Cadence Blackburn

**Cadence Lenore Blackburn** is a mesmerist and a member of Unit 919 who ended up finishing the Show Trial in second or third place. Cadence and Morrigan Crow met at least once during each of the entrance trials. While they initially dislike each other, they became best friends by the end of their first year at the Wundrous Society.

*Click here to see quotes from Cadence Blackburn*

## Biography

### Wundrous Society Trials

Cadence first appears as a contestant in the trials as one of Baz Charlton's candidates. Cadence, at first, seemed to be friends with Noelle Devereaux, but uses her mesmerist abilities to prank her by having Hawthorne Swift drop a jelly sculpture on Noelle. At the Book Trial Cadence intimidates other contestants into dropping out. During the Chase Trial Cadence rides a rhino; she is unable to control it. She was then offered help from Morrigan who gave Cadence a ride on Fenestra. After Morrigan hits the gold target and wins, Cadence convinces a race official that Fenestra was her steed as she was riding in front so she can keep going through the trials. Because the target Morrigan hit was gold, Cadence is given an invitation to a feast with the elders. Part way through the Fright Trial, Cadence and Morrigan meet again. Cadence is surprised that Morrigan remembered her. She then pushes Morrigan into the lake before going in herself. When it is her turn at the Show Trial, Cadence reveals that she is a mesmerist through a video she made of herself. The video shows her mesmerizing Hawthorne into throwing Jelly at Noelle, mesmerizing a police officer into handcuffing himself, and getting another candidate disqualified so that Morrigan could go on to the Fright Trial. The last time Morrigan sees her before the inauguration ceremony, Cadence mesmerizes Inspector Flintlock into believing Morrigan is a legal citizen of Nevermoor.

At some point between the Show Trial and the inauguration ceremony, Cadence and her patron found three Safeguards for the mesmerist.

### Wundrous Society Years

#### Year One

Cadence joined the rest of Unit 919 for the inauguration ceremony at Proudfoot House. Following the ceremony, she learned (along with her fellow unit members and their patrons) that Morrigan Crow was a Wundersmith, causing friction within the unit for almost the remainder of the school year.

Cadence was the first one to arrive on Unit 919's station. She spoke to Morrigan Crow, the second person to come, and the two discussed their dangerous knacks. In the Hometrain, Cadence and her Unit were told about the School of Mundane Arts and School of Arcane Arts as well as about which one each of them belongs to. She was the one to notice the black circle on the diagram and ask about its meaning. While traveling, her name was forgotten by her Conductor Marina Cheery and Francis Fitzwilliam, accompanied by most of the Unit, didn't notice her, much to her displeasure. Miss Cheery, however, managed calming Cadence down by telling her about her knack being rare and how lucky they were to have her.

Cadence and her Unit were greeted by Dulcinea Dearborn at the beginning of their tour of Proudfoot House. When they finished touring the School of Mundane Arts, Cadence was told to wait for Maris Murgatroyd in order to also explore the School of Arcane Arts. The mesmerist wasn't happy when she learned that some of her Unit members were leaving and she had to stay. Cadence didn't expect Murgatroyd to share a body with Dearborn. On the next day, she refused to tell Morrigan about the School of Arcane Arts.

Cadence took a number of classes with other unit members including Decoding Nevermoor, as well as taking classes on her own, including The Art of Interrogation. She wasn't pleased with the fact that her Unit members were taking Recognizing Mesmerism classes and thought that this is because people think of her as of a criminal. During her first Decoding Nevermoor class, Cadence compared her home city to chaos. She wasn't successful in most of the tasks she was assigned there.

While the rest of the unit started to slowly warm up to Morrigan, Unit 919 became victims of blackmail near the beginning of summer. When the first note arrived, Cadence suggested that they wait to see what they want, earning the Unit's approval and Morrigan's thanks. When Thaddea Macleod was unhappy from the first note, Cadence suggested they vote on whether to comply or not and she, herself, voted to comply with the demands of the blackmailers, narrowly winning by one vote.

During the practical Decoding Nevermoor lesson, Cadence and her Unit walked in a Tricksy Lane and were turned upside down. She was then paired with Morrigan and Hawthorne, after being invited by the former. The mesmerist originally had problems communicating with Hawthorne. They discussed the Ghastly Market and the Bonesmen after Morrigan had a close encounter during an assignment. Not long after, Cadence and the rest of the unit witnessed Morrigan shoot a fireball from her mouth following an encounter with bully Heloise Redchurch, causing Morrigan to be suspended from WunSoc.

