Knoling
| Mortal Name | Edgar Blackwood |
|---|---|
| Pronouns | He/Him/His |
| Kith | Sluagh |
| Court | Seelie Court |
| Seeming | Wilder |
Further Information
Basic Timeline:
1980:
Edgar Blackwood is born into a well-to-do family in Fox Chapel, a suburb of Pittsburgh.
1985-1998:
Edgar is educated at prestigious private schools where he develops an interest in literature - especially fairy tales, folk lore, ghost stories, and other tales of the strange and macabre. A quiet and studious child most often found alone in a dark corner of the library with a warm cup of tea, Edgar was one of those children the other kids would generally avoid and label as strange and despite his friendly nature he had few friends.
1998-2006:
Edgar went on to attend Carnegie Mellon University and obtained a doctorate in Literary and Cultural Studies. His work often focused on fanciful stories of the occult and nightmarish fairy tales, with his doctoral thesis delving into commonalities of human fear as they present themselves in various common and familiar forms throughout cultures disconnected by geography and time frame. It is during this time that he also delves deep into a hobby of cultivating tea and crafting his own teas and tisanes.
2001:
Edgar finds a particularly rare and interesting book on Akkadian folk lore at a used bookstore. He spends the evening reading the book by candlelight and his Chrysalis triggers. It is a bad time for a curious new Sluagh, the city just underwent political upheaval and the Blood Storm was about to occur. Thankfully an elderly Sluagh found Edgar, took him under her protective wing, helped him to remember his identity as Knoling, and kept him from delving too deep into mysteries he was not yet prepared to face.
2002:
Knoling quickly feels at home among the handful of Seelie in the city and begins making friends and connections among the Changeling in the area. He also begins developing a reputation for being a quick learner and an excellent Tea Party host.
2006-2010:
Edgar is hired at CMU and teaches a course on Fairy, Folk, and Ghost Tales from Around the World. Despite some students that show a deep love for the subject, Edgar largely finds the experience dull and uninspiring.
2007:
Edgar attends an academic conference where he meets Chris Holly, a professor in the English Dept of the neighboring University of Pitttsburgh. The two bond over similar interests and form a lasting friendship.
2010:
Disillusioned with academia, Edgar and Chris purchase a building in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood. The first and second floor become a used book store run by Chris called Tell-Tale Books. It swiftly gains a reputation for having rare finds, especially of a macabre or occult nature. Edgar turns the basement into Nevermore Teas and Tisanes. The store not only contains a fine selection of bespoke handcrafted teas and tisanes for the refined tea drinker, but Knoling also carries special brews with unique properties when consumed by the Kithain and even more unusual concoctions designed to appeal to the, unique, tastes of Sluagh.
2016:
Knoling unintentionally destroys a wraith’s fetter while following rumors about an ancient scroll with lost knowledge regarding the Dauntain. A short time later Knoling’s (and even Edgar’s) companions begin noticing an unsettling feeling whenever he’s nearby with anyone that’s too close to him for more than a few moments beginning to have a sensation of bugs crawling all over them. Even in passing strangers seem to take more notice of Edgar and feel uncomfortable around him.
2021:
Knoling has a knack for finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong, and occasionally the right, time. In the time since his Chrysalis he’s had a few near-death encounters. In May of 2021 he found himself just narrowly escaping the clutches of an angry Shadow Court Troll whom Knoling prevented from recovering a tome containing secrets of the Far Dreaming. While making his way nimbly through the ruins of some bombed-out buildings in Bagdad hoping to lose his pursuer among the rubble, Knoling suddenly noticed he’d developed a unique skill to climb over walls and across ceilings with ease and to contort his body in impossible ways in order to squeeze through tight spaces.
Surreal Quality:
Anyone spending more than a few passing moments near Edgar/Knoling begin to have an uncomfortable sensation as if of bugs crawling all over their body.
Chimerical Companion:
Alabastor
Alabastor is an albino raven with only a bare skull for a head. Alabastor can most often be seen perched upon some high point as directly above Knoling as is practical.
Businesses:
Tell-Tale Books/Nevermore Tea and Tisanes
Edgar owns a building on a small side street in Shadyside that most would
overlook unless you know to look for it. The first two floors belong to a used
book store named Tell-Tale Books, known for its eclectic collection of dark and
macabre stories and tomes of mysterious origin and occult subjects all carefully
curated by a very quiet and unsettling young man with an uncanny ability to
seemingly know what a customer is looking for even before they tell him. Above
the bookstore is a pair of small apartments, one for the bookstore owner and the
other for Edgar. Meanwhile, in a small alley alongside the building is a shadowy
stairwell that leads to a door with a small sign above it depicting a raven. Those
looking at the sign with Chimerical sight will see that the raven is not a still
figure but that it is instead tapping, indeed gently rapping, rapping at the
basement door. Entering through that door one finds themselves in Nevermore
Tea and Tisanes, a dimly lit bespoke tea shop of which Edgar is the proprietor.
The shop contains a wide variety of teas Edgar has curated and crafted, not only
for mortal consumption, but teas designed specifically for his fellow fae and some
others meant for his fellow Sluagh alone.
The Cozy Nook
A large Victorian era home in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh currently operating as a bed & breakfast. The building has quite a well known reputation for being haunted with most patrons reporting hearing unexplained noises or seeing glimpses of ghostly apparitions.
Edgar was born into an upper middle class family in a suburb of Pittsburgh known for most of its residents falling into a higher tax bracket. He was given all the privileges one would expect from being born into money including being educated exclusively in well renowned private schools. Edgar had a love of the dark and macabre stories he encountered and spent most of his time reading fairy tales, folk lore, and ghost tales from around the world. This often led him to the other children finding him creepy and avoiding him.
Edgar went on to attend Carnegie Mellon University where he studied literature and cultural studies with a focus on his favorite types of tales. He also loved studying a wide range of different languages and knowledge that many attempted to keep hidden away, especially knowledge of dark and occult subjects. Edgar eventually gained his doctorate and spent a few years teaching at his alma mater, but despite having some students whose curiosity soared and inspired, Edgar generally found teaching too tedious for his liking. He joined with a friend from a nearby college that also had grown bored of teaching and they purchased a building that they turned into two businesses that meshed well together, a bookstore and a tea shop. Edgar eventually further invested his money into a nearby bed & breakfast that had a rather well known reputation for being haunted.
At age 21, while enraptured in a book of ancient tales, Edgar underwent his chrysalis. Knoling is a Slaugh born from dreams of exploring that which is secret and hidden in the dark and dangerous places that others fear to tread. Joined by his chimera, Alabastor, an albino raven, Knoling has made a point of doing what he must to study any interesting subjects he hears whispers of, even when that leads him into situations he knows are dangerous, even life-threatening. He’s managed to barely avoid death more than once and has gained a few different side effects as a result.
These days Knoling continues to hunt down any knowledge or secrets he finds interesting and using his knowledge to see to it that the Kithain can make it through the Winter. Despite having had few friends, Knoling/Edgar has always been very friendly and he loves hosting gatherings and preparing what he considers to be delicious feasts. Just never forget that while he appears to be a warm and friendly young man, he is still at the center of his being a creature of fear and darkness who revels in that which strikes terror into the hearts of men.
| Player | Steve Shaffer |
|---|---|
| Pronouns | He/Him/His |
| MES # | US2019100129 |
| Domain | PA-020-D |
| Storyteller | Chelly Prettiman |
