Magma lantern

Magma lanterns are light sources based on televation. With minor modifications, the same principle can be used to create a heat source known as a magma hearth. In either case, magma devices are able to operate without a fuel source. This makes them very economical and consequently very common.

A magma
lantern.

The main component of a magma lantern is a pair of summoning gates. One of them summons magma from the planetary mantle, the other sends cooler magma back down to the mantle. The energy released by returning magma provides the energy needed to summon fresh magma, so the device never runs out of energy. The magma forms a rivulet flowing downward from one gate to the other, that rivulet being confined by a bubble field. As the magma flows, it gives off light and heat, in the process cooling down. The increased density of the cooler magma drives a convection cycle that ensures that fresh magma is constantly flowing through the device.

The main drawback of the magma lantern is that magma is very viscous, and if the magma lantern is moved while in use, the force of the magma on the summoning gate can cause it to collapse. As a result, magma lanterns are very useful in buildings, but not very useful on vehicles. Rapidly moving vehicles must therefore rely on slightly more expensive arc lanterns.

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