Salt

Salt was a substance that was widely produced and used in the Realms for a variety of culinary, industrial, alchemical, and magical purposes.

Description
Salt was a naturally occurring mineral that formed translucent white crystals.

Availability
Salt was a common trade good on many routes, with most large caravans containing at least one dedicated salt wagon. It was rarely the mainstay of entire economies, however, as it was broadly naturally abundant, most regions having at least some local production. Its value as a spice and a preservative was also somewhat lessened by the wide variety of methods of preservation and seasoning available (such as maxoris).

People
Many people and organisations used salt harvesting and its applications as a source of income:
 * The Saltbaron clan of Duergar in Gracklstugh practised salt mining as their main trade.
 * Gnomish families often made a living by mining small salt deposits.
 * The Salters' and Packers' Guild of Port Kir in Tethyr packed salted fish for inland trade.
 * The Fellowship of Salters, Packers, and Joiners in Waterdeep preserved food for oceanic trade, including between Faerûn and Maztica.

Locations
Salt could be obtained from salt marshes, the ocean, or other bodies of salty water by evaporating the water. A common method was pouring the water across a flat surface and letting the water evaporate. It was harvested from a wide variety of sources in the Realms:
 * The Flooded Forest between the Vast and Moonsea regions.
 * The Adder Swamp in Chessenta.
 * The Spider Swamp in Calimshan.
 * The Great Swamp of Rethild in the Shining South.
 * A tributary of the Deeping Stream in Featherdale infused with mineral salt was harvested by boiling the water.

Salt could also be found as naturally forming chunks on the shores of extremely salty bodies of water:
 * Azulduth, the Lake of Salt, between Mulhorand and Unther.
 * The Lake of Steam in southern Faerûn.
 * Lake Lhespen in the Shaar had several communities that harvested from it.

Salt pans on the site of dried-up lakes and inland seas were also a source of salt:
 * The Anauroch desert, especially in the Sword region, was mined by the Bedine.
 * The Raurin desert.
 * The Lake of Salt contracted in summer, revealing expansive salt flats. They were mined by locals from the towns of Azun and Buldamar.

Exploratory salt mines were major producers of rock salt:
 * The mountains around Amn, including around Keczulla.
 * The mountains of Calimshan.
 * The mountains of Chult.
 * The Korinn Archipelago in the Moonshae Isles.
 * The northern islands of Mintarn in the Sea of Swords.
 * The Orsraun Mountains.
 * The Whiteshell Mine near Blingdenstone in the Underdark.
 * The mountains of Samarach in the Chultan Peninsula, including the Mines of Selgol and the hills near Torich.
 * The Serpent Hills in the Western Heartlands. Below the head of the Great Petrified Serpent, ancient gnomes dug salt mines.
 * The Valley of Umbricci near Colletro in the Blade Kingdoms.
 * The valleys near Marrauk in Laerakond produced very pure, very fine salt.

Other large deposits of salt could be found elsewhere in the Realms:
 * The Buried Realms near Tethyamar.
 * Deep Raurin
 * The Darklands near Traaskl Thorog.
 * Lake Luo was surrounded by salt flats.
 * The Sea of Salt near Moradask in Zakhara was a large salt pan, but was too inhospitable to harvest.
 * The alkaline lake in the Pit of Ghuls in Zakhara was an untapped source of salt thanks to its remote location and extreme danger.

Usage

 * Salt was generally used to preserve food, such as salted fish.
 * Salt was a common seasoning in countless dishes, ranging from subtle to overwhelming. Some salty meals and snacks such as salted nuts were served in taverns in order to make patrons thirstier.
 * Arable land was sometimes salted to poison the land for generations, such as in Sessrendale.
 * Dwarves were fond of eating heavily salted food that others found unpalatable, and often carried chunks of rock salt to lick. They would even lick salt residue from the walls of natural caverns they traveled through.
 * Gnomes generally over-salted their food by other's standards, and ate rock salt like others would eat candy.
 * Deep gnomes rarely cooked, instead preserving their food with salt to the extent it was unpalatable to others.
 * Saltsteel was a form of magically-hardened salt which could then be used in crafting.
 * The priests of Loviatar rubbed salt in their wounds to accentuate the pain.
 * The salt bond was a Zakharan bond of hospitality formed by the consumption of salt from a host's table.
 * Marids would use exotic salts to flavor the water they breathed.
 * Colored salts were a part of Chultan cuisine.

Spell Components
Salt was used as a material component in many spells:
 * Agitate wounds used a pinch of salt.
 * Clone could be performed using a vessel filled with salt water to contain the grown body.
 * Comprehend languages used a pinch of salt and soot.
 * Gentle repose used a pinch of salt along with two copper coins placed on the corpse's eyes.
 * Obar's lesser purification used a pinch of salt along with a pinch of limestone dust and three drops of potion of sweet water.
 * Preservation used a pinch of salt.
 * Proof from teleportation could use 10 lb. of salt stuffed into a 5-lb. sack.
 * Protection from the elements could use salt to protect against drowning and depth pressure.
 * Spellweb could use a grain of salt.

Bedine Magic
Bedine magical traditions used salt or another elemental aspect of the desert as a component.
 * At'ar's fire
 * Cleanse water
 * Conjure sand lion
 * Create water
 * Death smoke
 * Find water
 * Fist of sand
 * Flesh mirage
 * Flying jambiya
 * Life water
 * Pillar of sand
 * Sand gems
 * Sand healing
 * Sand jambiya
 * Sand shadow
 * Sand shroud
 * Sand whisper
 * Sand worm
 * Sandswallow
 * Sun stone
 * Whispering sand
 * Wind blade
 * Wind compass
 * Wind shadow

Other

 * The salt cantrip could create a small amount of fine salt.
 * Salt mummies were created when a person who led a horror-filled life was buried near veins of salt, often becoming a threat to miners.
 * Nishruu were heavily damaged by contact with even a handful of salt.
 * Crystal flowers were highly-prized natural salt formations from the Underdark that resembled flowers.
 * The wastelands of Avernus in the Nine Hells were dotted with salt flats made from the tears of the damned.
 * The Quasi-Elemental Plane of Salt was an entire plane made of salt, a rare instance of too much salt.
 * Hamdh was a desert-growing shrub in Zakhara which was extremely rich in salt, making it ideal for camel grazing.
 * A kavir was a salt flat in Zakhara which was actually a crust of salt over thick black mud, making a dangerous hazard for travelers.