Nagspeake

## Sovereign City of Nagspeake

A map of Nagspeake during the time of Bluecrowne.

**Emilia Cabot**: But *how?* How have you not noticed? Don't you know where you live?

— Marzana and Emilia upon entering Boneash and Sodalime's, *The Thief Knot*, pg. 115-116 |  | ”

The ****S******overeign City of Nagspeake** is the town where the Greenglass House is located. Nagspeake lies off the east coast of the United States of America. Nagspeake is an independent territory, typically neutral, though it is a very small island. There is a lot of coming and going in Nagspeake, through the ports and harbors. Nagspeake's important physical features include the Skidwrack River, the Magothy Bay, and Whilforber Hill.

Nagspeake is often referred to as a smugglers' town, due to the amount of smugglers that are its residents. Nagspeake's smuggling is a way to get around the empire Deacon and Morvengarde, which tries to control all commerce, and is ruthless and outrageously priced. Smugglers are pursued heavily by the company, but some manage to evade them, such as the particularly famous Doc Holystone and Violet Cross.

Nagspeake has many fantastical or mystical aspects, not least of which is the old iron that moves on its own, and ghosts. In Nagspeake there are an abundance of roamers, who can be anyone from demigod-like powers to card sharps with a bit of ferly. Navigation in Nagspeake is always difficult; maps are never quite accurate, and Violet Cross is the only Nagspeaker known to have correctly mapped any of the city's characteristics.

## History

### *Bluecrowne*

Foulk Trigemine arrived on the edge of Nagspeake and met Blister, assuring him that this was indeed the right time to find a conflagrationeer. Blister was not surprised, since so many passed through the town. Blister noted that he'd come through Nagspeake occasionally like his colleagues, and they went to the Quayside Harbors in search of a place to stay.

Meanwhile, Captain Bluecrowne introduced his daughter Lucy to Bluecrowne House. She disliked it, firstly because it wasn't a ship, secondly because it was too big, and because it was too near to America for a British girl. Captain Bluecrowne had chosen Nagspeake in the hopes that it would stay neutral in the wars between England and France, but Lucy was upset that she wouldn't be able to love Nagspeake anymore, though she'd always enjoyed visiting before.

Trigemine commented on the diversity of Nagspeake, which, though it did have prejudices, was a sailor's town and had many people of many ethnic backgrounds. The crew of the *Left-Handed Fate* later did a traditional Nagspeake pilgrimage, visiting churches dedicated to certain saints and leaving prayer cards.

### *The Raconteur's Commonplace Book*

Phineas Amalgam told a story where a peddler went looking for an adit-gate, and he came to Nagspeake, suspecting that if there was any place something like that could be found, it was there. Reever told a story about a town between a bay and a hill, who, in order to protect themselves from invasion, with the help of four peddlers, turned the city into a giant trap. However, it did not spring, and was still ticking today; Maisie wondered, since they were in a port town between a bay and a hill, if something had indeed been ticking. Madame Grisaille talked about secret graves in Nagspeake, which often contained heroes, and were never in places with a lot of old iron. She also mentioned belowground tunnels built for a railway. Her story included Troublewit, a gargoyle part of Nagspeake's old iron circuit.

Captain Frost showed Maisie a map of Nagspeake, which bore the warning to not use it for navigation; Nagspeake maps were never accurate. Captain Frost and Sullivan talked about the presence of seiche and the possibility of a seiche being the flood's cause. Tesserian told a tale about the Skidwrack River, which was mystical and ever-changing, he said. A Ferryman helped Nagspeakers cross the Skidwrack to the miraculous area the Tailrace, as many needed a miracle because things were dark in Nagspeake then. Mr. Haypotten told a tale of Hugo Bankcliff, and the London fog he sometimes let loose in Nagspeake, which he'd bought from Nagspeake's catalog company, Deacon and Morvengarde. He mentioned the time when there had been many holy people in Nagspeake, and for a time people had kept their relics.

Maisie wondered if there was a land deep below Nagspeake, where the High Walkers were from. Masseter mentioned Morvengarde, who, he noted, actually did spend time outside of Nagspeake despite how he and his company were such a part of Nagspeake's history. Madame Grisaille stopped Masseter from completing his new kairos mechanism, revealing that she was the avatar of the city's wild iron. Petra told a story about a girl who, when the River Skidwrack flooded her town, used a cat bone to try and make it stop, but Masseter had stopped her. This time, Petra went again, along with Masseter, to stop the water rising this time.

