Ethereal curtain

Ethereal curtains, also called curtains of vaporous color, were the barriers between the Deep Ethereal and the various Border Ethereal regions of the Ethereal Plane. Some scholars instead reported a single infinite curtain that separated the two regions of the Ethereal, in which case it was called the Wall of Color.

Description

“

See!? It does look like a wall of chocolate! Xanxos likes chocolate, especially when it's dribbled over raw elf. Are you an elf? Hey, come back here!

”

— Xanxos the slaad, showing off the ethereal curtain to the Plane of Ooze before lunch.

Ethereal curtains appeared like enormous sheets of colored vapor, which continuously were in motion. The motion had been described as the flapping of a world-sized flag. Motes of sparkling light flickered over their surfaces. Some who had seen ethereal curtains described them as looking something like the northern lights found on some worlds.

The curtain or curtains were only visible from the Deep Ethereal side and never from the Border Ethereal.

Anyone separated by a curtain from the Border Ethereal was completely protected from any harm by any force or being on the other side, whether on the Border Ethereal or the bordered plane.

Curtain Colors

The color of an ethereal curtain indicated to which Border Ethereal region it led. To those who believed in a single ethereal curtain, the curtain had separate colors in different areas, which indicated the destination. Trusting in the color of the curtain to lead you to your desired target, however, was considered risky. The colors of the curtains to most of the major planes are listed in the table below, along with other methods of planar travel:

Plane	Planar Fork		Color Pool	Ethereal Curtain
	Material	Pitch or Chord
The Prime	Steel	C  listen	Silver	Metallic silver or turquoise
The Feywild			Emerald green	Opalescent white
The Shadowfell			Spiraling black	Silver or dusky gray
Elemental Planes
Fire	Copper	A  listen	Fire emerald	Flickering green or red
Earth	Zinc	A  listen	Moss granite	Flickering gray or brown
Water	Lead	A  listen	Dark blue	Flickering blue or green
Air	Tin	A  listen	Pale blue	Flickering white or blue
Para-elemental Planes
Smoke	Bronze	A  listen		Pearl
Magma	Brass	A  listen		Maroon
Ooze	Zinc/lead	A  listen		Chocolate
Ice	Pewter	A  listen		Aquamarine
Quasi-Elemental Planes
Radiance	Copper	A♯  listen		Shifting rainbow
Mineral	Zinc	A♯  listen		Milky pink
Steam	Lead	A♯  listen		Ivory
Lightning	Tin	A♯  listen		Violet
Ash	Copper	A♭  listen		Dark gray
Dust	Zinc	A♭  listen		Dun
Salt	Lead	A♭  listen		Tan
Vacuum	Tin	A♭  listen		Ebony
Energy Planes
Positive	None known		Shining white	Shining white
Negative	None known		Cold ebony	Glossy black
Transitive Planes
Ethereal	Glass	B  listen	Spiraling white	—
Astral	Quartz	B  listen	—	Swirling gray
Shadow			Spiraling black	Silver or dusky gray
Outer Planes
Outlands	Platinum	C  listen	Leather brown	Brown
Cynosure	None		None	None
The Fugue	None		None	None
Mechanus	Silver	C  listen	Diamond	White
Arcadia   Abellio   Buxenus   Layer 3	Gold	C♯  listen C♯ major  listen C♯ minor  listen	Saffron — —	Pale yellow
Celestia   Lunia   Mercuria   Venya   Other layers	Gold	D  listen D major  listen D minor  listen Unknown	Gold — — —	Brilliant yellow
Bytopia   Dothion   Shurrock	Gold	E♭  listen E♭ major  listen	Amber —	Dark yellow
Elysium   Amoria   Eronia   Belierin   Thalasia	Gold	E  listen E major  listen E minor  listen Unknown	Opal — — —	Dark green
The Beastlands   Krigala   Brux   Karasuthra	Gold	F  listen F major  listen F minor  listen	Emerald — —	Emerald green
Arborea   Arvandor     Arvandor   Aquallor   Mithardir	Gold	F♯  listen F♯ major  listen F♯ minor  listen	Sapphire Dark green — —	Bright blue
Ysgard   Ysgard   Muspelheim   Nidavellir	Gold	G  listen G major  listen G minor  listen	Indigo — —	Purple
Limbo	Nickel	C  listen	Jet	Swirling black
Pandemonium   Pandesmos   Cocytus   Phlegethon   Agathion	Iron	C♯  listen C♯ major  listen C♯ minor  listen Unknown	Magenta — — —	Crimson
The Abyss   Layer 1   Other layers	Iron	D  listen Unknown	Amethyst —	Swirling red
Carceri   Orthrys   Cathrys   Minethys   Other layers	Iron	E♭  listen E♭ major  listen E♭ minor  listen Unknown	Olive or red — — —	Gray-green
Hades   Oinos   Niflheim   Pluton	Iron	E  listen E major  listen E minor  listen	Rust — Iron gray	Dark red
Gehenna   Khalas   Chamada   Mungoth   Krangath	Iron	F  listen F major  listen F minor  listen Unknown	Russet — — —	Bright red
The Nine Hells   Avernus   Dis   Minauros   Other layers	Iron	F♯  listen F♯ major  listen F♯ minor  listen Unknown	Ruby — — —	Red & black
Acheron   Avalas   Thuldanin   Tintibulus   Ocanthus	Iron	G  listen G major  listen G minor  listen Unknown	Flame — — —	Metallic red

Travel

If a traveler faced an ethereal curtain, desire alone was all that was necessary to enter through the curtain and find oneself on the other side, at the border of another plane able to see into it from the Ethereal. (Strangely, something prevented anyone from reaching the Border Ethereal of the Material Plane around Krynnspace; the ethereal curtain to this part of the multiverse was somehow blocked.)

A diagram depicting ethereal curtains at the barriers between the Deep Etheral and the Border Ethereal regions of an Inner Plane and the Prime.

Likewise, any planar traveler desiring to leave the Border Ethereal of any plane needed only to will it, and she or he would immediately appear facing an ethereal curtain of the appropriate color. To an observer still remaining on the Border Ethereal, the traveler would appear to vanish in an enveloping, roiling mist. (An exception to this was found on the Border Ethereal of the Demiplane of Dread, from which it was impossible to enter the Deep Ethereal.) Later scholars believed that the only way to enter the Deep Ethereal from the Border Ethereal was with a plane shift or gate spell.

Traveling along a curtain before entering it would allow one to appear at a point overlapping a different location on the bordered plane, but since it was not possible to see through the curtain, it was generally not possible to predict which direction of travel along the curtain would lead to which location, nor did distances traveled in the Deep Ethereal in any way correspond to distances in the Border Ethereal. Some travelers of the planes argued that those who were clever enough could recognize patterns in the flashing lights in the curtain to find previous sites of entry.

Traveling to another curtain or area of a curtain could feel like a journey of anywhere from 10 to 1,000 hours, though the time that had actually passed in the Material Plane would not be as long. Traveling to the place where passage through a curtain would take one exactly to the desired destination in the Border Ethereal always took longer than if someone simply had willed to reach a given border in general.

If a visitor to the Deep Ethereal was under the effects of a magic item or spell, such as etherealness, and the duration of the magic wore off, the traveler would immediately be forced through the nearest ethereal curtain and would materialize on the corresponding plane of existence.

Appendix

See Also

• Mount Olympus, from which similar shimmering curtains among the trees and rocks on its slopes led to other planes.

Appearances

• Tantras
• The Fallen Fortress
• Ghostwalker
• The Howling Delve