Rubber

Rubber was a substance derived from rubber trees.
==Properties==
Rubber was notable for its ability to bounce and to float. Depending on the treatment and production, it could be flexible or stiff. Other valuable properties associated with rubber included its toughness and its ability to stretch and deform before returning to its original shape. It could also provide effective insulation (and thus protection) against electricity and could accept magical enchantments.
By weight, of soft rubber was while hard rubber was .
The smell of burnt rubber was generally perceived as foul.
==Applications==
===Games and Toys===
In Faerûn, commonfolk in cities like Waterdeep had access to cheap rubber balls which were used to play jacks. Similar rubber balls were used to play boule, a casino game in which the ball was spun around a special numbered bowl and gamblers would bet on where it would land. 
Also in Faerûn, rubber bath toys (including those shaped like ducks) were favored by the likes of Elminster and Mirt.
In Malatra, rubber was used exclusively to make balls for use in games and as children's toys.
In Maztica, rubber was most notably used to make the hard, balls for use in the Maztican ball game, as well as to make the soles of sandals used in playing that game.
===Apparel===
Rubber was used to fashion masks and curvy corsets. At the Baths in Arabel, hedonistic revelries sometimes included pink rubber dragon costumes.
In Waterdeep, rubber boots were not unheard of as part of a miner's outfit.
===Tools and Equipment===
Bouncy rubber balls were considered a useful tool for finding and neutralizing common traps, and trap-wary adventurers might be advised to carry several of them. Such a ball was simply thrown down a dungeon corridor and allowed to bounce and roll around, triggering traps or at least allowing the thrower to listen to the ball for information about the path ahead.
Rubber was useful for enhancing training environments and obstacle courses. Mock pit traps might include nets of rubber cords to catch and bounce fallen trainees, while rubber paint-bomb darts could be fired by bow to non-lethally hit and mark a target. Such features were used in the Assassin's Run of Waterdeep.
In Ankhapur, the Vorbel wagon wheel was a major trade product, which sometimes featured a layer of rubber wrapped around the rim.
In Maztica, rubber strips were sometimes used to weave hammocks and the like.
In Ravens Bluff, rubber was used in the construction of slakers, specialized flasks designed to extinguish fires. These were used by the Red Ravens fire brigade as of the mid-to-late 14 century DR.
On spelljammers, rubber was sometimes used as a material for floor mats. 
===Plugs and Seals===
Some vials made use of rubber stoppers. An assassin could store poison in such a vial and simply poke or stab a weapon through the rubber in order to apply the poison without having to open the whole vial.
Natural rubber might be mixed with gorgon blood to seal the interior of items like dead boxes in order to disrupt detection magic.
In Durpar, rubber was sometimes used to coat realistic prosthetics, such as those sold by Orviir Kalgalast.
In Zakhara, rubber plugs were sometimes used to stop drains in baths and pools. 
===Magic===
Rubber served as a material component in several spells, including afterclap, Bowgentle's fleeting journey, deadly dance, erase, false face, insulation lightning shield, sacrosanct, tentacle of withering, and translocation shift.
Some versions of the wand of wonder could conjure hundreds of permanent rubber balls that rained down around the wielder.
==Production==
Rubber was produced using the congealed snd cured sap of the rubber tree. This sap was melted and molded into usable shapes or sculpted into objects.
Rubber was known and used in Faerûn since at least the time of ancient Netheril. As of the mid-to-late 14 century DR, rubber was harvested and traded by the likes of the Itzas of Far Payit in Maztica and was cultivated as an agricultural product by the tribes of Malatra. In Faerûn, rubber trees were highly sought after, with expeditions searching for them in places like Chult. Rubber was also imported to Faerûn from Maztica.
==Appendix==
===Appearances===
===References===
Category:Substances
Category:Items
Category:Items from Chult
Category:Items from Southwest Faerûn
Category:Items from South Faerûn
Category:Items from Faerûn
Category:Items from Far Payit
Category:Items from Maztica
Category:Items from Malatra
Category:Items from the Malatran Plateau
Category:Items from Kara-Tur
Category:Items from Toril