We are fixing the lore for the keeper books because Shannon did us dirty with unlocked. Most of the info here will be based in canon but will be much more detailed than we ever got or will get in the books. Keep in mind that will be things like more schools (Hinterland) and history that were and never will be mentioned in the books because it’s our purely our headcanons for the world and will not ever be in cannon.
you are more than welcome to use this as a reference for writing fanfics or just have fun reading though it
Main contributors [main subjects in brackets]
Semper/Gold [Elven history, the Council, queer elves] @bronte-deserves-better
- We really haven't seen Sophie use many of the thigs that she's learned at Foxfire which is kind of sad and so it's kind of difficult to tell what subjects might be necessary for the average elf. For those like Sophie and pretty much all of her friends, they're orobably going to end up in the nobility sooner or later, so Multispecial studies is going to be helpful for everybody, maybe with a bit of elf-duolingo linguistics course before the elite levels are even necessary. I would say elvin history would also be an important class but it's mostly just council propaganda so it's probably not the best. Ability training is also heavily emphasized. Is it given too much weight? Yes. But it also has the chance to be really beneficial. Then ofc skills. Having an extra few telekinesis hands because pockets seem to be a rarity (from what we saw with sopockets in flashback) would be helpful
- I /really/ would like to see something that's a very heavily STEM class. (Maybe i'm biased bc i like stem but whatever). Some sort of linear algebra or quantum physics or any of the other undergrad-level stuff that Sophie would not have had the chance to take. Yes the universe is sort of an astronomy class, but throw kepler's laws in there and suddenly it's astrophysics and not just memorizing constellations. Of course, i'm sure everyone will say this, but skills need a higher priority. I also feel like more classes can be offered, especially at the higher levels. Let sophie pick out her own classes of things that she's actually interested in, in addition to certain core classes like agriculture (that was level three but it works for my example)
- i think there should be some form of group project, like, once a year. You and some random other elf with the same class during the same hour get paired up to make a google slides presentation or something. I don't like group projects and I don't like presenting so I am making the characters suffer for me. Also i might be remembering wrong but i think they get an hour for lunch. This is entirely too much and they shouldn't be allowed this much free time during the day. (<- bitter because i only got 30 minutes for lunch. Although my laptop battery couldn't have handled any more usage but whatever.) I'm not sure this is curriculum but the council needs to stop closing the school. Just figure out how to do it virtually. You have imparters; you don't need to figure out how zoom works. I know that's probably because shannon didn't want to deal with sophie going to school but at this rate, sophie's going to have pointy ears before she graduates
And finally @the-official-kotlcopedia this seems like something at least one of you would have thoughts about.
Hi! @nyxpixels from @the-official-kotlcopedia , we talked about this exact thing extensively when we were discussing Hinterland, and what kind of classes an Elvin school might offer.
We came to a lot of the same conclusions you did, like in depth skill lessons, group projects, and more specific studies of other species. (We thought that mutispecial studies could be taught by guest speakers, or just make the ordinary mentor a member of another species.)
We also talked about some other things, like the possibility of elves having career oriented classes. Healing courses for those interested in becoming physicians, sewing classes for students interested in fashion, and so on.
One idea that I always quite liked was that Elves could have an apprentice-based system. For instance if you wanted to go work at the sanctuary, you would have to do an apprenticeship there after you completed school. The length of the apprenticeship would vary depending on the field, and before you could graduate your apprenticeship and become a professional, you would have to be evaluated by experts in the field. This would mirror the way that students are taught how to use/ control their abilities at Foxfire, with one-on-one sessions with their instructors.
