Editing Planes of Existence (section)

=== The Ethereal Plane ===
Also known as the Plane of the Dead, the Ethereal Plane is a realm of transitory spirits and powerful magic users who use the obscuring spells to hide great mansions and towers where they do their work. The plane is the most direct “echo” of the Material Plane, consisting of a greenish-gray rolling fog that extends indefinitely in all directions. Beings in the Ethereal Plane can float and have a general sense of up and down, but only relative to the echo they can see of the Material Plane.

There are two general areas of the Ethereal: the Border and the Deep. The Border Ethereal, or the Shore, is seen as a more direct echo of the Material Plane. All objects in the Material Plane can be seen in the Border, though they are not tangible and can be passed through. Prolonged exposure within the Border will inevitably force a being or spirit into the Deep, which is an infinite rolling fog where all directions lead to the Grand Judgment.

Spirits of the recently departed are deposited here, to await their fate in the labyrinthine catacombs known as the Grand Judgment, overseen by a godlike being known by many names. Those spirits who attempt to cling to the Material Plane become ghosts, wraiths, shadows, etc. Other spirits are “anchored” to the Material Plane, usually due to some grievance or by the will of a powerful being. Ghosts with “unfinished business” are a classic example of anchored spirits.

==== The Grand Judgment ====
Every mortal being who dies becomes a spirit and must await judgment by the Many-Named One. Spirits who wander the Ethereal Plane eventually come to an infinitely long tower with a large entrance leading to a winding stone passage that opens into the Hall of Judgment, a ballroom-sized stone chamber in which sits the Many-Named-One. This being resembles whatever the spirit looked like in life. It has a book, the Book of Names, which contains the spirit’s entire life, recorded, using the spirit’s True Name. The Many-Named-One reads the record of the spirit’s life and determines where the spirit is to go. The spirit’s destination is almost always one of the many Outer Planes.

===== The Many-Named-One =====
The god and overseer of the Ethereal Plane. When you die the MNO looks like something you would recognize, and thus has many names in many different cultures. The MNO is a god who made a pact with Entropy to rule the Ethereal and direct the divinity (spirit) of departed souls to their final destination. As such, the MNO is completely suffused with entropy and may likely be undead— but moreover, since every spirit passes by him prior to moving on, he has a steady and consistent supply of worshipers.

The Many-Named One has four chief deva who aid him:

Atelian, the gatekeeper

Fenelal and Torperian, the guardians

Istethoth, the assistant

The fog of the Ethereal Plane is the Many-Named One, as it seeps continually from his body (his true form, supposedly). This fog is incredibly deadly, particularly in the Deep Ethereal, where any creature with a soul will have their bodies stripped from them if they venture too deep. Because of this, the deva in the Endless Spire wear sophisticated masks and armor that prevent them from coming into contact with the fog.

==== Death, Resurrection Spells, and Moving On ====
When a mortal dies in the Material Plane, its soul is automatically ejected into the Ethereal Plane, unless the death was caused by extreme means that cause it to be anchored to the Material somehow. Generally speaking, the more vicious, jarring, or abnormal the means of death, the more the spirit is anchored. This is why mortals who die of old age cannot be resurrected—they usually pass quietly and naturally.

In a general sense, a morally opposing death creates the biggest anchor for a spirit. For example: a good-hearted creature stabbed in a mugging may linger as an ambivalent ghost, while a person tortured and slowly killed with acid may come back as a malevolent ghost hellbent on revenge, or even something worse like a revenant or wraith.

Certain spells like Spare the Dying and Gentle Repose are capable of anchoring souls to the Material as well. If not anchored, the spirit begins to travel. The farther it travels from its corporeal form, the harder it is to resurrect.

In exchange for their pseudo-immortality, elves cannot be resurrected, as their ancestors, the eladrin, were not touched by Entropy. When they are killed or die from one of the few elf-specific diseases, they are dead forever.

===== Spare the Dying =====
Spare the Dying can be cast when a mortal is actively dying, but not yet dead. It stabilizes the creature. Spare the Dying also works on elves.

===== Gentle Repose =====
Gentle Repose is cast to prevent a spirit from departing. It essentially causes the spirit to enter a torpor state for 10 days.

===== Revivify =====
It takes one minute for the soul to fully separate from the body. Within this window, Revivify and all higher resurrection spells can be cast successfully. Please note that this time is relevant to the Ethereal Plane, not the plane the creature has died on. Even planes without static concepts of time such as a Feywild will have a static one minute time frame from death. Revivify is automatically successful.

===== Raise Dead =====
After a minute has passed, the spirit transfers into the Ethereal Plane and begins its long pilgrimage to the Grand Judgment. This pilgrimage takes 10 days. Within this time, only Raise Dead and higher resurrection spells may be cast. Whomever is casting the spell must roll a Wisdom check. The DC to resurrect a willing creature is at this stage is 5 + # of days the creature has been dead. Higher spells like Resurrection and True Resurrection succeed automatically. Gentle Repose can be used to prevent the spirit from leaving its body, effectively causing the spirit to “sleep.”

===== Resurrection =====
Once the spirit has reached the Grand Judgment, they then begin the process of having their soul judged (or weighed). This takes 100 years of time in the mortal planes, but is nearly instantaneous to the spirit. During this time, only Resurrection or True Resurrection may be cast. Since the spirit is actively in judgment, the DC to resurrect is 8 + 1 for every 10 years the spirit has been dead - any gifts offered. The Many-Named-One is aware of resurrection and will freely offer back spirits if a suitable gift is given. The Many-Named-One appreciates gifts of service, not goods, unless the good has sentimental value to the dead one. True Resurrection succeeds automatically.

===== True Resurrection =====
After being judged, the spirit departs to its last home, or is dissolved back into the Spirit Pool to be reincarnated. At this point, only True Resurrection may be cast. True Resurrection works in two ways: if the spirit has been transferred to an Outer Plane or last realm, the spell directly connects with the deity or whatever is overseeing them and requests they return to the Material Plane. Depending on the deity, this can be a tricky proposition. In general, the DC to cast this is 10 + 1 for every 100 years the creature has been dead +/- whatever affinity the deity has for the caster. Gods, like the Many-Named-One, enjoy receiving gifts and may ask the caster to perform a task before the creature is resurrected.

If, however, the spirit has been returned to the Pool, it’s usually because they were a terrible person or made a deal with an entity for reincarnation or in exchange for something. It is not possible to resurrect a person this way, as being reincarnated is akin to being “unwilling.” 

==== Multiple Resurrections ====
If you have been resurrected by a spell beyond Revivify, the DC to raise you again increases by 2 for every time you’ve died.

==== Failing a Resurrection ====
Failing Resurrections only maintains the status quo; a person can attempt more than one resurrection if the first one fails.