Ginseng: Long praised for its strength giving and medicinal properties,, the root of the Ginseng plant is immediately recognizable for its forked shape, and to those initiated in the mystic ways,, by its overpowering rose-colored aura.  It has been used for centuries by peasants who chew it or brew tea from a powdered preparation of the root in order to gain strength and stamina as they toil in the fields.  While commonly found throughout Britannia, the Ginseng used as a component in the casting of spells is generally black in color and found only on the slopes of the northern mountains.  It may be purchased in virtually any shop that sells magical goods, and is most useful in spells of a healing or narcotic nature, such as Cure or Sleep enchantments.

Garlic: Even the most common of nature's gifts to our people have magical properties as can be witnessed by the power of Garlic. This pungent bulb is found in every garden in the lands of Britannia, and no stew or roast would be complete without its sharp flavor. Its aromatic nature makes Garlic a powerful reagent in the casting of magical spells, and it is used in all spells of the warding variety - be they the warding off of common and magical sickness or the repelling of beings once dead.

Spider Silk: The miracle of Spider Silk lies in its tensile strength. Imagine, if you will, a grown man relying on a strand of catgut to hold his weight all the days of his life. A spider relies on the finest of threads to do just that, and its silk never fails it. We should praise the first wizardling who realized the mystic secret of Spider Silk, for it is to him or her that we owe the knowledge of binding and restraining spells. The silk of the deadly Albino Ghoul spider - both the miniature  and giant varieties - has been used by adepts through the years in rites of magic. The spider farms of the south produce perhaps a hundred pounds of the substance year and sell it to the merchants of magic, where it is made available to all who ply our trade. It is said that each year one worker dies the horrible death incurred by the bite of the Albino Ghoul spider to ensure the potency of the silk, although never has this deliberately been made to happen. 

Blood Moss: is the bane of farmers and the boon of magicians. It is a deep red fungus that attacks the crops of those who raise grain, yet it is a vital component in the casting of spells. An oddity to those who spend their lives observing the growth of that which is not animal in nature -for it behaves like no other plant or mushroom - Blood Moss grows only in the driest of times, when all around it is perishing from drought. It cannot survive the absence of direct sunlight, and thus passes from the earth each night, only to return when the sun blazes mercilessly upon the land. Blood Moss seems feed only in ripening grain - it can lay waste to an acre of corn in a single day and vanish without a trace as night falls, leaving naught but fruitless stalks swaying in the cool, night breeze.  The magic of Blood Moss is thought to reside in its fleeting nature, for it is used in the spells of movement -from the simplest levitation to making the very earth tremble.  As harvest time comes each year, the merchants send runners to wait by the fields and gather the Blood Moss.  Farmers consider these runners unlucky and try to chase them from their fields, but enough show persistence to ensure their masters a plentiful supply of Blood Moss to sell. 

Black Pearl: The Black Pearl is the most highly prized of all the pearls. Well-formed ones command a price from jewelers that would bankrupt a score of wizards.  Yet Black Pearls are vital in the casting of spells that are hurled from the mage's person and must travel to a final destination. Fortunately for our profession, even rarer than a normal Black Pearl is one that is perfectly shaped.  Most are lopsided and lack symmetry - the very quality that makes the jeweler desire them so highly. This ensures a ready supply for the thaumaturge - the weaver of magic. It is said that, unlike the ordinary pearl which is formed inside an oyster when it seeks to protect itself from a piece of sand or grit, the Black Pearl only forms when the seed of the great pearl is yet another pearl of much smaller size cast adrift by the death of another oyster.

Nightshade: Not to be confused with the rank-smelling plant of the same name, the Nightshade used in the mystic arts is an extremely rare mushroom that is only found in the deepest, most remote forests. It is said to be quite venomous to the touch of all save those present at its harvest, thus it is never sold in shops and is among the scarcest of magical reagents.  To obtain it, one must seek in the deepest forest on the blackest of nights when not even a moonbeam illuminates a single blade of grass.  I know not of the precise locations where this mystic fungus can be found, but there are rumored to be those in the lands of Britannia that know this secret.  Its chief magical properties are connected with the use of poison and the creation of illusions so real that they can lay the mightiest warrior to the ground. So rare is the Nightshade that it is primarily used in the creation Of only the most potent of magics. 

Mandrake Root: The root of the poisonous Mandrake plant is instantly recognizable by its human shape and its crimson color. It is said that the sap runs blood-red when the plant is cut down in order to harvest the root.  Long prized for its narcotic and purging effects when consumed in minute portions, the Mandrake Root is the most powerful known substance in the weaving of magical spells that give new shape to very world around us.  The variety of Mandrake Root used in the mystic arts is found only in marshy terrain, where the root can thrust deeply into the earth. The more earth that must be moved to retrieve the Mandrake Root, the more potent its effect in the magic of the finder. Many years ago, when our people were but scattered tribes of nomads, the Mandrake was plentiful. As our people have tamed the land, however, and the practice of the mystic arts has become refined, the Mandrake has all but vanished from the face of the land we now call Britannia. It is never seen in the shops of the towns and castles, and hardly even sold privately if found.  Many of our profession have devoted lifetimes to the search for Mandrake Root without ever coming into possession of a single piece of it.