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Showing posts with label medieval life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medieval life. Show all posts

Friday, 11 August 2023

Trembling shadows

If historical authenticity matters in your games, here's the best you're going to get in the way of lanterns in the Middle Ages. And bear in mind it'll probably contain a spitting, smoky, unreliable tallow candle, not wax because those are reserved for church services. 

Or you could carry an oil lantern. That's not one of the storm-lamps you see in medieval movies. It's a dish of oil with a wick in it and, if you're lucky, a cover of horn or glass to stop it blowing out. (Argand lamps came much later.)

From the Jewelspider rules: 

"Night’s black agents thrive in a world lit only by fire. Even in a wealthy baron’s castle, those ubiquitous flaring torches are a myth; after dark the passages and side chambers are unlit. If you need to leave the main hall, you carry your own sputtering lantern (containing a tallow candle or a wick in a dish of oil) or get a servant to accompany you with a torch or candelabrum. Thick trembling shadows fill the further reaches of the hallways, giving many places for a stealthy interloper to hide."