Charges:
7
(regains at dawn)
This fist-sized ball is wound from hundreds of mismatched strands: faded crimson, funeral black, old gold, and one pale thread that is always damp, no matter the weather. Tiny knots interrupt the winding at irregular intervals, each tied in a different style. A tarnished silver thimble is pressed into one side of the ball, engraved with the words, "I should have come back." When held, the twine trembles like a living thing and occasionally loosens by a single turn, as though impatient to begin.
Thread of the Lost
As an action, you may name or vividly describe one creature, object, or physical place that you have personally lost and sincerely wish to recover. The ball unspools toward it, following the shortest practicable route. The thread can cross any distance on the same plane, passes through ordinary darkness and natural terrain, and leads to the target's current location if it still exists. If the target has been destroyed, died, or ceased to exist, the thread leads to the most significant remaining trace of it, such as its remains, resting place, or final resting place. This property cannot locate something you deliberately discarded, something you have never possessed or encountered, or a target on another plane. The property uses 1 charge. The thread remains unspooled until the target is found, the ball is released, or the thread is cut.
A Route, Not a Miracle
The unspooled twine reveals direction and distance through subtle pulls, knots, and changes in color, but it does not teleport creatures, open portals, or make obstacles harmless. It indicates the safest available route only when a reasonably safe route exists; otherwise, it points toward the target and tightens toward the most direct route. While following the thread, you have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks made to track or navigate toward the target.
The Last Knot
When the thread reaches the target, it ties itself around the nearest appropriate part of the target or its remains and forms a small red knot. You immediately know that you have arrived, even if the target is hidden or disguised. If the target is protected by an effect that blocks divination, the thread leads to the boundary of that effect and knots there instead.
Guilty Keepsake
While attuned to the ball, you know the direction of any creature or object you have personally lost if it is within 120 feet of you, even if it is invisible or hidden. In addition, you have advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks made to determine whether someone is concealing information about that loss.
An Apology in Every Strand
When you use Thread of the Lost, you must speak aloud an apology connected to what you are seeking. The apology need not be accepted or even heard, but it must be sincere. If you cannot offer a sincere apology, the property fails and no charge is expended.
Curse.
The curse is hidden until the ball's Thread of the Lost property is used. Once you invoke the thread, you are unwilling to abandon the search before reaching the target or the last trace the ball can find. If you knowingly stop pursuing the thread for more than 1 hour, you gain one level of exhaustion. This exhaustion cannot be removed while you remain more than 1 mile from the unspooled thread. The compulsion ends when the target is found, the thread knots at its final trace, or remove curse is cast on you. The ball can be attuned to again after the curse is removed, but its guilt remains.
Lore
The ball was made as an apology by a powerful enchantress who failed to return for the person who trusted her most. She spun the first strand from her own hair, the second from a funeral shroud, and the rest from every road she walked while searching too late. The enchantment was meant to find the lost and deliver a final apology. Instead, it learned that finding someone does not undo having abandoned them. Ever since, the ball has carried that knowledge in every knot.
History
The enchantress vanished after following the ball into the Gloaming Mire. Years later, adventurers found the twine leading from her ruined tower to an unmarked grave beneath a bridge. The ball has since passed through the hands of grieving parents, treasure hunters, deserters, and kings searching for stolen heirs. Every owner has eventually found what they sought, but many claim the final knot was tied around something they were not prepared to forgive.
