The Aether

The Aether (also known as Subspace, The Immaterial Universe, The Dreamlands [or The Dreaming] or most commonly, The Veil) is a higher dimensional reality which exists beyond the principle nine dimensions we currently comprehend, existing as an interwoven echo of our physical reality. It is the source of all psychic energies and all instances of archaically defined 'magic' or 'sorcery', as well as the origin or home of many 'paranormal' entities which have been encountered throughout history. It is also the region through which many advanced races have found a solution to the problem of superluminal travel, transitioning into the abstract reality and navigating its incomprehensible paths via various methods and techniques in order to arrive at destinations at impossible distances much faster than conventional methods would allow.

### The Collective Unconscious

The most important feature of the Aether is the Collective Unconsciousness. A massive ever-growing collection of disembodied neural oscillations and brain waves that contain all thoughts, ancestral memory, and experience of a given species. As the brain emits electromagnetic waves, the Collective Unconscious grows in size and scope. Each sapient species has its own Collective Unconsciousness, and it is not itself alive, but rather akin to a library of thoughts and ideas. Every part of a person is recorded from mental development to cessation of self and stored eternally in the Collective Unconsciousness. Psionic phenomena are a direct result of the existence of the Collective Unconsciousness, with each kind of Psion possessing unique abilities based on neural formations that link in novel ways with the Collective Unconsciousness itself allowing for strange abilities. Any individual can be psionic, but it requires specific neural architecture to actually use.
Most common abilities within the Collective Unconscious is various kinds of telepathy, telekinesis, and pre/post cognition. The scope of these abilities is unique to each Psion and dependent on a variety of factors related to their own unique neural architecture. Other forms of psionic powers such as pyrokinesis are a result of unusual mutations granting the ability before linking it to the Collective Unconscious to bolster these abilities to any real noticeable degree. Indeed most superhuman abilities that appear blatantly supernatural are more often than not a result of the Collective Unconscious. Not all Psion's are created Equally. Some can read minds, scry memories of the dead and forgotten, mind control others, or alter perception. As a general rule, it is easier for a Psion to use their abilities on their own species, but connections to the collective unconsciousness of other species is possible, albeit difficult.

The Collective Unconsciousness is impossible to destroy due to it being a mere reflection of thought within the Aether, being intangible and mostly invisible, only occasionally appearing as cosmic-sized electrical phenomena and distortions with no clear origin. This is due to the origin of these neural oscillations originating in the inaccessible universe that the Wyrd is superimposed over. Destroying a sapient species specific Collective Unconsciousness is impossible without the utter extermination of that species.

### Souls

Souls are an existential imprint of a living entity distinct and separate from psychic imprint seen within the collective unconsciousness. Souls are highly resistant to damage or change. As best as can be understood, souls are the concept of a person distinct from psychic phenomena but somewhat related to it. Souls can be visible, in spite of all logic dictating that they can't, for souls cannot be interacted with in any way, including by light. Despite this, souls in the Wyrd can be seen. While only sapient species will have access to their own collective unconsciousness, every ontological being that can be defined as alive possesses a soul, the only exception is some examples of Eldritch. Even Fae are hypothesized to possess a 'core' in the form of a soul, but this is inconclusive. Ectoplasm is the hypothesized 'matter' of a soul, but currently souls defy even the most basic forms of scientific observation. They are only known to exist due to the existence of returnal of Death.

### Magic

Magic is the power to manipulate mana, and can only be accomplished by those allowed to do so by the Aether, who is the sum total of all mana. Those granted this power are known as mages. The precise way mana is manipulated depends on the house a mage belongs to, though there is some overlap and many anomalies based on exactly how a mage uses their power. Mana is a flexible matter able to mimic or otherwise become other forms of matter and energy at the drop of a hat. Mana is a borrowed substance, and after use it returns to the Aether. There are ways to prolong how long it takes mana to return, but inevitably it will return to the Aether. Mana has a variety of properties with potentially infinite applications.

