Dust

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Throughout the Magic War, the most contentious point of debate was over the use of Dust. This was not the ordinary dust of previous eras, for the fusing of dimensions at the end of the Split charged all matter with such magical energy such that the dust that coalesced had magical properties. While some harnessed its powerful magic and titled themselves sorcerers, others adamantly contended with its use, claiming its powers were rooted in the evil of Stablewood.    

Gathering

The process of gathering Dust is a long and costly one, but profitable for those who make it their living. The Dust itself, as dust does in all eras, slowly coalesces in a place over time. For Dust, this must be a place that has been devoid of life for at least a month. Once a suitable amount of Dust has collected, the actual gathering process begins. If any living creature were to move into a space with collected Dust, it would stir up and disperse the Dust, thus requiring it to go through the process of coalescing once again. To trap the Dust so that it can be gathered, one must slowly pour blood onto it, at which point it is bound to the viscous liquid. Although it has been attempted with all manner of other liquids, this has only been found to work with blood, causing some of the hesitancy that led to the opposition to using Dust. Once contained within blood, the Dust mixture can be safely gathered, and is typically stored within glass vials, the standard size of which is about that of the average human's index finger.

Dustrooms

Different varieties of Dust have been found to reliably collect in particular environments. This has led to the formation of dustrooms. These rooms are specifically designed to fit certain environmental conditions for specific types of Dust, along with maximizing the surface area available for Dust collection.

Use

For an individual to use the magic stored inside a vial of Dust, it must be swallowed. Once it is within the bodily system, the abilities are able to be activated instantly. They can be enabled or disabled for the duration of their extent, but will stop working after the Dust has finished going through the system. Although the Dust has no emotional effect on sorcerers, tears slip uncontrollably from their eyes for the entire time that the Dust is in their bodies.

Varieties

There are many different varieties of Dust, each with different abilities given. A notable relationship between different varieties of Dust is that typically a single variety of Dust can only affect either living or nonliving items. This has led to certain groups of Dust varieties with similar effects on their living or nonliving counterparts being known as Dust pairs.

Gold

Gold Dust grants a sorcerer telekinetic control over nonliving items, to move as they desire. These items must be within a nearby vicinity to the sorcerer. While objects may be made to float through the air, an object cannot be left hanging without the active use of the powers of gold Dust or after the Dust has run out.

Silver

Silver Dust grants a sorcerer the ability to force the muscles in living items to move as to the sorcerer's desire. This affects both living and dead bodies, and also works on the stems and branches of plants.
Living Living
Pair Gold
Environment Rusted iron surfaces

Scarlet

Scarlet Dust grants a sorcerer the ability to transform the materials composing any living matter into any other material, living or nonliving.

Scarlet Sorcerers

Scarlet sorcerers are sorcerers who have acquired particular skill with use of scarlet Dust. They tend to spend large amounts of time studying biology, and learn to intuitively feel how parts of the body interact with each other. They put this knowledge to use in altering their own bodies, adding enhancements like muscle mass to increase strength or special light receptors to their eyes to see better at night. Some scarlet sorcerers also transform their or others' appearances to use as spies.

Navy

Navy Dust grants a sorcerer the ability to transform the materials composing any nonliving matter into any other material, living or nonliving. Both navy and scarlet Dust are unable to continue altering materials if transformed into their opposite type (living for navy and nonliving for scarlet), thus when one is intending to control such a situation more precisely, they use both types together.

Teal

Teal Dust grants a sorcerer the ability to influence the emotions of any living creature. A sorcerer using teal Dust is not able to know the emotions going through their subjects' heads, and those influenced do not immediately know that they're being influenced. When experiencing being affected by teal Dust, it seems as if a new or more intense mood is rising in the person. While an emotion can be implanted, it may not be accepted and can even be recognized as being foreign if it is too far from what the subject would typically be feeling.

Orange

Orange Dust grants a sorcerer the ability to place thoughts into other living creatures' thoughts. A sorcerer using orange Dust is not able to know the thoughts going through their subjects' heads, and those influenced do not immediately know that they're being influenced. When experiencing being affected by orange Dust, it seems as if a new thought is entering the mind. While a thought can be implanted, it may not be accepted and can even be recognized as being foreign if it is too far from the subject's line of thinking.

Violet

Violet Dust grants a sorcerer the ability to cause or remove magnetic attraction between nonliving objects. These attractions are made permanent, even after the sorcerer's Dust has run out, provided another does not use violet Dust to remove the attraction.
Living Nonliving
Pair Magenta
Environment Corroded copper surfaces

Magenta

Magenta Dust grants a sorcerer the ability to cause or remove magnetic attraction between a living being or part of a living being and any living or nonliving object. These attractions are made permanent, even after the sorcerer's Dust has run out, provided another does not use magenta Dust to remove the attraction. Violet Dust cannot be used to remove the attraction because one of the components are living.

