Kai ranks indicate a Kai warrior's level of knowledge and how many Disciplines they have mastered.
History[]
For a long period of time, the highest rank a Kai Lord could reach was Kai Master (equivalent to 10 disciplines in the gamebooks). Following a vision from the God Kai, Sun Eagle undertook a quest to retrieve the Lorestones, created by Nyxator but long lost in history. The Lorestones granted Sun Eagle immense power and wisdom, far beyond a normal Kai Lord, and he became the first Kai Grand Master. This wisdom was recorded in the Book of the Magnakai. The ranks between Kai Master and Kai Grand Master were further sub-divided, and the journey of Lone Wolf to the rank of Kai Grand Master is the story of the Magnakai series.
Lone Wolf continued to study the Book of the Magnakai and the Lorestones, to hone his skills, and augmented his training with the help of Guidemaster Banedon and Lord Rimoah, learning the basics of Left-handed and Old Kingdom Magic. This allowed Lone Wolf to push the boundaries of a Kai Grand Master even further. Following his triumph in retrieving the Moonstone from Naar's inner sanctum, Lone Wolf reached the rank of Kai Supreme Master. The ranks between Kai Grand Master and Kai Supreme Master were also sub-divided, and the progression up these ranks is the story of Lone Wolf in the Grand Master series, and Grand Master in the New Order series.
Mechanics[]
Kai warriors gain a rank when they master a new Discipline (in the gamebooks, the player gains a new Discipline as a form of retroactive confirmation of completing a book).
In the New Order series, for every gamebook completed, the player also gains +1 basic Combat Skill and +2 basic Endurance.
Starting from Primate onwards, Disciplines start to gain enhancements as ranks are gained. For example, Divination is an enhanced Sixth Sense, allowing the user to detect danger and enhance their intuition. However, Divination at Tutelary allows the user to detect magical abilities within objects and creatures, Divination at Mentora can be used to detect residual psychic energies to learn more about the past in the area, and Divination at Scion-kai allows the user to spirit-walk.
List of Kai ranks[]
Kai ranks are divided into "umbrella terms": Kai Lord, Kai Master and Kai Grand Master. Each umbrella term is subdivided into ranks, with most ranks corresponding to a gamebook in the Lone Wolf series.
The starting rank and corresponding number of starting Grand Master Disciplines in the Grand Master and New Order series is different. In the Grand Master series, Lone Wolf starts the series at Kai Grand Defender, granting four Grand Master Disciplines. In the New Order series, however, Grand Master starts at Kai Master Senior — three ranks below Lone Wolf's starting book rank — but also possesses four Grand Master Disciplines.
Kai Lord[]
Kai Lords aim to master all ten Kai Disciplines.
| No. | Name | Age | Canonical book |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–1 | Novice | 7 | |
| 2 | Intuite | 9 | |
| 3 | Doan | 12 | |
| 4 | Acolyte | 14 | |
| 5 | Initiate | 16 | Flight from the Dark |
| 6 | Aspirant | 18 | Fire on the Water |
| 7 | Guardian | 19–20 | The Caverns of Kalte |
| 8 | Warmarn/Journeyman | 20–22 | The Chasm of Doom |
| 9 | Savant | 24 | Shadow on the Sand |
Kai Master[]
- Main article: Kai Master
Kai Masters aim to master all ten Magnakai Disciplines.
| No. | Name | Age | Canonical book |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–1 | Kai Master/Kai Mistress | 28 | |
| 2 | Kai Master Senior/Kai Mistress Senior[Inf.] | 30 | |
| 3 | Kai Master Superior/Kai Mistress Superior[Inf.] | 32 | The Kingdoms of Terror |
| 4 | Primate | 35 | Castle Death |
| 5 | Tutelary | 38 | The Jungle of Horrors |
| 6 | Principalin | 42 | The Cauldron of Fear |
| 7 | Mentora | 48 | The Dungeons of Torgar |
| 8 | Scion-kai | 50 | The Prisoners of Time |
| 9 | Archmaster | 52–54 | The Masters of Darkness |
Kai Grand Master[]
- Main article: Kai Grand Master
Kai Grand Masters aim to master all twelve (or sixteen, in the case of the New Order series) Grand Master Disciplines.
