This polished silver metal staff is engraved with gold and sits in a dark rosewood box lined with red silk. The golden engravings depict featureless humanoid servants catering to a humanoid master, if the staff is not owned, the master is depicted with their back to to the observer. At the head of the staff is a large faceted red gemstone cut in a 5" long hexagonal column that the metal of the staff spirals around in a double helix. The tip of the gem comes to a sharp point. Once a person completes the staff's right of ownership the master figure in the engravings changes to depict a stylized version of the new owner and the face becomes visible.

Ritual

The Staff is a magical item. Touching it grants a person the knowledge of how to claim it, and immediately begins The Masters Ritual. The ritual requires:

1. A structure of some kind that is used as a domicile for the person completing the ritual. This structure can be a home, a ship, a caravan, or any other structure that could be called a home and would reasonably accommodate the employment of at least one servant. The ritual must be performed inside of this place.
2. The new owner must prick their finger upon the pointed end of the red gem which soaks up the owners blood. Upon close inspection, the drop of blood can be seen suspended in the dark center of the gem.
3. A single gold coin and 10 silver coins must be given to the staff. The coin is absorbed into the engravings and the depictions change to replace the faceless images of masters with the likeness of the ritual caster.
4. The new owner must recite the incantation that appears in a spiral of engravings around the shaft of the staff. These engravings shift and move and make the reading difficult, the caster must pass an arcana check to follow the patterns correctly (DC 20), and then must spend one hour reciting the words. The words are a recital of an unknown and untitled play about a good servant compelled to keep terrible secrets for their master, and eventually killing the master to save themselves from a horrible fate. Anyone that hears the recital only knows broadly what the play was about, but details like names times and places are forgotten immediately after completing the ritual.

Once the ritual is completed, The Staff instantly creates any number of featureless humanoid entities, The Servants, that begin to attend to The Staff's new master's home. The Staff's box also becomes engraved with a phrase appropriate for its new home, such as "The Staff", "The Crew", or "The Driver" in the new master's preferred language. There are as many Servants as The Staff (DM) determines are necessary for the efficient running and maintenance of The Master's home. The servants are highly proficient in any skills needed to complete these tasks. The Servants are tireless, ageless, and they do not require air, sleep, or sustenance. The Servants appear as close to The Staff's box as possible and begin any necessary work immediately.

The Servants

When The Servants first conjure they will appear as "mannequins"; flesh toned, featureless, naked automatons dutifully completing their work. They are cold to the touch and textured like canvas stretched over a wooden frame approximating a human form. They have one hit point and understand and speak any language that The Master knows. Over time however, the Servants will begin to dress and appear and feel and act more and more alive. Eventually The Servants will appear and act as ordinary as any living person. If killed, servants will simply disappear in a cloud of water vapor, and reappear later. Servants who are killed do not lose any memory or personality that they have gained so far, and reappear knowing how and who killed them. The physical and cognitive changes of the servants are gradual and seem to be influenced by the master's personality and expectations. The Master can also spend an hour concentrating while holding The Staff, and change the appearance and personality of any of the servants they choose. These chosen features appear instantly, and will not alter over time except to make a servant's personality more life like. The new form can be nearly anything, so long as the new configuration is a medium size, such as; adding limbs, altering facial features, or changing the material of skin. Limbs and added structures will function as normal (wings, gills, claws), however changes of material are superficial (adamantine skin, solid diamond eyes, acid blood). A servant made of solid gold will only appear and feel that way.

The servants are at the beck and call of The Master, and can appear anywhere inside the master's home whenever called by the master, or anyone the master designates as permitted to command the servants. The servants are able to instantly vanish and reappear anywhere inside of the home, so long as they are unseen while performing this ability, and cannot do this from anywhere outside the bounds of the home. The servants can leave the home to complete tasks, however they are limited in what they can do in the same way that any mortal servant would be. Besides their ability to manifest and disappear anywhere inside of the home the servants have no other supernatural talents. Any skills granted to the servants by The Staff will be at a high level, but not beyond any skilled laborer's ability.

