Kell's coat

—*A Darker Shade of Magic*I: The Traveler, I

**Kell's coat** is a magical object which possesses not only two sides but various. It is currently unknown how many sides it exactly possesses.

## Overview

The coat possesses multiple sides which can be accessed by turning it in and out. This process has to be repeated until the desired side is found. Pocket contents stay in the side in which they have been originally placed; and the coat's fitting automatically adapts itself to the wearer.

The coat seems to have some degree of sentience, a characteristic Maris Patrol attributes to fraying spellwork. The coat cannot move on its own, but can decide who it likes and who can search it. For example, it likes Kell Maresh, its current owner, and allows him to search it. However, the coat does not allow to be searched by Kell's brother Rhy.

## History

The coat used to belong to Maris Patrol, the Captain of the *Ferase Stras*, before she lost it.

It eventually came into Aldus Fletcher's possession who bet it in a game of Sanct against Kell Maresh several years ago. Kell won the game and the coat alongside various other magical trinkets.

## Known sides

* **A ruby red coat, the color of the Isle, with a high collar:** This coat is Kell's uniform as a member of the Arnesian royal family, and the crown's *Antari*.
* **A simple black coat lined with silver thread and two columns of silver buttons:** Kell wears it in Grey London to avoid offending the local royals or drawing attention, and in White London to make himself stand out and display power.
* **A brown high-collared jacket with fraying hems and scuffed elbows:** Kell wears it in Grey and Red London when he wants to avoid unwanted attention.
* **A short green coat with patched elbows:** Currently inaccessible.
* **A red-collared coat.**
* **A knee-length silver jacket, with a patterned border of black and lined with blood-red silk. It had narrow sleeves which flare at the bottom, and a high collar:** This coat appears just prior to the *Essen Tasch* in 1820. Kell wears it as his alter ego Kamerov Loste.
* **A woolen grey coat with a high collar, deep pockets, and black buttons:** This coat appears right before Kell leaves Red London with Lila.

## Trivia

* The coat eats coins and spits out lint if it does not like its wearer.

### Out of Universe

* The coat is a nod to the Room of Requirement from *Harry Potter* and the Magic Carpet from *Aladdin*. V. E. Schwab also considers the coat a character.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *A Darker Shade of Magic*, VIII: An Arrangement, I
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 *A Darker Shade of Magic*, I: The Traveler, I
3. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, IX: Festival & Fire, I
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 *A Conjuring of Light*, IX: Trouble, VI
5. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, II: Red Royal, III
6. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, IX: Festival & Fire, II
7. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, I: The Traveler, II-III
8. ↑ *A Conjuring of Light*, XV: *Anoshe*
9. ↑ "More than any other detail in the series, readers ask me about the inspiration for Kell's coat. The truth? It's my nod to Harry Potter--specifically the Room of Requirement."
(*A Darker Shade of Magic* — Kindle notes and highlights)
10. ↑ "[The coat]'s a nod to the Room of Requirement in Harry Potter."
(V. E. Schwab on Twitter)
11. ↑ "FUN FACT: Kell's peculiar many-sides coat is a nod to the Room of Requirement in Harry Potter. Look close and you'll notice new sides always show up BEFORE he needs them."
(V. E. Schwab on Twitter)
12. ↑ Kell's coat — V. E. Schwab's comment on YouTube