Ethereal

Ethereal

Species	Specters
DLC	Hearts of Stone
Oil	Specter Oil
Signs	Yrden Aard
Bombs	Northern Wind Dancing Star

The Ethereal is a nightmarish Specter from Hearts of Stone. It is the embodiment of Iris von Everec's greatest fear, and it wears the face of her husband, Olgierd von Everec. It lives in the painted world inside Iris's mind, reached through the von Everec Estate. It is fought near the end of the main quest Scenes From a Marriage.

Lore

The human mind is as wild and unexplored as any land beyond the seas. Fears, painful memories and old wounds live there. They wait at the edge of thought, like predators waiting for a moment of weakness. The scholar Artorius Vigo wrote about these dangers in "The Essence of Spells and Illusions."

Iris von Everec created a painted world in her own mind. Most of it is filled with figures from her memories. It is also home to dangerous creatures born from her fears. The most dangerous of these is the Ethereal. It calls up her greatest fear, and it looks like her husband.

Olgierd left his wife long ago. He left her only a letter and a rose to remember him by. Reading that letter in the painted world awakens the Ethereal.

Behaviour

The Ethereal is not a single creature. It is a group of six, each stronger than the one before. At first, only one of them fights. The others stand still and wait their turn. When one falls, the next and stronger Ethereal wakes up and takes its place. The slightest blow to a waiting Ethereal wakes it early, and it joins the fight at once.

Each Ethereal looks like Olgierd and fights with a technique much like his. It attacks with a sword in a fast series of strikes.

Weaknesses

Coat the silver sword with Specter Oil. A Dancing Star bomb sets fire to every Ethereal in its blast. Throw bombs and cast Signs with care, though, since any stray hit on a waiting Ethereal brings it into the fight.

Fight them one at a time. At the start, move to the far end of the room. The active Ethereal follows, away from the others.

Each Ethereal opens with a fast string of sword strikes and ends with a powerful blow. The first strikes can be parried. The charging blow at the end cannot, so dodge it instead. Each string of attacks leaves a short opening afterwards. The best tactic is a well-timed counterattack: dodge the blow, then strike back hard.

Ethereal Map Location and Quest Guide

Finish Open Sesame! and take Olgierd's third task: find the violet rose.
Go to the von Everec manor and search for the partner of the thief met at the wall.
Follow the tracks to the back garden and defeat the estate's Caretaker.
Search the upper floor of the manor for Iris von Everec, examine the remains on the bed and bury them.
Restore Iris von Everec's memories in the dining room, the painting studio and Olgierd's study.
Escape the fire and the blizzard and find a way back into the house.
Go to the parlor and face Iris von Everec's greatest fear.
Defeat Iris von Everec's nightmares, the six Ethereals, one by one.

Map credit by Map Genie.

Contracts and Quests

Quest	Quest Giver	Location	Reward
Scenes From a Marriage	-	Von Everec Estate	The Caretaker's spade

The Ethereal is fought in Scenes From a Marriage, a main quest of Hearts of Stone. The quest Open Sesame! comes just before it. For his third and final task, Olgierd asks for the violet rose he gave his wife the last time he saw her. The rose disappeared long ago, but the search leads to the von Everec Estate.

At the estate, a frightened thief is looking for his missing partner. The trail leads to the back garden and to the estate's Caretaker, who must be defeated. Upstairs, Iris's remains lie on her bed and must be buried. The search then moves into the painted world of her memories. Each memory has to be restored: the dining room scene, the tableau in the painting studio and the pentagram in Olgierd's study. Wraiths attack along the way. After escaping a fire and a blizzard, the path leads to the parlor. The final memory is Olgierd's letter, and the Ethereals come with it.

All Monster Categories

All Specters

Name	Image	Variant of	Oil	Signs	Bombs	Location	DLC
Banshee		-	Specter Oil	Yrden	-	Toussaint Oxenfurt	Blood and Wine
Barghest		-	Specter Oil	Axii Yrden	Moon Dust	Toussaint	Blood and Wine
Daphne's Wraith		-	Specter Oil	-	-	Toussaint	Blood and Wine
Devil by the Well		Noonwraith	Specter Oil	Yrden	Moon Dust	White Orchard	Base game
Ethereal		-	Specter Oil	Yrden Aard	Northern Wind Dancing Star	-	Hearts of Stone
Hym		-	Specter Oil	Igni	Moon Dust	Skellige	Base game
Jenny o' the Woods		Nightwraith	Specter Oil	Yrden	Moon Dust	-	Base game
Longlocks		Banshee	Specter Oil	-	-	Land of a Thousand Fables	Blood and Wine
Nightwraith		-	Specter Oil	Yrden	Moon Dust	Velen Skellige	Base game
Noonwraith		-	Specter Oil	Yrden	Moon Dust	White Orchard Velen Skellige	Base game
Penitent		Wraith	Specter Oil	Yrden Quen	Moon Dust	-	Base game
Phantom of the Amphitheater		Banshee	Specter Oil	-	-	-	Blood and Wine
Plague Maiden		-	Specter Oil	Yrden	-	-	Base game
Red Miasmal		-	-	-	-	-	Base game
The White Lady		Noonwraith	Specter Oil	Yrden	Moon Dust	-	Base game
The Wraith from the Painting		-	Specter Oil	Yrden Quen	-	-	Hearts of Stone
Umbra	-	-	-	-	-	Toussaint	Blood and Wine
Wraith		-	Specter Oil	Yrden Quen	Moon Dust	White Orchard	Base game