One thing that the books don't really touch on much are clubs/ extracurriculars. We thought that some clubs such as a tackle bramble club, or alchemy club would be something that students would enjoy. We came up with a list of clubs, it should be listed somewhere on the blog.
everyone knows how the kotlc economy is messed up but i know how to fix it without really changing cannon, by assuming Della and Fitz are unreliable narrators when it comes to how their world works because they grew up in noblity
only nobles get birth funds, but they tell themselves and their kids that everyone does so they don’t feel guilty, and because Della was the one to tell us about the birth funds it was just her brain washing from growing up in nobility talking
Nobles are the only ones with Gnomes living at their houses, otherwise they work at or own their own shops in the lost cities
nobles lose their birth funds by getting a bad match/match fail, or by being talentless, on top of that children of bad matches/match fails never get birth funds even if they join noblity, or are directly descendants discouraging those things more than they where already
there is a working class (the nobles just like to pretend it does exist) that works in mysterum and they live in neighborhoods outside of the city that the council likes to pretend don’t exist as well so they are very rundown
Working class families still discourage getting bad matches because if they marry someone from a noble family, weather that person works for the council or not they will still will have access to their birth fund
on top of that bad matches have to worry about medical malpractice, fake reports of crimes, and being the scape goat for nobles mistakes, which most working class families don’t have to deal with.
working class kids don’t get a birth fund even if they do join nobility, unless strings are pulled, but if they marry a good match and their spouse is also a noble their child will get a birth fund
both the working class and the nobility get taxed, because no society can function without taxes, and the taxes are very high to pay for the birth funds* which keeps the working class poor and the nobility rich
the working class can’t afford the same fancy things and houses that the nobility can, and while the working class tends to make the products the nobility can buy, they can’t afford that much themselves, they need cheaper products to buy and rely on.
there are factories in the neutral territories that the banished can work at for exchange for necessities, the working environment is awful but so are all the other options for getting necessities in the neutral territories so they have a large supply of workers,
the products the factories produce go to the shops that the working class buy from because they are cheaper, even though they know that the factories are mistreating their workers, they don’t have a choice because there’s no other option for them. them working class makes the products the noble use and so on and so fourth
*there’s this saying in my economics book “there’s no such thing as a free lunch” it means the money always comes from somewhere and that somewhere is the people
Foxfire and Exillium can't be the only schools in the Lost Cities, so I'm making up my own, a secret third option, Gildstern.
Gildstern is a school for non-banished elves who do not pass the entrace exam or midterms or finals for Foxfire, talentless elves, and non-noble elves.. If a noble elf is talentless, the elf goes to Gildstern instead for what would traditionally be the Elite Levels.
School starts at nine o'clock am sharp, and ends at 4:30 pm.
Gildstern focuses on non-ability-based things. In the Foxfire curriculum, those are noted as the following:
Agriculture - this is taught by gnomes! It is to be noted that some Gildstern graduates tend to go into the agricultural field, and work with gnomes. The Council uses that as an excuse - 'we're doing agriculture too!' and safely ignores the fact that Gildstern graduates are, by virtue of their position, not exactly happy with the Council.
Alchemy & Elementalism - a popular pastime and career, alchemy is some Gildstern students' favourite class. Like agriculture, alchemy is a very common career choice for Gildstern graduates. Instead of being two independent courses, Gildstern has chosen to combine them. Slang is often used, as this is called 'AlchEm'.
History - it's very important to learn history. All history is taught, only the censors guarding things, including human history. The year is divided into halves, and then one half is divided into six quadrants. One half of the year is spent teaching about Elvin history, and the other six are about all other intelligent species and humans.
Physical Education & Skills - the skill teaching in Exillium and the physical education in Foxfire, combined! Called just Physical Education.
Metaphysics & the Universe - exactly like in Foxfire, again combined. As slang, Gildstern students call this class 'The Works'.
Talents/Linguistics - this is its own thing, where elves who have manifested take classes together with those who also manifested. If the students are talentless and in the last two years of Gildstern, they replace this class with Linguistics, where they learn languages. Those languages are not taught to manifested students, although if the students really want to, they are allowed to take Linguistics in a different way. Talents and Linguistics replace what was previously Ability Detecting for the previous five years.
Okay, that's the curriculum. There are tests, but there is no need to score perfectly on them. Instead, those tests are used to determine which group the students fall into. Smarter students are in class together, while less smart students are together too. It varies subject by subject, and the Gildstern staff just says it's because of schedule mixing.
Students have five days of school, two of which have half their classes, two of which have the other half, and one of which comprises entirely of study hall and visiting hours. If the student is taking talents, they have a period where they can take Linguistics. If students are not taking talents, they can sign up for any of the clubs which happen, or they can spend time in the music program. If you're not taking music or linguistics, you can just simply have a study period. at that time, you don't even need to be at school.
