Mummy Dust aka Dust

"Oi, fancy a little pick me up to give your partner a good rogering tonight?" - a remark overheard in a dockside dive

"With this simple powder one can transcend the limits of human consciousness and attain heights undreamt of" - conversation overheard in high class niteclub

"This material unlocks parts of the human psyche and can potentially be utilised in unlocking the secrets of the ancients" - excerpt from a classified ASP report

"I've got my doubts about this stuff, Jensen tried it and he's gone completely stark raving mad since we dug it up" - anonymous Digger talking to colleagues

On Earth during the seventeenth to ninteenth centuries certain individuals pitched a substance dubbed 'mummia' as a veritable cure all for a variety of ails and ailments from impotency to cuts, bruises, broken bones and even stomach ulcers. Truly it was regarded as a miracle cure.

Naturally as human knowledge progressed the medicinal properties of 'mummia', which was apparently nothing more than bitumen, were eventually disproved by science. Like snake oil and other cure alls mummia then disappeared into the realms of quack medicine.

Fast forward to human settlement of Lazarus and a material disturbingly similiar to mummia had emerged. Mummy dust is a black resinous powder that can be melted and formed into bricks just like hashish. In this form it can be smoked in pipes while the powdered form can be rendered into liquid and injected or it can be snorted via a straw.

As with any society, 'recreational' narcotics have always been a thing. Though Mummy Dust or Dust as its usually called seems to be carving out a substantial niche within the drug taking set. There have been rumours among dealers and users that the substance is actually the powered remains of the ancients, a rather disturbing claim yet so far no one has been able to prove or disprove it.

Disturbingly Dust is extremely addictive. Even more disturbing is the fact that the few samples seized by various law enforcement agencies have proven to be unexaminable. Something about the material at a molecular level prevents detailed examination. It was as if it had been specifically engineered to be that way, to prevent any form of examination.

So in order to cure addiction the only strategy, which is not much of one, is to make the addict go cold turkey. This has met with mixed levels of success and has demonstrated that unlike other narcotic substances 'Mummy Dust' is truly a nightmare. At the present point in time (circa 2336 CE) it is regional authorities that are trying to crack down on the trade, the Gendarmes for reasons unknown are not getting involved.