Foolishly and greedily did the arcanists of Cairn delve into the magical veil known as the Aether, never once suspecting that something was looking back.—Grim Dawn
Aetherials are one of two otherworldly factions, making up the major enemies of humanity in Grim Dawn. What the aetherials are is unknown, with the only knowledge on them coming from renegade members of their species. What we do know is that the aetherials exist in a realm known as the Aether, a world of magic, where they have been at war with the chthonians and their master Ch'thon for an unknown length of time. Aetherials ended up in the world of Cairn due to the actions of human mages known as arcanists, who's greed and lust for magical power drove them deeper into the aether, opening themselves up to the initial wave of aetherials when the Grim Dawn began.
Whilst the aetherials are, for the most part, hostile to humans, this hostility is in part due to their human hosts. Upon possessing a human, that human's memories are then merged with the aetherial spirit, forcing human emotion upon the aetherial. For most aetherials, who possessed greedy, spiteful or even sadistic hosts, this only pushed them further into war with humanity, leading to the Grim Dawn, the apocalyptic event for which the game is named. However, for others, this caused them to betray their own kind, either trying to seek peace between the aetherials and humanity or, in some cases, openly siding with the human resistance.
History[]
According to the renegade Anasteria, the aetherials served the primordial gods, until the gods grew jealous of each other, where they turned on each other, using the aetherials as soldiers in their wars. One of these primordial gods, Ch'thon, chose to harness the powers of the Void, turning the tide of battle against its kin. The majority of the gods were either slain or forced into hiding, and the aetherials themselves were stripped of their physical forms and forced to reside in the Aether. They remained there until they eventually discovered humanity.
Humanity's greed and lust for power attracted the aetherials like a moth to flame. It started with the arcanists and mere whispers, subtly pushing these mages deeper into their study of the Aether. Eventually, when they were ready, the aetherials forced a breach, in an event they know as the Glorious Dawn, more commonly referred to by humans as the Grim Dawn. The Glorious Dawn was so called because it was seen by the aetherials as their triumphant return to the physical world, but it was not without consequence. Chthonian worship was a common enough on Cairn that, with the coming of the aetherials, many made pacts with Ch'thon's servants, bringing the fallen primordial back and powering the void with the blood of the dead on both sides. Soon enough, Cairn was the site of a three-way war, between the aetherials and their undead servants, Ch'thon and it's minions, and the remaining human resistance groups, such as the Black Legion and the Malmouth Resistance.
Humanity would remain on the back foot until the events of Grim Dawn, where a possessed individual, known as a taken, would be captured by the Devil's Crossing branch of the resistance. Cut off from the Black Legion's forces and sandwiched between Darius Cronley's gang of bandits in the Arkovian Foothills and the aetherial's forces pouring out of the village of Burrwitch, the capture of this taken was a tiny victory for the Devil's Crossing survivors, and after interrogating them, the survivors hanged the taken by the neck, expecting that to be the end. When the aetherial spirit possessing the taken fled the body, however, they were given a chance to prove themselves. Whilst the Taken's actions weren't enough to turn the tide of war, they did deal a significant blow to the aetherials, reuniting Devil's Crossing with Homestead and the Black Legion's headquarters at Fort Ikon and even taking back parts of the city of Malmouth, one of the first cities to fall during the Grim Dawn, going so far as slaying Theodin Marcell, the self-proclaimed Master of Flesh and master of the region.
Possession[]
Aetherials have the ability to possess living creatures, taking control of the creature's body and mind. These "vessels" as the aetherials called them, or "taken" as the survivors of the Grim Dawn knew them, would provide the basis for the aetherials invasion of Cairn, serving as physical bodies to replace those lost after the defeat of the primordial gods in ages long past.
Possessed humans vary in appearance. Some are indistinguishable from living humans, whilst others have a distinctly non-human voice and aether-coloured glow in their eyes. The most obvious, however, are heavily mutated, their body having several features such as fleshy growths, glowing green skin or aether crystals breaking through the skin in various place.
