Dust

**Dust** is a source of energy in Remnant. The physical properties of Dust make it incredibly useful for a variety of purposes, particularly in the weapons of many characters in the series.

## History

According to ancient legends, mankind was fighting a losing struggle against creatures of darkness known as the Grimm. However, through their resourcefulness and ingenuity, humanity managed to discover and harness a source of power they named "Dust" in order to battle the Grimm.

The advent of Dust became the turning point in the war. It would appear that after mankind drove back the Grimm and built civilizations, Dust became integrated into everyday life within Remnant.

Despite its widespread use and prevalence in society, humanity has yet to understand the origins or the implications of their involvement with Dust.

## Description

Dust is known as a naturally occurring, crystallized energy propellant triggered by the Aura of Humans and Faunus. For unknown reasons, Dust does not function outside of the atmosphere of Remnant, precluding the possibility of space flight.

Different colors of Dust appear to correspond to their different natures or effects.

## Types of Dust

### Primary Dust

Dust can be found in four basic types. These four types can be combined both artificially and naturally to form other types of Dust, each with their own unique properties.

#### **Fire** or **Burn**

   Fire dust is commonly used to generate fire. The scale and intensity of the fire depends on quality and form of the dust. Fire dust crystals are known as Burn Crystals. It is often combined with Wind dust to create Lightning dust.

Many huntsmen use this type of dust in their weaponry. Gardner Braith and Roderick Lincoln both keep Burn Crystals in their swords so that their blade burns while in use, while Robin Lincoln has used Fire dust in her arrows.

#### **Water**

   Water dust is often used to generate water, making it useful for powering hydroelectric machinery. Smaller crystals tend to produce a small amount of water whilst larger crystals can produce a veritable torrent or flood. This dust is highly coveted in desert climates such as that of Vacuo, and can be combined with Wind dust to make Ice dust.

#### **Earth**

   Earth dust can be used to generate rocks and dirt - larger amounts will more often produce larger rocks while powdered versions and smaller crystals will only produce dirt or mud. Earth dust can be used in agriculture, but also has several combat uses.

#### **Wind**

    Wind dust can be used to produce strong gusts of air or minor breezes depending on usage. It is useful in conjunction with wind turbines and windmills, and can be combined with water dust to make Ice dust, or fire dust to make Lightning dust.

### Secondary Dust

Secondary dust types are usually created by combining two types of Primary dust.

#### **Ice**

    A "secondary" type of Dust, formed by the combination of Water and Air Dust. This type of dust is highly coveted in warmer climates for the purposes of cooling houses and food.

In combat, Ice dust can be used to produce frozen pillars as well as freezing parts of enemies solid - this is displayed when Robin Lincoln uses Ice Dust in conjunction with her bow to freeze the leg of a Marsh Grimm.

#### **Lightning**

    Yellow dust has been shown to produce lightning. Thanks to its volatility, this secondary Dust type is more useful in combat than society - often replaced with the more stable Energy Dust Lightning dust can be used to create large storms as well as electrical currents.

Robin Lincoln has used this type of dust to produce a wave of electricity that deactivated at least two Atlesian Talos.

#### **Plantlife** or **Nature**

    Despite its life-creating nature, plantlife dust is not commonly used in agriculture as the plants it produces are random and uncertain. Wealth farmers or hobbyists use this type merely to see what happens, but plantlife dust is mainly used to restore ecosystems and to snare targets in combat. It is created by combining Earth and Water dust.

#### **Hard Light**

    Hard Light Dust is cyan in color and can be used to form solid objects made of light energy. Often used to produce clean energy and power machinery such as Atlesian Talos, it does have combat uses- as seen when Nyssa Noirette used it to make her Astral Projection semblance take on a Hard Light effect.

#### **Volcanic** or **Explosive**

    Explosive dust is highly volatile and therefore rarely sold in Remnant. It is normally used for industrial processes such as blast-mining, though this is at the risk of triggering unstable dust in said mines.

It is mainly used in combat, usually in grenades and other bomb-like weaponry.

#### **Gravity**

    Gravity dust is often used to give an edge to airborne technology. Found in nature causing islands in Lake Matsu to float, it can also increase the gravitational pull on objects, granting it useful combat applications.

## Uses

Dust serves as a power source for the majority of technology in Remnant, from airships to androids, though some alternative technologies do exist. Dust can still be used without the aid of weapons or machines and can be unleashed in its raw form such as lightning. Technology powered by Dust is known to glow.

The people of Remnant attempted to achieve spaceflight and space-based communications with Dust as propellant fuel, but its inability to operate outside of Remnant's atmosphere hindered these endeavors.

### Combat

The discovery of Dust was instrumental to humanity's initial defeat of the Grimm, and Dust continues to be used extensively in combat. Dust can be harnessed in a variety of ways, but when used in its raw form, its full potential requires both an Aura and the intelligence to use it, meaning Humans, Faunus, and certain artificial beings are the only ones who are able to effectively use it for combat.

Dust bullets, however, are much simpler to use, merely requiring the user to pull the trigger. While this form is the most common and easiest way to use Dust in battle, it can also be used in its raw form, which is described as being "elegant, yet destructive" in nature and requiring a certain level of discipline to maintain control over.