Borax

Found as a white solid, borax forms large matte crystals. A sedimentary mineral, it is soft, brittle, and water-soluble; as such it can only be found in regions with negligable rainfall.

Treating borax with sulphuric acid and heating to above 750 °C produces boron trioxide, used in glassmaking and ceramics. Reducing boron trioxide with carbon or magnesium and carbon in an electrical arcing furnace creates boron carbide, wich is used to make ceramic armour

Borax is strongly associated with cleanliness, owing to its use for softening heavily mineralised water before doing laundry and its inclusion in various cleaning products and effectiveness at remving stale and putrid odours from rooms. Dissolved in water, it is a cheap and effective fungicide and insecticide, used for treating wood rot, and ant, clothes moth and/or woodworm infestations.   Borax and borcic acid are used to create a liquid fire retardant which can be applied to fabrics, wood and even used to water plants to make them less flammable (such as the evergreen trees and boughs used in southern Faewas winter traditions).

Due to its wide accessability, low toxicity, and cultural associations with cleanliness, Borax can be used in any cleansing and purification rituals. It may be substituted for silver finings where appropriate. NB: the Arcane Practitioners' Guild of Ewura does not recommend substitution of any kind in recipies categorised as Class C (life preserving and sustaining) and higher.

Although borax has a wide range of domestic uses, it is an essential component of multiple industries, but most notably ceramics, pottery, glassmaking, and enamelling. The ceramic capital of Ewas, $PLACENAME, was founded to take advantage of the extensive and accessible deposits of borax in the region.

Gold mining

Most often used in small-scale gold mining, bBorax can increase yield by extracting minute quantities of otherwise unattainable gold ("gold flour" milled together, the borax and gold amalgamate and sink to the bottom of the slice, where the mixture can be recovered and the borax burned away to leave the gold.

Security ink

Dissolving shellac in heated borax makes an indelible ink that readily accepts enchantments, unlike iron-based indelible inks, and is used for signing contracts, accountancy, and political treaties.

Metalworking

Anhydrous borax mixed with ammonium chloride is used as a flux (a chemical cleaning agent that dissolves oxides on the working surface) during forge welding.