this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2025
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There's always a relevant xkcd.
Cobalt 60 has a half life of 5.27 years. Assuming that a language lost to time is at least 500 years old, the rod should be fairly safe to handle. Heck, even after only 100 years less than 0.01% of the original amount of radioactive material would be left.
But that aside - One of the items that can be found in the video game series Avernum is Uranium bars, which give you a nice unhealthy glow :)
What if it was stored in a fridge
Isotopes only have a "worst by" date unfortunately
They do have a use by date. The nastier they are the shorter their use by date
That’s what you get for not casting it on the “This is not a place of honour” sign near the jagged black obelisks after encountering the colony of glowing cats
I assume "danger" and "drop & run" would be straightforward enough, but does casting comprehend languages cause the wizard to understand the concept of radiation (or cobalt, or how large a 'curie' is)?
Hmm, I think as a DM I would roll an arcana check to see if the wizard would conceivably have heard of radiation from arcane studies. It's reasonable to assume people with arcane knowledge would be the first to hear about the strange metal chunks that everyone keeps dying around. One of them would have had to have come up with a word, if not some variation on "death cursed"
Sickglow stones?
I'd personally translate it to the closest word they have.
If I decided they didn't have a word that was directly equivalent, in this case I'd use the closest word, "light-emitting".
"cancer-light"
Disease-light might be the best medieval equivalent, actually.
"Death-light", maybe? Depending on the intensity.
They have "ray of frost". They can understand "radiation". Not necessarily what is radiating but the word itself is old.
radiation(n.)
mid-15c., radiacion, "act or process of emitting light," from Latin radiationem (nominative radiatio) "a shining, radiation," noun of action from past-participle stem of radiare "to beam, shine, gleam; make beaming," from radius "beam of light; spoke of a wheel" (see radius).
Tldr "radiate" is like 1500's whereas "emitter" is a fairly modern word, from the 1880's.
The latin source word is much older than 1500s, but the question is whether they understand what it's about.
Both the 15th century "radiacion" and the latin "radiationem" are about emitting light and are synonymous with "to shine" or "to glow" (though without the heat connotation).
None of that conveys the sense of danger and fear of death that the modern word "radiation" means.
Kinda like how the word "plane" was in use in English in the 1600s and derives from the much older Latin word "planum", but if I'd tell some from 1600s England or from ancient Rome that I took a plane/planum to another country, they'd be utterly confused about what that means.
The word is the same (or at least very similar), but the concept is unknown.
So you need to find a concept that's similar to what you want to convey, and then use the fitting word.
For example, someone from the 1600s might understand the term "flying machine" (which was a well-known word in use in research and "science fiction" at that time).
No, they don't convey the sense of danger, I agree.
But "light-emitter" would be worse than "it radiates death/evil", imho
You think?
A light emitter could be quite useful. If I am in a low-tech society, having a device or material that would emit light in the dark could be pretty desirable.
It might confuse me though, because that "light emitter" doesn't actually emit any light at all. Maybe this ancient society was full of liers or maybe their devices are all expired and broken. Probably their warnings aren't worth anything either.
That is a really good question...
I feel like radiation should have some sort of translatable element as a generic radiant danger, but for the rest... if it doesn't make sense without context in the source language, does it make sense after 'comprehend language'? Kinda feels like we need a 'comprehend science' or something if they wanted to grasp the idea of specific elements and units of measure.
Researchers came up with a warning symbol for this exact scenario
"In the aftermath of repeated incidents where the public was exposed to radiation from orphan sources, a common factor reappeared: individuals who encountered the source were unfamiliar with the trefoil radiation warning symbol, and were in some cases not familiar with the concept of radiation. During a study in the early 2000s, it was found that only 6% of those surveyed in India, Brazil and Kenya could correctly identify the meaning of the trefoil symbol."
Lots of "stops" everywhere and and skulls in red triangles, yeah, that should be somewhat clear toa lot of people. But not everyone
It's only glowing blue because there are orcs nearby.
I'm not feeling creative today so I'll just write "Dildo joke".
Haha good one. "Punny answer."
"Something something - anything if you're brave enough"
If your vial of Cobalt 60 doesn't have a flared base....well....I suppose it doesn't really matter. Have fun!
“This is not a place of honour…
I wonder what the damage would be holding it for 15 seconds.
If the rod is glowing, probably a fuckton.
Nothing would happen it is so incredibly dangerous for its short half life time and reasonable amount of energy that's freed by its decay.
Its just fucking lead, bro.(Well, nickel)
I am curious where this drop and run source comes from.
Typically, they're sealed in a shielded box, where you can open a small windows that the gamma say can escape and are used for field radiography when inspecting bridge/pipeline solder. Definitely not a drop and run thing
I'm guessing it's short for "If you don't know what this is and you find it outside of any shielded box, shit has gone very wrong and you should not be near this, let alone touch it". The probably best way to get people to stop touching it is to suggest that it poses an acute threat, hence the urgency in the phrasing "drop and run".
So if you're operating a device wherein it's properly contained, you don't see the label. If you're removing it while protected appropriately, you already know the label doesn't apply to you. If you know how to handle it, you don't need instructions.
I am guessing the idea is to induce terror in the holder such that, if they did not intend to hold a vial of Co 60, they would not mess with it further. It conveys the appropriate level of danger, if not an appropriate set of handling instructions.
Edit: So I looked it up and I misunderstood: if you can read that (especially by the blue glow) then its rapidly killing you. I really don't understand how dangerous some radiation is lmao.
Time for a rewatch of Chernobyl.
If your are very lucky, you can find one by the side of the road in Australia.
The one I think you're talking about was found (by a search crew) within a week of it falling off a truck
Isn't the blue glow only present under water (or other transparent medium with a similarly high index of refraction)?
It's technically slightly visible in air; if actually visible at all in air it means the level of radiation is ludicrously deadly
Ok love this one XD
wizard: i cast firebolt