Charcoal

Charcoal was a 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.

Availability
Charcoal was made by firing wood in a kiln for several days, reducing it to an ashy black concentrate. The large amounts of wood required for charcoal production necessitated constant logging of forests such as the High Forest.

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

Usage

 * Tinderboxes could be used with charcoal briquettes to provide the initial fuel for a fire.
 * Charcoal made a good general-purpose fuel, such as for use in braziers.
 * Charcoal was used to fuel high-temperature furnaces for the working of metals. It was well-suited to smelting raw iron, and would be stacked in layers along with the ore and limestone flux.
 * Charcoal sticks were common drawing implements used by artists, and could be colored for extra effect.
 * Skin-blackening makeup could use charcoal, though it could irritate the skin.
 * Dark stains and tints such as with lacquers could use charcoal as a pigment.
 * Neutralize poison used a piece of charcoal to cure poisons.