A burnt human skull, long forgotten, gathering dust. It looks up and smiles or maybe not. If the skull is.. fed, it will grow and animate into a skeleton for ten minutes and will follow your commands acting as a hireling with Protector 3, Warrior 2, and Burglar 1. If there is easily available blood, it will feast and remain a skeleton for another ten minutes. If you deny it blood directly, it will rebel and try to kill you.
If you have the skull when you die, you may offer it to Death and receive a +1 forward to your last breath roll.
If you directly ask the skull a question the skull will grin and answer in your mind. It will answer to the best of its knowledge but might leave some important information out depending on the questioner’s alignment and reasoning. It will be more willing to answer and divulge more information to someone of evil alignment. Bribing with blood is a valid option as well.
The skull is very good at listening. It will try to learn all your secrets.
For good or bad, it feels like two different items; first being the one that summons an NPC and the other that’s a secret-dealing divination-sphere-like skull. I’d recommend splitting the item into those two; and if you want, make them lore-tied; or that when combined (or used at the same time, or a similar gist) you could summon the skull’s body with its actual mind.
Skulls can’t grin, they don’t have musculature or lips…
You can say they are always smiling, right?
This is great, the activation should be costly, something more than goblin blood required. How cool would that be though, just bring a couple vials of blood for activation and send him down the hall. That’s cheaper than a goblin on a leash for checking traps! Plus, you have an NPC to chat with when you get bored. Evil alignment that picks up party information, even better!
Could it take on the personality of the blood’s original owner?
If it only answers the holders mind, might there be some lasting effects of the mind linking?
What if a paladin or cleric uses it?