Getting back to the theme of Not Really Useful Items, here's a pair.
Street Lights
A simple device, really, with a small glass bead in a container. The bead giving off a glow, the strength of said glow depending on the size of the bead. In the case of street lights the 'bead' is a crystal orb a foot in diameter. A street light gives off enough illumination to cover a 50 foot radius with enough light to read by. With the light becoming dimmer further away. Thanks to an advancement in magical item creation the light can be dowsed in the daytime, thus lengthening endurance. Even so, until recently street lights had to be replaced once every ten years as they burned out. Now they can last a whole 12 years.
Variant: Street lights can be made to glow in various colors and shades. Once, as a way to make parks and other such romantic places more inviting, street lights were made that glowed with the light of the full moon. Worked as advertised. Unfortunately, they also triggered the transformation in therianthropes. At present full moon light lamps etc. are banned in most countries.
Traffic Lights
A variation on street lights in which the 'bead' can change color. In this case the 'bead' can change color from green to yellow to red then back to green. The 'beads' have a timing function added so the color changes occur after a set duration. In addition, a second function has been added so that emergency vehicles and pedestrians wishing to cross the street safely can 'override' the timer using a device.
Most recently traffic lights in the more advanced nations have been installed in the major cities that can respond to intention. They were originally designed to work with the new, sentient emergency vehicles (intelligent constructs), but it was soon discovered that they could pick up what living creatures meant to do. Cross the street for instance. Better yet, they will respond to the intention of dogs, cats, ducks, and even toddlers. Which has made life a lot safer for a lot of people.
Street Lights
A simple device, really, with a small glass bead in a container. The bead giving off a glow, the strength of said glow depending on the size of the bead. In the case of street lights the 'bead' is a crystal orb a foot in diameter. A street light gives off enough illumination to cover a 50 foot radius with enough light to read by. With the light becoming dimmer further away. Thanks to an advancement in magical item creation the light can be dowsed in the daytime, thus lengthening endurance. Even so, until recently street lights had to be replaced once every ten years as they burned out. Now they can last a whole 12 years.
Variant: Street lights can be made to glow in various colors and shades. Once, as a way to make parks and other such romantic places more inviting, street lights were made that glowed with the light of the full moon. Worked as advertised. Unfortunately, they also triggered the transformation in therianthropes. At present full moon light lamps etc. are banned in most countries.
Traffic Lights
A variation on street lights in which the 'bead' can change color. In this case the 'bead' can change color from green to yellow to red then back to green. The 'beads' have a timing function added so the color changes occur after a set duration. In addition, a second function has been added so that emergency vehicles and pedestrians wishing to cross the street safely can 'override' the timer using a device.
Most recently traffic lights in the more advanced nations have been installed in the major cities that can respond to intention. They were originally designed to work with the new, sentient emergency vehicles (intelligent constructs), but it was soon discovered that they could pick up what living creatures meant to do. Cross the street for instance. Better yet, they will respond to the intention of dogs, cats, ducks, and even toddlers. Which has made life a lot safer for a lot of people.