Over the summer holidays, Cadence found Morrigan during the Nevermoor Bazaar to tell her about the Ghastly Market being real. The two girls went to the nefarious market and ended up rescuing a Magnificat cub and Alfie Swann, who had been missing. Cadence was the only one of Morrigan's classmates, excluding Hawthorne, who visited with her over the summer holidays and kept her up to date with what was happening with the rest of the unit. She tells Morrigan that the blackmailers told her to embarrass her patron (via mesmerization) while he gives a speech, which she makes him utterly humiliate himself at without remorse, which makes Morrigan very happy.

Following the summer holidays, and because of other blackmail events, Scholar Mistress Dearborn called for an exam period. The 'Decoding Nevermoor' exam ended as an automatic fail for the entire unit as one team did not arrive back in time altogether. The majority of the Unit at this time started to completely ignore Morrigan. Cadence, however, started to like Morrigan more after this point.

Cadence was abducted sometime on Hallowmas to be sold at the Ghastly Market for her mesmerist knack. She was ultimately saved by Hawthorne (who finally started to remember her), Morrigan, and Professor Onstald, who sacrificed his life to save everyone else. Following Hallowmas, Cadence attended the Wunsoc assembly where Morrigan would reveal she was a Wundersmith to the present Wunsoc members, though this and the blackmailing would be revealed to be part of the Unit's Loyalty Trial in which Unit 919 would pass. This would prove to be a turning point as the Unit was now on friendlier terms then they had been before. Morrigan joined Cadence and Lambeth in the Arcane division from this point on. The three would wait for each other after classes if their next lesson was together.

Later this year, Morrigan trusted Cadence with her worries about studying the Wretched Arts and told her about wanting to speak with Murgatroyd, to Cadence's original confusion. Cadence and her Unit attended a C&D gathering in the Gathering room. After its end, they defended Morrigan from older WunSoc members, who wanted to bully her.

#### Year Two

In her second year in the Wundrous Society, Cadence was noticeably more remembered by her fellow Unit members. She was also warmer towards Morrigan.

Cadence and her Unit were told about the existence of the School of Wundrous Arts and Cadence wondered how is Morrigan called now that she isn't in the School of Arcane Arts.

After the Golders Night Cadence and the rest of her Unit visited Morrigan in the hospital. She and Hawthorne later visited Morrigan several more times, including on her birthday, when Cadence took a dog for Morrigan and mesmerised the healers so that they don't notice it. On another visit Cadence didn't pay attention to neither Morrigan, nor Hawthorne and read a book instead. When she heard about Juvela De Flimsé, she thought that it is unusual for wunimals to attack people this way,

Cadence attended the C&D meeting, which told WunSoc about the Hollowpox with the rest of her Unit. When she found the posters, informing people about the Hollowpox, she read them out loud to her fellow Unit members. Later that year, Cadence's neighbor, a frogwun was found in the local park after becoming a Hollowpox victim.

When Morrigan started missing the train home, Cadence was worried for her fiend and asked her where she had been. She later participated in the jokes about Morrigan being a Wundersmith and suggested that she creates monsters with deadly breath. Later Cadence learned about Ezra Squall being in Morrigan's classes and tried to act cool and as if she didn't care although she actually was worried,

During their practical C&D class Cadence was paired up with Anah, who was anxious about stealing, leading to Cadence comforting her. The group succeeded in their task as they stole a necklace from a highly-secured jewelry store. While getting back to the others, the group heard Laurent St. James's speech on wunimals and Hollowpox, which disgusted Cadence, leading into her calling him a fool.

Cadence was originally not supportive of the idea of going to the Gobleian Library. There she although reluctantly helped Morrigan with stealing a book from the library. When they were attacked Cadence tried to hide her fear. Morrigan tried to defend the other girl but in the end of the battle Cadence was covered in mucus. The mesmerist asked Lam whether she expected the attack, which Lam denied. When Roshni Singh was attacked Cadence and the rest of her Unit were instructed in leaving the library.

During the summer vacation, Cadence was invited by Morrigan at Hotel Deucalion in order to attend one of Frank's parties. There Cadence got into an argument with two of the guests about the rights of the wunimals. Later this day Cadence was invited to sleep in Morrigan's room, which she accepted.

