Ink

Ink was a substance used for drawing and writing. "Those who destroy knowledge, with ink, fire, or sword, are themselves destroyed."

- The absolute rule of Candlekeep

Properties
Ink was usually black, but was often colored to be red.

Writing
"I also bore a large brass-bound volume, quills, and a supply of ink, intending to record my observations."

- Twick of Verdusk

This liquid was used with ink pens, which included quill pens and pens with ink reservoirs built in.

Ink was used all over Toril, in continents such as Faerun, Kara-Tur, Zakhara, and Maztica. In Waterdeep, bottles of ink cost 1–4 gp, though specialist gilt ink was used for illuminating paper records, which was made by the Stationers' Guild.

"Disappearing ink is as indispensable as a mini-blade to a cutpurse."

- Advertisement from Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue

Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue stocked a variety of inks, which came in different types and colors. This catalogue also stocked disappearing ink that vanished some time after being applied to paper.

Spells
Ink could be used to scribe spells and spell scrolls, though this often required rare and special ink that apothecaries were unlikely to stock. Such ink could cost hundreds of gold pieces for a small flask, as they often required difficult-to-obtain ingredients, such as squid sepia, or ink from a giant octopus. Writing the fly spell required griffon feathers. The innards of behirs were able to be refined into inks for scribing magic scrolls, particularly for spells such as lightning bolt, neutralize poison, and protection from poison. The same was true for medusae, whose eyes and blood were valuable in inks used for scribing scrolls.

There were several spells that used ink as a part of the casting or as a material component, such as write, which required rare ink, illusory script, which required lead-based ink, and Rary's mnemonic enhancer, which required ink made of squid secretion combined with black dragon blood or giant slug intestinal fluid. Weapon bless also required ink made from dragon's blood, invisibility to spirits required a jar of red ink, whilst spell immunity, accuracy, dream, and memory, and its counterpart erasement, required standard ink. Asmiak's variation of darkness, 15' radius made us of ink. The unceasing vigilance of the holy sentinel spell needed a circle drawn in ink containing sapphire dust worth at least 1,000 gp.

Art
The most popular style of art in Kara-Tur was the monochromatic "water and ink" style.

Symbology
"Red ink, friend. The tavern's closed."

- Amnian slang, where "red ink" meant bad news.

Red ink was often used to symbolize bad news or worse scenarios in Amn. Saying "the ink couldn't be any redder" meant that things could not become any worse. In fact, red ink was also slang for fander (1 copper piece), the lowest form of currency in Amn.

Production
Some creatures naturally produced ink, such as giant octopi, giant squids, and krakens.

Cheap ink could be made simply from soot or iron to give a dark pigment, combined with water or linseed oil, and bound together with dissolved glue.

Notable Owners of Ink

 * The Paper Warrior, a weapon master of Kara-Tur, owned a dish full of ink. If it was interacted with, the ink flowed from its dish and formed words, which materialized as the Paper Warrior himself.

Notable Types of Ink

 * Everdark, a highly prized ink used by mages in the Underdark. In order to make this specialist ink, deep dragon scales had to be placed in acid.
 * Squid ink was really common in Waterdeep.
 * Pauper's ink was a cheap, reliable type of ink.