### *Greenglass House*

Milo noted that Greenglass House was located in Nagspeake, and that he had lived in Nagspeake since his adoption as a baby. Georgie Moselle later lent Milo a book, folktales about Nagspeake, which he much enjoyed.

When Mrs. Pine told the story of Fenster Plum seeing the ghosts of Doc Holystone and his son, she left out the part about Fenster having been a smuggler. Milo noted that while smuggling was a large part of Nagspeake culture it was technically illegal. Mrs. Pine said instead that Fenster had recognized Doc Holystone from the Wanted posters Deacon and Morvengarde had put up around Nagspeake. She noted that Nagspeake records were very bad, and so they had not known much about the previous owners of the house, and Doc Holystone had not been seen around Nagspeake since his capture.

The Belowground Transit System had been Nagspeake's railway experiment, but it failed and had been abandoned. According to Milo, Nagspeake's smugglers had many tall tales about the railway, which was part of many smuggler legends. Those who claimed the railway was not abandoned were right, as there was still one train and one conductor that ran secretly along the old lines.

When Dr. Gowervine told of Lowell Skellansen, he mentioned how often secrets and smugglers come up in Nagspeake. According to Dr. Gowervine, Nagspeake's customs agency is nearly part of Deacon and Morvengarde. According to Mr. Vinge, cartographers wrote warnings about seiche in Nagspeake maps, "hic abundant sepiae". According to Milo, most people in Nagspeake were more on the smugglers' side than that of the customs agents or Deacon and Morvengarde. Mr. Vinge said that Doc Holystone had smuggled a deadly weapon which Nagspeake could not let him have. Fenster insisted that this was not true.

### *Ghosts of Greenglass House*

Milo noted that his social studies class was studying nineteenth-century Nagspeake history, and Chinese crews had not arrived in Nagspeake until later than Liao Bluecrowne and his family. There were still not many Chinese people in Nagspeake, something that made it hard for Milo. Brandon Levi, the conductor of Nagspeake's secret Belowground Transit System, later arrived to Greenglass House.

Emmett was excited about Greenglass House's windows, some of which, he thought, were made by Nagspeake glassmaker Ellamae Wellshowe, and Greenglass House's chandelier by Lowell Skellansen. Georgie and Clem were afraid that Cantlebone was after them, a master thief in Nagspeake. Milo noted that Violet Cross was one of Nagspeake's best and most famous smugglers. Milo read *The Raconteur's Commonplace Book*, a collection of Nagspeake folklore that was popular in Nagspeake.

Mrs. Pine noted that the Waits were a Nagspeake tradition. The Waits came from the Liberty of Gammerbund, a part of Nagspeake that was thought by many to be a madhouse but in truth not very different from the city proper, which was mentioned many times. Milo met the ghost of Doc Holystone, who was also among one of Nagspeake's most famous smugglers, and Milo commented upon how very much smuggling was a part of Nagspeake culture.

Owen showed Milo how he had, after seeking information about the Bluecrownes in Nagspeake, found letters written by Liao Bluecrowne. Emmett Syebuck was revealed to be a customs agent, the law enforcers of Nagspeake, and had an official paper. Emmett was, however, not in the pocket of Deacon and Morvengarde, unlike Mr. Vinge, a refreshing change for Milo. Mr. Hakelbarend and Mrs. Kirkegrim commented upon the lawlessness of Nagspeake, Mr. Hakelbarend amending that Nagspeake was still a lawless place. He mentioned Morvengarde as well, who would help bounty hunters for a price; and Whit Gammerbund, a boy wanted for being a smuggler, who escaped into the Liberty.

Milo told a story about Violet Cross and maps. He said that there were two problems with Nagspeake maps: the city was hard to map, nobody really understood why; and then, Deacon and Morvengarde had been given liscences by the city to be the only ones to sell maps, claiming that they were the only ones who could do it right, but their maps were awful. Violet Cross had gotten together a few cartographers and made maps made by Nagspeakers, then smuggled them out by way of kites. Deacon and Morvengarde knew that people were getting maps that weren't theirs, but they didn't know how. This was, as Emmett commented, quite normal in Nagspeake.

Emmett later showed his customs badge and explained that Liberty citizens were still subject to Nagspeake laws when they were not in the Liberty. Mr. Vinge also showed his customs badge (he was only a deputized agent) and attempted to order Mrs. Kirkegrim and Milo around. Milo later figured out that Mrs. Kirkegrim was Violet Cross, and Emmett told him that the statue of limitations on smuggling was ten years in Nagspeake, so he revealed this. Mrs. Kirkegrim gave Clem and Georgie the haul because, she said, she knew what kind of people they were, even though she was not as attuned to what was happening in Nagspeake as she used to be. She said that the smuggler cards from the haul were all the big Nagspeake smugglers once upon a time.

