Common Belief

The common man of Ambar accepts that magic exists, spirits exist, and he is likely to interact with both in his lifetime. Furthermore, he knows there is a world beyond what can be seen, a world of spirits and magic, where the gods and their nemeses dwell.

However, the common knowledge ends there. The world beyond is known by many names, including the names of many heavens and hells, for most religious faiths have their own opinions on the matter, and some even disagree on whether the Astral is a single place or several. Most people know nothing more than a few scant fables, and the wise count themselves lucky to know so little.

Form and Void

The light seemed to fray into the swirling fog. It dissipated, and in moments it was gone. The fog carried its own light, or else was itself made of light. A floating veil that was neither blue nor green. The veil stretches into ropes of mist and twines itself around those within, but parts before a touch like threads of shifting color.

The Astral Sea is the opposite of our world, a formless, timeless void. Attempts to describe it are limited at best, for the mortal mind can scarce grasp what has no bounds or definition.

The inhabitants of this place are intangible beings such as spirits. Existing beyond our concepts of time, the Astral Entities have been at times revered as gods or denounced as demons. They visit our world only seldom, but such events often cause ripples in the history of our world. Astral Entities have no form other than that lent by the observer in an attempt to understand the unknowable.

The Sea of Magic

The ancient Ithil'Rhi, oldest of the speaking races, were the first to describe the otherworld of magic as the "Astral Sea". Their lore-songs describe Ambar as islands floating upon the Astral Sea, much as the mountains of the land rise above the oceans. If one sails into the deep ocean they will lose sight of the land, and ocean seems like an endless void. It is the same with the Astral Sea--an endless void filled with naught except formless magic energy that flows like water.

The analogy of a sea also applies to the cycle of magic. Just as ocean water circulates from the land to the sky and back again, so does magic from the Astral Sea wash over the world of Ambar. Magic flows from the Astral Sea through the world of Ambar, returning once more. As the magic returns to the Astral Sea it becomes concentrated in river-like channels called Ley Lines and then collects in lake-like Astral Pools that "drain" back into the Astral Sea. The pools are highly sought after by magi, for they contain concentrated magic that is easy to tap.

The Aether

The third world is the Aether, smaller and younger still than our world. The Aether is often called the Inner World by magi.