Cloak of Shadows

Wondrous Item, very rare (unique, requires attunement)

This cloak appears, at first glance, to be nothing more than a garment of fine, mottled grey, sturdy cotton, clasped with a silver chain and smoky quartz pendant. But the cloak is extremely powerful, an artifact created by a somber mage plagued by a foolish thief. The cloak is sentient, possessing enough will of its own to both serve and plague those who don it. It constantly moves, slowly slipping around the wearer, drifting in small motions to and fro, like shadows in a flickering light. The cloak imparts many powers to the wearer.

This cloak, once donned, cannot be removed, save by the death of the wearer. Although the wearer cannot physically remove the cloak, they can will the billowing folds into the clasp, where it appears that the wearer has nothing but a silver broach and smoky jewel. The cloak can only be contained in this manner for a few hours.

As the name suggests, the cloak gives the wearer the ability to conceal himself in shadow. In total darkness, the character is treated as having greater invisibility and nondetection spell cast on them. They also gain advantage on stealth checks. When there is a light source, however, the character appears as nothing more than a natural shadow; the cloak grants the wearer advantage on stealth checks, though they don’t gain the benefits of greater invisibility and nondetection.

If the wearer moves, the cloak trails behind, leaving the telltale signs of something arcane behind them; an amorphous darkness flows along, following the wearer, creating a darker stain upon the darkness. In all cases, the wearer is considered as having sufficient concealment to hide. Even when in the open and under direct observation, a creature wearing this cloak may attempt a stealth check at advantage to hide, appearing to vanish into shadow on a success.

The undefined shape of the cloak, coupled with its constant movements, presents a most difficult target for an adversary to strike. The wearer gains a +2 to their AC. Further, the wearer can use shadows as a means of travel by moving into, through and out of shadows, even at great distances. Once per day, the wearer can cast Teleport. However, both the wearer’s current location and intended location must be dark or dimly lit, and the wearer can only teleport themselves.

The cloak of shadows has other qualities beyond these. Those who die wearing the cloak lose their way upon the paths of the dead and become lost in the shadows, their spirits absorbed by the cloak. This imparts to the cloak a multiple number of personalities and this makes for a dangerous garment. For at times the cloak, without recourse to the possessor, forces out one of the identities of those who have died in its service. This can occur at any time, but generally happens during stressful situations; the frequency of this is up to the discretion of the GM. This forces a polymorph spell upon the wearer, changing them into one of the following creatures.

Roll on a d20:

d20	d20
1-4	Human Male
5-6	Human Female
7-10	Elf Male
10-11	Elf Female
12-14	Halfling
15-17	Dwarf
18-19	Orc
20	Hobgoblin

The personality changes only a little as the wearer is able to combat the “voices” of those who have died. But when such a transformation happens to the wearer, he begins to mutter words they are not aware of, suffers disadvantage on all charisma checks and saves as well as a -2 on initiative and to hit rolls due to the confusion the multiple personalities imparts. This item does not radiate magic.