Dust to Dust: A Next-Gen RWBY RP (Information) (under construction)

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Table of Contents
Timeline
Info: Dust Replacement Technology (DRT)
Info: Dust Syndrome
Info: Grimm-Inspired Technology
Info: New Dust Forms
Info: The Yamiko Movement
NPCs​

 

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Timeline

This timeline will be updated with character birth dates and any other info that becomes relevant.

Year // Events
00 // Beacon falls. Most of team RWBY are 17.
02 // Salem is defeated.
04 // The first Grimm-inspired airship is released for purchase.
07 // Daiyu Xiao Long, Jadori Ren, and Hailey Schnee are born.
08 // Honey Adel is born.
09 // The Oryx Dust Company is founded, selling newly-developed ink dust and shaped dust. Kara Scarlatina and Hans Valkyrie are born.
12 // The first Grimm-inspired eye implant is created.
15 // Beacon Academy is reopened.
16 // The first Grimm-inspired prosthetic is released for purchase. The Schnee Dust Company releases threaded dust for purchase.
19 // The Yamiko Movement is founded by Io Sugilite.
23 // People who use Dust start developing illnesses. The term "Dust Syndrome" is coined.
24 // Dust Replacement Technology (DRT) becomes established as a market.
25 // Our characters, aged 16-18, enroll in Beacon.

 

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Dust Replacement Technology (DRT)
"Avoid the headaches with CyanTech lightning DRT! Charge your blade, your bullets, and even yourself with electricity without the risk of Dust Syndrome, using our conductive wraps and suppressors." --Advertisement for CyanTech's replacement for Lightning Dust

Some Huntsmen and Huntresses have figured out how to use tech to replicate the desired effects of dust. Some examples of this include:

• Plasma, explosives, and flammable materials in place of burn dust
• Steam-powered propulsion in place of wind dust
• Water and cooling chemicals in place of ice dust
• Batteries, electrical circuits, and conductive materials in place of lightning dust

While Remnant's advanced tech is definitely more streamlined and efficient than Earth's, and might include inventions we've never dreamed of, DRT is always inferior to dust in some way. The effects might be weaker or less precise than they would be with dust. Or the tech takes up more space than a cartridge of dust, so you can only get the effects of one dust type in the space that could hold three different dust cartridges.

Some uses, like earth dust's stone effects, don't have a non-dust analog - or at least, not one that the market feels is cost-effective to develop. Dust replacement technology also doesn't blend with semblances (like Blake's elemental dust shadows) as seamlessly as dust does. So, some Huntsmen and Huntresses opt to use dust in a limited capacity, rather than DRT.

 

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Dust Syndrome
"It's imperative that we find a cure, so our walls will be protected again." --Dr. Ceridwen Paderau, pharmacist

A disease developed by Huntsmen and Huntresses who use Dust. The effects are less pronounced on younger warriors. It has varying symptoms for different levels of dust use.

• Occasional use: occasional headaches, nausea and vomiting, nosebleeds. Symptoms go away in a few days. If they use small quantities of dust, this is the level of symptoms that most beginner Huntsmen and Huntresses have.
• Moderate use: severe and/or chronic headaches, chronic digestive difficulty, limb stiffness, clotting difficulties. Symptoms persist for up to two weeks, and make traveling difficult and fighting risky. This is the usage level of the average full-fledged Huntsmen or Huntress, if they're using dust in small quantities but in frequent battles.
• Heavy use: chronic migraines, chronic digestive difficulty, limb paralysis, clotting difficulty. Symptoms last many months (and sometimes, barring a cure, are thought to be permanent), and make it unsafe to fight. This is the usage level of career Huntsmen and Huntresses who rely on dust for their fighting styles.

Symptoms occur a few hours after the dust use. People usually don't get all of the symptoms at the same time - one Huntress might only get a headache and a nosebleed after a battle, and skip everything else. They also only occur when someone uses and "activates" dust, not merely on contact with it. This is why the problem isn't putting dust companies completely out of business.

Finding a cure for Dust Syndrome is a high priority for Remnant's medical and scientific communities. Vale's leading professionals researching this field are Dr. Ceridwen Paderau and Dr. Irvine Blair, a pharmacist and a biologist respectively.

