My arguments AGAINST Fellhawk's Artisan:
-Single use
-Doesn't provide anything that we can't get otherwise
-Doesn't guarantee us that we can get a light blessing (seriously, a death god giving light blessings?)
Arguments IN FAVOR of orebaron:
-Long term
-Not obtainable otherwise
-Game changing (imagine what would happen if we discover a DF-style cave)
Last thing: the miner can begin other tunnel if she doesn't has any light source.
Single-use: We get an item out of it, that item will continue to be useful, although similar items can be obtained which is why I think that Orebaron is better. But this is probably the only way that we can get a rotten fruit of death that may or may not bring forth a goblin infused with Fellhawk's power or give all future goblins the Evil eye...
-nonunique: We get to choose the item, so it is probably the only way we will get a blessed rotten fruit...
-Light: Do not folk report seeing a light when they are about to die? But yes, blowing this perk on a single light-source seems like a huge waste of the ability's potential and won't really address our light issue long-term, as we can expect to want more than one lit spot simultaneously. To be fair however, we are facing a bit of a problem with respect to our mining efforts hitting a metophorical wall, although we could probably just start a new hole if we get desperate for ore...
-long term: Once the immediate region is surveyed this will probably see very little use.
-not obtainable: We could just dig around and hope to find everything. Takes much longer, and risks poorly thought-out networks of haphazard tunnels, but it doesn't get us anything that we don't have access to regardless. There is also the chance that we could hire a prospector from out-of-town to do the job...
-new game: Orebaron would be a major boon to transitioning to an under-ground settlement, but more for its ability to avoid things than to find them...
Don't get me wrong, I think that Orebaron is the power-gaming choice, I just feel that a magic decomposition fungus would be fun for a change and that the choices are not as plain as it would appear.
Well, choose whatever you feel for a light source, so far, we have these possibilities:
-Fat-based candles
-Inner forges with ventilation systems
-Make a hole in the ceiling
-Mirror-based lighting
-Do a pit mine instead of tunnels
-Glowing mushrooms (don't pay attention to this, I just want them, that's it)
Short term solutions:
-Start another tunnel
-Waste Use a perk to make a pickaxe emit light
EDIT: forgot the mirror alternative
EDIT 2: added pit mine option
The forge(so far I have proposed only the one) would be for ventilation alone, and would not provide practical light. But flame-based lights, and, indeed, deeper exploration in general, require ventilation, or zombies...