Things to do on study hall days are listed as thus:
Linguistics - if you are taking talents, here is your two-hour period for Linguistics! 9:00 am to 11:00 am.
Music - have an interest in music? Take this class to learn music theory, compose music, and make music. Happens at 11:05 am to 12:05 pm.
Lunch - you're required to be at lunch, because announcements and attendance is recorded here, as it is in the rest of the days. 12:10 pm to 1:10 pm.
Hobby Clubs - these are clubs for things like reading, writing, animals, games, and design. 1:15 pm to 1:45 pm.
Drama - technically a class. This lasts for one and a half hours. 1:50 pm to 3:20 pm.
Subject Clubs/Tutoring - each last thirty minutes, and run twice. If you're interested in a particular subject, get there for one of the sessions, or sign up for tutoring! Help each other and have fun! 3:25 pm to 3:55 pm OR 4:00 pm to 4:30 pm.
Of all schools, Gildstern in the closest to high school and middle school formats in the human world.
Students who are talentless enjoy study hall days because they do not have to arrive at school until 12:00 pm, or, if they take music, until 11:00 am. Sometimes, if a student has no classes on a study hall day, they only come for lunch and then leave. After all, lunches are quality and worth it, and leaping is easy.
An student's schedule on regular days may look like this:
9:00 am to 10:00 am - The Works
10:05 am to 11:05 pm - History
11:10 pm to 12:10 pm - AlchEm
12:15 pm to 1:15 pm - Lunch
1:20 pm to 2:20 pm - Agriculture
2:25 pm to 3:25 pm - Physical Education & Skills
3:30 pm to 4:30 pm - Astrakinesis
The same student's schedule on a study hall day might look like this:
9:00 am to 11:00 am - Linguistics
11:05 am to 12:05 pm - Study Hall
12:10 pm to 1:10 pm - Lunch
1:15 pm to 1:45 pm - Architecture Club
1:50 pm to 3:20 pm - Study Hall
3:25 pm to 3:55 pm - Linguistics Club
Gildstern is a manor donated by a talentless Vacker who realized with anger that there is no option for continued education. To this day, there has always been a talentless principal. The manor is large, and contains multiple wings. Fortunately, the secret passageways now function as actual things, and people will often take them to get places easier. The manor is shaped like Versailles, and is around half the size of Versailles. One wing is entirely devoted to apartments, for the teachers and principles, in case if necessary.
Wraith is the Vanishing teacher.
(Also - let me know if I forgot anything, because I am going through this)
Healing is a profession that requires vast knowledge of alchemy, anatomy, herbalism, and medicinal terminology.
Elven medical practices most commonly use elixirs, balms, and poultices. In practice many elves also use teas. Ex: Hollowthistle tea & Slumberberry tea. In addition to these practices there is much emphasis placed on the use of abilities in healing.
Elves only have 3 public clinics. (Pregnancy clinics) They are in Enternalia, Atlantis, and Mysterium. There is a list of physicians that people may call for their different ailments, called the PPL (Public Physician List)
Public physicians also take on apprentices very often.
Private physicians often work for single families/ organizations. Ex: Vackers, Hekses, and The Council.
A very well-known physician in the Lost Cities is Elwin Heslege. He is a private physician who works at Foxfire, and often makes house calls for attending prodigies. He is known for his ingenuity and his status as one of the best physicians in the Lost Cities
In Hinterland, (An elven public school located in Mysterium) Healing is offered as an elective for students of all ages.
In Foxfire one of the elective choices for entrance exams is Healing. Students may take basic healing classes. The Elite levels do not offer advanced healing classes, so prodigies who graduate and wish to continue their training are required to apprentice under a Physician on the PPL (Public Physician List) for at least 5 years before attempting to take the Physician License Exam.
Hinterland would be the school that administers these examinations, which would contain both written exams and physical challenges.
Exams may vary depending on whether an aspiring physician wishes to specialize or not. ALL physicians MUST pass the Physician license exam if they wish to specialize. See “Specialties” for more information.
