Frankenstein Thread – Google Docs
Frankenstein Thread
Frankenstein Thread is a magically-treated silk thread originally used to patch up Undead, constructs, patchwork golems, and other Abominations of Mad Science or Magic. It’s very thin, but surprisingly easy to manipulate — and almost impossible to accidentally break. And it can be used on anything: blood vessels, brains, sinews, limbs, entire torsos. If it can be sewn together, it will be, with no loss of function or bodily fluids. It can even sew Undead flesh onto a living body without it immediately turning into what necromancers euphemistically call an Unfortunate Incident, although no reputable or ethical necromancer would actually do something like that anyway. At least, not anymore, in this new era where the prejudices and misunderstandings of previous generations no longer holds sway.
Why this sudden tolerance? Well, Frankenstein Thread is also perfectly capable of re-attaching merely dead flesh to living, without fear of tissue rejection and with eventual full use of function. This makes it exceptionally valuable for armies, even though it can only be used by a mage — and is most effective when used by a necromancer. Hence the use of the terms ‘reputable’ and ‘ethical’ in the previous paragraphs: Frankenstein Thread is probably the single greatest reason why necromancers are no longer burned at the stake on sight. And the smarter ones are very interested in keeping things that way.
It helps — very, very, very much — that, while Frankenstein Thread radiates strongly of necromantic energy, it does not come across as evil (including any spells used to detect evil). It’s made via a set of complicated, yet not vile enchantment processes; about the worst that you can say about the ingredients is that they include silk from both spiders and silkworms that were raised in graveyards. Which is hardly pernicious. And even if it was mildly pernicious, more than one empire or church would probably be tempted to look the other way. But they don’t have to! Nothing bad happens when the stuff is being made! Everything’s fine!
One spool of Frankenstein Thread can be used to create about ten or so shambling patchwork golems. Or, as many battlefield surgeons have discovered: one spool is good for sewing about a couple hundred or so limbs back onto their bodies. A standard spool is typically worth whatever the minimum price is to qualify for “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it” in a given campaign world.