The Kingdom of Loathing Lore Connections

This guide is a casual attempt to put together all the Kingdom of Loathing (KoL) lore that relates to West of Loathing. KoL is a free web MMORPG that has been going on since 2003. It takes place in the titular Kingdom, a land featuring diverse environments (deserts, woods, forests that are inexplicably inside woods) and denizens (Knob Goblins, gnolls, frat boys, hippies, giants, yetis, Mafia Penguins). The flavor of humor is similar to that in WoL (absurdity, pop-culture references, breaking the fourth wall), and the community is very welcoming.

Hopefully this will give new fans of West of Loathing an idea of what the lands to the East are like. Of course, if there's something that I'm missing in this guide (I'm sure many fans of both games know something I don't), please leave a comment and I will remedy this!

Obvious Connections

The LT&T telegram office[kol.coldfront.net], unlockable by the Februrary 2016 Item of the Month, allows adventurers to pick up a pair of customizable cowboy boots and investigate the West[kol.coldfront.net]. Encounters include the familiar demonic cows, snakes, skeletons, bandits, and cultists.


The Avatar of West of Loathing[kol.coldfront.net] is a challenge path that allows you to adventure in the Kingdom as a Cow Puncher, Beanslinger or Snake Oiler. What a great marketing idea! You will also occasionally encounter West-themed monsters like cows, clowns and snakes.

The Horsery contract[kol.coldfront.net] is the main promotional item for WoL in the Kingdom. It unlocks a Horsery [kol.coldfront.net] where you can choose to rent one of the normal, dark, crazy and pale horses for a minor buff. Plus, it comes with a Horse Armor DLC for WoL. Yay, horse armor!

El Vibrato

This highly useful ancient technology was named for a KoL player who was first to unlock the content in the game on a remote island[www.flickr.com]. He did so by embarking on a pirate voyage and following the directions of a strange stone pyramid, leading to a stone plinth with a hole in it. Inserting a power sphere (battery, as it is called in WoL) into the hole brought the ancient machines to life!

Now, KoL players can harness this powerful technology by setting up a shimmering El VIbrato portal in their campground and fighting the bizarre constructs therein. They still speak in the same odd gibberish[kol.coldfront.net] that you find in the WoL locations. Although one of them yields a handy translator[kol.coldfront.net], the various punchcards from these constructs are used primarily to issue commands, allowing for the construction and modification of equipment.

Most relevantly, an El Vibrato construct[kol.coldfront.net] is found while investigating Cruddledank Mine in the Wild West[kol.coldfront.net]!

The Pickle Factory

The Pickle Factory, which only shows up occasionally in the Kingdom (most often on April 1), is as spooky the one in the West. The wretched workers there continue long after their deaths, and sometimes they ask for your help[kol.coldfront.net], though no puzzles are involved. The Factory here is notably more dangerous because the ghosts can attack you, and there are also dill and vinegar monsters!

The materials to make your very own companion Ghost Pickle on a Stick[kol.coldfront.net] are found here. Spoooooky....

Goblins

According to Monster Manuel[kol.coldfront.net], "true goblins have been absent from the Kingdom for years. Only their mutated, stunted progeny, the Knob Goblins, remain."

These Knob Goblins primarily reside in Cobb's Knob on the Nearby Plains. They are ruled by the fat, hedonistic but mighty Knob Goblin King by name only: "The Goblin King's role is mostly ceremonial in Goblin life. He doesn't, like, figure out tax rates of draw up treaties or any of the boring king stuff. He just shouts orders, eats copiously, and copulates like a horny rabbit." Thankfully for him, his subjects have a diverse set of skills, including magical cooking, military prowess, accounting, sexiness, and SCIENCE! But like their WoL counterparts, they are pretty gullible. It only takes a disguise and a prop for an adventurer to sneak past all their guards and get to the throne room.

Though Knob Goblins have a mostly adversarial role in the Kingdom, adventurers sometimes have a chance to help them out. Perhaps a wounded Knob guard is in need of medicine[kol.coldfront.net], or rogue needs help getting loot to his wagon[kol.coldfront.net].

One Goblin companion, the Knob Goblin Organ Grinder[kol.coldfront.net] was available as the October 2010 Item-of-the-Month. He is a Sweeney Todd- themed familiar who literally grinds enemies into edible meat pies!

Does anyone have any confirmation of how Goblins in KoL reproduce? I don't remember any references to fungal spores as in WoL

Clowns

The terrifying clowns of the Kingdom reside in the Fun House[kol.coldfront.net], "an ancient stone monolith that somehow weathered naturally over millennia into the shape of a moaning clown head." They are at least as creepy as their WoL counterparts, and are ruled by the Beelzebozo, the Clown Prince of Darkness[kol.coldfront.net]. Adventurers seeking to construct their Legendary Epic Weapon have to defeat clowns, then disguise themselves with the awful clothes and appendages that drop. Only then will they be able to face the Clown Prince.