When a physician chooses to retire, they are given the opportunity to join the Physicians Committee. (PC)
The Physician’s committee is a large group of experienced physicians who put together recommended training courses for schools such as Foxfire and Hinterland. They also are the ones who choose what will be on the Physician License Exam.
The committee was created during the silver era, after the human-elf separation.
The PC would also give medical advice to large organizations. For example, when the plague was unleashed on the gnomes, the Physician’s committee worked tirelessly with the council to help find a cure for the gnomes.
While they were unsuccessful in finding a cure, they did manage to find some symptom easing elixirs and balms. (With the help of many practicing physicians, including Elwin Heslege.)
A significant portion of elven medicine depends on trading with the Gnomes and Ogres. For instance, Voracillius and Piquatine have Ogre origins. Many of the plants used in medical practices are Grown by the gnomes. Ex. Bilepod, callowberries, and squelchberries.
During the Gnomish Plague, trade routes between the Elves, Gnomes, and Ogres would have been slowed down, or paused entirely.
Because of these pauses in trading, there would have been a shortage of supplies, leaving many individual Physicians to have to source their supplies from other places. (Like growing their own herbs, and buying Ogre grown microorganisms at exorbitant prices.) After the Peace Summit the trade lines between Ogres, Elves, and Gnomes would have gone back to normal.
Outside of general practice there are those who choose to specialize in specific healthcare fields.
General Physician Specialists
General Physicians: Physicians who practice general medicine, without any specialties. Most of these types of physicians are also public physicians and can be found on the PPL.
Family Physicians (Aka Private Physicians): Physicians who privately care for specific families. These physicians may be general practitioners, or specialized healers.
Maternity Physicians: Physicians who care for pregnant women and newborns.
Pediatric Physicians: Physicians who care for children between the ages of 2-18.
Ancient Physicians: Physicians who specialize in healthcare for ancient elves. (over the age of 4000)
Ability Physicians
Talented Healers: Physicians who work with individuals with abilities. (General)
Elemental Physicians: Physicians who work with individuals who have elemental abilities. (Flashers, Shades, Chargers, Gusters, Frosters, Pyrokinetics, Hydrokinetics, Technopaths, Psionipaths). some will specialize in the subcategories of Elemental abilities, Nimbiferous (Frosters, Chargers, Gusters, Hydrokinetics) and illusionist (Flashers, Shades)
Mind Healers: Physicians who work with individuals who have cognitive abilities (Telepaths, Mesmer, Empaths, Inflictors, Enhancers). Oftentimes these physicians are Telepaths, or Empaths.
Physical Ability Physicians: Physicians who work with individuals who have physical abilities. (Vanishers, Phasers, Conjurers.)
Vocal Healers: Physicians who work with individuals who have vocal abilities. (Vociferators Polyglots, Beguilers)
Combustional Physicians: Physicians who work with fire and/or combustion-based abilities (Chargers, Pyrotechnics, [Occasionally] Flashers). This profession slowly fell out of vogue, especially with the heavy restrictions by the council added after the pyrotechnic ban.
note: Livvy Sodeen is a trained Combustional Physician
Written By: @nyxpixels Combustional Physicians by @drzevia
Flashers often choose to become physicians, because of their ability to use light to identify different diseases and injuries.
Physicians who are not flashers must use specially colored candles to achieve the same things.
With the ability to detect whether a patient is lying, and the amount of pain a patient is in, Empaths also commonly choose to become physicians.
Sadly, there is discrimination in medicine. With some Physicians refusing to treat those with certain backgrounds and abilities. Shades, Mesmer’s, and Pyrokinetics often are refused treatment. Talentless, disabled, multiple birthed, and bad matches also get turned away by more prejudiced practitioners.
Hydrokinetics are more susceptible to electricity and will have further damage done to their body if electrocuted. It causes twice as much damage because the water in a hydrokinetics body is more conductible than the average elf.
Frosters get sunburned and overheated easily, be sure to provide a froster patient with different ways to cool down when being treated.
If Pyrokinetics are not bundled up in the cold, they will contract hypothermia and possibly frostbite. Ensure all prokinetic patients are warm.
Shades (like Frosters) can get sunburns easily. They also cannot see very well in bright light. The night vision skill does seem to come more easily to them.