 

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Grimm-Inspired Technology
"The Grimm have always been a problem for most people, but they gave makers wings." --Werknesh Mekuria, apprentice prosthetist

After Salem was defeated, Grimm did not disappear, but there was a push to find some way to study their physiology. Grimm were observed on the battlefield, and for short periods, in captivity in laboratories. Findings about their physiology helped Hunstmen and Huntresses fight them more effectively. It also gave manufacturers and scientists many ideas for new tech. Some examples include:

• Aviation: Nevermore flight is similar to normal birds', yet their wings carry them faster and support proportionally more weight. New tech that mimics their wing structures includes faster, higher-capacity airships, as well as full-flight mechanical wings for warriors and others who could use them. Medical scientists have also rolled out prototypes of prosthetic Nevermore-inspired wings.
• Brainy Tech: The way a hungry Goliath chooses its targets while presenting minimal danger to itself was observed in the wild, and with a few (sadly brief) glimpses at its neurological structures, scientists were able to advance artificial brain function. This led to smarter androids (in terms of both battle and socialization), as well as "memory of a Goliath" implants that enabled photographic memory and better recall. The advances in androids also allowed for scrolls to be fit into eye implants.
• Fabrics: The skin of sea Grimm doesn't absorb water or other compounds, but allows the Grimm to swim fluidly and collect energy for attacks. Studying the chemical structures that allowed this have led to better fabric materials, including bandages, combat clothing, DRT, and even skin grafts and augmentations.
• Prosthetics: Terrestrial Grimm are faster and more agile than normal animals, so with the help of Huntsmen and Huntresses, their movements and muscles were studied. This led to the development of prosthetic limbs that equal or exceed biological capabilities, although they look rather strange.

Most tech is expensive, and effectively restricted to wealthier citizens or recipients of charity. Tech designed for battle is used by Huntresses and Huntsmen, soldiers, and the occasional enthusiast.

 

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New Dust Forms
"Gravity propulsion? It's so much quicker when it's in your skin." --Merle Dahlia, Haven Academy graduate

Dust was not left untouched by technological advances. Forms of dust now include:

• Crystal: the purest form of dust. It can be fit into melee weapons easily, but if it's used by hand, it's less stable and requires the user to have discipline and control.
• Powder: dust kept in vials or rounds. Out of the vials, it can be solidified into "cartridges" (like what Weiss gave Blake before her battle with Roman) that fit neatly into weapons. This form isn't as powerful as crystal or threaded dust, but is much easier to control.
• Ink: a new, more durable form of dust that presents some danger to the untrained user. To use dust with one's body more efficiently than with crystals, ink dust is tattooed into the wearer's skin, usually in elaborate designs. When activated, it escapes from the skin in a painful but powerful display, and leaves a scar. Less dust goes farther in this form, but it's not for beginners. While dust tattoos don't carry an increased risk of Dust Syndrome, the misconception that they do has caused sales to drop as quickly as they came into the market.
• Threaded: dust woven into clothing. While small crystals used to be beaded into clothing or used to make coarse thread, a new form has emerged that allows for threads as fine as that of normal fabric. Threaded dust tends to be used up quickly, and requires the highest degree of experience for use, but the effects are very precise.
• Shaped: a new form of dust that is essentially crystals carved into shapes, simple or complex. Shaped dust isn't designed to feed into weapons, but to be used directly with the body. It's durable, and much easier to use than crystal dust as its shape aims and controls the effect, but expensive.

 

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The Yamiko Movement
"Meditate on your prowess - what lies beneath this cover of soul, what unites you with them." --Io Sugilite, leader of the Yamiko Movement

A belief system, some would say a cult, led by a bioengineer named Io Sugilite. Its central tenet is that aura is a shackle holding man back from its ultimate destiny: to ascend into Grimm. Members' activities include worshiping effigies of Grimm, meditating on an aura-free existence, undergoing ritualistic surgeries to fit themselves with Grimm-inspired biotech, and, in incidents Sugilite won't comment on, attacking dust companies.

The Yamiko are widely regarded as a wacky fringe group, but their views are gaining traction among the downtrodden as Grimm become more of a threat. They have members in every kingdom (and outside), with a small but vocal presence. While they don't pose a huge threat in everyday life, Huntsmen and Huntresses stay out of the small pockets where their populations are high. The movement has a tense relationship with combat schools in particular.

The Yamiko Movement's label as a cult comes not only from its unpopular beliefs, but also how it treats its members. Entering is like a whirlwind relationship - new arrivals are informed of their potential and showered with attention. Members are discouraged from leaving, and encouraged to live in small Yamiko "communities" near perimeter walls or outside kingdoms. People who have done the Yamiko's meditations, surgeries, and other activities tend to fall into a pattern of thought and action - they're willing to make more aggressive attempts to change themselves, separating from and even acting against non-members.

 

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NPC List

NPCs will be placed in the order in which they appear.

Locasta Goodwitch
Powers: Locasta carries around an ornamental fan, not loaded with dust, but used to channel her pyrokinetic powers in the same way Glynda uses her riding crop to channel her telekinesis.
Influences: As headmistress of Beacon Academy, Locasta has control over the faculty of Beacon Academy. She's not as directly in control of its students as the professors, but she does serve as a counselor and mediator.
Persona: Locasta is hopeful, devious, resourceful, and strict. She tends to employ strange solutions to problems, and her office has a Rube Goldberg-looking contraption in it to serve her coffee. She is also determined to leave behind the mistakes she believes Ozpin made.