A thick, maddening fog that mortals cannot safely interact with.
Details
The Pale is the “uncreated stuff of the world” — the raw material that has not yet turned into magic, people, or memories (e00 00:14). It is expelled from the breath of Sarvothemisues every 11 years, and Edyrea‘s surrounding ocean is thick with it (e00 00:14).
The Pale is defined as having zero essence — a true zero that is difficult to achieve and normally only occurs naturally (e00 01:49). Essence dust, left over when an essence crystal is harnessed, dissolves back into the Pale in trace amounts (e00 01:45).
The College of Creation has learned a song from Saint Sienna — the same bard who put the great wyrm to sleep — that allows initiates to interact with the Pale without going insane, using a blindfold while listening to the song (e00 01:47).
Under Wriem, a pipeline runs from the Eternal Vault (see Essence and Souls) out into the ocean to carry off a dangerous buildup of Pale (e00 01:46).
Orrin says that when he was brought here after dying on Ternia, fog was everywhere, the Pale was everywhere, and everyone was choking on it and dying around him (e04 00:51, e04 00:51). Willy says that in his adventuring days he took on the Pale with his shields (e04 00:22).
The Pale swallows the ships and minds of anyone who enters it; the empires that once warred with Edyrea are cut off behind it and forgotten, leaving the continent alone in the great sea of Ereboros, ringed in fog (e01 00:03).
Relationships
- Sarvothemisues — the wyrm whose breath creates the Pale.
- Saint Sienna — taught the song that allows safe exposure to the Pale.
- The College of Creation — the bard school that studies safe exposure to the Pale and opposes essence dust use.
Episode history
- e00 (00:14) — introduced as the fog exhaled by Sarvothemisues.
- e01 (00:03) — described as swallowing ships and minds, ringing Edyrea in fog.
- e04 (00:51) — Orrin says it was everywhere when he was brought here after dying.