LunarTotems/Coyote
Introduction
Captain Talkana's cry hung on the chill air of dawn. The rest of the camp froze as their commanding officer stumbled from his tent, a cold sweat pouring off of his naked body. He was trembling, and his second put a blanket around him.
"Another nightmare, sir?"
The Captain swallowed, and restrained his fear. "Are the troops ready to leave?"
The second hesitated before answering, and the officer strode back into the tent.
***
"Dammit, sound off men!"
The forest had swallowed them all. The captain had left only briefly, to examine something, and he was utterly unable to find them again. He didn't even know where he was. Each tree seemed to look alike, gently rocking in the breezes, the patterns of shadow and light made by the foliage shifting malevolently.
But he knew this was the right way....
"Asheru? Makali! Where are you?"
He saw the shadow of a man flicker behind a tree trunk to disappear and an eerie sensation crawled up his back. He rushed after the man, turning around the trunk.
Nothing.
A strange mist hung here, silvery and dark, obscuring the ground, and it tricked his eyes. He thought he saw a dog or a wolf, it's tongue lolling playfully from it's mouth, dance out of sight behind another thick, majestic tree trunk.
And then over there, another soldier, stepping out to greet him, but he too just dissolved into more chilling smoke and shadow.
His eyes were wild as he spun helplessly in the center of the maze-like grove of trees. His panicked shouts surrounded him in the mists, echoing back to him as laughter, until he collapsed to his knees in the moss and fungus covered forest floor.
"They are not coming. They don't know where you are, Talkana."
He lifted his tear-tracked face to see a figure step out of the mist. Red skinned, he was bare-chested except for a necklace of talismans and feathers. His black hair was pulled away from his old, weathered face. The man's eyes sparkled with mischief and wisdom, and behind him, a bushy tail swished back and forth playfully.
"What did you say?"
"They're far from here, lost as you are, by my magic."
"But...why?"
"I am protecting the people that you would slaughter for your nation. Turn your people back, and I willend my curses."
"Will the nightmares stop? I'll do anything to stop the nightmares."
The shaman's face split into a pleased smile. "Certainly, Captain. I'll even give you a night of wonderous dreams when you return to your own lands."
Washapa, Walker of the Silver Mist
Symbolism : Transformation, creation, cunning, good fortune.
The coyote often embodies the trickster -- a mischievous but heroic supernatural being that uses magic, cunning or deception to achieve its ends. Most Native America tribes of the Pacific Northwest claim the coyote to be their creator. In some legends, the coyote forms the different peoples of the land from the various sections of a great beaver, which it has slain. The plains Indians also regard the coyote as a teacher and a magician. In all of its roles, the coyote is a benevolent figure, who, intentionally or unintentionally, helps restore balance and order.
Charms :
Finding the Spirit's Shape: Coyote
Sense Sharpening Change
Ever Wary Fox Method
Stealthy Fox Method
Traceless Passage Technique
Terrestrial Circle Sorcery
- Silent Words of Dreams and Nightmares
- Malediction of the Distorted Compass
- Shadowy Simalcrums of Smoke
Coyote form : Strength 3, Stamina 4, heightened senses and speed.
Tell : Coyote's tail.
The coyote. Another powerful, powerful totem. Nuwisha is yet another werewolf book rife with Coyote ideas to play with. Primarily, however, screams the concept of a changing Moon trickster. When most people HEAR changing moon trickster, they immediatly think of a coyote. Regardless of what you choose to make your coyote, legends seem to want to make them heroes that use cunning brawn.
The Wolf is the warrior, the dog the loyal servant, the coyote the cunning wise-man.
I wanted to show a concept that many people complain no longer exists in the Lunar book: the illusionist. With sorcery, tomes of illusionary magic is at thefingertips of a Lunar. Compliment this with other illusion like charms or effects Lunars have, and anidea of what first age illusionists might have beenlike comes to the fore.
