Foregone Fables Dust Guide - Light

The types of Dust used in combat almost always relate to an element, be it ubiquitous air, life-giving water or all-consuming fire. However, most of the Dust in the world is of a completely different descent. The most common, the purest, and likely the first kind of Dust mankind has ever created, is light.

Light Dust is usually in liquid form. It is called Energy or Power Dust because unlike most types of Dust, Power Dust isn't related to an element. Instead, it is a source of energy - the fuel for most technology in Remnant in the current era. To many, Power Dust is simply the fuel they use to power vehicles and other similar devices. This is the kind of Dust that comes to mind when Dust is mentioned to normal people.

Aside from fueling vehicles, the original usage of Energy Dust is for illumination, which gives the Dust its common name; in addition to light, it also creates warmth that is harmless and pleasant under normal circumstances. Light Dust naturally burns out slower than most other types, which is all the more reason to use it as an energy source. The radiance it emits also seems to accelerate the natural healing of humans and other organic animals. It's also relatively easy to trigger, requiring a little more than a heating or a zap of electricity to start working.

However, like every type of Dust, Energy Dust can be triggered forcibly via a user's aura. The uncontrolled activation that huntsman weapons force on Dust will usually cause it to create a blinding pulse of light and heat that will dazzle targets at range and cause minor burns, and depending on the intensity might cause damage to the skin and eye tissue of humans. In larger quantities, a shockwave of sound and kinetic force is added to the explosion, making it all the more dangerous. By infusing Light Dust with the user's own body, one can gain a continuous glow for an amount of time depending on the amount of Dust used, also emitting warmth and protecting the body from harsh cold. Their strength and speed will be enhanced temporarily, and their aura and natural healing will be augmented, giving them limited regenerative capacity. Light Dust (along with non-Dust laser-based or energy-based weapons) can be used in conjunction with any other type of Dust to create special elemental lasers such as freezing ice beams, petrifying Earth Dust lasers, flame lasers, and Gravity-based tractor beams.

More controlled Dust weaponry can use Power Dust to create concentrated rays of light that can be used to cause burns like a laser and even be mended into shapes and colors; old monitor screens used this, and other usages of it can be to create signals and holograms. It can also be used to coat someone or something in a hologram, effectively creating an illusion that masks their appearance. In addition to visible light, Power Dust can generate radiation on the invisible spectrum such as gamma rays. Similarly, it can be used to create a specific sound, which was also used in monitors, and can also be used in addition to the visual illusion to change someone's voice. The healing effect can apply to create pulses of light that heal in close burst, or spotlights that continuously heal a target. The force generated from the Power Dust can also be condensed, turning into destructive blasts that can blow away, or even pulverize objects. With greater mastery, a user of Energy Dust may be able to create solidified lazer beams and projectiles of destructive heat that can be shaped into different forms, create explosions, and even create solid objects made of hard light, such as ropes, weapons or barriers that can take a defined shape such as that of a crystal, a whale, a shark, or the head of a lion or monkey.

Huntsmen tend to not ascribe much importance to Power Dust, but for most people, it is the only Dust they've known. To a degree, this substance has shaped the cultural view on Dust for the people of Remnant: they see it as a gift, as a light of hope in the dark world they evolved into. Dust today is precieved as the weapon of the sons of light, which is meant to be used to slay darkness.

And that could not be further from the truth.