Dancing Coyote

=Dancing Coyote=

Dancing Coyote is still awaiting application/approval

Though always willing to use his magic to battle supervillains and similar threats, Dancing Coyote primarily sees himself as a healer and spiritual leader, not a "superhero." He provides healing at a free clinic in Harrisburg, works with underpriveleged children, provides counseling and religious services, and otherwise works to improve the lives of the people in the community.

Description
A fit Native American man in his thirties, with dark weatherbeaten skin, thick black hair braided into a waist-long ponytail, and attentive black eyes. He is most often wearing slightly formal civilian clothing. Careful observation will show a number of pouches scattered around his person, filled with natural herbs, seeds, bark, berries, and other natural ingredients. Those with magical senses will recognize him as a shamanic mage and an avatar of the spirit Coyote, but even ordinary observers can detect a superhuman presence that makes him both imposing and approachable.

Origin
Centuries ago, before the arrival of European colonists to the new world, Dancing Coyote was the shaman of a Manahoac Indian tribe not far from the current location of Colonial Bay. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manahoac for some background. I take enormous liberties with the historical Manahoac with this character, though... consider this an alternate universe.) He was granted magical powers and brought to the present day by his patron spirits to serve as a champion of life.

After having some superheroic adventures in Colonial Bay, he temporarily gave up the role of superhero in order to learn more about ordinary human life in the modern world. Now, at his patron spirits' urging, he has reclaimed his earlier status as a public metahuman and healer.

Initially, he channeled the spirits' powers through his body primarily, and secondarily through spells. Now Coyote's spirit nature dwells in him more powerfully than before, but other spirits' less so, and he relies more heavily on spellcasting to focus magic into the world.

Powers
Dancing Coyote (DC) is an avatar of the totem spirit Coyote, from whom his superhuman charm, magical sense of smell, and spellcasting ability derive. He has learned additional spells from Coyote and other totem spirits.

Each spell requires an invocation of the associated spirits in his native language, and the use of specific spell components in specific ways... for example, to alter his form to that of a deer, he marks his face with colored pigments while invoking Deer to grant him the use of her form. His spells are primarily structured around healing, spirit-summoning (either literally or via invoking totem spirits' essences in his own self) and influencing the natural world. Although some of his spells are of use during combat, he does not and will not cast spells that directly cause pain or injury to living things.

Personality
DC is by nature a healer, of spirits as well as bodies. He is a natural diplomat and peacekeeper, always looking for ways to resolve unnecessary conflict.

However, he is also a man of strong principles, which he will not back down from solely for the sake of peace. Though he prefers the nonviolent solution whenever possible, he is willing to fight when the situation requires it.

His commitment to protect the innocent extends beyond the obvious catching of falling schoolbuses and similar heroics, into social work and similar activities. He works with at-risk youth, provides free healing services to the community, and generally spends his time trying to make life better for those who need it.

Although he has great respect for those who judge and enforce the law, he recognizes that law has its own imperatives, which don't always lead to improving people's lives. When those imperatives come into conflict, he violates law without hesitation. In particular, he considers the concept of victimless crimes (such as narcotic use) outright goofy; he also doesn't care very much about property law (trespassing, theft, vandalism, etc.).

DC is aware that his role frequently requires him to affect an air of solemnity, which he does willingly... he is a serious person by nature. That said, he is also a man of strong passions, and has over the years taken on some of his patron Coyote's playful mischievous nature. He knows how to have a good time, and is endlessly curious about people and about the world, and tends to look for the best in people and try to bring that out.

While he is fond of ethical/moral discussion and not above proselytizing, he isn't annoying about it. He is also extremely supportive of differing beliefs and lifestyles as long as nobody gets hurt.

He prefers to live close to nature, both in the sense of living outdoors and the sense of avoiding reliance on technology. However, this preference is entirely aesthetic and logistical, not moral or ethical -- he is in no way anti-technology. Quite the contrary, he fully approves of technology and its ability to improve people's lives. It simply isn't his path.

Relations
Being a sociable and outgoing fellow, DC made many friends during his first stay in Colonial Bay DC, most of whom are no longer around. Shoro was the first friend he made in the city, a relationship with traditional significance among the Manahoac. He also developed a surprisingly affectionate relationship with vampiric supervillain Nicky Winters, ultimately resulting in her agreeing to turn herself in.

History
"It's hard to know exactly where to start," he tells you, as he pokes the fire with a stick. "I suppose the best way is from the beginning, with my tribe.

"The Manahoac were not the mightiest tribe, nor the wealthiest, nor, I must admit, the smartest or most devout, though in my youth it seemed to me we were. Our neighbors, the Sioux, controlled most of what you call Virginia, from the eastern ocean to the western mountains, and we were a minor ally of theirs."

