Apothecary

It is the shrewd apothecary who mixes his strange chemicals and produces the formulas to create potions. Apothecaries are experts in growing and preparing herbs and reagents for use in magic.

These occult apothecaries are quite interesting to visit. Their oddly decorated shelves are often strewn with vials of strangely colored potions, queerly glowing staves and scepters, and a cornucopia of herbal and mineral reagents useful in the mage's work. Shoppes generally offer mostly locally available reagents, although some apothecaries have better facilities for importing than others. Climate and terrain have a lot to do with plant availability and the consequent variable prices.

Their availability will vary from town to town, so the traveling mage will want to make special note of those things offered in the places he visits.Shop carefully, for the shoppe that has the best price on one herb or reagent may have the worst on another.

History
Reagent Shops only existed since Ultima IV, and real Apothecaries only appeared in Ultima VI. In Ultima VII, they didn't offer reagents any more, since magic had become so unreliable in Britannia.

Lore
''All practitioners of the mystic arts will search far and wide to locate these rare shops. Within them is to be found the components - or reagents, as they are known to enchanters - for spell mixtures. Without these mixtures, no spell may be cast successfully. Due to the rareness of some of the herbs, many are not offered for sale regularly, if at all.''

-from "The History of Britannia", Ultima IV

''Apothecaries are experts in growing and preparing herbs and reagents for use in magic. Shoppes generally offer mostly locally available reagents, although some apothecaries have better facilities for importing than others. Climate and terrain have a lot to do with plant availability and the consequent variable prices. Shop carefully, for the shoppe that has the best price on one herb or reagent may have the worst on another.''

-from "The Book of Lore", Ultima V

''These occult apothecaries are quite interesting to visit. Their oddly decorated shelves are often strewn with vials of strangelycolored potions, queerly glowing staves and scepters, and a cornucopia of herbal and mineral reagents useful in the mage's work. Since many of the items offered are both rare and expensive, their availability will vary from town to town, so the traveling mage will want to make special note of those things offered in the places he visits.''

-from "Compendium", Ultima VI

''It is the shrewd apothecary who mixes his strange chemicals and produces the formulas to create potions. Apothecaries have long since stopped the sale of magical reagents, as magic has become so unreliable.''

-from "Fellowship", Ultima VII