Lighting
Sure, a lot of the time, players provide their own light when they plumb the depths of various dungeons, caves, and other areas cut off from the light of the sun. And that’s fine sometimes; after all, oozes and skeletons don’t care about how bright their living space is. But what about dungeons containing creatures that actually need to see? The evil wizard’s black knights and cunning thieves need to see their minions and treasures. The following list is full of great flavorful descriptions of ways to light up your dark castles, dread vaults, and lonely towers.
1. A chandelier of orc skulls. This all-bone chandelier hangs suspended by a quintet of black barbed chains and features over 20 orc skulls, which have been pieced by the chains through either the mouth or nose, giving the appearance that each of the skulls was impaled by the chains that run through them. The skulls’ other cavities are filled with tiny everburning candles, casting a dim, heatless light over the room in which this morbid fixture is hung. In windy environments, the skulls rattle and make hollow whistling noises, without disturbing the lights.
2. Luminescent fungi. Found growing naturally in many underground caves and chambers, this unique fungus is shaped roughly like a bell attached to a long, thin stem, and sheds an eerie crimson light in all directions. The fungi are surprisingly bright, and the light they shed can bathe vast areas in crimson shades. Creatures which eat the fungi glow red as well. The fungi can be easily transplanted and thrive in wet, dark environments.
3. Witch lights. These floating fires burn in bright blues and eerie greens, and move about an area, casting their clearly supernatural light through the darkness. Because the lights move about, they often are used to illuminate passageways or secret paths, and can be manipulated to light up a specific road or path, making it more obvious to passersby, who are therefore more likely to take it. While these fires typically give off no heat, occasionally they can burn and sear the flesh.
4. Oblier’s light orb. This large glass sphere is roughly the size of a warhorse and affixed to a pedestal. It is filled with magically captured sunlight, lighting up a 500-foot-radius area when exposed. An iron covering is affixed to the outside of the sphere, allowing it to be shut off or turned on by the operation of a lever, which opens and closes the iron shutter.
5. Self-lighting torches. Used by magicians who only want light some of the time, these lovingly crafted everburning torches are designed to light or extinguish themselves in response to some stimuli. This trigger is usually a door being opened or shut, but other possibilities exist, including only lighting themselves while in the presence of a member of a particular race, lighting themselves when a living creature enters, or in response to a command word. These clever torches are often used by those who want to conceal a path from certain eyes or leave rooms lit only while in use, eliminating the inconvenience of light bleeding from one room to another.
6. Ray stones. About the size of a brick, these magical stones contain minuscule crystals which emit a bright light in a variety of colors. The crystals are usually encased in a clay brick which has tiny holes drilled into it, allowing thin rays of exotically colored light to protrude. Though a single ray stone does not produce a lot of light on its own, an entire chamber constructed of them provides a clear, if disorienting, view of what lies within.
7. Enslaved sprites. Contained within bottles or glass tubes, captive fairies are forced to provide light to their masters. Either coerced to use magic to illuminate themselves, or forced to carry miniature torches, these tiny fairies are able to provide about as much light as a common torch. They are most often owned by evil witches, cruel druids, and the very wealthy. Typically, these enslaved fairies provide favors to those who free them from service.
8. Walking braziers. A popular sale among spelunkers, these animated iron braziers typically carry ample fuel for 10 hours of light or longer, and have the ability to move about on their own, typically at the direction of their creator, and follow a person, providing them with light when and where they need it. Some of these walking braziers, particularly those with continual flame enchantments or similar, go rogue, roaming the world looking for people to follow and provide light for.
9. Darkness eater. These strange and otherworldly statues are shaped like the face of a horned demon, with eyes made of emeralds or rubies. These odd devices don’t shed light, but rather remove darkness from an area, devouring it like it wasn’t there. The resulting absence of darkness allows a person to preview the world around them, but without any sense of color or shade, providing a truly unique visual experience. The origin of these masks is unknown, as is what happens to the darkness they devour.
10. Stolen sun. A piece of a bright yellow star acquired by magic, these tiny orbs shine with bright light intense enough to blind those without visual protection, and giving off heat sufficient to deal 3d6 point of fire damage each round a creature spends within 100 feet of it. The damage increases by 1d6 for every 10 feet closer than 1oo feet one stands, and the damage is doubled for creatures who touch the star fragment. These objects are typically used to light vast areas of perpetual darkness, and the secrets of their acquisition have been long lost to time.