When the Concerned Citizens of Nevermoor gathered in front of Proudfoot House in order to protest, Cadence was just going out of the Whingeing Woods with Lambeth. Cadence was also worried for Morrigan, who was about to also be there but couldn't go due to having lessons on the roof. It was also Cadence the one to warn the rest of her Unit that they aren't allowed to move any closer due to being forbidden by Elder Quinn. While the teachers were trying to get Cadence and the other students inside, she, Lambeth and Morrigan started screaming at the Elders to move faster. They were interrupted by Miss Cheery, who attempted to gather Unit 919 and get them to Proudfoot House. Cadence also witnessed the rebirth of the Fireblossom Trees.

When Morrigan was revealed to the society to be a Wundersmith, Cadence was sure that it was her patron, Baz, to snitch out and even plotted to get the truth out of him through mesmerism. Later this day, Cadence and Morrigan found Anah crying and she trusted them with the truth about the awakened wunimals. The two comforted her, even Anah saying that Cadence had never been kinder with her before. In the end of the school day, Cadence saw a woman trying to get into Proudfoot House and mesmerised her into climbing on a tree. While going back home, Cadence realized that the woman, which she encountered earlier was actually trying to get Laurent St. James's prize by taking a photo of Morrigan using the Wundrous Arts.

When President Wintersea was about to get into Nevermoor, Cadence and Hawthorne were warned by Lambeth that they have to find Morrigan. The two of them broke her door and tried to defend her. They couldn't even get to her though so Fen went in their place.

Cadence and Hawthorne once again visited Morrigan in the hospital and were even thrown out of it once. When she was finally awake, she trusted them with all the things which happened on Courage Square. Morrigan also apologized to Cadence for spending so much time on Sub-nine. This lead into the three considering how to all sneak in. Later, after Hawthorne was gone, Mog also apologized for trying to make Cadence help her with stealing a book.

#### Year Three

(To be added after the release of *Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow*.)

## Physical Appearance

When Cadence first appears she is described as a 'tall, wiry girl with dark brown skin'. She also has her hair in a long black braid. Her eyes are a deep brown that glint in the sun.

## Personality and Traits

### Sarcastic

Cadence tends to show sarcastic traits towards the members of the unit and often makes dry, somewhat snarky comments.

### Stubborn

Cadence has shown that she is an ambitious and perhaps stubborn person. During the Chase trial, she pushed past Morrigan while riding Fenestra despite being rescued by Morrigan, in order to finish the challenge. She has shown determination various times.

### Manipulative

Cadence has used her knack at times to achieve goals, and has caused people to do things with it. She has used qualities of other people, or other people's affiliations, to reach her goals. This was perhaps shown when she mesmerised Hawthorne into pranking Noelle, or when she pushed past Morrigan during the Chase Trial.

### Other

Cadence seems not to care about rules and positions of decorum to a high degree. She has been seen breaking rules and is willing to go against certain people if she disagrees with them or she believes they are doing something not right. She may show cutting behavior at times, but is loyal to her classmates and wiling to stand up for them. While she can be cynical, she can be practical and perhaps more reasonable than Morrigan at times, being able to recognize the more irrational pessimism or worry that Morrigan expresses at times. She can also show a rational demeanour during conflict, being the one to respond more calmly when Unit 919 started to be blackmailed. She often shows a cool demeanor, but this perhaps also makes her more inscrutable; Morrigan has described her as unpredictable.

## Abilities and Skills

### Knack

Cadence is a mesmerist, which means she can get people to do what she wants, but it also means that people forget her. Morrigan has a rare talent of being able to remember her. The rest of the Unit takes Recognizing Mesmerism classes, and soon they remember her, too.

## Relationships

### Morrigan Crow

When Cadence and Morrigan first met they hated each other. However once Cadence realized Morrigan remembered her they began to be a sort of friends. Cadence uses her mesmerist skills to help Morrigan such as getting her back into the trial and making Inspector Flintlock think Morrigan had legal papers. Once they were both in Unit 919 they became good friends, with Morrigan recognizing Cadence as a best friend along with Hawthorne.

### Unit 919

Cadence is part of Unit 919. The unit was hostile at first to her because of her mesmerist abilities and sometimes forgot about her. However, by the end of *Wundersmith,* Cadence has become good friends with most people in the Unit.

