Walking Willow
Wondrous item, uncommon
Walking Willows are a quite interesting kind of magical plant as they only develop their abilities when something removes them from their home soil. Once they have been planted in a new place, away from their original place of growing, they immediately begin a transformative process in which their roots change into small legs and they develop bioluminescent coloring that resembles a vague face. They then dig themselves out of their new earthen bed and begin walking in a straight line towards their home soil, which they are magically linked to and always know the location of. During their travel they rest for up to 8 hours at a time, always when the sun is at it's highest point, to draw energy from the sun an the ground. If an object like a tree or a wall blocks the Willows path, it searches for a way around it. The Walking Willow has a walking speed of 5 ft., which is actually impressive for it's size and nature. When the Walking Willow reaches it's home soil, it reroots itself into it and after a couple of days becomes a normal willow plant again. Sometimes, a Walking Willow that has found it's way back to it's home soil becomes a stationary Treant though it is unclear what causes this development.
Crafty adventurers and explorers have found a way to use Walking Willows as a compass of sorts. If a large amount of home soil is collected in a bucket, barrel or box, the Walking Willow will walk toward that object instead. That means that you put the container with earth in it in your home base, and then take a caged Walking Willow with you, to release when lost, or to deliver a Walking Willow to another place.
"What do you mean carrying around a bucket full of dirt is not practical? Getting lost in the Vendalmer Woods and eventually dying from eating a poisonous mushroom because nobody feels the need to bring a ranger friend nowadays, that's not practical!" - Jette