Across the galaxy, civilizations that have pierced the veil of material existence have given many names to the fundamental substrate that underlies all phenomena. To the @Altaran, who first brought knowledge of this force to the Endless Unity, it is the Nethereal—a term implying the "net" or web that catches all reality. The @Kthon, whose biology is saturated with psionic potential, speak of the Primordial Power, viewing it as the raw essence from which their flesh-shapers mold life. The extinct Auloreans, whose crystalline archives still hum with echoes of their understanding, named it The Great Arcane, treating it as the ultimate mystery to be studied rather than feared. The Echarian call it The Sea of Substrata, envisioning the material universe as but one current within an infinite ocean of existential possibility.
These names converge on a single truth: the material universe is merely one substratum within an infinite stack of realities. The Nethereal is not simply another dimension or parallel timeline, but rather the fundamental medium in which all possible universes exist simultaneously. It is the page upon which the story of reality is written, the silence between notes of music, the void that gives shape to form. Some theoretical philosophers posit that the material universe itself is merely a particularly stable and dense substratum of the Nethereal—a "hardened" probability that has persisted long enough to develop physical laws and persistent matter, yet remains fundamentally connected to the infinite chaos from which it emerged.
The Hidden History of Human Psionics
Among the sentient species of the galaxy, @Baseline Humans possess a paradoxical relationship with psionic power. Biologically, they are among the most attuned to the Nethereal, with nearly every human possessing some infinitesimal connection to the substrate of reality. This potential is so universal that, for the vast majority, it manifests only as intuition, luck, or the occasional vivid dream—imperceptible flickers of a connection too weak to harness. Yet this ubiquity makes humanity uniquely dangerous, for when a human awakens to true psionic ability, they often do so with devastating potency.
For most of human history within the Endless Unity, this potential was deliberately suppressed. The early rulers of the Unity, following edicts laid down during the formation of their government, systematically purged all knowledge of psionic phenomena from public and scientific records. Universities taught that reports of "mind-reading" or "fire conjured from thought" were superstition or mass hysteria. The Unity's military and intelligence agencies quietly eliminated @Wild Psions who manifested spontaneously, treating them as dangerous anomalies to be contained or destroyed rather than studied. This suppression was so complete that the Unity's own citizens lived for centuries in ignorance of their innate potential, believing themselves to be a purely mundane species in a galaxy of wonders.
The truth was revealed only during the War of the Chosen, when the @Altarans showed their absolute mastery in combining industry, sabotage, and combat with the sorcerous power of the nethereal. The @Altarans were amazed how a civilization as vast and technologically advanced as the Endless Unity was, could have possibly reached its contemporary heights without seemingly having any conception of the Nethereal.
Naturally, this revelation exposed a catastrophic vulnerability. The Endless Unity had optimized their civilization for purely physical warfare—industry, logistics, and conventional technology—while remaining utterly deaf to the Nethereal dimension. They possessed no counters for telepathic spies infiltrating command structures, no defense against biomantic assassination of key officials, and no ability to block augury that allowed the Providence to predict fleet movements with perfect clarity. For years, the Unity fought blind, their supreme material advantage undermined by an enemy who struck at minds and morale as easily as hull plating.
The turning point came with the Exodus of the Banished in nine hundred seventeen AF. Ithiniya-Aellomris, taking the name @Khiro Velenar, did not merely bring military assets when she defected; she brought salvation in the form of knowledge. Singlehandedly, she dismantled the doctrinal barriers that had suppressed psionic awareness, establishing the training regimes and organizational framework that would become the FORCE Omega. She taught the Endless to perceive the tides of the Nethereal, to shield their thoughts, and to wield the same sorcerous fire that had ravaged them. Her tutelage transformed the Unity from a civilization helpless in an entire dimension of warfare into one capable of fighting on two fronts simultaneously, ensuring that Nethereal mastery became not merely an advantage, but a prerequisite for survival against the Providence.
The Architecture of Power
A psion's capabilities are determined by three interlocking factors: innate strength, cultivated skill, and force of will. These elements function not as separate statistics but as a unified matrix of capability that defines what a practitioner can and cannot achieve.
Innate strength represents the raw magnitude of a psion's connection to the Nethereal—the metaphorical width of the pipe through which power flows from the substrate into the material world. This capacity varies drastically between individuals; most awakened psions possess only a trickle of connection, sufficient for minor effects but little else. However, this innate strength is not fixed. Through prolonged exposure to the Nethereal and disciplined use of psionic abilities, a practitioner can slowly expand their connection, increasing their raw power over time. This growth is measured in decades rather than days, and the process carries significant risks, as forcing too much power through an insufficiently prepared mind can lead to madness or physical dissolution.
The Threat of Insanity
The Nethereal exacts a terrible price from those who tap its power, presenting two distinct catastrophes that await the unwary practitioner. The first is the loss of control—the technical failure wherein raw power overwhelms the wielder's ability to impose specific probability upon infinite possibility, resulting in catastrophic, uncontrolled manifestation. The second, and more insidious, is the dissolution of sanity itself, wherein the psion's mental architecture collapses under the corrosive pressure of the substrate, leaving them permanently divorced from rational thought and moral restraint.
Loss of control manifests as explosive, reality-warping disaster. Without rigorous technical skill to channel Nethereal energies into coherent effect, the power surges through the practitioner and into the material world as unshaped potential, warping physics according to nightmare logic rather than conscious will. Telekinetic force shatters without direction, pyromantic heat consumes indiscriminately, and telepathic broadcasts become psychotic storms that shatter minds for kilometers. Those who lack the refined techniques to contain their power become Wild Psions, weapons of mass destruction who annihilate themselves and everything nearby in moments of panic or passion.
Yet even those who master technical proficiency face the creeping threat of psychological corruption. Willpower serves not merely as fuel for feats of sorcery, but as the essential bulwark protecting the self from the Nethereal's addictive embrace. The ability to reshape reality according to desire provides a euphoric rush that corrodes the psyche with terrifying speed, fostering delusions of omnipotence and dissolving empathy. Without absolute mental discipline to resist this siren call, practitioners gradually lose their grip on consensual morality, sliding from measured use of power into compulsive manipulation of their surroundings, then into outright megalomania and godhood complexes. The Nethereal consumes such minds entirely, transforming psions from guardians into tyrants who view the material universe as mere clay for their deranged whims.