### True Names

True Names are a platonic blueprint of a being, object, concept, or creature. Their origin is tied to the language of creation and gods. They perfectly describe something's essential nature in relation to the universe around it. True Names are related to the names beings call themselves, and indeed a person's given name can reveal their True Name, but names and True Names are very different things. True Names are considered magic by most, but while it can be considered magic, they are in fact not related to the phenomena of mana, and instead are intrinsic descriptors of certain things. That said, while True Names and Mana are very different, beings made of or who use mana have a strange gift for discovering and using True Names for a variety of purposes to augment their spells. True Names are not static, and can even change after life-altering events. It is a description of the being and all objects, forces, phenomena, and of course living creatures have one, but things with a high degree of complexity or with more intelligence have longer and more complex True Names. Knowing a True Name gives one power over the owner of the name, and in some cases Names can be exchanged but not stolen, as no thing can remain nameless. This is of course related only to sapient beings as Objects do not have the ability to trade their names. Knowing someone's name isn't the same as "having" it—it has to be specifically given or traded. The difference being that Knowing a True Name allows one to control others with only minor difficulty, but they can always resist and cannot be forced to do things they would not normally do. Having someone True Name gives complete control of that person, entity, or idea.

## Subspace Travel

A craft enters Subspace through initializing its Subspace drive, a highly advanced device which generates a localized field that quickly collapses into a wormhole, this wormhole is then entered by the craft before collapsing further into itself and dissipating. Upon entry into Subspace, the craft is transported to a corresponding point within the Aether allowing it to then navigate the countless currents and flows of energy until finally arriving at its desired destination at which point it reinitiliazes its Subspace drive in order to form a breach and transition back into the material unvierse. Because the energies of the Aether do not directly correspond to any specific physical point in the material universe, but rather exist as a kaleidoscope of times, positions and possibilities, the craft is able to appear sever light years from its original position. This process is called Jump while the process of entering and exiting the Subspace is called a Transition.

Journeys through Subspace are usually undertaken as short distance jumps, usually spanning only a few light years in distance as longer jumps can be unpredictable and dangerous without the appropriate measures in place. This is because the energies of the Aether are at best, enigmatic and maleable, coalescing and shifting seemingly at will, while at worst deadly and overtly hostile causing some to become invariable lost or disappearing all together. These dangers are often mitigated through the use of stable routes which allow for relatively stable point specific jumps, or through the use of rare jump gates which form a singular point to point subspace tunnel, even rarer still however is the use of psionic gifted individuals whose talents lay in the interpretation and manipulation of the raw energies of the Aether.

While uncommon, some individuals also maintain a latent ability to sense forces and

### Subspace Tunneling and the Aether

Subspace Tunnelling is the noted effect which occurs when a specific route is continually used, causing a stabilizing effect within the Aether itself, this is caused by constant Subspace drive stabilization fields moving through the same

## The Spheres

They are places reflected by the Aether of the material galaxy, this reflection could be of planets, star systems and even entire segments if it has the history and sufficient stimuli in the material world.

A sphere full of life could be the old reflection of a world currently dead or possibly dead or a nascent world could be a reflection of a bleak future, being a mirror of reality the sphere could mutate or collapse if its material reflection changes too much or the sphere could strangely feed the material world.

Powerful beings could take advantage of the spheres' moldability to make them their kingdoms or a kind of energy mines, but the price for failing to dominate a sphere is brutal.

### Psionics

The Tortured Lands of Asylum

The Wild Isles of Oasis

The Silver Capital of Verum

The Twilight City of Doors

The Burning Great Machine

Urth The Great Saurid Kingdom

## Notes

Scientists believe that the fourth dimension is time, which governs the properties of all known matter at any given point. Along with the three other dimensions, knowing an objects position in time is essential to plotting its position in the universe. The other dimensions are where the deeper possibilities come into play, and explaining their interaction with the others is where things get particularly tricky for physicists.  According to Superstring Theory, the fifth and sixth dimensions are where the notion of possible worlds arises. If we could see on through to the fifth dimension, we would see a world slightly different from our own that would give us a means of measuring the similarity and differences between our world and other possible ones.

In the sixth, we would see a plane of possible worlds, where we could compare and position all the possible universes that start with the same initial conditions as this one (i.e. the Big Bang). In theory, if you could master the fifth and sixth dimension, you could travel back in time or go to different futures.

In the seventh dimension, you have access to the possible worlds that start with different initial conditions. Whereas in the fifth and sixth, the initial conditions were the same and subsequent actions were different, here, everything is different from the very beginning of time. The eighth dimension again gives us a plane of such possible universe histories, each of which begins with different initial conditions and branches out infinitely (hence why they are called infinities).

In the ninth dimension, we can compare all the possible universe histories, starting with all the different possible laws of physics and initial conditions. In the tenth and final dimension, we arrive at the point in which everything possible and imaginable is covered. Beyond this, nothing can be imagined by us lowly mortals, which makes it the natural limitation of what we can conceive in terms of dimensions.