Patch of the Pail (Patreon)

Wondrous item, common

This canvas patch can be magically attached to a piece of clothing by pressing it against the clothing for 1 minute. The patch remains on the clothing until you remove it. While it's attached to a piece of clothing, the patch's water design magically reshapes itself to always remain level.

You can remove this patch as an action. When you do, choose one of the following effects:

Bail. You magically move up to 30 gallons of water that you can see within 30 feet of you. The water must come from open containers. The affected water vanishes from its container and reappears 10 feet above a space that you can see within 30 feet of you, as if poured from an invisible bucket.

Douse. You extinguish all exposed, nonmagical flames of your choice that you can see within 30 feet of you.

Once a patch has been removed from a piece of clothing it's attached to, the patch loses its magic and becomes a mundane patch. If the magic patch is removed from a robe of useful items, the patch has a 50 percent chance to keep its magical properties and can be reattached to a piece of clothing again.

The waterlogged crew watched from storm-slick safety as their ship sank beside the dock. Only in their moment of reprieve were they able to realize how close they'd come to a watery grave beyond the calm of the bay. Their sopping coats were adorned with patches that once bore magic—magic that was now as drained as the water it jettisoned from the sinking ship.

As the sailors gave a ragged cheer of disbelieving survival, a smaller voice rose within theirs. They turned to see the one who'd sewn their safekeeping: a boy who none could name, yet whose eyes seemed to know them.

The boy grinned with a smile filled with pride and relief, but tinged with exhaustion and cursed with perpetual worry. The sailors knew that they'd bear the debt of those patches for life, but also that their lives were repayment enough.