He seems wistful as he remembers his own past. "I could tell you many stories of my parents, and of my youth, but it would no doubt require a great deal of explanation and is rather beside the point. Suffice to say that I was an unremarkable youth, a little smarter than my fellows, but nothing special. Except that Leaf Smoker, the tribe's shaman, saw something special in me. He told my parents I had a destiny to become a shaman." He pauses for a moment, lost in memory. "I miss him. He was a good teacher, and later a good friend and ally."

He continues. "Leaf Smoker taught me a great deal about the essences of plants and animals and men. He taught me to identify medicinal herbs, and how to prepare them. He taught me to listen to the howl of Wolf and the low of Cow and the bleat of Sheep and Goat, and hear their fears and their desires, how to calm them and train them and put them to work. He taught me how to listen to men, and how to make them listen, both with words and without them. He taught me the lore of the spirit realm that underlies the physical realm, how to lead the ceremonies and the rituals, how to recognize the manipulations of sorcerors and spirits. In short, he taught me to be a shaman."

"In the summer of my fourteenth year, on the longest day, I went on my vision quest. This is -- I mean, was -- a coming-of-age ritual among my people... I'm not sure you have anything similar. But for shamanic initiates it is particularly special. It is the first time an initiate sends his spirit along the spirit paths, to find a patron or die trying. Many never come back."

He pauses. "It is difficult to describe the spirit paths themselves. It is like travelling through a dream, more a state of mind than a place. Suffice to say that I ate the sacred mushrooms and breathed the traveller's smoke and travelled the Paths, and when I returned I had been marked by Coyote." He points to the coyote tattoo on his chest, which seems to be looking right at you.

He grins rakishly. "This was unexpected. Coyote is a trickster, refusing to be bound by rule or custom. I was a serious boy, eager to adapt to custom. Everyone, including me, expected me to be marked by Raven, as my teacher had been. To have Coyote as my patron was... anomalous. But then, that is Coyote's nature." He shrugs.

"Regardless, I had survived my vision quest and was now younger shaman to my tribe. I treated them, body and mind and spirit, at Leaf Smoker's side. I married, had a daughter. I thought I had found my destiny... to lead my people's spiritual life, raise my family, negotiate with the Sioux."

"Then, on the shortest day of my twenty-second winter, Coyote returned to me in a vision, and invited me back onto the paths. I was unprepared, and lost my way, but I heard Raven's call through the mists and followed. She was mourning for one of her chicks, whose wings had been fouled in hatching and would not fly true. I set the hatchling's wing, and Raven spoke to me, offering me her eyes to see the path around me. I followed her guidance."

"The path Raven showed me was blocked by Wolf, who laughed in my ear. 'Man... you are here at my cousin's invitation, so I let you pass, and offer you a gift. Use it well.' She left, and on the ground where she'd been lay a knife, sharp and fearsome, fashioned from one of her teeth.

"Further down, the path led through a cave occupied by Bear, who normally slept through the winter but was awake, and angry. 'Stay away,' she roared. 'Though my cubs be too weak for the Great Sleep, they shall not fall to one such as you!' I almost attacked Bear in that moment. Wolf's Tooth was a mighty weapon, and I felt Wolf's swiftness and grace in battle flow through me as I wielded it. But she was just protecting her cubs, and in the end I could not bring myself to do it. Instead, I dropped Wolf's Tooth and entered Bear's cave harmless and helpless. It was the most difficult thing I've ever done."

He seems to realize his story is dragging on a bit. "Well, to shorten the tale: I treated Bear's cubs, and she let me pass. And I returned Wolf's Tooth to her, for the blade was not part of my path. And when I reached the end of that path, Bear gifted me with her strength, and Wolf her speed and keen scent, and Raven her awareness of her surroundings." He indicates the other tattoos on his chest.

"At the end of the path was Coyote, and he approved my journey. He became my mentor for a time, teaching me magic: spells of illusion and transformation, spells to speak directly to another's mind. And then he offerred me a choice: to reject the gifts of the spirits, and return home, never to walk the spirit-paths again... or to come here, and help protect this place. I chose to stay, and received yet more gifts from the spirits: Snake taught me a spell to invoke her presence to enlighten my mind and spirit, and taught your language, and something of your history and your ways."

He stops talking for a moment as his eyes glisten. Finally he continues. "That was a difficult time. There are things about your history I would, frankly, rather not know. The Manahoac were no longer, and the Sioux not what they were. My land had been invaded and occupied, my people displaced or killed, and I alone had survived."

He shakes his head, as if to clear it, and continues. "Well and well, we deal with reality as we find it. I stayed in Colonial Bay for two years, performing a variety of services and learning more about the gifts the spirits gave me. I had several encounters with my patrons' enemies, Those Who Sit in Shadow, which I would rather not discuss. I found good friends, lovers, allies, and enemies. I came to terms with my new role as champion of life... I saved many lives, and failed to save many.

"Eventually Coyote came to me once more, and led me to a new role... as one of the citizens of this town, rather than as their champion. I've lived here under several names since then, but my own has now been returned to me."