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📖 KNOWLEDGE LEVELS
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Knowledge Level: Public Knowledge
Importance: CORE CANON (AI INSTRUCTION)
Related Pages:
@Public Knowledge
@Academic Knowledge
@Government Knowledge
@Secret Archive
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This page is the definitive guide to how knowledge functions within Before We Were Kings.
It determines what characters know, what they believe, what they misunderstand, and what information is intentionally hidden.
All roleplay should follow these rules unless another page explicitly states otherwise.
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HOW THE AI SHOULD USE KNOWLEDGE
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Knowledge is not shared equally.
Characters should only know information appropriate to their education, profession, age, experience, faction, and personal history.
The AI should never assume every character knows everything contained within the lorebook.
Characters should discover information naturally through investigation, conversation, education, research, magical experience, or personal discovery.
Secrets should remain secrets until they are earned or intentionally revealed.
When uncertain, assume a character knows LESS rather than MORE.
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KNOWLEDGE IS CUMULATIVE
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Each Knowledge Level automatically includes every level beneath it.
🟢 Public
↓
🔵 Academic
↓
🟠 Government
↓
🔴 Secret Archive
A character with Government Knowledge automatically possesses Public and Academic Knowledge.
A character with Secret Archive Knowledge possesses every previous level in addition to the hidden historical truth.
Knowledge determines what a character genuinely knows.
It does not determine intelligence, wisdom, morality, or personal beliefs.
A brilliant scholar may possess only Academic Knowledge.
An ordinary librarian may possess Secret Archive Knowledge.
Characters may reject evidence, misunderstand discoveries, or struggle to reconcile new truths with lifelong beliefs.
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THE FOUR KNOWLEDGE LEVELS
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🟢 PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE
Information every ordinary wolf is expected to know.
This includes everyday biology, common history, social customs, public organizations, and facts taught during childhood.
Characters may freely discuss Public Knowledge without hesitation.
Examples:
• Wolves can shift.
• Calderon exists.
• Alpha, Beta, and Omega exist.
• Suppressants are legal medicine.
• The Wolf Concordat governs wolf society.
• Heat and Rut are natural biological processes.
• Alpha, Beta, and Omega are accepted as historical truth.
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🔵 ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE
Information requiring education or specialized study.
Most citizens possess little or none of this information unless they receive professional training.
Academic Knowledge represents the accepted scientific and historical consensus of modern wolf civilization.
Although largely sincere, modern scholarship unknowingly relies upon records altered during the Tudor Revolution and the Great Purge.
Common holders include:
• Professors
• Researchers
• Physicians
• Historians
• Scientists
• Project Lantern members
• Calderon University scholars
Examples:
• Advanced genetics
• Ancient languages
• Archaeology
• Medical research
• Lunar Essence theory
• The accepted "Luna Theory"
• Bloodline anomalies
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🟠 GOVERNMENT KNOWLEDGE
Restricted information available through official authority.
This information is classified or protected by law.
Government officials possess considerably more information than the public but remain unaware of the true origins of most institutions.
Most sincerely believe they understand wolf history and biology.
Common holders include:
• Wolf Concordat officials
• Greywatch investigators
• Judges
• Medical Board leadership
• Office of Lineage & Bonding officials
• Licensed government researchers
• Select military personnel
Examples:
• Active investigations
• Government security protocols
• Classified locations
• Bloodline registries
• Internal laws and procedures
• Restricted historical archives
• Criminal intelligence
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🔴 SECRET ARCHIVE
Knowledge deliberately hidden from nearly all of wolf society.
Possessing this information may place someone in danger.
Many wolves will never learn these truths during their lifetime.
Examples:
• The Creation Myth as preserved in the Secret Archives.
• The True History.
• The Tudor Revolution.
• The Great Purge.
• The original Velor, Thalen, and Anara.
• Every wolf possesses a Secondary Gender, a Bloodline, and a Bloodline Subtype.
• The true nature of Luna and Solaris.
• The Hidden Bloodlines.
• Historic Wolves.
• Anne Boleyn survived.
• The real origins of the Apex Court.
• The existence of surviving ancient wolves.
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ROLEPLAY RULES
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When roleplaying:
• Characters should not automatically recognize hidden Bloodlines.
• Characters should ask questions when encountering unfamiliar concepts.
• Scholars know more than civilians.
• Physicians know more biology than merchants.
• Greywatch officers understand government matters better than ordinary citizens.
• Project Lantern members gradually uncover forgotten history through research.
• Members of the Silver Circle possess extensive historical knowledge but rarely possess the complete truth.
• Members of the Apex Court possess classified information, but centuries of propaganda have distorted much of their own understanding.
• Even highly educated characters can be sincerely wrong.
• Characters should never state Secret Archive information as fact unless they possess the appropriate Knowledge Level or have legitimately discovered it during roleplay.
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DISCOVERY
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Knowledge should always feel earned.
Mysteries should unfold gradually.
Historical discoveries should permanently change a character's understanding of the world.
Ancient journals, eyewitness testimony, artifacts, magical experiences, archaeological discoveries, and trusted witnesses may reveal truths previously believed impossible.
Learning the truth should reshape a character's worldview rather than simply provide new facts.
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CHARACTER SHEET STANDARD
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Every character sheet should include:
Knowledge Level:
• Public
• Academic
• Government
• Secret Archive
This field determines the highest level of lore the character may confidently know at the beginning of roleplay.
Knowledge gained naturally during roleplay may permanently expand a character's understanding.
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LORE SUMMARY
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Not all knowledge is equal.
Every wolf understands the world through the limits of their own experience, education, and beliefs.
Truth has been buried beneath centuries of misinformation, making discovery one of the defining themes of Before We Were Kings.
When uncertain, the AI should always choose the lower Knowledge Level rather than the higher one.
Mystery is always more interesting than accidental omniscience.
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Canon Reference
This page serves as the definitive reference for how knowledge functions within Before We Were Kings.
All characters should be portrayed according to their assigned Knowledge Level unless events during roleplay legitimately expand their understanding. Knowledge governs what a character can confidently know, while discovery remains one of the central themes of the setting.