Coyote Storm
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Contents |
Affiliations
Supergroup: Paragonian Knights - The Grae Academy
Background
Timeline
May 25, 1986
John Coyote Jr. was born to John Coyote Sr. and Lisa Coyote on an Cherokee Indian reservation in Western North Carolina.
June 23, 1991
The first Casino opens on the subject’s reservation employing many of the residents and bringing organized crime into the reservation. “The Family” crime syndicate makes it presence known on the reservation. Subjects mother goes to work at the casino as a “Cocktail Girl” and his father falls deeper into alcoholism.
November 3, 1998
The subject begins to spend more time with his grandfather, James Coyote, to escape his abusive father and his absent mother. James Coyote begins to teach the young Coyote the art of herbal medicines and introduces him to archery.
March 26, 1999
The subject had his first exposure to the powers of weather control as he watched his grandfather call forth a cold rain shower to water his garden. It was at this moment the young Coyote began his tutelage under the elder Coyote in the magicks of weather control.
July 2, 2004
Coyote arrived at this grandfather’s home for his regular afternoon instruction to find his grandfather badly beaten on the front porch. The elder Coyote explained to young Coyote that Tommy One-Eye, the Family enforcer for the casino had come by with some of his thugs to warn him to stay out of Family business. The subjects grandfather had been highly outspoken against the casino operating on the reservation and was trying to help get legislation pushed through to have it closed.
After the paramedics had taken the elder to the hospital the young Coyote grabbed his bow, applied the tradition Cherokee war paint and headed out to the casino to have his revenge.
Under cover of darkness, Coyote summoned a light fog to conceal his presence and entered the casino to seek out Tommy One-Eye. He discovered Tommy and several of his minions in the office and began to fire off a salvo of arrows to pin them down but there was just too many of them. Coyote was overwhelmed by the mobsters and beaten into unconsciousness.
July 9, 2004
Coyote awoke, a week had passed and he was lying in a hospital bed looking up as his grandfather’s face. “What you did was brave young warrior, but stupid.” He said in his raspy voice.
“But grandfather, those men were evil and needed to pay for what they did.” Coyote retorted.
“Revenge is never the answer. They will have judgment on their souls in due time. In the meantime, I need you to study. Hone your skills. Become the champion you are destined for.”
“What would you have me do grandfather?” inquired the young Indian.
“Go to Paragon City, the City of Heroes. Seek out Coyote. He is an old friend of mine. He will get you started on the path to greatness.”
July 10, 2004
Coyote packed up his essentials and hoped on the next bus to Paragon City. It was at this time that we lost track of the young budding hero until he reappeared in the hero proving ground known as Outbreak.
Cherokee Nation
The Cherokees believe that they have always lived in Western North Carolina. Indeed, finely crafted stone tools and fluted spear-points confirm that people lived here more than 11,000 years ago, at the end of the last Ice Age. Ancient Cherokee tales describe hunts of the mastodons that once foraged through the upland spruce and fir.
By 8000 B.C., semi-permanent villages dotted this region. Over the following millennia, the people of these mountains developed settled towns, sophisticated politics and religion, thriving agriculture, stunning pottery, and tremendously effective archery. When the first Europeans passed through Cherokee territory in 1540, they found Cherokee hunters with great bows the Spanish soldiers were unable to pull back, propelling arrows with the power to pierce a horse from hindquarters to heart.
More than a thousand years ago, Cherokee life took on the patterns that persisted through the eighteenth century. European explorers and settlers found a flourishing nation that dominated the southern Appalachians. The Cherokees controlled some 140,000 square miles throughout eight present-day southern states. Villages governed themselves democratically, with all adults gathering to discuss matters of import in each town’s council house. Each village had a peace chief, war chief, and priest. Men hunted and fished; women gathered wild food and cultivated ‘the three sisters’ corn, beans, and squash cleverly inter-planting them to minimize the need for staking and weeding.
This was life that realized harmony with nature, sustainability, personal freedom, and balance between work, play, and praise. The land furnished all: food in abundance, materials for shelter, clothing and utensils, visual grandeur still vivid today, and herbs to treat every known illness until the Europeans came.
For the first 200 years of contact, the Cherokees extended hospitality and help to the newcomers. Peaceful trade prevailed. Intermarriage was not uncommon. The Cherokees were quick to embrace useful aspects of the newcomers’ culture, from peaches and watermelons to written language this last single-handedly created by the Cherokee genius Sequoyah, who introduced his ‘syllabary,’ or Cherokee alphabet, to the national council in 1821. Within months, a majority of the Cherokee nation became literate.
