Mortar Pestle & Salves

guide

The mortar and pestle serves as the primary processing station for apothecaries and hedge witches, grinding fibrous herbs, dried mushrooms, and minerals into fine powders, thick pastes, and healing salves. Without proper grinding, raw botanical ingredients cannot dissolve properly within cauldron brews or ritual altars.

Crafting the Mortar and Pestle

Constructing the grinding station requires only simple stonework:

Place one wooden Bowl and one Stone block together in any crafting grid.
This creates a durable Mortar and Pestle that can be placed on workbenches or tabletop shelves throughout your apothecary.

To use the station, place your target botanical or mineral ingredients into the mortar basin and crush them with the pestle until the product is fully ground.

Grinding Powders and Pastes

A wide variety of gathered plants and mob remnants can be pulverized into essential alchemical dusts:

Crushing Spirit Bloom petals produces shimmering Spirit Powder, a fundamental component in restorative brews.
Grinding wild Ghost Fern leaves yields luminescent Ghost Powder, used in concealment recipes.
Crushing a fleshy Dreamshroom yields thick Dream Paste, vital for mental focus charms.
Pulverizing ocean Siren Kelp produces sticky Siren Paste, carrying maritime enchantments.
Grinding dried Saltsprout stalks breaks the plant down into pure Salt.
Processing one Sugar Cane stalk yields Sugar (up to two in earlier editions), while grinding a single Bone produces Bone Meal.
Crushing a Blaze Rod in the mortar cleanly reduces it to one Blaze Powder.

Compounding Herbal Salves and Mixtures

Combining multiple ground powders with stabilizing binders inside the mortar allows herbalists to blend composite salves:

Brambleguard Salve: Compounded by grinding one Poppy, one Rabbage, and one Azure Bluet together. This defensive salve provides protective coating against thorny brush and environmental abrasions.
Fragrant Nectar: Created by crushing one Spirit Bloom, one Honeycomb, and one sprig of Witchweed. The resulting sweet blend serves as an offering in advanced nature rituals and attracts beneficial woodland fauna.
Mutavis: Formed by combining one Tree Resin, one Slimeball, and one Spirit Powder. This viscous mixture serves as the universal mutation catalyst for transforming standard flora and stone.

Storing these prepared powders and pastes in herb jars near your workstation ensures you can quickly assemble cauldron brews or ritual offerings without interrupting your alchemy.