A driftglobe was a small glass orb that magically floated in the air and emitted light.[1][2]
Description[]
A driftglobe was a small sphere of thick glass that weighed about 1 pound (0.45 kilograms).[1][2]
Powers[]
The typical driftglobe had three basic magical effects, each activated with a different command word from a distance of up to 60 feet (18 meters). First, they glowed with bright light equivalent to a torch, as per the cantrip light, on command. Second, they could glow with the brightness of full daylight as per the spell daylight[1][2] for an hour at a time. Use of this last ability was limited to 50 charges before being used up[1] or was limited to only once a day.[2]
Lastly, the driftglobe floated in the air and followed the creature that touched it while saying the command word, similar to a Tenser's floating disk.[1][2] It hovered approximately 5 feet (1.5 meters)[2] or 6 feet (1.8 meters) off the ground[1] and no more than 5 feet (1.5 meters) from its owner. It moved quickly, much faster than a human, but would descend safely to the ground if it couldn't keep up.[1] It would also follow the most direct path, and would descend if blocked or impeded.[1] When touched or commanded again, it deactivated and descended safely to the floor.[1] Once descended, it would deactivate.[1]
As an improvised fourth function, a hovering driftglobe could also be used to carry weights by means of a sling or net tied over it. It could carry only up to 1 pound (0.45 kilograms).[1]
Creation[]
Driftglobes could be created by someone with skill in crafting magical items and with access to the spells daylight and Tenser's floating disk.[1]
Usage[]
Driftglobes were useful, but could be somewhat distracting...
They were a useful aid to travelers, especially those exploring dark places and those on tight schedules who had to keep moving through the night. Naturally, driftglobes were quite popular with all kinds of adventurers, and the likes of Rand Sharpsword recommended them.[1]
Driftglobes were also used for the internal lighting in various buildings. The House of the Moon temple to Selûne in Waterdeep employed silvery-hued driftgloves in various rooms, including the main chapel, pantry, antechamber, and refectory, where knocking them back and forth between tables was a common sport at mealtimes.[3] Candlekeep utilized driftglobes in monks' cells and in its tome-chambers.[4] They were also useful for underground lighting. A driftglobe provided lighting inside the Dawninghunt Vault in Cormyr.[5]
Driftglobes also provide great mood lighting.
Driftglobes of different colors were often used to provide pleasant, if dim, mobile illumination in inns, taverns, and restaurants, such as the The Wandering Wyvern in Iriaebor.[6] There were colored driftglobes at the Sleepy Slyph in Waterdeep,[7] many-colored ones at Everwyvern House in Triboar,[8][9] and pale mauve and brown ones at Beldar's Rest in Yartar,[10][11] while many-colored driftglobes were put out at parties at Hawkwinter House in Waterdeep.[12] Blue was a popular color, with blue-hued driftglobes at the Elfsong Tavern in Baldur's Gate,[13] the The Seven-Stringed Harp in Secomber,[14] and A Pair of Black Antlers in Elturel.[15] They were even employed to supplement the bioluminescent fungi at the druid-run Old Troll's Foot restaurant in Kirinwood.[16] The Bent Helm, a rowdy tavern in Elturel, preferred to keep its driftglobes fixed in place and high above the brawls to avoid breakage; these ones even provided heating.[17] The Running Stag in Berdusk kept its driftglobes above its mock branches, but these had an additional enchantment that caused them to change color from sunlight to moonlight in keeping with time of day.[18]
Finally, driftglobes were used to provide external lighting. Caged driftglobes were used for street lighting in Skullport in the Underdark[19][20] and others were used at the wharf and warehouse of Falconstar Wayshipping in Wheloon.[21] In Myth Drannor, driftglobes were kept in small urns along the streets during the day and would emerge at nightfall, as detected by light-sensitive gems on the urns' necks. Through the night, the driftglobes moved around the city, following set patterns through assigned streets.[22]
Availability[]
They were valued at 7,200 gold pieces.[1] They were too expensive for much personal use.[23]
Driftglobes were sold at stores dealing in navigational aids, such as A Handful of Stars in Silverymoon,[24]
History[]
The arcanist Congenio Ioun created the first light-emitting ioun stones sometime in the age of Netheril but these were personal items that remained near their owner.[25]
True driftglobes dated back to at least the time of Cormanthyr at its height and were seen lighting up the night in Myth Drannor before its Fall in 714 DR.[22] A still-functioning driftglobe could be found above a card table in the Neirdrecrypt in Myth Drannor by the mid-1300s DR.[26]
A nyth in Skullport posed as a caged driftglobe lamp in the Year of the Tankard, 1370 DR, striking at lone passers-by before moving on. It killed at least nine people in this way.[20]
In Waterdeep circa 1492 DR, hundreds of driftglobes from around the city moved of their accord from dusk and collected in the City of the Dead. They returned to their places at dawn the next day.[27]
In the late 1490s DR,[note 1] driftglobes hovered in the air over some streets in Neverwinter and were left to glow even in the daylight hours. During that city's High Sun Games, when Simon Aumar used the helmet of disjunction, a wave of the Mordenkainen's disjunction spell swept through Castle Never and into the city streets, causing driftglobes to shut down, drop, and smash on the road.[28]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ The Honor Among Thieves movie and its tie-ins are as yet undated. As discussed here, from the condition of Castle Never and Dagult Neverember's reign, this wiki estimates a date of the late 1490s DR for the main events of the movie. Prequels and flashback scenes are set up to 11 years before this.
