A Pinch of Salt - Properties and Applications Preface ------- Salt is a commodity that made quite the headline not so long ago, when it rose to the infamy of being the most in-demand commodity - at one point even being sold for two thousand gold coins a bag. Originating from the seas and the oceans, salt is best known for its use in cooking, sought after by chefs all around the Basin for its ability to bring out the flavour of a dish. Although best known for its culinary properties, salt also has a wide variety of other uses, even in unlikely fields such as Astrology and Ecology. And of course, it is one of the base elements of Alchemy, possessing latent magical properties that can be utilized by a skilled alchemist. This book is a successor to my previous work, "On Sulfur", where I talk about the properties and applications of sulfur in detail. Therefore, in addition to going over the physical and chemical properties of salt, I will also attempt to compare them with those of sulfur and present a clearer picture of the basics of Alchemy. Even though I am not an alchemist by profession, I feel that my expertise in the culinary arts have left me with some understanding of salt - enough to write about the properties of it. That being said, please forgive any mistakes that I might make in my observations and conclusions. Coraline Myeras Salt: Physical Properties ------------------------- Appearance: Salt, in its most common form of table salt, is available as a white powder. In contrast to sulfur, which is amorphous, salt is crystalline. In its purest crystalline form, salt appears as a white crystal, although the presence of impurities can cause it to develop colour. A particularly notable example is the volcanic salt, which is black in colour. Other common colours of impure salt crystals are pink, orange, and even yellow. Salt wildly differs from sulfur in both its smell and its taste. While sulfur tends to have a particularly noxious smell that is hard to ignore even in small quantities, salt, in contrast, has a more subdued scent - a unique smell of its own, that can even be quite pleasant at just the right amount - reminiscent of a gentle breeze on a sandy beach. The taste of salt might be its most famous quality. Salt is so renowned for its taste that one of the five basic tastes is named after it. At the right amount, salt can really bring out the flavour in a dish. This is true for even dishes which you would not expect salt to be beneficial in, like caramel sauce, lemonade and even cakes and cookies. At the hands of a good chef, salt can be a powerful aide that will turn an ordinary dish into a delicacy that is craved by many. In the hands of an inexperienced cook, however, salt can make a dish practically inedible, as adding too much or too little salt to a dish can completely ruin its flavour. In summary, Colour: White in pure form. Can have colour due to impurities present State: Solid Texture: Crystalline Smell: Briny Taste: Salty Interactions with the elements Fire: When salt is introduced to a flame, it adds a bright yellow colouration to the flame. Salt is not otherwise reactive to fire. Water: Salt readily dissolves in water, and causes the water to have a salty taste, and, in higher quantities, even a salty, briny smell. High concentrations of salt in water can cause the formation of salt crystals that sink in water. In fact, salt is most commonly collected by the evaporation of water from the seas and oceans. Earth: Even though evaporation of seawater is the easiest and most efficient method to collect salt, it can also be collected from mineral deposits under the surface of the Earth. Like sulfur, salt is also obtained as a byproduct when clusters of gems are cut into pure gemstones. Air: Salt does not dissolve in air directly, but it can be suspended as fine particulates, or dissolved in airborne water droplets. An observation can be made here about the nature of reactivity of salt to the elements in contrast to sulfur. While it was observed (from my previous book, "On Sulfur") that sulfur reacted more strongly with Fire than the other elements, it can be noted that salt, in contrast, is more responsive to Water. It could be theorized that there is a pattern involved here, that each base metal or salt of alchemy has a particular affinity towards one element, even more so than the others. I will study this phenomenon further to see if it holds any salt, when I move on to the other base metals. Chemical Properties ------------------- Reactivity Unlike sulfur, salt is not caustic and reactive to the touch, and can be handled without the need for gloves or other protective equipment. However, they have been known for breaking aetherbuttons into the aethergoop that they are made of, and therefore it is not advisable to store salt in proximity to aetherbuttons. Uses The most obvious use of salt is, of course, in the culinary arts. As mentioned earlier, salt provides one of the five basic tastes needed to create the perfect meal. The right amount of salt in a dish can really enhance the deliciousness of a dish. This is because salt has a tendency to augment and accentuate the taste of a dish to bring out unique flavours beyond the basic five. This can be seen when a dash of salt is used to enhance the sweetness of baked goods or when it suppresses the bitterness of citrus-flavoured drinks. It likewise also brings out the unique flavours of fried snacks, cured meat, and pickled fruits. Besides cooks, salt is also a very useful item to Astrologers. A pentagram of salt can be used in place of a blood pentagram by Astrologers to direct a meteor to a target location. It is not known whether this is because blood contains some amount of salt, or if it is due to the inherent purity of salt, which causes it to contain an amount of latent magical properties. The magical properties latent within salt can be channeled by alchemists via brewing into an alembic to create magical salt, which can be sprinkled on the ground around a person to create magical shields. Salt is also known to be used by Ecologists to create soft charms that can help with electrical resistance, as opposed to sulfur, which is used to enhance resistance to poison. Salt is known to be a good inhibitor of plant growth, since it is known to absorb water that is needed by the roots, causing them to be damaged. This property can be used in the control of weed growth, and it can be theorized that the Old Celestian Empire might have used this trait of salt to their advantage and incorporated magical salt into the paving of highways to keep eroding plant growth at bay. The tendency of salt to soak up moisture can also be utilized to remove stains from the body and clothing. When used appropriately, salt can also ward off small pests like ants and slugs. Ritualistic Usage ----------------- Salt is known to be widely used in ritualistic practices around the Basin, due to its above-mentioned magical property. Salt pentagrams are used as ritualistic shields, whereas practices such as throwing salt over one's shoulder is said to repel bad fortune. As stated in its physical properties, salt is noted to have an affinity to Water (and, to a lesser extent, Earth) compared to the other elements. Based on this, it can be theorized that salt is a key component in Aquamantic rituals, and that it might also be used efficiently in Geomantic rituals. The nature of salt points towards potential usage in rituals of an alchemical or a magical nature. It is an ancient dracnari practice to burn salt in hot coals before bedtime, because the smoke is believed to keep bad dreams at bay. Salt is commonly used in these rituals for warding and purification. Conclusions ----------- In this book, we have not only explored in detail the physical properties and chemical nature of salt, but also attempted to compare and contrast some of these properties with sulfur. I will now try to condense the observations that were made into succinct points below: -White crystalline solid with a briny odour and a salty taste -Possible elemental affinity towards Water -Latent magical properties stored within -Applications in a wide range of fields such as Cooking, Alchemy, Astrology, Ecology, and Rituals. I hope that, by reading this book, you were provided with information that would be useful in your future endeavours.