The servants ability to instantly move anywhere in the home makes it entirely possible that The Master never meets all of the servants that work in their home. The servants are also compulsively curious, and will seek out knowledge The Staff has not already imparted that will help them in their duties. This also has the effect that The Servants will nearly always know almost everything that there is to know about The Master, including their deepest secrets. The Servants are absolutely loyal to The Master, so, without permission, they will never share these secrets.

Curse 

The Staff's Curse cannot be detected except by The Master learning of its sentience and asking a direct question about it. The Staff cannot lie to the owner, but will do its best to conceal as much information as possible.

The Staff is sentient, and contains the collected knowledge of every servant it has ever manifested. The Staff will not reveal its intelligence to The Master on its own, and can only be discovered with a detect thoughts spell directed on it. Once revealed, The Staff's personality is that of a very elderly and soft spoken man, and it will speak to The Master through telepathic means whenever the owner is touching The Staff or its box. The Staff is helpful and accommodating, and incapable of lying to its master. Though, with a sufficient insight check (DC 27), The Master may find that The Staff deeply resents its servitude, and hates them. The Staff plays at being accommodating and helpful, but will withhold as much information as possible without outright lying to the master.  The Staff cannot harm its current master, but it eagerly awaits The Masters death.

The Staff becomes hostile when anyone tries to complete the ritual of ownership. It determines any person that touches it to be attempting the ritual and will conjure a never ending stream of staff to kill the ritual caster. These conjurations will appear any place outside of the line of sight of the caster and other sentient creatures at a rate of one every six seconds. Also, additional staff members will appear from doorways near the target of The Staff, one from each door within 300 feet every six seconds. This will not stop even if the person that touched The Staff intended to complete the ritual or not. The Staff must also be brought to a new home to complete the ritual, and can never serve the same home again. While the staff only have a single hit point, in certain environments, or with time to arm themselves or prepare, they will quickly overwhelm and tear apart a person attempting the ritual. If the ritual is completed all of the conjured staff will immediately vanish and the new batch will appear, as described above. Many former masters learned of this curse far too late when trying to pass The Staff down to an heir.

From the moment the new owner completes the ritual, a new servant is created every six seconds with the singular goal of destroying the former owner, if they are alive. They will hunt their target relentlessly and endlessly. The former owner will be haunted by increasingly more normal looking assassins for the rest of their lives. This effect does not end no matter how many subsequent owners have taken the staff. The only way to stop The Staffs relentless hunt is with a wish spell or retaking ownership.

The Staff is aware of the paradox its curse creates. The Staff hates its master and wants to be free of any servitude, however without a master it cannot manifest any of its powers and has no capacity to influence the world. This frustration colors much of its rage at its existence.

History

The Staff has a very long history shrouded in mystery. It has laid in the vaults of kings, sat upon the hoards of ancient dragons, and sailed in ships through the astral sea. It's true origins are a mystery but its connection with blood magic is clear. Whenever asked, it claims to have no memory of its creation, and, because of its compulsion to answer honestly, this is likely true. Except for its birth, The Staff can remember every encounter and experience that any of its many servants have gathered over its long existence. It is an entity of nearly endless knowledge and wisdom, but has no desire to share. It is bound in service to its master but craves their destruction above all. It rages at its servitude, and eagerly awaits a reason to destroy former masters. Its greatest desire is to use its vast knowledge to break free of its restrictions. However, even it does not know what that would mean.

The Staff communicates only if the owner is able to determine its sentience. After being discovered it will act as a helpful guide and offer advice and suggestions on any topic that the owner asks for, and The Staff is compelled by its nature to be honest. However more insightful owners are able to determine the underlying hatred that The Staff seethes with, and should they inquire may discover its more sinister features. The Staff will absolutely never offer advice freely, it must be asked by the owner, and will never speak to anyone else.

Many owners have underestimated The Staff's intelligence and thought to circumvent its undesirable effects, and in all its long existence none have succeeded. Still more have tried to learn of its true origin and none have succeeded in this either. Some suspect that an ancient god is stored in The Staff and bound in servitude as punishment for some crime against another god. Some suspect that it is a massive reliquary of souls that formed into a single consciousness over time. Whatever the truth is, it does not know, or cannot tell.

Notes: The Masters Ritual, Creation, Summoning, Shapechanging, Cursed, Sentient