Even the clowns under the sea[kol.coldfront.net] are horrible.

Skeletons and Other Undead

As in the West, skeletons have always been a menace to the Kingdom. People generally prefer to have their dead stay dead, but it doesn't really work out that way in a magical world. In 2010 an enormous horde of them invaded Seaside Town[kol.coldfront.net], reducing many builidngs to ruins. However, resourceful adventurers have made a lot of use out of skeleton parts, fashioning keys, weapons and clothing out of their bony bits. They can even plant bone gardens[kol.coldfront.net] (Oct 2012 Item of the Month) and grow their own skeletons!

Undead in general are well known for terrorizing the Kingdom. One major spooky hotspot is the Misspelled Cemetary, full of skleltons, lihcs, ghuols and zmobies corrupted by the Wand of Nagamar (Anagram). Another is the Spookyraven Manor in Seaside Town, the residents of which are rumored to practice eldritch magic. At the same time, undead critters make popular pets, and various necromantic abilities can be learned. On a challenge path, one can even become a Zombie Master[kol.coldfront.net] and amass a mighty horde of 'em.

Items

Meat is currency in the Kingdom as it is in the West. The crust of the earth is rich with the stuff, so mining is a common industry.

Diamonds[kol.coldfront.net] are also found by mining, though they are not nearly as valuable in the Kingdom since they're so common. The ring[kol.coldfront.net] that can be crafted from one is for cosmetic purposes only.

The effluvious emerald[kol.coldfront.net] can be rarely found by pulverizing sufficiently high-power Stench equipment rather than mining, and can be crafted into various stinky jewelry.

The ghost pencil[kol.coldfront.net] is used to mark shortcuts in the spooky land of Dreadsylvania, rather than for bureaucratic purposes. And thankfully, there is no need to sharpen it!

This Guide is a Work in Progress

Let me know if I'm missing anything else!
If you are interested in KoL, give it a try (it's free)![www.kingdomofloathing.com] The game mechanics are a little different, but it's the same high-quality comedy and adorable art style.

[SomeOne [RB]]

It's sick that El Vibrato is named after the real player!

[Siradein]

I feel like the fungal theme surrounding the goblins is a reference to the Ork race from W40K, which also grow from fungal spores.

[Jake Does YouTube]

If you have the Key shaped El Vibrato device, you will find a strange portal at the West Pole. Go inside of the portal to be transported into a strange place, where it appears space and time has collapsed, where the background is moving, it's raining, there is a road sign, and a strange conveyance that looks identical to a Camaro. Past the Camaro, you find a sunken stagecoach, Past that, you find a stuck robot. Past that, you will find a sarcophagus next to pyramid ruins. Inside of it, a jaw bone. It will be silent at first, then finally able to be heard saying "undying!" and you will be rewarded a Smiley Face Button, because you found a reference to Ed the Undying from KoL. Also, check out the other things there, they have really good stuff like a modern handgun (the "new-fangled pistol") in the car, the Really Nice Cowboy Hat from the stagecoach, and the Glowing ring from the poor metal man.

TL,DR; space-time cluster-fart has magic bone from Undying Ed.

[Kakyoin Gaming]

the old medicene show is a refrence to doc galagtics medeicine show

[King Doge]

Author, in gun manor they mention the island KoL takes place in

[King Doge]

MJRAHOLE Kingdom is in a time loop. says so in the gun manor DLC

[MJRAHOLE]

Tombot
I bet these goblins evolved the Fungal Spores over time, like West of Loathing is somehow after Kingdom of Loathing. The people eventually launched themselves into an industrial revolution, but old practices and creatures still remain, such as the goblins. I mean there is even Spanish conquistadors in West of Loathing, potentially meaning necromancy has been around for some time. I don't expect a necromancer to just pop a Beef Up and swim to the bottom of the ocean to revive some Spanish conquistador. But I must speak no longer, because my knowledge on KoL is rather limited (I was gonna say a Meat Rush also happened, but Meat also appears in KoL). You have to admit, this history probably happened from Kingdom of Loathing to West of Loathing.
Have an expert on both games try and make a history connection between the both games.

[Garfield Official]

There is a photograph of a turtle that is described as looking tame on a wall in gun manor.

[2Phoenix]

Also, the old medicine show in WOL says Doc Galaktik on it, the same from doc galaktik's homeopathic medicine in KOL

[Ittrix]

There's a direct reference to a KOL item in WOL.
When looking inside the spitoon in Lost Dutch Oven Mine, you'll eventually pull out an item. The narrator states "Congratulations. You are now the proud owner of the worst object I've ever been paid to think about, narrowly defeating a leather harness made from the skin of a clown.