World
A promise becomes a light
Background and story
In the Lantern Marches, promising to remember someone creates a light. If the light goes out, nobody will remember that person. The flame carries a promise; no person lives inside the lamp.
The lantern custom gives a remembered person a visible connection to someone who cares about them. Keeping the flame is a continuing responsibility, not simply owning a magical object.
A lamp holds a promise. People live in the world around it, and the story’s threats to memory concern those people and their relationships.