Nevermoor

**"Step Boldly!"**

This article is about **the place**. You may be looking for **the novel, the film, or the novel series**.

"*Nevermoor was no Jackalfax.*"
―Morrigan Crow upon seeing the city[src]

***Nevermoor*** is a bizarre and beautiful labyrinthine city located in the First Pocket of the Free State. It is the primary setting for the series. It is such a difficult city to navigate that shortly following Unit 919's induction into the Wunderous Society, they are all assigned the class "Decoding Nevermoor: How to Successfully Navigate the Free State's Most Dangerous and Ridiculous City". Within the class the unit is educated about some of the city's perilous quirks, or "geographical oddities", including Swindleroads, Tricksy Lanes, Shadowstreets and Ghostly Hours. A prominent feature is the River Juro which runs through the city and freezes over in winter. A resident of Nevermoor is known as a *Nevermoorian*.

## Geography

### Boroughs

Nevermoor is divided into 27 boroughs, the oldest and most famous being Old Town. Some, if not most, of these boroughs would be further divided into neighbourhoods, often called districts — Old Town, for example, is divided into four different quarters. Most children in Nevermoor learn the names of these boroughs as early as nursery school.

Boroughs of Nevermoor
* Temple of the Divine Thing (East Gate)
* Lightwing Palace (South Gate)
* Nevermoor Opera House (West Gate)
* Courage Square (Center)
* Gobleian Library (West Quarter)
 Delphia
 Gresham
 Ogden-On-Juro
 Eldritch
* The Museum of Stolen Moments (?)

#### Other Known Boroughs

* Bellamy
* Betelgeuse
* Blackstock
* Bloxam
* Deering
* Farnham and Barnes
* Groves and Alden
* Highwall
* Macquarie
* Pocock
* Rhodes Village
* Tenterfield
* Wick

#### Possible or Unconfirmed Boroughs

* Southey-Upon-Juro
* Bittern and Bustard
* Begonia Hills
* Swordsworth

## Government

### Free State Politics

The Free State monarch, Queen Caledonia II lives at the Royal Lightwing Palace located in the southern quarter of Old Town. Also mentioned are Houses of Parliament (North Quarter Old Town), Prime Minister Gideon Steed, and embassies.

### Policing

The Nevermoor City Police Force (also known as the Stink) is tasked with the general law enforcement in the Nevermoor municipality. The Wundrous Society Investigation Department (known as the Stealth) deals with crime that Wundrous Society members are involved in. Dredmalis Prison (Old Town, East Quarter) is the known prison in the city.

## Infrastructure

### Transportation

The Nevermoor Transportation Authority looks after the transport needs and situations for the city. While buses and hansom cabs are mentioned as being used in the series, there are two main forms of transport in Nevermoor:

#### Wunderground

An underground railway powered by wunder that travels across the city.

#### Brolly Rail

A sort of cable car where passengers hook their umbrella (brolly) through metal rings and hold onto it for their journey. The rail is continuous and does not stop; to disembark, the rider pulls a lever to release their umbrella and jumps off.

### Health Care

Nevermoor has at least two known hospitals:

* The Wundrous Society Teaching Hospital is a private hospital open only to Wundrous Society Members and their families.

* The Royal Lightwing Hospital is Nevermoor's main, public hospital. It could be connected to Lightwing Parade in Old Town, but it is unknown at this time.

## Education

The Wundrous Society is the most prestigious school in Nevermoor, allowing only nine children a year to enter after a year of four entrance exams.

## Culture and Attractions

### Festivals

Nevermoor hosts several events throughout the year. Some of the largest include the Nevermoor Bazaar (a market festival held every Friday during the summer), the Hallowmas Black Parade which the Wunderous Society members march in to remember the Wuns who have died followed a carnival-like parade, and the Battle of Christmas Eve between the Yule Queen and Saint Nicholas.

### Sports and Recreation

The Trollosseum is the sporting arena in Nevermoor. Weekly events include troll fights on Saturday and centaur roller derby on Tuesdays. Seasonal events include Christmastime unicorn jousting and a dragonriding tournament in June. The Trollosseum also hosts other events, such as the Wundrous Society's Show Trial as there is ample space for contestants to perform and seating for spectators of the show.

## Trivia

### In Literature

"*I wanted the city to have a name that felt kind of whimsical and magical but also had that slight dark scene to it and that sort of sinister edge, and "Nevermoor" as a word comes from my favorite poem, which is: The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe*"
―Jessica Townsend at Sydney Opera House (17 minute mark)[[src]]
* The "maiden" mentioned in Poe's poem has the name Lenore, which is Cadence Blackburn's middle name.

### Other

The Raven itself is a bird of the genus Corvus, tying it to Morrigan's father of the same name as well as the Crow, which also belongs to this genus.

## Notes and References

1. ↑ *Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow*, Chapter 11 (*The Book Trial*): "Morrigan closed her eyes and focused on naming the twenty-seven boroughs of Nevermoor." She then goes on to name a number of the boroughs.
2. ↑ *Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow*, Chapter 11 (*The Book Trial*): "'We learned [the names of the boroughs] in nursery school, for goodness' sake.'" - Cadence Blackburn
3. ↑ *Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow*, Chapter 11 (*The Angel Israfel*): "...along the noisy, swarming high street of the Bohemian district."
4. ↑ *Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow* Chapter 19 (*The Gobleian Library.)* Rossini mentions Swordsworth as a location outside of Old Town in the library. She mentions Eldritch, which is a confirmed borough, in a similar way.
5. ↑ Raven Wikipedia
6. ↑ Crow Wikipedia