Full Item Description
Lighting
Okay. How do your people see? We in the 21st century take good illumination for granted, allowing us to stay up and active for many more hours than our ancestors. Like so many things in a fantasy, people just kind of gloss over it… or think that candles illuminate like a 100 watt bulb. So how do people light up the night in your setting? How late do they stay up if they can light the night?
User Submitted Ideas (7)
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In the worse parts of town, the lighting tends to be more sparse, as most of the 'fireflies', as they are called, don't go there, run through there lighting a few lights, or get mugged/beaten/whatever on their way (being a wizard who lights steet lights implies that you don't have the magical power for a better job).0xp
An interesting thought. Hmmm. This is one I have to contemplate more.0xp
As for using magic to enhance other types of theatrical performances, such as a play or a band, this is an interesting new twist, and one I need to think about further...
These are not the gas lamps you are thinking of. Every building has a steam boiler to generate hot water and steam for heating and other purposes. So every compound will have its own lighting system.
The steam heats coils in a glass "jar". The "air" inside the jar is a combination of noble gases and some base chemicals. When the gas is heated enough, it begins to glow. Thus there will be streetlights, house lights, and hall lights, in most buildings and compounds that have a boiler.
In most cases, these lights are not used in personal spaces. It is only recently that shutter systems are used to cut off these "lamps".0xp
1. Captured magic creatures which glow - from enhanced fireflies, elementals, etc. I think using crystal spheres with glowing spirits trapped within appropriate for evil lairs anywhere. They can even be broken to release reinforcements.
2. Fragments of pure Elemental Fire can be used perhaps located very high on spires similar to the lights in larger parking lots. Being quite bright and covering a large area, you would not need a lot of them. Since the Elemental Fire would be valuable to many spellcasters, they would need to be protected against theft.
3. Bagdad Batteries can be used along with primative light bulbs to provide lighting much as we do today, with only minimal anacronism :) There would be a whole guild devoted to the operation, refueling and maintenace of the system.0xp
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