Kotlc Abilities - Tumblr Posts

It is curious that for every other element there is an ability for it...water, fire, air, light, and shadows. But, there is no apparent elvin ability for Earth. I wonder why that is. Could technopathy be considered the ability to read and control physical matter, or Earth? Maybe it'd be better written that elves don't even view Earth as an element, it is just not something they believe culturally. Maybe they should believe Earth is the only true element because they don't have the ability to create it. Maybe they recognize that it is an element that was given to the gnomes by the sun, moon, and stars in the form of plants as the elves already have an immense amount of power. OR, what if the elves and gnomes are more closely related species than anyone originally thought?

This is how I think the elven abilities would be sorted into caste systems.

Note: There are other reasons for one's caste that would include education, banishment, government, loyalty, match status, other talents, etc etc. But if we base it all solely on abilities then this is from top caste to bottom caste:

The Rulers: Telepaths. They are the most utilized and most studied ability, simply because they are useful in so many ways. The most important families (like the Vackers) and the most important positions (like Head Councillors) are telepaths. The Council claims to have put restrictions on telepathy but in truth, the only telepaths that have to abide by those laws are the ones that aren't useful to the councillors. Everybody working in the administration gets let off the hook. I mean, to probe, wash, and break elf minds you can't be arrested for your criminal activity.

Noble Abilities: These are the abilities that are rarer and more powerful, and while some of that might be because elves are so strict about who everyone's allowed to marry and procreate with, the council doesn't want these abilities able to spread to common elves. They are best when controlled. Those abilities are: Inflictors, Mesmers, Beguilers, Vociferators, Descryers, and Chargers.

Elemental Abilities: These are the equivalent of upper middle class to lower upper class. They are like the barons and earls of the nobility. They're noble, but they aren't as important. They can be placed in higher positions of power though. And they are highly regulated, especially after the pyrokinesis ban, and they're very mistrusted. Naturally, these are: Hydrokinetics, Gusters, Shades, and Flashers.

Note: Any elves or elven families equivalent to human celebrities are in this caste as well, but for different reasons. The Song family and their music, sports teams, dancers, writers/researchers, etc.

Working Class: Technically, working class or "middle class" (it's obviously different because the elven system doesn't work the same but think of it that way). I say technically because this caste has the most mobility. They have useful abilities that can be paid money for but since their identity is less dependent on their ability, they're less restricted, and they can still come from noble families or make it into noble schools, they have the ability to range from just above the elven scum to political elites. Since there's so many though, the majority of them stay in the middle range, just outside of the nobility, or even get jobs that don't apply to their abilities. These abilities are: Psionipaths, Conjurers, Frosters, Phasers, Polyglots, Empaths, Enhancers, Technopaths, and Vanishers.

Note on Technopaths: Technopathy is the most common elven ability, and is the least valued. Even among common elves it is looked down upon and unless you are remarkably above average or invent something that benefits the society/council (lightleapers, registry pendants, caches, *ability restrictors*) you are invisible. The equivalent of having a surplus of teenagers looking to sell their mediocre art and naturally making nothing off of it, and they aren't as modern as humans and find less need for a bunch of techies to run a bunch of machines.

Slaves: Gnomes are basically slaves. They aren't paid, are forced to live with and serve the elves, and do nothing else. They are technically not an ability but they are part of society and higher than the Elven Scum caste so I put them here.

Elven Scum: Pyrokinetics and Talentless. They live in crowded cities, like Mysterium, and they only work for the poor. They have no chance of joining any sort of noble school or climbing the ranks because even if they were smart enough to get in, they have no ability in the eyes of the law and that makes them useless. They have nothing and live their lives getting dirty. This is the elven world so they still get things such as fountain of youth or whatever its called and other survival needs but otherwise they can barely live in furnished homes.

"Omg if telepaths are so rare them why do we see so many telepaths in the book"

Sophie *is* a telepath. I'm sure if it was from Keefe's point of view, we'd see more Empaths, and if it was from Dex's point of view, we'd see more technopaths.

And none of the telepaths that Sophie interacts with are just random telepaths that she happens to stumble upon, either. All of the telepaths found her, not the other way around. In fact, almost all of the telepaths she knows are Vackers, or Black Swan and Neverseen members. And of course two Councillors were telepaths (Emery and Kenric), all of the Council members have rare abilities and/or can do something unique with their abilities.

There are probably at least millions of elves in the Lost Cities, right? So out of all of the telepaths Sophie's met, there are definitely more in the world, probability wise, there has to be. Even if there were 10 million elves in the Lost Cities, and 0.1% of them were telepaths, then there would have to be at least 1,000 telepaths in the world. That's a lot of telepaths!! But probability wise, it would still be considered a rare ability, and Sophie has met less than twenty of them.