| No. | Name | Canonical book | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | NO | Grand Master series | New Order series | |
| 0 | ? | Kai Grand Master/Kai Grand Mistress | ||
| 1 | 4 | Kai Grand Master Senior/Kai Grand Mistress Senior[Inf.] | Voyage of the Moonstone | |
| 2 | 5 | Kai Grand Master Superior/Kai Grand Mistress Superior[Inf.] | The Buccaneers of Shadaki | |
| 3 | 6 | Kai Grand Sentinel | Mydnight's Hero | |
| 4 | 7 | Kai Grand Defender | The Plague Lords of Ruel | Rune War |
| 5 | 8 | Kai Grand Guardian | The Captives of Kaag | Trail of the Wolf |
| 6 | 9 | Sun Knight | The Darke Crusade | The Fall of Blood Mountain |
| 7 | 10 | Sun Lord | The Legacy of Vashna | Vampirium |
| 8 | 11 | Sun Thane | The Deathlord of Ixia | The Hunger of Sejanoz |
| 9 | 12 | Grand Thane | Dawn of the Dragons | The Storms of Chai |
| 10 | 13 | Grand Crown | Wolf's Bane | Dead in the Deep |
| 11 | 14 | Sun Prince | The Curse of Naar | The Dusk of Eternal Night |
Kai Supreme Master[]
A Kai Supreme Master has mastered all Grand Master Disciplines, but there are further Supreme Master Disciplines that were revealed to Lone Wolf upon his ascension.
For years, fans speculated that there was a mistake in the New Order series, since with only eleven books, and starting with four Grand Master Disciplines, the player would be missing one Grand Master Discipline to reach Kai Supreme Master by the end of The Dusk of Eternal Night. However, it was later revealed that the God Kai blessed Grand Master, raising them to Kai Supreme Master, before the fight against Vaagarash.[1]
Grand Master, now called "Supreme Master", is set to appear in Light of the Kai as a Kai Supreme Master.
Female titles[]
Female Kai exist, although they are less numerous, especially in the core gamebooks. The first female Kai introduced in the gamebooks was Autumn Snow in The Dusk of Eternal Night. However, other media, such as the Lone Wolf Adventure Game, mention female Kai Lords exist.
Later in Joe Dever's life, Holmgard Press made attempts to open up the books to a female audience. Moves were made in the Definitive Editions to make Lone Wolf's gender ambiguous.[2] Grand Master's gender is designed to be ambiguous, although the text is not always consistent; similar moves are being made in the Definitive Editions.[3]
The known female-specific titles are:
| Male/general title | Female title |
|---|---|
| Kai Master | Kai Mistress[4] |
| Archmaster | Archmistress[5] |
| Kai Grand Master | Kai Grand Mistress[6] |
See also[]
- Kai Virin: A Kai title for Kai who have left the Order of the Kai honourably, usually for not having the latent potential to reach Kai Grand Master
References[]
- ↑ The Dusk of Eternal Night: §325
- ↑ "I have, yes. We are adjusting the books as we go along to leave Lone Wolf's gender ambiguous." in #off-topic of The World of LONE WOLF – August Hahn on Discord, 2023-01-27.
- ↑ (On Grand Master being referred to as male in some places) "Can confirm that it was addressed in the hardcover of Sejanoz (source: I did this work), and is currently planned to be our approach when the rest of the LWNO books get the DE treatment." in #the-lore-hall of The World of LONE WOLF – Shane Walsh-Smith on Discord, 2024-06-08.
- ↑ Dever, Joe [2015]. Book of Kai Legends. Cubicle 7, p. 11. “River Blade is a fairly young Kai Mistress (Femskurd is the appropriate term, just as Menskurd is for a Kai Master) [...]”
- ↑ The Dusk of Eternal Night: §2. "Archmistress Flame Strider, who commanded this monastery after your departure, [...]"
- ↑ The Dusk of Eternal Night: Timeline of notable events in Magnamund, MS 5102 Solangor. "He [Lone Wolf] equipped them and Grand Mistress Autumn Snow accordingly."
| Kai Lord (Kai Skurdin) | Novice • Intuite • Doan • Acolyte • Initiate • Aspirant • Guardian • Warmarn/Journeyman • Savant |
| Kai Master (Kai Elrhin) | Kai Master • Kai Master Senior • Kai Master Superior • Primate • Tutelary • Principalin • Mentora • Scion-kai • Archmaster |
| Kai Grand Master | Kai Grand Master • Kai Grand Master Senior • Kai Grand Master Superior • Kai Grand Sentinel • Kai Grand Defender • Kai Grand Guardian • Sun Knight • Sun Lord • Sun Thane • Grand Thane • Grand Crown • Sun Prince |
| Kai Supreme Master | Kai Supreme Master |
| Related articles | Kai ranks • Kai Virin |