Ater

Ater is the ethereal plane, and exists above and within Olemonde. It is said that Ater is a corridor between Olemonde and Aruhlund. Within Ater, the souls of the departed wander until they find rest. For most, this transition is relatively quick and souls pass on to their Eternity with little trouble. On occasion, however, some souls grow restless and vengeful, lashing out at those who wander too close. While mostly harmless to mortals in and of itself, when a soul becomes maddened enough, it can tug on the membrane between Olemonde and Ater, forming what we recognize as ghosts. The sites of violent war, immense tragedy, or unspeakable horrors tend to show a higher rate of membrane disruption.

Description
Ater is visually rather similar to the material plane, however there is no atmosphere, leaving the sky perpetually open to the stars. Ater is a world of eternal night, and a fog of thick, almost living, darkness pervades this plane. Trees are dead and rotting, rivers run with black sludge. The air is said to smell of death, and is often littered with the spores of an extra-planar fungus native to Ater. It is said that deep within Ater is a kingdom of the damned - rejected from Laterne, but resistant to the pull of Ezmanan. Many sorcerers and mediums have attempted to venture into Ater to locate this civilization, but none have ever returned.