Appearances[]
Adventures
Novels & Short Stories
Film & Television
Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 Rand Sharpsword (January 2003). Odds and Ends for Silver Marches (HTML). Rand's Travelogue. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2015-09-20. Retrieved on 2010-10-31.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins, James Wyatt (2014). Dungeon Master's Guide 5th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 166. ISBN 978-0786965622.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd (September 1997). Powers & Pantheons. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 159–160, 163. ISBN 978-0786906574.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (August 2004). An Introduction to Candlekeep. Candlekeep Website. Archived from the original on 2004-11-05. Retrieved on 2023-02-17.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (July 1995). Volo's Guide to Cormyr. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 227. ISBN 0-7869-0151-9.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (1994). Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast. (TSR, Inc), p. 210. ISBN 1-5607-6940-1.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (January 1993). Volo's Guide to Waterdeep. (TSR, Inc.), p. 31. ISBN 1-56076-335-3.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (1993). Volo's Guide to the North. (TSR, Inc), p. 88. ISBN 1-5607-6678-6.
- ↑ slade, et al. (April 1996). “Cities & Civilization”. In James Butler ed. The North: Guide to the Savage Frontier (TSR, Inc.), p. 37. ISBN 0-7869-0391-0.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (1993). Volo's Guide to the North. (TSR, Inc), p. 98. ISBN 1-5607-6678-6.
- ↑ slade, et al. (April 1996). “Cities & Civilization”. In James Butler ed. The North: Guide to the Savage Frontier (TSR, Inc.), p. 97. ISBN 0-7869-0391-0.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (January 1993). Volo's Guide to Waterdeep. (TSR, Inc.), p. 87. ISBN 1-56076-335-3.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (1994). Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast. (TSR, Inc), p. 17. ISBN 1-5607-6940-1.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (1994). Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast. (TSR, Inc), p. 81. ISBN 1-5607-6940-1.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (1994). Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast. (TSR, Inc), p. 96. ISBN 1-5607-6940-1.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (July 1995). Volo's Guide to Cormyr. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 95. ISBN 0-7869-0151-9.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (1994). Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast. (TSR, Inc), p. 95. ISBN 1-5607-6940-1.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (1994). Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast. (TSR, Inc), p. 171. ISBN 1-5607-6940-1.
- ↑ Joseph C. Wolf (1999). Skullport. (TSR, Inc), p. 4. ISBN 0-7869-1348-7.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Joseph C. Wolf (1999). Skullport. (TSR, Inc), p. 110. ISBN 0-7869-1348-7.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (July 1995). Volo's Guide to Cormyr. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 108–109. ISBN 0-7869-0151-9.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Steven E. Schend and Kevin Melka (1998). Cormanthyr: Empire of the Elves. (TSR, Inc), p. 64. ISBN 0-7069-0761-4.
- ↑ Joseph C. Wolf (1999). Skullport. (TSR, Inc), p. 13. ISBN 0-7869-1348-7.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (1993). Volo's Guide to the North. (TSR, Inc), p. 175. ISBN 1-5607-6678-6.
- ↑ slade, Jim Butler (October 1996). “Encyclopedia Arcana”. In Jim Butler ed. Netheril: Empire of Magic (TSR, Inc.), p. 6. ISBN 0-7869-0437-2.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (March 1993). “Myth Drannor Adventures”. In Newton H. Ewell ed. The Ruins of Myth Drannor (TSR, Inc.). ISBN 1-5607-6569-0.
- ↑ Christopher Perkins, James Haeck, James Introcaso, Adam Lee, Matthew Sernett (September 2018). Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 69, 181. ISBN 978-0-7869-6625-7.
- ↑ Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley (2023). Honor Among Thieves. (Paramount Pictures).