Hither-thither staff

A hither-thither staff was an enchanted staff that allowed the wielder to create portals.

Description
The staff had the appearance of an ornate walking stick with a blue gem affixed to the top within twisted roots. It would glow when the item was activated.

Powers
The staff had the ability to create two gateways of blue light that connected to each other. Each portal was an oval about by  and had to be placed on a flat surface large enough to accommodate it, although the angle of the surface did not matter, nor did it matter if the surface was on an object that was moving (although the gateway would close if the two portals ever moved more than  apart from each other. Once both gateways were open, the two spaces were linked, and people or objects could move freely between them by simply stepping through the portal. The staff was able to open portals from a range of up to, and could also be used to quickly shut either both portals or just one (to be reopened elsewhere).

The staff could be used to create a pair of linked portals up to four times in a day, and regained some of its power each dawn.

History
In the late 15 century DR, a hither-thither staff staff was stolen from a wizard in the Greypeak Mountains by Holga Kilgore. Thinking it was merely a fancy walking stick, she gifted it to her husband, Marlamin. Following the couple's separation and divorce while Holga was interred at Revel's End prison, Holga reclaimed the staff as a memento of her relationship while visiting Marlamin in Longsaddle in the late 1490s DR. Her traveling companion Simon Aumar subsequently recognized it as a hither-thither staff, and made use of it to help their party, also including Edgin Darvis and Doric, to navigate the Hanging City of Dolblunde and to escape the red dragon Themberchaud.

Simon later used the staff to aid the party with a plot to rob Castle Never in Neverwinter by cleverly placing a portal on a painting, affixing that painting to the bottom of a carriage full of treasure bound for Neverwinter, and using the portal to break into the carriage, leave the painting as part of the treasure, and then escape the carriage. Unfortunately, the painting fell face-down against a stone floor upon its arrival in Neverwinter, preventing anyone from passing through the portal until the druid Doric managed to carve a small gap in the stone and wild shape into a worm and slip through.

Subsequently, acting on a plan hatched by ex-Harper Edgin to save the attendees of the High Sun Games from a plot by the Red Wizard Sofina, Simon placed one portal on the underside of a hot-air balloon and the other below Forge Fitzwilliam's treasure hoard, causing the gold to spill into the streets of Neverwinter and lure the people outside of the Neverwinter arena before Sofina's beckoning death spell could take effect.

Notable Owners

 * Simon Aumar, a sorcerer and petty thief active along the Sword Coast North in the late 15 century DR.