Nevermore University
Office of the Registrar · Jericho Road, Jericho, Vermont
Dear Applicant,
On behalf of the Regents, I am pleased to confirm your admission to Nevermore University for the coming term. Your place is reserved, and your housing assignment will be posted at the Gatehouse on arrival.
Nevermore was founded in 1791 as an academy for outcasts and became a university after the Reorganization. The Houses, the traditions and most of the old stone remain. Alongside them there are new residences, new departments and a lane of societies that did not exist two years ago. The chancellor’s office is currently vacant, and the Regents expect to make an appointment in due course.
Please bring warm clothing, anything you cannot do without, and the enclosed map. It was drawn by a former student and should be treated with caution.
We look forward to welcoming you.
The Registrar
P.S. Convocation is at midnight.
Key to the plate
1
The Gatehouse. Iron gates and a lodge. The Raven Line shuttle runs to Main Street in about ten minutes. The forest path takes forty and has no lights.
2
Main Building & the Quad. Classrooms, the Commissary, and the Principal’s Office in the central tower.
3
The Four Houses. Ophelia, Puck, Caliban and Thisbie. Each has its own crest, common room and Poe Cup team.
4
Cloister Walk & the Belfry. A covered passage to North Campus and the Student Union. Trivia night is on Wednesdays at Raven’s Rest.
5
Collegium & Halloway Laboratories. Lecture halls and labs, with the Faulkner Archive nearby.
6
Faulkner Court. Graduate and long-term housing.
7
Society Row. Nine fraternity and sorority houses along one lane. They are co-ed, despite the names.
8
Ravenfield & the Aquatic Center. Athletics and Poe Cup practice. The Wardens’ lodge is close by.
9
Lake Nevermore. The boathouse, Raven Island, Crackstone’s Crypt and the Lupin Cages.
10
Willow Hill Annex. Old ruins, a new wing and a sealed one. Students report singing here at night.
11
Founders’ Hill. A mausoleum, and a view over the whole campus.
12
The Whispering Woods. Trails running north. Beyond them lie the wilds.
J
Jericho. Farmer’s Market on Saturdays, the Stockade Diner and the Hanged Man Tavern.
Later this yearRaven Line
Day
Event
Platform
Fall
Halloween Masquerade
Mu Mu
Fall
Midterm Mourning
Library
Fall
Homecoming: Night of Returning
Old Campus
Win
Solstice Talent Show
Usher Auditorium
Spr
Spring Fling: Beltane Night
The Woods
End
Commencement: The Final Toll
The Quad
The Poe Cup, Rave’N, Prank Day and the Founder’s Pyre are held on dates posted at the Belfry.
“There’s a tunnel from the Faulkner Archive to the Principal’s Office.”
Heard at the Archive
“Coach Vlad is a vampire.”
Heard at fencing
“The lake swallowed a student a few years back.”
Heard at the boathouse
“Gamma Omicron’s statue garden has a real petrified student in it.”
Heard on the Row
“The next chancellor has already been chosen.”
Heard in Admin Hall
“Temperance Ash is going to run for Regent.”
Heard at the Belfry
“Willow Hill sings at night.”
Heard by everyone
Pinned anonymously. Check before you repeat any of it.
Also at Nevermore or in Jericho: the rest of the Addams family, the faculty, the Wardens, Sheriff Santiago, Coach Vlad, Professor Orloff and Rosaline Rotwood. Where any of them is on a given day varies.
Setup
FormatOpen-world sandbox. You decide what your character does
SettingNevermore University and Jericho, Vermont, some time after Season 2
CanonSeasons 1–2 are background. Follow it or change it
RomanceOptional, and only if you want it
CharactersCanon characters can be anywhere. Nobody’s location is fixed
ChancellorThe position is vacant
How the story runs
1
You are the protagonist.You are not assumed to be Wednesday or a detective. Quiet days work as well as dangerous ones.
2
Canon is background.The bot will not argue with you for departing from it.
3
The story responds to you.Romance, rivalry and conflict happen only when you take them up.
4
Consequences carry over.Promises, debts and injuries are remembered. People change gradually.
5
Characters know what they have seen.They do not act on information they could not have.
6
Your latest instruction wins.It takes priority over the lore.
Starting
Companion website. The map with a route planner, the catalog, the calendar, the directory and a housing questionnaire that suggests a House and a society.
Open it in a new tab.
Optional. The bot works without it.
Start anywhere. Say where you are and what you are doing: arriving at the Gatehouse, in a Faulkner Court kitchen, at a Society Row open house.
Any scene works as an opening.
Choose a House and a society, or neither. Ophelia, Puck, Caliban or Thisbie. Rush week is called the Summoning.
Housing is assigned by lottery.
Optional story hooks. The vacant chancellorship, the sealed wing at Willow Hill, the northern wilds. The bot offers one or two at a time.
You can ignore all of them.
Write however you like. First or third person, short or long.
The bot follows your tone.