Dust: Forms and Applications

[Professor Wednesday Haptasnytrir]

Dust

Dust is a naturally occurring energy propellant found stable in a crystalline form and has a facet of “primordial essence”. The distinct characteristic of this substance is its unique interactions with Aura to both enhance and modify the expression of a user’s techniques including their Semblances. Outside of its various combat applications, Dust remains the main energy source for most of Remnant’s technologies and far outstrips any other by a wide margin. It has proliferated to be a pillar of civilization since its discovery and remains the great equalizing force keeping the Grimm threat from overwhelming Mankind. It is not an exaggeration to say that the turning point in the eternal war against Grimm began with the harnessing of Dust. Despite its vast importance to the modern world, much remains unknown about the substance’s origins. How it comes into being is a question that remains throughout Man’s long exploitation of its potent properties.

Dust exists in many elements, occurring both naturally and through synthetic means. There are some types that exist strictly through synthetic occurrence and are rarely found in nature, if at all.

Dust Purity
An overlooked facet of Dust is their crystal nature. Specifically, the impurities that a crystal takes in during its creation. While Dust itself is a mystery, being a crystal does grant a small insight into its possible origins. The impurities themselves do not affect general society as they are negligible in the reactions that weapons and channeling focus on. They are also largely removed when going through powder state processing to make the issue even less of a concern. The few instances where Dust quality are paramount is ingestion. Water Dust, for example, may create water, but the impurities of the crystal can carry over to the water and make it hazardous to drink. Similarly, Wind Dust can create breathable air, but contain impurities that may cause danger to the respiratory system. Filters are an easy solution for both, and technology has advanced to the point where such concerns are largely accounted for. It is when using raw Dust that one potentially exposes themselves to these risks.

Raw Crystal Form
Dust, as a substance, is highly explosive. In spite of this, the crystals are able to be handled with little fear of reacting as it is quite stable in this form. Care must still be exercised in as even if it can handle the shocks from being mined or dropped, its structure can still be compromised and set off a violent reaction. Safe practices exist and are to be maintained unless its moniker as “Nature’s Wrath” be made apparent. It is otherwise safe to display in shop counters and for use in weaponry as a focus point.

Seeing Dust in its raw, unrefined form is somewhat uncommon as the vast majority is processed into commercial products before reaching the larger market. The three most commonly used of all Dust derivatives are Crystals, Powder, and Bullets.

Cut Crystal Form
The basic function of Dust does not differ whether as raw and cut crystal. The degree of specialization cutting Dust crystals affords does make it more desired depending on the techniques one prefers to use. Raw Dust crystals as focus points are the “entry point”, not excelling in any one category, but likewise not lacking for anything. A flexible medium anyone can get a handle on. Cutting Dust crystals tightens the spectrum so that greater output in specific areas can be achieved. Much in the same way that a lens can focus light depending on how they are shaped, cutting Dust crystals is believed to operate in a similar manner when channeling ones Aura. Of course, cutting these crystals can simply make it easier to perform certain effects rather than altogether altering what the Dust is capable of actually doing. Most of the heavy lifting falls on the user and their expertise in channeling their Aura.

Dust cutting carries with it a long tradition stretching back as one of the earliest forms of processing the precious material into workable mediums for specialists. Similar skills associated across the disciplines pit a lot of crossover between Dust and gem cutting.[1]

Powder Form
Refining Dust into a powdered state is a process that removes impurities and yields a more uniform quality overall with the side effect of becoming much more volatile. Powder Dust has a higher potential damage output in comparison to crystal forms as its increased surface area in comparison to the mass allows much greater reactivity for even less activation energy.
Its popularity is a result of all these factors: less for more, accessibility, and availability. Dust crystals generally see more use in specialist communities that have trained to use them effectively whereas Dust powder requires less expertise to use when technology is available to perform the tasks for them.

