Aether
Often referred to as Mana, Essence, and many other terms, aether is a primordial, omnipresent force of metaphysical energy that exists across the cosmos, which has existed for as long as written history records and resides within and around all things, with creatures 'creating' it in a natural cycle that maintains the aether levels of the universe at a constant.
On its own, aether cannot be interacted with or manipulated by living beings; it exists around them and can naturally protect creatures who are capable of manipulating it.
Properties
Material Characteristics
When its visible through the use of specially-attuned magics or equipment, aether is an almost gaseous teal blue substance that swirls around its wielder's magical focus, with each wielder having a slightly different colouration of their aether which corresponds to their identity intrinsically. This is a process known as Aspecting, and those who possess the magic to observe aether can deduce a lot about someone based on how their aether aspects.
Physical & Chemical Properties
Aether comes in two very distinct types, passive Aether, and active Aether, referred to as Ambient Aether and Aspected Aether, respectively.
Ambient Aether
Ambient aether is completely nontoxic to creatures, and is taken in regularly in the natural processes of the body and then pushed back out. This process is not necessary for a person's survival, but is an efficient way of providing the being with more aspected aether to wield. Ambient aether cannot directly be wielded in most forms of magic, it must be aspected first, which is what fundamentally limits a spellcaster's capabilities - the pace at which their body can aspect aether, and how much of that aether they can store at any one time before breathing it out. Ambient Aether is also heavily subject to the locations and areas it resides in, with particularly strongly aspected regions imparting further properties into the aether. This is sometimes a boon, but all too often this is a very, very bad thing, typically known as Aether Corruption, denoting an area that has been warped by the latent magic of aspected aether.Aspected Aether
Aspected Aether comes from the aether processed by a living creature and is used to fuel their magic. Aspected aether will always carry strong identity-based ties to the person that cast it, and while it isn't toxic to them, it's very toxic to creatures that aren't them, causing Aetherburn. Aspected Aether is the crux cause of Aether Corruption in the wild, and its impacts have warped many environments the world over, and while this corruption can be reversed in time, it remains a cautionary tale about the overuse of magic, causing many magical institutions to drill aether-management into their students from day one. Aspected Aether contains a significant number of visual 'tells' for the person using it, from the colour - which is the most obvious tell - to the shape and impression of the mana itself when viewed with the appropriate magics or items.Aetheric Warding
Not to be confused with , Aetheric Warding is a natural process within all creatures possessed of an , that serves a multitude of purposes within the magical landscape of the cluster's denizens. Primarily, aetheric warding passively enhances their bodily durability and pushes the aether itself around their bodies, acting much like a magical circulatory system. In this vain it also allows a caster to use magic through the means of their circulating aether, often through a limb, but for those with an , they must use an arcane focus as a means to guide the aether, which acts as the source of their magical abilities as a result. Finally, and arguably most importantly, aetheric warding prevents Aspected Aether from entering the body very easily; aetheric warding carries within it a mystical 'weight' that repulses aspected aether passively, effectively serving as a magical immune system against the toxic aspected aether of another creature. That said, in this final use the ward is not infallible. It acts as a convenient shield, but the ward is linked intrinsically to the caster's physical state, with fatigue, unconsciousness, or outside substances having an impact on its strength, alongside being able to be bypassed by sufficiently powerful casters, or in moments where it has been weakened already - though this often requires physical contact. The undead, along with a few other races, are particularly good at this. Finally, aetheric warding also creates problems for , which is a form of aspected aether that is nontoxic, but is still blocked by a ward. In these cases, a ward may need to be lowered for healing magic to be applied, making the creature vulnerable.M01Ae
Type
Metaphysical
Color
In its natural state, aether is a teal blue substance, but it invariably differs when wielded by a creature, taking on properties that visually represent that being; hot headed impetuous pyromancers might have their aether be a fiery red, for example.
Common State
Metaphysical Energy