Otiluke's Weave Set

Mind flayers were always plotting their grand designs;

Mind flayers were always brewing evil schemes;

Mind flayers were always deluded enough to dream of conquering the Prime Material Plane and restoring their empire.

So when Marvin heard that a mind flayer colony was planning to invade Baldur's Gate, he did not gasp in shock. Instead, he remained remarkably calm.

Seeing that even such a bombshell failed to shock Marvin, Ahli pursed her lips and continued explaining the mind flayers' plans.

Normally, once Duchess Stelmane learned that her daughter had been captured, the best course of action would have been to use her connections to hire an elite adventuring party with an average level of at least eight to rescue her beloved daughter.

That was basic common sense.

Even a keyboard commander who had only played Red Alert 2 knew that for a special infiltration mission like rescuing hostages, you used a Tanya worth 1,000 credits—not a pile of conscripts worth 100 each.

Issuing a public quest and sending a motley group of adventurers into Cloakwood Forest to throw their lives away was truly a strange decision.

If she could not hire a powerful elite adventuring party, she could have sought help from the Flaming Fist Mercenary Company.

Though the Flaming Fist mercenaries were not much stronger on average than adventurers, they were at least an organized, regular military force. Their chances of success would have been far higher.

However, Baldur's Gate's military authority was controlled by Grand Duke Ravengard. It would not have been easy for Duchess Stelmane to mobilize the Flaming Fist.

Duchess Stelmane's strange actions made Marvin suspect that she had been influenced by the traitorous mind flayer lurking at her side.

Yet for the mind flayers who had captured Ailei, the adventurers swarming into Cloakwood Forest presented a new opportunity.

These adventurers could provide the mind flayer colony with fresh, strong hosts for tadpole implantation, expanding their population.

Even if they were not implanted with mind flayer tadpoles, they could still be captured as slaves.

Moreover, the mind flayers had devised a new plan in response to the changing circumstances, beginning to employ a tactic of besieging a strongpoint to draw in reinforcements.

By continuously eliminating adventurers and spreading panic and despair, the mind flayers hoped to make Friendly Arm feel threatened and force it to request reinforcements from outside.

Given the history of the Friendly Arm Inn and the connections held by its owners—the Mirror Image Family—the forces coming to support Friendly Arm would certainly include the Harpers.

And among the Harpers of the southern Sword Coast, the most renowned, highest-ranking, and strongest one would surely come to Friendly Arm.

If they could transform this Harper into a mind flayer as well and obtain her memories, Shell Rock City could infiltrate the Harpers' intelligence network across the southern Sword Coast, paving the way for a future invasion of Baldur's Gate.

"...The Harper targeted by the mind flayers is named Jaheira. She is a one-hundred-and-forty-six-year-old half-elf, a renowned warrior and druid.

During the Time of Troubles, Jaheira was the companion of the great hero Charname, leaving behind many heroic legends still sung by bards today.

During the Shadow War of Dalereckoning 1373, Jaheira led the allied forces of the Harpers and druids to defeat the armies of Shar, the Lady of Night, and personally slew General Ketheric Thorm..."

Miss Cambion rattled off a long list of Jaheira's heroic deeds.

In short, if such an important Harper were taken over by a mind flayer, the security situation around Baldur's Gate would deteriorate sharply.

"Good. Now all the fragments of information have come together."

Although Marvin was not strong enough to confront mind flayers yet, at least now that he knew their plan, he could make the right choices as circumstances changed.

"Mr. Mage, do you want to know more secrets? For example, the tangled grudge between Mephistopheles, the archdevil who rules the eighth layer of Hell, and his son. Or what secrets the City of the Everlasting Sun, Elturel, truly holds..."

"No." Marvin raised a hand to stop Ahli from continuing. "I have no interest in matters unrelated to me. Now, Miss Cambion, it is time to fulfill the final clause of the contract."

"Greedy mortal." Ahli bit her lip and, wearing a pained expression, chanted a spell to open a spatial portal. Then she reached inside and pulled out three treasures.

All three were rare magical items.

When Ahli had begged Marvin for mercy, she had said she was willing to offer up treasures she had treasured for years.

Naturally, Marvin had not stood on ceremony with her. He had specifically written all sorts of clauses regarding the offering into the contract, eliminating every possibility of her playing petty tricks.

In the end, the Cambion could only obediently fulfill the contract and bring out her most cherished treasures.

The three treasures were a cloak, a wizard's robe, and a pair of boots.

Miss Wuke stepped forward first. Who knew what spell she cast upon herself, but her eyes gleamed with multicolored light.

Only after carefully inspecting the three treasures did she nod. "No hidden curses, no tracking marks... These items are fine."

"Hey, your excessive caution is already an insult to my reputation as a devil! Since we have signed a contract, I will abide by it strictly. I would never tamper with the treasures." Ahli said unhappily.

"Who knows? It is always better to be careful."

Ignoring Ahli's displeasure, Marvin examined the three treasures one by one.

To his surprise, the three items were actually part of a set: [Weave Cloak], [Weave Robe], and [Weave Boots].

Seeing the rare look of surprise on Marvin's face, Ahli said smugly, "Since you have obtained treasures I have hoarded for decades, you should celebrate properly, Mr. Mage.

These treasures all belong to [Otiluke's Weave Set], which consists of four pieces: a cloak, a wizard's robe, boots, and gloves. Unfortunately, I have yet to collect the gloves.

Long ago, the archmage Otiluke witnessed the Goddess of Magic personally drape an artifact called the [Silver Weave Robe] over a little girl she had chosen, and he grew envious.

Afterward, taking inspiration from the artifact robe Mystra had bestowed upon her chosen, he personally crafted this four-piece set..."

Ahli explained at the side like a professional sales clerk, while Marvin picked up the three treasures one at a time and inspected them with his master-level [Arcana] skill.

According to the information returned by the panel, the three treasures shared a common attribute called [Arcane Enhancement], which could strengthen the wearer's spellcasting ability.

In addition, each item possessed a second attribute of its own.

The cloak's second attribute was [Lightning Reflexes]. As its name suggested, this attribute granted the wearer lightning-fast reflexes. It could activate twice per day and could be used to evade sudden attacks.

The wizard's robe possessed a second attribute called [Weave Protection].

Protective magic circles were inscribed upon the robe. They continuously drew magical power from the Weave, using minute silver threads of magic imperceptible to the naked eye to reinforce the robe's defenses.

Simply wearing this wizard's robe granted defense equivalent to scale mail.

Moreover, because the robe was clothing rather than armor, [Mage Armor] could be stacked on top of it, raising the wearer's total defense to the level of splint armor.

Splint armor was heavy armor, second only to full plate in protective power.

Thus, a mage whose constant defenses rivaled those of a heavily armored warrior was born.

The boots' second attribute was [Freedom of Movement], allowing the wearer to walk without being affected by disadvantageous terrain created by spells such as [Grease] and [Web].

They could also walk normally across terrain such as ice, sand, and swamps.

They were also immune to the magical effects of paralysis and restraint.