Charcoal

Charcoal was a common form of processed wood used as a fuel, similar to coke and coal.

Properties
Charcoal was a hard, black, ashy, carbon-rich mineral-like substance that burned readily. It was quite light, weighing per. It was valued for how it burned hotter, faster, and cleaner than raw wood, making it a superior fuel for heating, cooking, forging, and other purposes.

Availability
Charcoal was the fuel of choice for much of Toril. Some regions were dependent on dried animal dung, sheaves of straw, or oil from whales or fish, but wood charcoal was the most widespread and convenient source of fuel to be found. Mined coal and refined coke were hard to obtain for most surface realms, and petroleum was generally too hazardous and rare to use in large quantities.

Sylvan elves limited their use of charcoal in industry by means of elaborate forges that used walls of force to contain and concentrate the heat, allowing for hot fires with far less fuel consumption and lessened risk of accidental fires.

Aurora's Emporium supplied high-quality charcoal intended for priestly rituals for 1 gp per pound.

Crafting
Charcoal was made by charcoal-burners, or "colliers", by slowly burning wood or peat over several days in a smouldering air-starved fire, such as in a specialized kiln, in a turf-covered mound, or in a fire choked with clay. The large amounts of wood required for charcoal production necessitated the constant logging of forests such as the High Forest and Ardeep Forest, causing conflicts between the charcoal-burners and the sylvan elves who saw their woodlands shrinking.

The sustainable long-term harvesting of tree limbs for fuel or carpentry, called "coppicing", was widely practiced in lands such as Cormyr, Chessenta, Tethyr, Turmish, and the Dales, and most rural farming families, communities, and estates kept extensive woodlots for coppicing to ensure they were self-sufficient in fuel and timber. The wood was burned to charcoal locally, and the excess was exported to fuel-hungry cities in metal boxes. On occasion, charcoal was scented with various substances to produce pleasing aromas when burned.

Priests of Silvanus helped to protect woodlands from over-exploitation by organizing the production of charcoal from downed wood, as well as the production of peat, manure, and oil-based fuels.

Usages

 * Charcoal made a good general-purpose fuel for heating and light, such as for use in braziers. It was commonly used in massive quantities to fuel high-temperature furnaces and "bloomeries" for the smelting of ore and working of metals, especially for smelting raw iron, and would be stacked in layers along with the ore and limestone flux.
 * Tinderboxes could be used with charcoal briquettes to provide the initial fuel for a fire.
 * Poisons could be neutralized by eating charcoal.
 * Charcoal sticks and pencils were common writing and drawing implements used by artists, and could be colored for extra effect.
 * Samovars used an internal tube of burning charcoal for their heating.
 * Skin-blackening makeup could use charcoal, though it could irritate the skin. Charcoal and soot were especially popular for thieves who wanted to hide any exposed skin.
 * Beds of charcoal could be used to filter out salt and other impurities from water.
 * Dark stains and tints such as with lacquers could use charcoal as a pigment.
 * Explosive gunpowder used charcoal as an important ingredient, and charcoal may have been a key ingredient in the secret recipe for smokepowder.
 * Followers of Beshaba created impromptu shrines in cities by drawing the black antlers of misfortune in charcoal upon a wall.
 * Corlusk poison used charcoal as an ingredient.
 * A candle of exploding was made using a complex recipe including charcoal.
 * Vitriolic sphere could be neutralized with charcoal, among other substances.

Spell Components
A large number of spells used charcoal as a material component, particularly those involving fire.
 * Animate fire used a handful of charcoal, soda ash, and sulfur.
 * Dark fire used a piece of charcoal to cast.
 * Find familiar used a brass brazier of burning charcoal for the ritual.
 * Fire breath used a red hot glowing piece of charcoal clenched in the caster's teeth. Fortunately, this did not burn the caster.
 * Fire storm used charcoal from a cremated magic-user.
 * Fire trap could be cast by tracing the enclosure in charcoal.
 * Halaster's blacksphere used a piece of charcoal.
 * Heat wave used a piece of charcoal, some sulfur, and a small paper fan.
 * Internal fire used an iron brazier filled with hot charcoal.
 * Lose face used a piece of charcoal.
 * Neutralize gas used a bit of charcoal and treant bark.
 * Neutralize poison used a piece of charcoal to cure poisons.
 * Plague used a pinch of charcoal or soot.
 * Plant door used a piece of charcoal.
 * Steam breath used a glowing hot piece of charcoal that got doused in water.
 * Whip of flame could use a chunk of charcoal to cast.

Other

 * Serplars had a strange biology, and could feed upon soot and charcoal from chimneys.
 * The Charcoal Palace in the City of Brass was made of a dark gray basalt, and so resembled charcoal.