Green

Green Dust grants a sorcerer the ability to change the shape of any nonliving item. These items must be within a nearby vicinity to the sorcerer.

Duration

While Dust is in use, the sorcerer's body continuously secretes the Dust back into the air through their skin's pores. They can use the abilities granted by the Dust until the entirety of the Dust in the body is gone. On average, the time it takes to diminish the Dust stored in a single vial is about two minutes.

Practice

An ability can be used for as long as the appropriate Dust is in the body. For a sorcerer to use an ability with more skill or intensity than another, it simply takes practice. Like a muscle, the more an ability is used, the more skill the sorcerer is able to use it with.

Technologies

Through careful manipulation of the abilities granted by Dust, many sorcerers have created specialized devices to perform various tasks.

Automatons

With expertly crafted metal exteriors and powerful muscles created through the aid of navy and scarlet Dust, these metal behemoths are studied carefully by their sorcerers before they ride in them. A sorcerer must carefully manipulate silver Dust to move these beasts. They are typically used for battle, as it is difficult to penetrate them and they can easily wound or kill enemies. Although the stand form is that of a giant human, automatons can be specially designed to be in the shape of other animals, or even some unique creations, as might be created by scarlet sorcerers. The sorcerers that operate these often spend long amounts of time around these animals, or even transformed into them by scarlet sorcerers.

Plumbing

Throughout the major populated areas of sorcerers, plumbing systems have been erected to help the ease of life of citizens. These systems are made of tunnels with many stations where sorcerers use gold and violet Dust to transport water from oceans to storage and from storage to individual residences, and to transport waste from residences to waste management centers.

Amulets

While vials are the most common manner in which to carry Dust, amulets are another very popular manner to discretely have Dust available nearby. Amulets are small glass faces on decorative items that contain pockets of a Dust solution inside, often mistaken as a glittery red gem. These items can be pendants, diadems, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, corners of picture frames, or any other jewelry or ornamentation. In a case where Dust is immediately required, the glass face can be broken open and the contents drunk.

Professions

The ubiquitousness of Dust in sorcerer society has led to the rise of many professions involving the use of it.

Dust Vendors

Dust vendors make a living from selling Dust to sorcerers, and as such, have refined the process of efficiently gathering and distributing it. The primary concern of a Dust vendor is ensuring that their products meet general standards, so as to not trouble their clientele. A successful vendor has many dustrooms of all varieties, so as to always have stock on hand. It is not uncommon to find rumors of Dust vendors killing or leading on those who think them to be lovers in order to create suitable environments for scarlet and teal Dust. Dust vendors train for years to perfect a standard pour of blood. They also learn to mix proper quantities of Dust blends, so that a sorcerer can use equal amounts of multiple types of Dust at a time. While Dust vendors can mix any blend on request, they often have premade vials with blends of Dust pairs, as they are a common request from sorcerers not wishing to be hindered by the living and nonliving limits of their Dust.

Tinkers

It is a common desire in sorcerer culture for their furniture, cutlery, or decorations to be made by expert tinkers. While some go to regular craftsmen to hew their possessions from wood or metal, those with enough wealth can pay a tinker to meticulously craft clay or other moldable items, through hand, tool, or green Dust, into the shape they desire, then to freeze it with navy Dust into a material more common to furnishings. This process often leads to more intricate designs, and the expense of Dust required to transform it adds to an owner's sense of pride over the tinkered item. Some even sever small parts of themselves, such as hair or teeth, and have tinkers shape and engrave them into heirlooms.

Welldrawers

A hint at the darker side of sorcerer society, welldrawers tend to stick to the shadows. They make it their noble job to find the detestable parts of society and them to good use, by extracting their blood for use in gathering Dust. Welldrawers possess knowledge passed down through mentors in drawing as much blood as possible from a body. They use this knowledge on the poor and criminal, to quietly kidnap them and profit from their deaths. They sell the blood to Dust vendors, and are often paid by governments for helping to deal with unwanted criminals. It is a whispered punishment for too many crimes of too much importance in individuals too low in society to be sold to the welldrawers.

Opposition

While sorcerer society praises and cherishes the use of Dust, many others find its use detestable and corrupt. Many cite the darkness of Stablewood for the inherent evil in magic, while others point out the cruel requirements of using Dust. These accusations include that varieties of Dust seems to treat life differently than death, that to collect Dust requires the use of blood from sapient beings, and that Dust is specifically drawn to dying environments, like decaying metals. Many revile sorcerers for their abuse of nature and for their use of butchery and heartbreak to increase their Dust collection, pointing out how the corruption even causes them to cry while using their magic. Derogatory terms for sorcerers are plentiful, and include scarletmouths, tear-stained atrocities, and coalescents.