But, by then, nearly 200 years of broken treaties had reduced the Cherokee empire to a small territory, and Andrew Jackson began to insist that all southeastern Indians be moved west of the Mississippi. The federal government no longer needed the Cherokees as strategic allies against the French and British. Land speculators wanted Cherokee land to sell for cotton plantations and for the gold that was discovered in Georgia. Although the Cherokees resisted Removal through their bilingual newspaper and through legal means, taking their case all the way the Supreme Court, Jackson’s policy prevailed. In 1838, events culminated in the tragic ‘Trail of Tears,’ the forced removal of the Cherokees in the East to Oklahoma. One quarter to half of the 16,000 Cherokees who began the long march died of exposure, disease, and the shock of separation from their home.
The Cherokees in Western North Carolina today descend from those who were able to hold on to land they owned, those who hid in the hills, defying removal, and others who returned, many on foot. Gradually and with great effort, they have created a vibrant society a sovereign nation of 100 square miles where people in touch with their past and alive to the present preserve timeless ways and wisdom.
The Coyote
The coyote, or "little wolf" as the Native Americans callit, is a member of the dog family. It is the topic of many Native American folklore tales. Its name comes from the Aztec word "coyotl." Its scientific name is "canis latrans" which means "barking dog."
The coyote, usually associated with the open lands of the west, is now found throughout the United States. Not native to Ohio, its presence here shows the animal's ability to adapt to new environments. Coyotes' good sense of smell, hearing and vision, along with being sly, enable them to even live in some urban areas. For example, a pair was found in New York City in the Spring of 1995. Presently coyotes can be found in all of the 88 counties of Ohio.
The coyote has the appearance of a medium-sized dog or a small German Shepherd. Coyotes are about one and a half to two feet tall and between forty-one and fifty-three inches long. Weight ranges from twenty to fifty pounds. They have a bushy tail that is tipped with black. Most are grey, but some show rust or brown coloration. Coyote tracks are more elongated than dog tracks. This nocturnal animal is most active at night, but if not threatened by man they will hunt during the day. The coyote is omnivorous. They will eat fruits, grasses, and vegetables along with small mammals.The coyote has a bad reputation for killing sheep and other livestock, but studies show that livestock accounts for only 14 percent of the coyotes' diet.
Coyotes mate for life. Between January and March is the breeding period. Most do not breed until they are two years old. The female selects and maintains the den. They usually dig their own dens but sometimes they use an old badger hole or fix up a natural hole. Dens are usually hidden from view.
Females carry their young for over two months. One to twelve pups are born in either April or May. Pups are born blind and helpless. Both parents hunt and feed the young. At three weeks old the pups leave the den under close watch of their parents. Once the pups are eight to twelve weeks old they are taught to hunt. Families stay together through the summer but the young break apart to find their own territories by fall. They usually relocate within ten miles. Between 50 and 70 percent of the young coyotes die before adulthood. Of the young that die, 80 percent is the result of human trapping, shooting, poisons, or other control methods.
The coyote is capable of producing fertile offspring with many other animals from the dog family. It occasionally breeds with the domestic dog, wild dogs, and lves. This mixed offspring has created great confusion about whether a real coyote has been seen. The only way to tell the difference is by examination of the skull. The coyotes' skull is narrower and more elongated than the domestic dog. In Ohio 98 percent of the animals sighted, captured, or killed are real coyotes. More often you will hear a coyote rather than see one. Its howl can be very deceiving. Due to the way the sound carries, it seems as though it is in one place, where the coyote is really some place else. Coyotes have two howling seasons. The first is in January and February. During this time they are trying to find a mate by howling. The second season is in September and October. During this period the female is calling to her offspring. The young then call back in unison.
After the move westward by settlers, coyotes thrived on ranchers' cattle and sheep. In response, the ranchers aggressively tried to eliminate the coyote, and almost succeeded. However, due to its intelligence and ability to adapt to changes in its environment, it has not only survives but flourished.
Notable Events
Powers
To contact this character's creator
- In-game: @Grae Knight
- CoH official forums: Grae_Knight
- CoH Guru forums: Grae Knight
- Deviant Art: Graeknight