The Shimmering Plains — Dreams of Aether Walkthrough

Learn about Dream Aether, its properties, how it's encoded, and its different grades in this comprehensive guide for Dreams of Aether.

Dream Aether, often simply called Aether, is the fundamental, primordial energy from which all existence originates. It is a pure, undetectable energy with no waste, theoretically allowing for anything to be possible if harnessed correctly. The Oracle Bracelet absorbs and stores Aether from the atmosphere, and can also compress it from dead bodies, though this process can transfer the deceased's memories and experiences. The density of Aether in a world increases with the population and the spiritual evolution of its inhabitants, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of growth.

Properties:

• Aether is attracted to itself.
• Aether spun centrifugally moves inward.
• Atmospherically absorbed Aether is instantly replenished and maintains its density.

According to the textbook Novice Aether Manipulation, Dream Aether is the universe's origin energy, considered infinite. Its density increases entropy and can lead to the creation of new universes. This increase is due to its constant renewal from an external source, its self-attraction (similar to gravity), and its attraction to brain activity, thoughts, and dreams, making it particularly drawn to life and intellectually evolved beings.

Encoding:

Dream Aether must be encoded to be used as energy for enhancing attributes. The Oracle Bracelet performs this encoding, with seven basic attributes available: Strength, Agility, Constitution, Vitality, Intelligence, and Perception. The cost to encode varies with volume; exceeding 3 cubic meters doubles the price, and exceeding 6 cubic meters triples it. Each body has an Aether capacity limit, comparable to a bottle filling with liquid, with a human limit typically at 100 Aether points.

Grades of Encoding:

• Grade 1: Condenses Aether to a gaseous state, with a max attribute of 100. The Oracle provides these 7 primary Encodings for free.
• Grade 2: Condenses Aether to a liquid state, with a max attribute of 1,000. Requires purchase from the Oracle Store (e.g., Grade 2 Strength Encoding costs 1,000 credits).
• Grade 3: Condenses Aether to a solid state, with a potential max attribute of 10,000. More complex Encodings allow for passive properties similar to Aether Skills.

Aether Colors: For simplicity, the Oracle assigns colors to different Aether energies: Red for Strength, orange for Agility, yellow for Constitution, green for Vitality, cyan for Intelligence, and indigo for Perception. The Oracle device uses more Aether to encode each energy type.