Dust Bullets
Common Dust practices involve its use in ammunition and serves as a more practical application for modern society. Warriors simply need to choose the right cartridge for the task. The construction of any bullet follows along the same four basic features of a projectile, housing, propellant, and primer. The propellant for a bullet can be either a Dust crystal or powder, but the projectile sees a more varied deployment as Dust *or* other material can be used. Some form of metal alloy is the expected implement, but specialized ammunitions use a Dust crystal to imbue elemental forces into an attack. Magazines that carry these Dust projectiles often have their associated element as symbols on external decals to distinguish them.

Dust Blades
Martial Dust traditions centered around a straight forward weaponization approach distinguish themselves among even present, cutting-edge technologies. Weapons composed entirely of Dust push beyond the constraints of the substance’s crystalline nature and exploit the advantage that wielders exercising a high mastery over their Aura possess. Blades, for one, require the Aura to not only persist in empowering attacks at precise moments, but to ensure the blade itself does not shatter on its first impact. Although lacking in durability, their purity provides a marked increase in elemental channeling by bypassing a limited output that a preset quantity imposes. There is no reason for portioned amounts from a separate source when the weapon itself has its own elemental power. If the user is skilled enough, maintaining the weapon throughout an engagement becomes less of an issue, but demands great control physically and mentally. In many ways, the practice of using a Dust blade, or other like weapon, combines disciplines and skill set of a Dust channeler and a physical combatant for a blend that takes strengths from both. Their extreme specialization does hamper flexibility in terms of utilizing various Dust types as mixing different elements may damage the weapon. It is for these reasons contained that pure Dust weapons are not at the forefront of conflicts due to the high skill ceiling involved in effective deployments. Nevertheless, their potential and potency has only ever increased in the wake of modern advancements.

Dust Traditions
Archaic forms of Dust manipulation exist alongside today’s disciplines, such as the weaving of Dust into one’s clothing or even fusing it directly into one’s own body. Many methods possessing old roots are still in practice all across Remnant and many more are finding their beginnings. An entire lifetime could be spent recording all the myriad of ways and never be able to create a comprehensive work detailing all the unique practices that exist.

Dust Infusion
Dust infusions are an age-old technique dating back to Dust’s earliest uses in records lost to time. Weaving and weapon crafting have remained respected fields of Dust usage even in the face of modern development. While the former of the two can be a survivor due to vanity and tradition, the latter has no such stigma attached to it.

Dust weaving involves a technique similar to metalwork embroidery where threads are coated in Dust instead of metals before being made into clothing. There is a comparison to be made between Dust weaving and Dust tattoos as the two share an almost exact goal in application if dissimilar methods of reaching it. Whereas tattoos apply the Dust directly onto the skin in a cohesive manner, weaving is exponentially more complex in that many smaller Dust pathways must be used in tandem to produce a desired effect. This application of Dust is also much more time-consuming from a conception standpoint as the threads need to be patterned in a deliberate way or else the network suffers from poor connections. At higher levels, at least. Dust infused clothing can simply serve as a storage unit for the user to draw on.[2] The degree to which a Dust woven cloth is styled can be an accurate measure to the wearer’s mastery in using it.

Weapons capable of channeling Dust are different from those that have been imbued with in from their creation. A weapon that channels Dust simply acts as a means of physically delivering Dust to its intended target and enhancing attacks performed by the user with additional effects through its mechanisms. Weapons that are infused with Dust not only allow the user to enhance their attacks with an element, but also to continual channel the Dust past a one-time reaction with less in the way to facilitate the reaction. Effects can stay active without depleting the source Dust and destroying the weapon as the material itself becomes Dust conductive to the specific element. The weapon is storage and activator and combines everything that a Dust channeling weapon provides by having the user perform the proper steps through skill.

An alloy of metal and Dust is a delicate process requiring not only a solid understanding of both metallurgy and Dust, but also of smithing and Aura control. Although skill in Aura channeling is not a strict requirement, it is a necessity to reach the utmost tiers of synergy between material and Dust.

Dust Ingestion
Imbuing Dust within oneself is a dangerous practice highly discouraged for any not informed and practice in the art. Tattooing the substance onto skin mitigates some risks by virtue of it being on the largest and most common area that Aura is channeled through. The familiarity of Aura surrounding the body and how it is used overtly to strengthen it grants a boon when channeling Dust through the body. The act follows parallel methods in exerting Aura outward, and will naturally provide a solid foundation to work from.