An unusual and unanticipated, though entirely welcomed (at least, by humans) side-effect of possession is that the aetherial is influenced by the mind and emotions of the host. This influence has led to several aetherials betraying their kin during the Grim Dawn, to varying degrees. Some, like Hagarond, a prisoner in Malmouth, sought to bring peace to both sides, whilst others, like the outcast witch Anasteria and the leader of Malmouth's resistance, Korinia, joined the human resistance outright, though only the former revealed her aetherial nature to humanity, a fact that made her distrusted, especially after the aetherials adapted to the knowledge she gifted humanity of their battle plans. So far, only Anasteria is known to serve humanity despite her status as an aetherial.
This doesn't just affect positive traits of the individual. The former warden of Devil's Crossing, Warden Krieg, was admonished at least once by his aetherial superiors for acting on the cruelty that came from his host, and Theodin Marcell, master of the Malmouth region's aetherial forces, is believed to have been influenced from his former work as a surgeon in his creation of the Fleshworks beneath Crown Hill.
Perhaps the most unusual and unanticipated side effect of possession that it can, in rare cases, be reversed, though there is only one such example, that being the player character. Prior to the events of Grim Dawn, the term "Taken" meant, as stated before, one who is possessed by the aetherials. However, this changed with the capture of a single taken by the Devil's Crossing survivors. John Bourbon, leader of the Devil's Crossing cell, had this captured taken interrogated and later hanged, but cut them down when it appeared that the aetherial had fled its living vessel. This singular taken, who would soon become known as "The Taken," had lost all memories of their past life, both prior to and during their possession, but retained its connection to the Aether: the scientist Kasparov detected residual Aether energies within their body and, more notably, the Taken could open personal riftgates and capture existing ones, repurposing them for human use. This became crucial for the resistance, both from a logistic and tactical perspective. Riftgates provided an infinitely safer means of transportation than passing through lands held by enemy forces or overrun with beasts and bandits, and the only other option for travel available was through the Void, where one would need to fight chthonians for their very survival.
Aetherial Variants[]
Aether Crystal[]
Little green crystals, aether crystals aren't living beings, but a byproduct of the Grim Dawn, with clusters of these spreading throughout the land. Whilst they do appear on many aetherial forces, they also appear in static clusters. When found in these clusters, aether crystals display the ability to raise the dead, as well as lashing out at threats with tendrils of aether energy. Additionally, some aether crystal clusters lie on a pile of dead bodies, which may house a surprise for the unweary.
Aether Obelisk[]
Towers of flesh and rock with a single massive aether crystals, aether obelisks are a rare but dangerous sight. Whilst at first glance, they are merely a much more powerful form of aether crystal, should something threaten them, they are capable of uprooting themselves, gaining the ability to fly and slam the ground, releasing a vicious blast of aether energy around themselves.
Aetherial[]
The true form of the aetherials will never be known, but their spirits do, on rare occasions, crop up to assist in battle against their enemies.
Aetherial Abomination[]
Masses of dead flesh possessed by a cluster of aether crystals, aetherial abominations are creations of the Malmouth Fleshworks. Humanoid only in that they possess the basic shape of two arms and two legs, aetherial abominations are hunched creatures, their legs ending in hooves and their arms ending in long spikes. Abominations have two heads, both the skulls of horses, and several corpses including horse, human and pig making up their hulking frame. Abominations are rarely seen before they attack, only appearing when their crystal cluster is significantly threatened that it is forced to rouse the corpses underneath it.
Possessed[]
As stated earlier, possessed humans were the first victims of the aetherials during the Grim Dawn. Formerly arcanists, their lust for power drove them deeper into the Aether, until it was too late for them to stop the invasion they unwittingly helped prepare.
Notable Aetherials[]
- Commander Lucius
- Herald of the Flame
- Herald of Destruction
- Herald of the Stars
- The Amalgamation
Possessed Humans[]
- Warden Krieg
- Noveria Stormfire
- Jarren the Plaguewarped
- Watcher Brandis
- Watcher Ordas
- Watcher Ygraad
- Councilman Garl
- Councilman Hallos
- Overlord Van Aldritch
- Terrnox
- Bollag, Keeper of the Gates
- Fleshweaver Krieg (possibly, though unconfirmed, the same being as Warden Krieg)
- Fleshweaver Haraxis
- Fleshshaper Hinissius
- Valaxteria
- The Master of Flesh - Theodin Marcell
- Darius Cronley - Not technically an aetherial, but after his own experiments with aether crystals supplied to him by the aetherials, he is considered one.
Renegades[]
- Anasteria
- Hagarond
- Korinia