Greenthumb Whittler (Patreon)

Wondrous item, common

This small whittling knife has a green blade and can be used in place of a set of woodcarver's tools. Its wooden handle is decorated with carvings of soft leaves and fitted with a verdant, opal-like gemstone ring.

Over the course of several hours, you can use the knife to carve a Tiny statue from fine wood, which can't be larger than 1 foot in any dimension. At the end of each hour you spend carving the statue, make a DC 10 Dexterity check, adding your proficiency bonus to the roll if you're proficient with woodcarver's tools. The statue is successfully completed if you succeed on four of these checks, or unfortunately mangled and destroyed if you fail two of them.

The statue can do minor feats of animation, which you decide upon completing it. If it moves, it can't leave its space on its own. For example, the statue can wave and turn its head back and forth robotically, or dance around in a circle within its space. You can start or stop the animation by tapping the statue twice in rapid succession (no action required).

Up to three statues can be animated at a time in this way. When a fourth statue is completed, the first one ceases to move and loses its magic. Destroying a statue ends the effect.

Golems always confused him. Living constructs that could walk, talk, and act just like the rest of humanity, but were forged by metal and magic. Where was the soul? Where was the magnificent random factor?

He pondered this each night as he watched the metallic construct sit and whittle by the camp firelight. After a week, it was too much.

"Why do you do that?" the man snapped. It sounded like an accusation.

The golem lifted its head and looked back at him with steady, unblinking eyes.

"I make fun," it said, and opened its metal hand. Inside was a small wooden butterfly, slowly flapping its wings.

The man never asked those questions again.