The Homesick Ladle

by Frazer 👁 69 views

Charges: 7 (regains at dawn)

This broad silver ladle has a long, ashwood handle polished smooth by countless hands. Its bowl is hammered from rose-gold and bears an engraving of a smiling hearth surrounded by curling flames. A thin line of blue-white enamel runs along the rim, always cool to the touch, while the handle remains pleasantly warm. Near the base is an empty oval setting where a matching piece of jewelry—or perhaps the ladle's twin—was once meant to rest. When the sibling is near, tiny frost flowers bloom across the bowl in its direction.

Hearth God's Benediction While attuned to the ladle, you have resistance to cold damage and are unaffected by the effects of extreme cold. Food prepared or served with the ladle remains fresh for 30 days, regardless of ordinary spoilage.

Ladle of Sustenance As an action, you can stir any quantity of water, broth, or other edible liquid with the ladle, transforming it into a rich, steaming stew sufficient to feed six creatures. This transformation consumes 1 charge. A creature that eats a serving during a short rest gains 10 temporary hit points and advantage on saving throws against exhaustion caused by cold for 24 hours. A creature can gain these benefits from the ladle only once per dawn.

Winter's Owed Favor As an action, you can spend 3 charges to call in a favor from winter. Choose a point you can see within 60 feet. For 1 minute, a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on that point fills with swirling snow and gentle warmth. You and creatures of your choice in the sphere gain resistance to cold damage, cannot be incapacitated by extreme cold, and gain 10 temporary hit points. The area is lightly obscured for creatures other than those you designate, and hostile creatures treat it as difficult terrain. The sphere moves with the ladle's wielder if the wielder remains within it.

Thaw the Weariness When a creature eats stew prepared with the ladle, you can spend 2 charges to end one level of exhaustion on that creature, provided the exhaustion was caused by cold, hunger, or exposure. A creature cannot benefit from this property more than once every 24 hours.

Longing for Its Twin The ladle always knows the direction of its missing sibling, provided the sibling is on the same plane of existence. As an action, you can cause the ladle's bowl to fill with frost pointing toward its twin and learn the approximate distance to it: within 1 mile, within 10 miles, within 100 miles, or farther away.

Matched Pair If the ladle and its missing sibling are brought within 30 feet of one another, the ladle regains 1 expended charge at dawn in addition to its normal recovery, and a creature that eats its stew gains 15 temporary hit points instead of 10. These benefits end when the siblings are separated by more than 30 feet.

Lore

The hearth god Hestavar is said to have blessed a pair of ladles used to feed refugees during the first winter of the world. One ladle carried warmth from the fire; the other carried winter's mercy, cooling fevered brows and preserving food through famine. When the two were separated, winter itself demanded that the wandering ladle be returned. Hestavar refused, claiming that no guest should leave a hearth empty-handed. In response, winter swore a favor to the god and has been waiting ever since to collect its debt.

History

The Homesick Ladle was last known to belong to Mother Branna, a kindly innkeeper whose tavern sheltered an entire mountain village during a supernatural blizzard. For seven nights, she served endless stew from the ladle while the storm raged outside. On the eighth morning, the blizzard stopped, but the ladle's sibling vanished from the inn's locked kitchen. Branna spent the rest of her life following rumors of a silver utensil buried beneath glaciers, carried into the Feywild, or held by a prince who never felt cold. The ladle has passed through many kitchens since then, always turning toward the horizon whenever its twin is mentioned.

Created by Frazer 👁 69 views

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