Uncommon · Lantern (wondrous item)Its story
A watertight lantern of dark, riveted brass cradles a polished obsidian chamber. Inside, pale Silt-Strand spring spores drift in a slow blue-green glow, like living light seen beneath shallow water. A hinged hood shields the cluster from rain and ash, while a narrow glass window reveals each faint pulse.
Lore
Ashen Shelf crews say the lantern does not reveal what the land wishes to hide. It only points toward what the land is willing to give: a buried warmth, or water still fit to drink.
History
The first lanterns were made by unnamed Silt-Strand cultivators on the Ashen Shelf. Coastal crews later carried them into steaming coves and sulfur haze, relying on their strange glow to find safer paths and search for fresh water.
Quirks
The spores brighten when warm rain strikes the hood.
Near a thermal vent, the glow travels across the chamber in slow, rippling bands.
Details
Made byUnknown Silt-Strand cultivators of the Ashen Shelf
PowerModerate
SystemD&D 5E (2024 rules, SRD 5.2.1)