Flashers often struggle to see in the dark, and often face negative effects when shadowvapor is used near them, or on them.
Gusters need a higher intake of oxygen and are more susceptible to pneumonia.
Technopaths get migraines from being around too much tech, and from getting too many ideas at once.
A significant portion of elven medicine depends on trading with the Gnomes and Ogres. For instance, Voracillius and Piquatine have Ogre origins. Many of the plants used in medical practices are Grown by the gnomes. Ex. Bilepod, callowberries, and squelchberries.
During the Gnomish Plague, trade routes between the Elves, Gnomes, and Ogres would have been slowed down, or paused entirely.
Because of these pauses in trading, there would have been a shortage of supplies, leaving many individual Physicians to have to source their supplies from other places. (Like growing their own herbs, and buying Ogre grown microorganisms at exorbitant prices.) After the Peace Summit the trade lines between Ogres, Elves, and Gnomes would have gone back to normal.
The Gnomes are allied with the Elves, and often share symbiotic lives with Elves. The Gnomes have shown Elves how to grow their own plants for herbal medicines. Ex: Ruckleberries, Clarifava, Sugarbells.
Along with showing elves how to grow and harvest medicinal plants and herbs, the Gnomes have also shared the secrets to gathering raw materials from animals as well. Ex: Yeti pee, kelpie dung, bennu tears.
Hollowthistle Tea - This drink is commonly described as “vile” and must be taken in moderation, since drinking too much in one sitting could cause someone’s inside to liquefy. It’s one of the best methods to purge poison or venom from the system.
Slumberberry Tea - This special, purple-tinted tea is brewed from slumberberries and is used by many as a mild sedative before bed.
Hi! What are the necessary requirements to contribute to this blog??
none! all you have to do is ask!
there’s a discord where we share ideas and make sure they align with one another, there’s much more info on there because it has to be edited before being posted. while it’s not necessary it would be great if you are willing to write posts.
Most medicinal elixirs listed below can be found at Slurps and Burps.
(Elixirs are meant to be ingested unless stated otherwise)
Abrasion Persuasion - Quickly seals and heals small scrapes to the skin.
Achey-Break - a handy, all-purpose pain killer.
“Awesomesauce” - A pain medicine nicknamed "Awesomesauce" by Keefe Sencen is one of the few medicines left in the shipments to the Healing Tent from the Council at Exillium. The actual name of the medication is unknown; however, it is a type of pain medication. It is a vial full of swirly purple syrup, it causes patients to start hiccupping and act somewhat intoxicated. Some patients have described it as tasting like kissing a muskog.
Blister Blast - Shrinks and numbs all blisters within minutes- and gets rid of them completely within a few hours when applied to the skin.
Bruise Cruise - When topically applied, fades bruises of all shapes, sizes, and colors.
Drooly Dew - Temporarily makes the mouth hypersalivate. (Helpful if used to flush out toxins from mouth/ tongue.)
Fade Fuel - Speeds cell regeneration for someone who faded during a light leap. (Slurps and Burps version contains limbium.)
Gurgle Gut - Temporarily causes abundant gaseous eruptions. (Can be used to expel toxins from the body.)
Limbium - A substance used in elixirs that affects the limbic system.
Nogginease- Temporarily clears the mind to allow greater focus during studying. WARNING ADDICTIVE.
Scratches N’ Splits - Immediately seals any cuts or scratches to the skin when applied topically.
Wound Wipe - When applied to skin, it is an easy way to clean and treat small injuries.
Please keep in mind that most of the following information can be found on either the Koltc wiki or the Kotlc books themselves.
disclaimer: this has nothing to do with how rare an ability is. it shows how they are linked and passed down genetically, and how they can work together.
children are more likely to get their parents ability or an ability from the same category as their parents. (IE. a child with a Froster parent is more likely to Manifest as a Froster but can also Manifest as any ability in the Nimbiferous category) this applies to every category of ability
though there is something unique with Elemental abilities in some cases a child with a Elemental parent will get a random Elemental ability that wasn’t in the same category of their parent. it’s unknown what causes this phenomenon and there is continual research going into it.