### *The Thief Knot*

Marzana noted that the Liberty of Gammerbund was a city inside Nagspeake, and that some of the people in the Liberty had done something interesting in the city proper, but then had stopped. Some of her mother's crew had had to leave Nagspeake to flee the customs agents. Emmett came to Marzana's house to ask her parents, Barbara and Peter Hakelbarend, to help investigate the suspects of Nagspeake's Criminal Investigation Department. A girl had been kidnapped, he said: Peony Hyde, the daughter of the man running for mayor. Winston Hyde was broke because he opposed Deacon and Morvengarde, who controlled most of Nagspeake's commerce. Mrs. Hakelbarend mentioned the time Tumbler Fletchwood and some other members of her crew had come back to Nagspeake to see other crew members again and be able to leave on their own terms. There was danger, she said, and they'd had to be careful about those who would kill to stop smugglers.

Ciro mentioned the presence of del Olmos in Nagspeake and what they had done around the city. Mrs. Hakelbarend talked about how it was so often assumed that criminals had gone to the Liberty of Gammerbund, when in fact this was often not true, and they were hiding in the city proper. After Peony Hyde was returned to the Hyde family (she was later discovered to have been a fake), the Hydes left Nagspeake for a vacation. Inside Cotgrave Wall Station was a map of Nagspeake's Belowground Transit System and how the iron interfered. Marzana and the rest of the Thief Knot discovered the purpose of the kidnapping of Peony Hyde: to get the Hydes out of their house, which was built over the old hub of the Belowground Transit System. They caught the kidnappers, Moth and Kit Fletchwood, and the adults discussed what consequences would be for them since they were not from Nagspeake.

## Inhabitants

* Ada Cosset
* Ada/Allie
* Addie Whitcher
* Al Tesserian
* Alex Cabot
* Alex Moody
* Alexander Cabot
* Alphonsus Lung
* Amy Ileck
* Aniline Deacon
* Annamaria Gallfreet
* Assisting customs agents
* Barnaby
* Bean-Knee
* Beller
* Ben
* Ben Pine
* Blaise Forel
* Bobby
* Brandon Levi
* Brian Otterwill
* Burrows
* Caine
* Caldnicker
* Caldnicker's dreams
* Carol
* Caroline Bluecrowne
* Carrick Bend
* Carriers
* Cartographer's apprentice
* Cassiterides Bone
* Caster
* Caton
* Catriona Cotgrave
* Chancelor
* Chapmen's Guilds
* Christopher Swifte
* Ciro del Olmo
* Clem Candler
* Coles
* Commorancy Kids
* Conflagrationeer
* Confraternity of Yankee Peddlers
* Cook
* Cotgrave family
* Customs agents
* De Cary Vinge
* Deacon and Morvengarde
* Del Olmo family
* Doc Holystone
* Domanova
* Dorcas
* Ed Pickering
* Ed Tivrutsky
* Eddowes
* Edita Skellandotter
* Eglantine Hereward
* Eliza Agravin
* Ellamae Wellshowe
* Emilia Cabot
* Emmett Syebuck
* Enza
* Ezra Cormorant
* Fenster Plum
* Ferrymen
* Fitch
* Foster
* Foulk Trigemine
* Fred-Morty-Tucker
* Frost
* Fulgor
* Gallick
* Garvett
* Gaz
* Gentleman Maxwell
* Georgie Moselle
* Ghosts
* Golevants
* Gregory Sangwin
* Griffin
* Grisaille
* Hale
* Hank
* Hannah Jones
* Harrick
* Harriet
* Haypotten
* Headcutters
* Henny Unwin
* Hester
* Hickson Blount
* High Walkers
* Hobby horse
* Hollow-ware man
* Honora Catharping
* Hugo Bankcliff
* Ignis Blister
* Ilaine Hotson
* Isaac Knickpointe
* J.J. Mowbry
* Jacinda
* Jacinthus Beadle
* Jack Hellcoal
* Jalap
* Jane Marymead
* Jeffrey
* Jessamy Butcher
* Jessie Colporter
* Jianming Cerrajero
* Jimmy Costak
* John
* John Backell
* John Deadlock
* John Ferdinand
* John Ustion
* Joy
* Julian Roamer
* Jumper
* Katia del Olmo
* Kendrick
* Kevin
* King of Finding Things
* King of Opening Things
* King of Tying Things
* Kit Fletchwood
* Lazaride
* Leo
* Leroy Jenkins
* Lewis
* Liao Bluecrowne
* Lila
* Lily
* Lizzie Caraway
* Lowell Skellansen
* Loxi Chell
* Lucky Julnissen
* Lucy
* Lucy Bluecrowne
* Lula Macready
* Madeleine Caraway
* Maeve-Alice Cotgrave
* Mair
* Maisie Cerrajero
* Marcus Haypotten
* Maria
* Mariah Hyde
* Marzana Hakelbarend
* Matthews
* Maurice Cotgrave
* Meg
* Milo Pine
* Monty/Murray
* Morris Flynn
* Morvengarde
* Moth Fletchwood
* Nadia Cotgrave-Cormorant
* Naz
* Negret Colophon
* Nell Levinflash
* Nialla Giddis
* Nicholas Larven
* Nick Jones
* Nick Nackatory
* Nora Pine
* Octavian Deacon
* Odette Caraway
* Oliver Cotgrave
* Ophelia Cotgrave
* Oronti
* Ostling
* Owen
* Padraig del Olmo
* Palkowick
* Pantin
* Paul Gallick
* Peony Hyde
* Pete
* Peter
* Peter Hakelbarend
* Petronella
* Phineas Amalgam
* Poppy
* Pratt
* Prim
* Quartermaster
* R. Burroughs
* Raines
* Reever Colophon
* Richard Bluecrowne
* Roamers
* Rob Gandreider
* Rose Mirassat
* Sails
* Samir
* Santat
* Seiche
* Seleucia Deacon
* Simeon Fray
* Simon Coffrett
* Snyder
* Songhan del Olmo
* Sopwith
* Sorcha
* Sullivan
* Sylvester Alforn
* Tasha Cormorant
* Thad
* The Jewel Thieves
* The scavenger
* The Waits
* Thief Knot
* Toby Giddis
* Toby Gilawfer
* Tom Yarrow
* Topham
* Troublewit
* Tulip
* Tumbler Fletchwood
* Turin
* Victor Cormorant
* Violet Cross
* Violet Cross's crew
* Waltersson
* Ward's
* Warder
* Whit Gammerbund
* Wilbur Gowervine
* Wilkens brothers
* Winston Hyde
* Wooll
* Worshipful Company of Firesmiths and Candescents
* Worshipful Company of Whitesmiths
* Xiaoming

