By Bartalus Encratis, Mortal Researcher for the Thousand Eyes

For those who have attempted to explore the district known as Sorrow's Friend, you will have likely become familiar with its sapping and soul crushing patches of darkness. We refer to this as baleful darkness. Magical shadows of such oppressive force, that walking through them is an exercise in futility.

As such, exploring the district has been a somber endeavor to say the least. That is until the discovery of a relic we call the Gleaming Lamp.

Upon the opening of the district, intrepid Eyes discovered splinters of a magical sort embedded in the local fauna. Felling these beasts and gathering a small hoard of these splinters allowed us to rebuild, reform, a powerful relic that has altogether reshaped our understanding of the district.

But first, we must discuss a strange plant indigenous to Sorrow's Friend. We refer to them as Incandescent Pods. Now, despite the near all-consuming darkness, these plants grow in abundance. On our mortal plane, plants require sustenance both material and ethereal, mineral and light. These pods, at first glance, seem to run counter to this rule. That is, until you come to understand their symbiotic relationship with this relic.

The Incandescent Pods contain within themselves wellsprings of gathered light. I posit that these plants, over long periods of time, gather ambient light, say from the stars, and stockpile the resource. The Gleaming Lamp is able to access these stockpiles and use the light as energy, if you will.

You see, motes of light gathered from these incandescent pods, allow the Gleaming Lamp to cast a veil of luminescence around the user. This veil acts as a protective ward against the detrimental effects of the district's baleful darkness. Although, be warned. The veil does not last very long. Be quick-footed whenever you trespass through these shadowed paths.

Reports also indicate that some beasts can be found carrying small pods. We haven't confirmed as much with certainty so I would not rely on such fortuity to save you in a pinch. If anything, this speaks to the importance of the plant to the ecological balance at play within Sorrow's Friend. In fact, the splinters found upon the district's denizens may alone confirm that they are also aware of this powerful tool and similarly seek to craft their own.

Speaking of unconfirmed reports, our brave lamp testers believe, when charged, the relic is able to reveal things hidden by shadows. Not in the classical sense, but a magical one. Creatures, treasures even, cloaked in a dark veil, an antithesis to the lamp's, are made physical by its light.

I hesitate to confirm such a marvel, if only because everything in the district is cloaked in such varied degrees of darkness. To say a light revealed a beast you did not see before seems, a tad, obvious. Of course, our Thousand Eyes are clever, so perhaps I shouldn't be so dismissive. As such, perhaps you dear reader, should you find yourself in possession of this relic, may go out of your way to test this hypothesis?

Regardless, these reports speak to the fact that we have only come to understand the very tip of this mystery. With nothing to be said of the eye contained within the lamp.

And what can I say? It is unnerving. I am made uncomfortable at the mere recollection of its gaze. I hesitate to even try to understand it. A deep-seated fear, not unlike the feeling foisted upon my mortal frame when within baleful darkness, sits heavy on me when peering into that endless, unblinking eye.

In fact, I have nothing to add academically, so I will speak no more of it.

Otherwise, I hope this study has been of use to my fellow district explorers.