As for what Trevelyne is, that's complicated. embarassment-time; last year we had a good-sized gaming group, me, my best friend,, one or two roommates, my best friend's girl and another friend of mine, also a girl. I mention that because; hey gamer-girls! win! but now it;s just me and my best friend and not very frequently either. as to why? life has seriously gotten in the way, but we still want to game. I don;t have time to go out to the local clubs or associations, I have school full-time and I work weekends as an army reservist, also I am away all summer (with weekend leave!) with the army. I know we have at least two groups here in London, Ontario, but I don;t have the time to get out to them and meet them. Did I also mention I am the GM when we game? yeah...
So there is my buddy's character, and then there is my own, who exists to mitigate the trouble my buddy gets into with his find-them, kill-them approach to problem solving (and in a completely in experienced sorcerer too!), so I have a PC I play, as the GM, like an NPC. we want Trevelyne to be playable for new people we lure into the group, another friend of ours who we'd like to lure back into our lives, or my buddy's girlfriend when she comes over. I added Trevelyne to the campaign as an attempt to add flavour to what was at that point another rendition of the Two Guys in a Basement Show. So, is he an NPC? I don't know. If I make him an NPC, can I make him back into a PC later if we get another player, through progression?
as for the Back Story; here is how I see Canada in the Dresdenverse, or rather, how I see the council seeing it; The metaphor here is the fire-proof house located far away from flamable materials. it is seen as a supernatural backwater, compared to the rest of the world, a farm leauge for magical talent. Our "hoser" friend from the introduction story? sure, he got picked up in manitoba, but he is going to work somewhere else, somewhere higher priority. I see that as more or less the norm. I don't see anything wrong with what we use for a back story now, which is to say, it's mainly a mystery. both the other PCs share the aspect "ignorance is not bliss", it's a theme i'm working with for the campaign.