Glow-crystals and irrig lamps - on/off switch?

[lazycritic]

The title says it all. Is there an IC way to turn these off? How should I play it?

[Mulatto_Prophet]

In terms of game mechanics, I'm pretty sure you can just remove your hold of it to turn it off, like simple torches.

In terms of how I would approach it, an unlit glow crystal might still have a spark of light about it...or maybe it is normally covered by sandcloth? Either way, I think you can play it however best you feel comfortable and rely on the intelligence of other player's to pick up the hints you were dropping.

If that came out a little discombobulated, forgive me, because I am taking a page from Dracul's book and playing while crazy buzzed from liquor.

MILLER GENUINE DRAFT IS THE GREATEST!

[Ghost]

http://www.zalanthas.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=87232#87232

[Angela Christine]

That post was only about crystals though, presumably irrig lamps are something different.

Shaking them might wake up and irritate the irrig beetles, causing them to glow.  But I have no idea how you would turn one off again.

Do you have to feed them in there?  Or do they just eat eachother and when the last one starves to death the light burns out?  

Irrig lamps are very mysterious.


Angela Christine

[Bestatte]

Code Select Expand


extinguish

[Kalden]

extinguish

Sweet.

So, does that mean I have to 'ignite' a glow-lamp like a torch? How the hell does that work?

[Delirium]

Psionics!

[Larrath]

Glow crystals I always played as just glowing with a shake and fading with another shake.  Or bodyheat.  Or whatever.

Irrig beetles might fall asleep as soon as they're surrounded by darkness, like parrots and blankets.

[Anael]

Irrig beetles might fall asleep as soon as they're surrounded by darkness, like parrots and blankets.

Ooh, neat idea, heh.
How would you keep the lamp alight when trudging through a dark corridor, then?

I think there's actually a simple hook on the lamp and there a small token carved into the shape of a female irrig. You hang the token onto the lamp, those male beetles inside notice it (even in dark, they can see pretty well, really) and... well... it turns them on. Quite literally. And when you put it away, they slowly cease to glow.

No, I am not being serious. But it'd be nice.

[Foamy007]

Another idea for the beetles is that they are nocturnal (sp sorry half alseep) and that when it is dark they will awaken and glow either as a way to find a mate or as a bioluminescese simply because they could be cave dwellers that feed on moths that are attracted by light. And if the glow is like green or something it would be a different wave length than the suns which are apparently the light is somewhat of a red tinge if i understand correctly. SO you simply walk into a light tavern and they fade off their color seeing as a flame is also red light, (mostly) and when you head back out to the dark street they light back up because they think it is night time again. And the reason they eventually stop glowing is two reasons. One they die, and two they get totally confused and dont know WHEN to glow after a while of in and out in and out, and so stop producing light just because they cant anymore.

As for glow crystals I always rped them as being wrapped in cloth and when exposed glow by absorbing nearby light and reflecting it back out much like a pair of night vision goggles do today. And to turn it off you expose it to absolutely not light. As for very very dark tunnels and glow crystals you can always have some source of natural light say glowing fungus and worms and such, and it would also be TOO time consuming to go around and set light levels for all the caves and say that glow crystals dont work, but if you have someone with a lamp and someone with a crystal it would work then and blah blah.

And yes im being serious on this.

[JollyGreenGiant]

Make sure you store your glow crystals in your freezer when not in use, as this conserves their glow.  Seriously, though, how about a chemical reaction with skin oils?  Or perhaps it's an endothermic reaction that needs some kinetic energy to get it started (like a solid whack against the nearest hard surface.)  But this brings up another interesting question - are glow crystals mined?  Manufactured?  I may have to create a character just to find this out, I'm curious now.

As for irrig beetles, they're in an enclosed glass case most of the time - little oxygen flow.  To conserve their limited supply, they don't glow.  However, if you open the airflow slots on the lantern, they perk up and start glowing.  Closing the airflow off causes them to go dormant again.  Or at least, that makes sense to me.

That doesn't work for the irrig necklace, though, so I'll let someone else tackle that one.

[joyofdiscord]

I never liked glow crystals myself.  A neverending light source?  Too much of a hack&slash feel and not enough of a "harsh" feel.  I'd prefer lights that run out, like torches, lanterns with fuel.  There is no such thing as a free lunch (or light) on Zalanthas.  Irrig lamps make more sense, I guess, since they have a logical source of light.  I'm not sure if they're neverending, but if they are, as I suspect, then I probably feel the same way about them.

[Anonymous]

I never liked glow crystals myself.  A neverending light source?  Too much of a hack&slash feel and not enough of a "harsh" feel.

Every glow crystal my PCs have used for a substantial amount of time have fizzled out and become useless.  So unless something has changed in the last six months or so I don't think they are neverending light sources.

[joyofdiscord]

Okay, good to know.  Thanks!  

[JollyGreenGiant]

Glow crystals go out.  They wait until you're at the top of the Shield Wall in a sandstorm and a missed footstep will send you plunging to your untimely demise.  Glow crystals feed on death.

[EvilRoeSlade]

THEY GLOW WITH THE TAINT OF UNLIFE

[aruna]

But this brings up another interesting question - are glow crystals mined?  Manufactured?

For some reason I've always assumed they were manufactured - with whatever part of the irrig beetle that glows put inside the crystal. I've never investigated too much but maybe the beetles' blood is what glows, and someone infused that with the crystal or there is a hollowed out center with the blood inside.

If this is true, or who would be able to manage it IG, I don't know.

[proxie]

There is something in the game to explain (sorta) how glow crystals are.

Go find it, kids.

Proxie

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

http://www.primitiveways.com/crystal-light.html

Nice.