Sorry >>5355143, started writing before I saw you or I would have flipped a coin on the tier of the light.> Learn a new spell: Cure Wounds (Potion Intro)> Inside the lantern, you could swing the shutter shut to control how much light it emits> Tier 1, a dim light, but better than nothing, and you’ll have more power for later in the dayMel pulled the lantern closer to herself and examined it. It was a somewhat peculiar design, a combination of oil lantern and dark lantern, made in such a way that the oil flame could be hidden by sliding panels. Still, oil was bound to run out, and taking the time to render animal fat into lamp oil was time taken away from study and exploration. But magic, enough magic could last forever, or near enough.
She set to work. The oil was carefully drained, bottled and set aside. A damp plate was present in the lantern for cutting off air to the fire, she carefully removed and pulled out the chisel kit, hopefully the tools within would suffice for this level of work. Pulling her reference close to hand she started to work, carefully applying each line and twist. The work was exacting, each line had a particular starting point and direction and angle of work, although she had to wonder if the exacting instructions were quite required, surely it didn’t matter if the circle on the light rune was made strictly in a clockwise fashion. Still, best not to waste the mana finding out.
She blew metal filings away from the etched metal and examined her work with a smile. Deep breath in, time to find out she had done it right.
“<span class="mu-r">Vitae.</span>”
The lines of the rune circle flared with light, starting with the bottom outermost circle, then running along the rest of the pattern. The bottom circle pulsed with a faint light, then the metal started to glow with a gentle light. Mel grinned as she slid the plate back into position within the lantern, testing it out, revealing and hiding the light a few times without issue. Perfect. Time for a quick test run.
She emerged from her tent just in time to find the golem trundling up the firewood, dropping an armload of branches and one uprooted sapling, then turning to trundle back toward the forest. Industrious little follow. She looked at the pile of firewood it had amassed, about a day's worth in half a day. That was one chore she wouldn’t have to worry about again.
She circled around to one of the undisturbed tombs, lantern in hand and crawled in through the tiny entrance. The inside was much like the one Babs had cracked open. A skeleton against one wall, a rusted dagger against the opposite wall as though it had been thrown, an ancient rust red stain on the floor. She knelt next to the ancient body and held the light close to it as her eyes adjusted to the dim interior.
<span class="mu-r">was it worth it?</span>
