Moragon Miner’s Lantern
I play a local LARP (Live Action Roleplaying Game) called Altera Awakens. One of the most enjoyable aspects of LARPs, is the opportunity to create, explore and collectively contribute to artificial cultures and histories. The one I’m involved with is called Moragon… a mostly subterranean nation, isolated culture of miners, artisans and workman. It is a place of hard work, harsh conditions and practical, serious people.
Deep in the caves of Moragon, “beneath the second sky” as we say, lay wonders rarely seen by outsiders. One of these are fungi like the Maroagon Mushrooms that emit light, lending an eerie glow to tunnels and caverns that never see the sun. I like to think miners sometimes collect these fungi and use them as they delve deep into the earth. This cool light is not as bright as an oil lantern but it “burns” far longer, emitting neither without heat or flame… a valuable trait when fresh air is a limited commodity and flammable vapors can accumulate in explosive pockets.
I wanted to build a prop that brought this little detail of the Moragon culture to life. Raising actual bio-luminescent fungi like foxfire sounded tricky, so I decided to use LED “fairie” lights, some craft supplies and copious amounts of hot glue.
The first part is a cheap decorative lantern from a home goods store. It isn’t really suitable for real flame but has a nice rustic feel. Just the sort a humble miner might have.
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The power supply is an off-the-shelf AA box used in lots of electronic projects. A few AA will provide plenty of power for a string of small LEDs, and the batteries are the standard rechargeable ones I use in all my projects and gadgets.
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The LED lights are from Amazon and can be wired with a dab of solder or twist connectors.
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I had to build a small space at the bottom of the lantern to hold the battery box. A bit of left over roof/gutter flashing cut up with tin-snips did the trick.
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The mushroom are from a cheap aquarium toy. Their original stems were solid plastic rods, so I replaced them with hollow tubing I happened to have left over from running an ice/water line for my refrigerator.
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This makes running the LED light string much easier and copious hot glue ensues…
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It is slightly translucent so even the stems of the fungus will glow somewhat.
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On top of that I needed something as a base. I thought about using a rock, but they are heavy and hard to shape. Instead, I went out to my woodpile and cut off an oak “burl”. I drilled several holes to hold the base of the mushroom stems and secured them with hot glue.
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Generous amounts of craft moss hides the loose wires and fills in the voids.
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My camera phone exaggerates the brightness, but hopefully you get the idea. This prop isn’t intended to be a flashlight. In actual pitch dark situations like a mine or a cave, this amount of light would probably be enormously welcome, though.
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Well there you have it. An “authentic” Moragon Miner’s Lantern. See you at the next Altera Awakens LARP!
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