Yet another update for scholar skills.

As people had spotted, there were some omissions on the last list; apologies for this.

The complete list is below, featuring Scholar: Plane of Unlife, and adding The Underdark as an options for Natural Resources and Flora and Fauna skills.

If you have questions, please email Background at background@lorientrust.com

Scholar Skill Topics

History and Culture: [Faction]
This covers the history and culture of the named faction and their lands. It would encompass not only historical events, but also the different peoples and cultures, songs and literature, bureaucratic records and archives etc.

Note: There is no pedantic intention here, so History and Culture: Harts is not assumed to begin in 1195 and will cover similar ground to History and Culture: Lions until that point.

History and Culture: [Guild]
This covers the history of the guild, its origins, notable previous members and masters, its records and archives etc.

History and Culture: [Racial Group]
This covers the shared history and culture of the Elder or Younger races, focusing on those aspects they have in common

History and Culture: [Race]
This covers the history of the race, their origin, their cultures and practices past and present.

History: [Race]
For Humans and Umbrals, the topic is listed as only History. This is because there is no coherent unified culture for either of these races in the way there is for the others. In the case of humans it is because they are so widespread and so much more dominant than the other races that their culture is that of their faction. Umbral is a catch-all term for constructs and extra-planar entities that have become native to Erdreja, so there is no unified culture there.

Note: History & Culture: Imperial Period may be an option for those with an interest in human culture as it is the first large-scale shared human culture.

History: Time of Legends
This covers the history of Erdreja from its origins to a period approximately coinciding with the death of Lotheriel and the emergence of Incantation.

History & Culture: Pre-Imperial
This covers the history and culture of the people of the Heartlands and Southlands before the founding of the Empire. This period includes the Sunderings and the Race Wars.

History & Culture: Imperial Period
This covers the history and culture of the Empire, from its origins and founding up until its collapse with the Cataclysm of Water, as well as the rest of the Heartlands during the Imperial period.

History & Culture : Post Imperial
This covers the history and culture of the Heartlands and Southlands from the Cataclysm of Water until the founding of the Factions.

Irisia
This covers information pertaining to the politics, people and significant happenings of Irisia, past and present.

Telluria
This covers information pertaining to the politics, people and significant happenings of Telluria, past and present.

Siberija
This covers information pertaining to the politics, people and significant happenings of Siberija, past and present.

Sicilija
This covers information pertaining to the politics, people and significant happenings of Sicilija, past and present.

Cathay
This covers information pertaining to the politics, people and significant happenings of Cathay, past and present.

Nihon
This covers information pertaining to the politics, people and significant happenings of Nihon, past and present.

Thousand Isles
This covers information pertaining to the politics, people and significant happenings of the Thousand Isles, past and present.

Natural Resources: [continent]
This covers geology, mineralogy and the use and exploitation of natural resources in the named land. This will provide much less information when researching a resource for a purpose covered in another topic, for example the use of plants as alchemical ingredients or for healing purposes (ie the OS Herb Lore) would be covered under Skills and Abilities: Alchemists.

Flora and Fauna: [continent]
This covers plants, animals, creepy crawlies and weird wibbly creatures to be found on the named lands.

Note: The continents are Heartlands, Southlands, Telluria, Irrisia and Cathay, and are assumed to cover islands and smaller landmasses within their boundaries.

Ancestors and Legends: [Faction]
This covers the Faction’s ancestors as well as their myths and legends, past and present. The information from the “legends” aspect of this skill would tend to be more fanciful and less factual than the “History and Culture” equivalent would provide.

Ancestors and Legends: [Guild]
This covers the ancestors specifically associated with the Guild, as well as their myths and legends, past and present. The information from the “legends” aspect of this skill would tend to be more fanciful and less factual than the “History and Culture” equivalent would provide.

Note: For the Incantors, given their Ancestral focus, this will also cover the Ancestors in the Prime grove to a degree; it would not cover the way those Ancestors interact with their worshippers in the factions or their specific relationships with them, but would be more focused on the grove itself.

Skills and Abilities: [Guild]
This covers all of the Occupational Skills which come under that Guild in the LT Guide to Occupational Skills (available on the LT’s Publications page here: https://www.lorientrust.com/publications/), as well as the more general activities of the guild. For example, a scholarly interest in Forensics would come under Skills and Abilities: Alchemists because of the Forensics OS; and a scholarly interest in surgery or physicianing would be Skills and Abilities: Healers.

