Viaticum Staff

Pale wood stave with a small stoppered horn cup bound to it at hand height, the cup empty and dry.

Only wizards and clerics may unlock its magic. Each charge holds one dying creature at the threshold until dawn: it does not die, does not worsen, and cannot be killed, raised, or taken by any effect while held, though neither can it be healed above 0 hit points. At dawn it wakes at 1 hit point if it was tended through the whole night, and dies if it was not. When depleted the staff still tells, laid across a body, whether that creature can still be saved.