## Locations

* Bayside Quarter
* Belowground Transit System
* Blue Vein Tavern
* Camp Bewilder
* Eel Street
* Fellwool Street
	+ Fellwool House
* Flotilla
	+ The Coldway
* Hever Street Prison
* Hollow-way
* Liberty of Gammerbund
	+ Boneash and Sodalime's Glass Museum and Radioactive Teashop
	+ Chapel of St. Whit
	+ Marymead
	+ Surroyal Books
* Limen Docks
	+ Trystero Wharf
* Magothy Bay
* Morrawhick Point
* Printer's Quarter
	+ Feretory Street
	+ City University
	+ Lucksmith Paper Merchants
	+ Watermill Elementary
* Quayside Harbors
	+ The Quenching Press
* Shantytown
* Skidwrack River
	+ Tailrace
* Whilforber Hill
	+ Greenglass House
		- Gate
		- The Emporium
	+ Ferrous Sanctus Monastery
	+ The Slope
	+ *Whilforber Whirlwind*

## Trivia

* The name "Nagspeake" is a combination of "Nags Head" and "Chesapeake".
* There is a specific kind of green glass that can only be made from Nagspeake sand. Kate Milford says that this is because of the iron oxide from Nagspeake's old iron.
* Nagspeake is comprised of seven districts.
* Nagspeake has its own website, nagspeake.com, which Kate Milford created.
* The official seal of Nagspeake is a lantern surrounded by a tendril of old iron.
* Even though Nagspeake is very close to the United States, it uses different currency.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/kate-milford-created-a-mysterious-city-before-she-wrote-her-first-book/2020/05/26/6edbf8b0-946d-11ea-82b4-c8db161ff6e5\_story.html
2. ↑ *The Raconteur's Commonplace Book*
3. ↑ https://stonesoup.com/post/interview-with-author-kate-milford/
4. ↑ https://theexpat.nagspeake.com/
5. ↑ *Ghosts of Greenglass House*, pg. 53