#### Hawthorne Swift

Cadence and Hawthorne didn't get along at first - Hawthorne forgot about Cadence, they argued a lot and sometimes were even rude to each other. However, they later formed a friendship. Hawthorne eventually starts remembering her and even saves her from The Ghastly Market. They visit Deucalion together, support Morrigan, hide her secrets and try to help her when she is off to destroy the Hollowpox.

#### Anah Kahlo

Anah and Cadence weren't always friendly. Anah often forgot Cadence and when she finally started remembering her, she would be strict about using mesmerism. Cadence in turn didn't like the way Anah always followed the rules. However, when Anah couldn't deal with the pressure in Hollowpox (novel), Cadence comforted her. This lead Anah to trust her with the secret about the Wunimals waking up.

#### Lamya Ra

Cadence and Lamya appear to be friends. Cadence waits for Lamya to finish classes in the School of Arcane Arts and Lamya warns Cadence when something bad is about to happen. They sometimes take classes together.

### Her Gran

Cadence and her gran share a love of mystery novels. Her gran also treated Cadence and her mother to a ten day spa vacation.

### Baz Charlton

Cadence doesn't like her patron. He barely remembers her and Cadence was happy to mesmerise him into getting humiliated.

### Noelle Devereaux

Cadence doesn't like Noelle although they have the same patron. Noelle doesn't remember Cadence and is often rude in front of her. This leads to Cadence voluntarily mesmerising Harold Flintlock in order to keep Noelle out of Unit 919.

## Etymology

**Cadence** (pronounced KAY-dəns) is a modern English name that comes from the word meaning "rhythm, flow." The name has only been in use since the 20th century. As she uses a buzzing/humming voice and words to mesmerize people, this is a very apt name.

**Lenore** is an English diminutive of the name *Eleanor*, itself an Old French form of the Occitan name *Aliénor. T*he Occitan phrase *alia Aenor* means "the other Aenor." However, the meaning of the name *Aenor* is unknown. In other literature, Lenore is the name of the narrator's dead love in the Edgar Allan Poe poem "The Raven." It is possible that Townsend was aware of the name of love interest in one of English's most famous poems - a mystical poem about a *Crow* that repeatedly says "*Nevermore*".

The surname **Blackburn** comes from a Lancashire city. The Old English word means "black stream/brook."

## Behind-the-Scenes

* In the same group with Morrigan and Francis waiting to take the Oral portion of the Book Trial
* Rode a Rhino for the Chase Trial
	+ This was a terrible choice of steed for Cadence. It was presumably chosen by her patron Baz Charlton. Baz got a fast horse for Noelle. Baz might have chosen the Rhinoceros for the sole purpose of helping Noelle Devereaux, by creating chaos on the right hand side of the West Gate crowd while Noelle started on the left hand side.
* Was possibly only one of two people to go for the candle in the lake (the other being Morrigan)
* Her door is mentioned to be forest green, 3 down from Morrigan's - it leads to the living room in her home
* She needed three signatories for her safeguard pact
* Cadence enjoys mystery novels.
* Cadence is the only one of Bas Charlton's candidates to not be part of the Charlton Five.
* Some of the classes Cadence has attended include Identifying Arsenic, Amateur Surveillance Techniques, Art of Interrogation, Bomb-Defusing Basics and Decoding Nevermoor.
* According to the Hollowpox Special Edition Box, her favorite class is Identifying Arsenic.
* Cadence enjoys lounging at the pool.

## Gallery

Cadence from the NatGeo Kids websiteCadence Facts from the NatGeo Kids websiteCadence on the Wundersmith Swedish cover by Mats Minnhagen
## Appearances

* *Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow* (First appearance)
* *Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow*
* *Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow*

## Notes and References

1. ↑ http://www.behindthename.com/name/cadence
2. ↑ http://www.behindthename.com/name/lenore
3. ↑ http://www.behindthename.com/name/eleanor
4. ↑ http://surnames.behindthename.com/name/blackburn

Anah Kahlo · Archan Tate · **Cadence Blackburn** · Francis Fitzwilliam · Hawthorne Swift · Lambeth Amara · Mahir Ibrahim · Morrigan Crow · Thaddea Macleod
Sumati Mishra · Arch's Patron · Baz Charlton · Hester Fitzwilliam · Nancy Dawson · Lambeth's Patron · Miss Mulryan · Jupiter North · Thaddea's Patron
Miss Cheery