitorous squall must make a saving throw vs. death magic. Failure indicates that the sod is entombed in a cocoon of quintessential ether, unable to breathe during the 1d100 hour period prior to the quintessential cocoon's dissolution.
==Vortex Fronts==
As any blood knows, vortices connect the Elemental Planes and the Prime Material Plane through direct connections located in the Deep Ethereal. Bashers on the Prime usually shy away from using vortices for transportation between the Prime and the Inner Planes because of the often-deadly environment associated with the elements. For example, the depths of a volcanic caldera might hold a fiezy vortex to the Quasielemental Plane of Magma, while a vortex to the Paraelemental Plane of Lightning might briefly appear high above the earth in the flashing crown of a thundercloud.
A body in the Deep can also indirectly detect the presence of a vortex. In most cases, vortices curling through the Deep remain latent connections and are difficult to find. From time to time, however, even the smallest vortex pulses and sends a wave of churning protomatter through the Deep, allowing observant cutters caught up in the wave a chance to pinpoint the location of the vortex connection. Such waves are known as vortex fronts.
For reasons not completely understood, vortex connections send out irregular bursts of energy. Some believe these bursts are the pulse of existence Itself, but a body'd have to be pretty far addled to put much stock in that. Fact is, no one's found any pattern in these "pulses." A vortex manifests as a small tube in the Deep Ethereal; when it pulses, a section 1d10 miles long rapidly expands and contracts, creating a cylindrical wave front that rushes away from the vortex tube in all directions at a movement rate of 100. A basher who witnesses this front from even a short distance sees a moving wall. The wall is composed of temporarily compressed ether moving at the fore of the front. Some hint of the elements associated with the vortex appears on the wall. (For example, a vortex front spawned from a vortex connecting the Prime to the Quasielemental Plane of Lightning might discharge small electrical sparks as it sweeps forward.) In fact, some poor sods mistake an oncoming front as an area of the curtain of vaporous color that has somehow unanchored itself. The vortex front slowly loses cohesion as it moves outward in a cylindrical radius (which varies between 1 and 10 miles), and it finally disperses into nothingness after 1d10 days.
Cutters in the path of a vortex front have 1 round of warning when they see the coruscating wall sweeping toward them. Unless these sods outrace the rapidly approaching front (which moves at a rate of 100), the vortex front sweeps over the travelers at the beginning of the next round, subjecting them to 1d10 points of damage as they're buffeted by the protomatter "surf." Since a front contains elements associated with its respective vortex, a body must also subjected to the same effects they might face when moving through the Border area surrounding that plane (see the Elemental Border Conditions table on page 17). This influence sweeps past in only a single round.
Besides slamming into unsuspecting travelers, the force imparted by a moving wall of protomatter can harm structures located in the Deep-especially if these structures contain stabilized protomatter. There is a 15% chance that items and structures composed of stable protomatter revert to quintessential ether. Likewise, quintessential and ephemeral ether automatically evaporate into ethereal mist in the wake of one of these fronts.
==Front Riding==
Particularly experienced bloods seek out vortex fronts in order to "ride" them. If a body places herself in just the proper position and moves at the proper speed in advance of an oncoming front, it actually serves as a temporary means of propulsion! Those who successfully ride the front avoid the effects of buffeting protomatter as well as any elemental effects contained in the front.
In addition, a successful front ride subtracts 1d100 days from a body's long distance (planar) travel and multiplies her short-distance movement rate by 10 without boiling away her essence. An unsuccessful trip adds 1 d 100 days to a body's long-distance travel and forces her to move at a rate equal to 10 times her normal rate (suffering the effects of moving faster than her normal rate in the Deep) if she is using short-distance movement. (See "Deep Ethereal Movement" on page 19 for more details.)
Most bloods consider front riding the only means of escaping the effects of a vortex front, while others use it to decrease their movement times. A few even front ride for sport, but most bloods consider these riders plain barmy.
The more dedicated front riders have honed their obsession into a proficiency, but the uninitiated can stiJI attempt to ride a vortex front. These hopeful cutters must make Dexterity checks. An initial Dexterity check (made with a -4 penalty) allows a body to mount the front and move at 10 times her normal rate (short-distance movement). Those who fail the first check fall into the wall, suffering normal vortex front effects (and damage for moving faster than their normal movement rate). A body wishing to use the front to affect her planar (long-distance movement) movement must make a second Dexterity check (with a -6 penalty). If she succeeds, the new front rider curls around the expanding circumference of the vortex, riding it in a way that reduces her travel time. Failure indicates that the rider falls into the front, suffering the effects described before.
==Vortex Connections==
Once a front passes, an interested body can make a Wisdom check (with a -3 penalty) and try to backtrack its source. Success indicates that the traveler discovers the physical incarnation of a vortex on the Ethereal Plane. This incarnation appears as a shadowy tube whose ends are lost in the ethereal vapors. Close scrutiny reveals the tube's diameter (undulating between hairline thickness and a measure of over 10 feet), as well as subtle hints to the element contained within. Such vortex tubes are pliant to the touch, but a body'd better have some strong magic if she wants to damage it. Only the edge of a +5 or better weapon, or a spell of 9th level or higher (such as wish) can sever the tube, creating a vortex front of unequaled fury. This vortex inflicts 10d 10 points of damage from buffeting protomatter and multiplies the effects of its respective element by 10. Such fronts move on longer than other normal vortex fronts and may additionally spawn a rash of ether cyclones. Once a vortex connection is severed, that particular vortex disappears.