Foregone Fables Primal Dust Guide - Darkness

The humans in the world of Remnant have always seen Dust as a gift from the Gods, a holy light used to slay the sons of darkness. Throughout its history, Dust has taken many forms, many powers, some of them beginning to stand in contrast with the common, pure view of Dust. The best example of this is Darkness Dust, which creates and controls the very antithesis of the light usually attributed to Dust.

Similar to Light Dust, Shadow Dust is a Primal Dust, created out of four types of Dust: Earth, Glass, Metal and Gravity, although unlike Light Dust, it is believed to have originally been created from a fusion rather than being an original form that was split to create its components. For this reason, it is likely the rarest type of Dust, and nearly no one, including Huntsmen and Huntresses, knows it exists. Those who do, don't always recognize it as a type of Dust, thus someone capable of using it will appear to be using something enigmatic and sinister even to those who know what the major types of Dust are capable of.

Shade Dust generates an ethereal substance with a pure black color, often seen and most likely intended to represent solidified darkness. Unless controlled, the substance will snuff out any light it comes into contact with. Normally triggering it will cause the darkness to surround the nearby area and cover it in darkness, and it might blind those directly exposed to it. Injecting it directly into one's skin will cause their body to become shrouded in blackness, enhancing their speed and turning them intangible. The user can also turn invisible and release dark tendrils or projectiles from their body. Unlike many other types of Dust, Darkness Dust does not harm the user if injected.

When properly controlled, Shadow Dust's Darkness can take on several "states"; by default, the darkness is ethereal and gaseous, like smoke, and thus can't be touched or physically interact with objects, although it can still snuff out lights or blind people. In this state, the darkness can simply pass through an object as if it wasn't there. The darkness can be manipulated to take on a solid form that is capable of physically hitting objects or blocking paths or attacks. Alternatively, it can enter a volatile state where it annihilate anything it touches, reducing it to vapor while still being ethereal and non-solid. A skillful user can combine the two states and create solid darkness constructs that cause anything they hit to explode.

Like other types of Dust, Shadow Dust can be controlled to determine the exact shape and function of the substance it creates. In skilled hands, it can be both versatile and deadly. The "state" of the darkness can be shifted instantly, making an intangible shadow solid inside an object to attack them from the inside or even control bodies like a puppet. It can also be used to augment the strength of physical or weapon-based attacks, as well as create a larger "casing" over an existing object, like creating a larger darkness blade surrounding a normal sword or creating chainsaw-like teeth of darkness over a normal blade.

It can be used to throw small bolts of darkness, create tendrils of darkness - that can sprout spikes while impaling an enemy, which themselves spin like blender blades - or grow wings to fly, create weapons from shadow and sprout spikes or blades out of the ground, entrap an enemy in a black box, build constructs like fences, traps and entire buildings from shadows, summon shadow limbs to attack and defend, create a spinning buzzsaw-like blade from darkness, engulf an object or attack with darkness to dissipate it, create flying slash attacks and orbs from darkness, fire beams, explosions, whirlwinds and pillars of blackness, shoot out shadow projectiles in the shape of feathers or ghostlike figures, or create an armor of shadow in varying shapes. Higher mastery of Shadow Dust allows the user to create lifelike animals and monsters made of pure darkness, such as vaguely humanoid stick figures, a swarm of bats, or a shadow clone of the user or a different being.

Because of how rare and unknown Darkness Dust is, it's hardly recognized by anyone, and those who have witnessed it usually don't think it is Dust at all. Its creation may have been related to some ancient Extradimensionals capable of controlling shadows, and there have been recordings of witnesses who have seen the effects of Shade Dust and referred to it as "Dark Magic". Ironically, this is true - not just for Shade Dust, but for all other forms of Dust as well.