A real Fae Compass is one of those wonderful things that is either the most important piece of adventuring gear you own or completely useless, there is no in-between, unless that happens to be one of the needles on you compass, in which case there is an in-between. — Jasper Cameron, Leader of The Bronze Ravens
Although similarly complicated, the Fae Compass is not related at all to the
Leyline Compass. For one, it is not at all likely to explode, and so is much safer to carry with you on a journey. Also most are less likely to be stolen, being as they can get rather attached to a person (no, not literally attached, its just they sort of follow around people that they like, sort of like that cloud over there.)
Now, as to the complexity, see most other planes a regular compass becomes useless. It spins, or swings between 2 (or sometimes more) points, so that you don't rightly know which way is north, rendering it quite useless for navigation. A Leyline Compass will let you know (with the proper maps) where on another plane you will shift to, and as such can be exceedingly useful.
A Fae compass is more... conceptual. Often containing directions like
home and away, or
danger and safety. Before you start thinking to yourself "Oh, that sounds useful" remember that we are dealing with Fae magics here. Do you want the fastest way home, or the shortest way home? Those could be different. Is it your home you are trying to get to, or someone else you are adventuring with? What does "danger" even mean? Is it a dragon, or is it a slippery path where you are likely to turn your ankle?
And then we get to my favorite, the triple needle compass of
hither, thither and yon, which (oddly enough) can actually incredibly useful, but only when following abstract directions. Did some backwoods trapper tell you that the road is "a ways over yonder"? Did a pixie tell you that the rare herb you are looking for is "hither and thither"? See how useful that could be.
Wh-what cloud? This does sound like a fun item. Probably extremely useful in one specific circumstance so you hold onto it *just in case*.
In the words of Bob Ross "Oh, dont worry about that little guy." (or maybe it was Steve Irwin) I like trying to give a lot of the Fae things a feel of "well the thing that literally cant lie said this *could* save my life, now if only I had asked for directions." Thanks for the read