Kisakhavar is as much a creature as an item, he (it thinks of itself as male) is sentient (Int 11, Neutral alignment), needs to feed, and has ideas and desires of his own. Kisakhavar is able to communicate with its wearer via a form of telepathy—it is able to convey concepts and images, but does not think in words in the same way that a creature with spoken language does. Attempts to establish stronger mental contact (such as through Psionics or an ESP spell) reveal that he has a truly alien intellect. Kisakhavar does not radiate a magical aura and is not subject to magical identification.

Kisakhavar looks like a large, finely made, woolen cloak—always a solid, true black in color. He can subtly alter his dimensions and configuration, such that the cloak always fits the wearer perfectly, for any humanoid creature from the size of a halfling up to an ogre. He can also change the design and add or subtract features, subject to the wearer’s whims—producing a hood, high collar, pockets, arm slits, frog-clasps, tasseled fringe, or any other feature that could be expected on a normal cloak. Regardless of such alterations, the cloak is always solid black in color and has the texture of wool.

Kisakhavar tries to establish a symbiotic relationship with his wearer. Much like certain undead creatures, he needs life energy to survive, and feeds off of his wearer (in the form of experience points), but will protect his wearer from dangerous magic in exchange. He seeks out adventurous people as his wearer, and tries to encourage the wearer to seek out risks and new experiences as much as possible (so as to be better able to feed him). He also desires to find others of his own kind—he is lonely in general and doesn’t like to be left alone, preferring to be worn at all times.

Kisakhavar absorbs all damage from any magical attack that would otherwise send the wearer below zero hit points. It only protects from magic that affects hit points, and cannot protect against mundane hazards (thus it could prevent all damage from a dragon’s breath or a magic missile spell, but a normal bonfire or arrow would still hurt the wearer). Kisakhavar absorbs 10XP per level from the wearer for each point of damage he prevents in this way.

In addition to shielding his wearer from magical damage, Kisakhavar can plane shift (as the spell) himself and his wearer to the Plane of Shadow. He will typically only do this to preserve his own existence (or to save a particularly adventurous meal-ticket). A wearer unwilling to be shunted to the Plane of Shadow is allowed a save vs. spell against this effect, in which case the cloak vanishes and the wearer is left behind. Activating this ability drains 30XP per level from the wearer (regardless of whether the wearer goes along).