Dust ingestion is outright detrimental to a person’s health at the minimum. Imbibing Dust exposes the volatile substance inside the body and any lapse of control can cause the elemental forces to run wild in the body. The damage this can incur is life threatening with high chances for career ending injuries even when taking into account the residual traces of Dust left behind. Only the most competent or those with a Semblance that allows for safe ingestion of Dust should even attempt to perform the act. Studies into this field have gleaned a limit to the amount of raw Dust an ordinary person is able to metabolize before adverse effects begin to become irreversible.

Dust in Transportation
Remnant’s modes of transportation run on Dust in one way or another with preference playing a large part in just what specific Dust is used. The public sector is where diversity in design runs free, given certain regulations are followed. Fans of the combustion engine style such as motorcycles and muscle cars gravitate towards Combustion Dust. Of course, electric power systems remain an ever-standard choice. Private sectors like government funded public transit have a more uniform standard. Atlas’ railways use Gravity Dust in their tracks to make passenger cards move quickly and efficiently. There isn’t a question that Dust is the way to get from Point A to Z when leg power isn’t enough.

Dust Elements
Dust is divided into elements, four of which are considered the basics as many types are formed as a mix of them each possessing unique properties from the other. The four elements of Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind do not come from a mix in contrast to the rest. Their composition is closest to resembling the major factors of Nature as a whole. Its very name is a reference to the primordial state Mankind is originally believed to have risen in philosophical circles. The truth of the matter cannot be discerned for lack of evidence in favor of any argument.

Fire: Fire Dust, or Burn Dust, is red in color and can be used to create fire in various forms, such as fireballs and fire waves.
- Combustion Dust

Water: Water Dust is blue in color and can be used to create water.
- Steam: Steam Dust can generate clouds of steam. It is made from a combination of Fire and Water Dust.
- Ice

Earth: Earth Dust, or Rock Dust, is dark orange to brown in color and can be used to create rocks.
A rare subset of Earth Dust is capable of producing minerals outside of standard rocks. These are coveted for their properties to produce metals and gems.
- Metal
- Gem

Wind: Wind Dust, or Air Dust, is green in color and can be used to create Wind in various forms, such as gusts or tornadoes.
- Ice: Ice Dust is light blue in color and can be used to create ice in any shape, such as crystals, thin sheets, or even large structures like curved ramps or platforms that float in water. It is made from a combination of Water and Wind Dust.

Electricity: Electricity Dust, or Lightning Dust, is yellow in color and can be used to generate electricity in forms such as bolts of lightning and electrical currents.
- Magnetic Dust: Magnetic Dust can be used to manipulate polarity and produce a magnetic affect. It is made from a combination of Electricity and Gravity Dust.

Gravity: Gravity Dust is purple to black in color and can be used to manipulate gravitational fields, often to pull objects or create a field that pushes outward.

Hard-Light: Hard-Light Dust is cyan in color and can be used to form solid objects made of light energy. Laser-like projectiles and barriers are but a small sample of what this Dust is capable of.

It has the status of being the rarest type of Dust due to the monopoly Atlas enjoys as "the father of Hard-Light Dust". Its method of synthecization is kept secret from the rest of Remnant, placing Atlas as the only exporter. On top of that all, it is the major user and creator of technology centered around this Dust. Scrolls would not function the way that they do if not for this Dust type.

Trivia
[1] Many Dust cutters found employment in the jewelry industry following the end of the Great War.

[2] Dust weaving's foundational concepts are the groundwork from which circuitry arose. It is speculated that among the technological exchanges between the Kingdom of Mistral and Atlas, formerly Mantle, Dust weaving was of pivotal significance in securing the latter's superiority at the cutting-edge.

Dust activation carries a characteristic “shimmering” sound.

Spectacular environments can arise from the presence of Dust from fantastical floating islands held aloft by large Gravity Dust crystals to hellish landscapes from massive deposits of Fire Dust crystals combusting underground and funneling to the surface as perpetual flame geysers.[3]

[3] “Dust Bowls” and “Catastrophes”