Lime (material)

Lime or quicklime was a substance used for a variety of purposes.

Description
Lime had a distinct mineral smell and could be found in solid chunks, ground into a white powder, or mixed with water to make a paste called slaked lime. Flesh and bone, living or dead, that came into extended contact with lime inevitably dissolved with time, while water with dissolved lime could be dangerous to drink. In areas such as drains where water concentrated, the dissolved lime could leave a visible deposit.

Availability

 * Aurora's Emporium sold pieces of lime for 1 sp per 12 oz, or powder for 2 sp per 12 oz.
 * Lime was widely available throughout the Realms and was regularly traded and transported in bulk, in powdered, slaked, or chunk form.

Usage

 * Lime was a popular material in construction projects. It was commonly used as a binder mixed with sand and water to produce mortar, and the Cellarers' & Plumbers' Guild of Waterdeep had secret recipes involving pitch, lime, gravel, sand, and other materials. It was mixed with mud to make a kind of inexpensive cement for waterproofing drainpipes in warmer climates that didn't freeze, and could be mixed into thatching for roofs.
 * Slaked lime was made into whitewash, a bright white and hardy paint commonly used around the Realms to paint buildings white. It was used in traditional Maztican, Shou, and Calishite construction for thousands of years.
 * Skins and hides were treated with lime along with vinegar, beeswax, and various other substances in the production of leather, while vellum was made by treating calf skin.
 * Lime could be used for pickling food, and was used in the production of many alchemical potions.
 * When dwarven battleragers shaved their heads and beards, occasionally they left some hair that they stiffened with lime or grease.
 * Stinkpots were often made to shower foes with quicklime.
 * Brown mold oil was a dangerous flask of ground-up brown mold, temporarily neutralized by a mix of lime and algae.
 * Powdered lime was used to clean the privies of establishments such as the Masked Merfolk. Powdered lime and dirt was also laid over dung pits to limit the stench.
 * Space-efficient burials were sometimes performed with multiple bodies stacked together with lime and dirt between them. Entire pits of lime were sometimes used for the disposal of bodies, such as for dealing with the mass-burial of plague victims. Tubs or pits of lime were also used for quietly and discretely dissolving bodies that mustn't be found, such as those used by Sundarl Nightsoils the Dark Corner, Three Old Kegs, the village of Urbryur, and drow.

Spell Components
Various forms of lime were used in many spell components, including:
 * Flesh to stone used lime, water, and earth.
 * Greater magic weapon used powdered lime and carbon.
 * Leomund's secure shelter used a few grains of sand along with some stone, lime, water, and wood.
 * Statue used lime, sand, and a drop of water stirred by an iron bar.
 * Transmute mud to rock used sand, lime, and water.