Beings of Essence
This covers the overall topic of the sliding specials and those aspects they share such as circle alignment. This does not confer any understanding of Essence and how it works.

Note: It is not possible to learn about Essence through research. No person has ever managed to learn anything about it through any research means or skill, it can be assumed IC that Erdreja wishes it to remain unknowable. (If you have questions about this please talk to us at the Library desk.)

Were Creatures
This covers traits and information specific to were-creatures, as well as some degree of information that all sliding specials have in common.

Paladins
This covers traits and information specific to paladins, as well as some degree of information that pertains to all sliding specials.

Warlocks
This covers traits and information specific to warlocks, as well as some degree of information that pertains to all sliding specials.

Vampires
This covers traits and information specific to vampires, as well as some degree of information that pertains to all sliding specials.

Summonables
This covers the overall topic of summonable beings from all four categories, and those aspects they share.

Unliving
This covers traits and information specific to unliving beings, as well as some degree of information that pertains to all summonable beings.

Daemons
This covers traits and information specific to daemonic beings, as well as some degree of information that pertains to all summonable beings.

Elementals
This covers traits and information specific to elemental beings, as well as some degree of information that pertains to all summonable beings.

Ancestrals
This covers traits and information specific to ancestral beings, as well as some degree of information that pertains to all summonable beings.

Summoning
This covers information about the act and practice of summoning beings from another plane, specifically those things that all types of summoning have in common.

Necromancy
This covers the act and practice of summoning beings from the plane of unlife, as well as the other spells on the necromancy list.

Daemonology
This covers the act and practice of summoning beings from the demonic plane, as well as the other spells on the demonology list.

Theology
This covers the act and practice of summoning beings from the ancestral plane, as well as the other spells on the theology list.

Elementalism
This covers the act and practice of summoning beings from the elemental plane, as well as the other spells on the elementalism list.

Magecraft
This covers information about the spells associated with spellcasting and its specialisations, enchanting and shadow magic.

Incantation
This covers information about the spells associated with incantation and its specialisations, light and dark incantation.

Healing
This covers information about the spells associated with healing and their advanced applications.

Corruption
This covers information about the spells associated with corruption and their advanced applications.

Magic Items
This covers the characteristics and nature of magical items, as well as their provenance and history. Some information about their construction may be received, though this may need another Scholar skill such as Skills and Abilities: Armourers to receive fuller information in some circumstances.

Rituals and Rites
This covers the art of performance of rituals and rites, rather than how ritual magic works to shape the world.

Cosmology and Metaphysics
This covers all topics involving the underlying rules and structures of how Erdreja works that are not covered in any other topic.

Awakening
This covers all information pertaining to the process of racial awakening.

Cadres
This covers the history and nature of elemental cadres.

Patterns
This covers patterns of all types (living, unliving, magical, alien, aberrant,) their natures and composition.

Planes
This covers information about the planes, their origins and natures. This topic would provide less detailed information about any individual plane that that specific plane or element’s topic.

Ancestral Plane
This covers the Ancestral plane. It is mostly concerned with the plane itself rather than information about specific Ancestors

Plane of Life
This covers the plane of Life.

Law
This covers the element and the plane of Law.

Chaos
This covers the element and the plane of Chaos.

Evil
This covers the element and the plane of Evil.

Good
This covers the element and the plane of Good.

Reality
This covers the element and the plane of Reality.

Illusion
This covers the element and the plane of Illusion.

Fate
This covers the element and the plane of Fate.

Fortune
This covers the element and the plane of Fortune.

Knowledge
This covers the element and the plane of Knowledge.

Magic
This covers the element and the plane of Magic.

Time
This covers the element and the plane of Time.

Spirit
This covers the element and the plane of Spirit.

Earth
This covers the element and the plane of Earth.

Air
This covers the element and the plane of Air.

Fire
This covers the element and the plane of Fire.

Water
This covers the element and the plane of Water.

Warfare and Tactics
This covers the art of warfare and strategy.

Navigation and Sea Faring
This covers navigation and travel, including all knowledge regarding travelling by boat.

Geography and Cartography
This covers mapmaking and geographical surveying. It does not cover finding and using natural resources, as that is covered in the Natural Resources topics.

Construction
This covers architecture, engineering and building of non magical items and buildings.

Contracts and Legality
This covers contracts and legal writing and the ability to understand and construct a legal argument. It does not necessarily indicate comprehensive knowledge of any specific laws.

Cryptology and Language
This will allow codes to be broken as part of research. At referee discretion it may make it more likely to identify which TNS is used.