Demon dust

Demon Dust is effectively the Edyleine equivalent of Earth's black powder or gunpowder. While it involves the work of wizards and alchemists, the final product may be the same thing, maybe not. But at any rate it looks, feels, smells, and functions the same as early quality gunpowder, going off in a flash and a big smokey boom. It was long considered a military secret of the Empire of Trynser (although it was discovered during the Trynsern-Zazimar War that a library in the neutral nation of Millisymph had hidden its secret, apparently for centuries). The rights to the production of powder and weapons was given exclusively to the Sleyden and Mordh'Dhagai families. Until late in the Great Western War, it was necessary to obtain a license from those families to even own and use firearms legally.
The gunpowder armed units of the Empire, the field gunners, the ships' cannon, were all drawn from Sleyden/Mordh'Dhagai organized units.
It all started in 1489, when wizard-alchemist Gurner Mordh'Dhagai discovered Demon Dust. (Coincidentally, this is the same year of the mysterious El gran incendio de 1489 aka The Great Fire of 1489 in Fulmando, Millisymph). His descendants figured how to use it in weapons, constructing crude cannon. They used these early cannon in sieges during the civil conflicts in Garrus at the time.
These early cannon had some poor shooting habits, such as blowing up the gun crews. One cannon had been repaired over and over again and had just finished off its third crew when the Mordh'Dhagai decided to hire a metallurgist to have a look.
The Sleydens were a Sargan family from just within the northern border of Karninia. For years they specialized in knowing the metals of the Karmeron Mountains through the center of the Empire. Their fame as metallurgists spread throughout the Empire. Durhem Sleyden was the one consulted on the cannon. Brought up to speed on the construction and usage, he quickly condemned the whole lot of them.
Being no fool, Durhem knew the Mordh'Dhagai were on to something big. The Sleydens made arrangements with the Mordh'Dhagai, kids were married all around, and they invented artillery.
Then came the Great Western War. The Empire of Trynser was stretched to the limits in another war with Pengaldia and Zazimar. Now they were fighting Arumelia, Dallandy, Millisymph, and a whole bunch of other countries as well. Trynsern soil was being trod by foreign boots. The emperor Alexander needed a new edge. Something that could turn the war and pave the way for Trynsern triumph.
The Mordh'Dhagai and Sleydens sensed an opportunity. After an effective demonstration a deal was made. The two families supplied guns and gunners to the Empire to fight the war.
The guns didn't exactly turn the war and pave the way for Trynsern triumph, but they helped turn a horrible situation into simply pathetic. For the next hundred years the two families shared a monopoly under Imperial writ, and secured allies in the Imperial Senate that entrenched their positions.
Then the Mordh'Dhagai in Garrus (their base of operations) turned on the Sleydens, murdering many in their main arsenal and elsewhere around the Empire, sometimes shocking even isolated members of their own family. Now controlling and pulling political strings, the Mordh'Dhagai have made themselves the sole power authorized to arm the Empire with firearms.
This desperate situation was recognized long before it happened. The emperor was busy trying to clip the claws of the Mordh'Dhagai, banning the restriction of licensing from the families to own a gun (though one still has to license through local authorities), and attempting to lift the monopoly. The wars had stalled this effort.
However, near the end of the Trynsern-Zazimar War the monopoly of the Mordh'Dhagai was officially ended. This had led to bitter rivalries between the clan and non-clan wizards and alchemists who are charged with producing demon dust.
While the processes involved remain a deeply-guarded secret, rumors of some of the ingredients include:
Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,Witches' mummy, maw and gulfOf the ravin'd salt-sea shark,Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark.
Category:Alchemical