There is a magic that allows a certain percentage of the population to create a twin of themselves instantly, a clone that is aware of itself and is equal in all aspects to the original, which makes them indistinguishable.
In the battlefield, where swords collide with shields, armor and each other, having a numerical advantage is always desirable. Even so, some of these blessed people prefer to use their ability to confuse adversaries; either tackling fights in which they appear to be at a disadvantage or on equal terms so that their adversaries discover that they face a person more than they expected, or to maneuver quickly during a confrontation.
How power works:
- At will you create a clone that is identical to you in all aspects. The clone appears instantly anywhere if it can fit as long as it is in direct contact with your body (skin, bone, nails, hair, etc)
- While you are having direct melee contact you can choose which of the two bodies is reabsorbed and which one stays. The "you" that remains has the memories of the two "you." (Example, you are closed behind a gate of bars. You take out one hand, create the clone outside, and decide to reabsorb the one inside the cage). Done quickly this would look like you moved a step in the blick of and eye.
This ability does not copy clothing or anything you are holding in your hand. In the field of battle / skirmish in the forest / fight in the bar, putting aside your weapon or throwing it into the air so that the clone catches it when it is formed is an option, not so much with the clothes / armor that you wear. (Well, you've tricked your opponent and pierced him with the spear but now you're naked against the other opponents.)
Though my question is more about preventing one from being completly naked during the confromtation I also seek some protection. The best I could manage is a cloak with a dissimulated belt at waist high and 2 hand holes normally masked by a shorter cloak layered on top of the first one.
Edit: Some more about how the powers work.
Thouse with the power to clone themselfs are called gifters and they used to be healers. Unconventional healrs because they needed to reopen the wound to be able to heal it. The way they did it is by recreating the missing bone/muscle/blood etc using their own as a reference. The wound apeared to be filled with the material out of thin air and the more similar was the wounded and the gifter(body type, wheight, gender, race, etc) the less potential (name for the mana/energy) was needed.
The way gifters use potential is by extracting it through their ember (a soul like catalist that every living thing poses. Unfortuantely most people never learn to use it and gets atrofiated, that's why only a percentage of the populations are gifters). They learned that they could split their ember in two with training and use it like a base to gift it a body. That is how the power evolved into cloning.