Solokov: I had wondered whether Wavewright intended his interest to be because there is magery in the family, or immunity, or survivor stubbornness, or just because he likes them, or some combination of these elements, which was my guess. Especially since his own folk seem to be gone. Coyote of the tales always gave me very much the impression of what a modern gamer might refer to as 'chaotic good', with the emphasis on the 'chaotic'.
Wavewright: would you care to elaborate on your intentions here? Great story, by the way - your writing is improving even as we read.
Oooo, thank you. I intended for Coyote to be a bit chagrined at the wholesale loss of the People - that is, sundry Native American tribes - and many of the animals (buffalo, horses, wolves, beavers, etc) who sustained them physically and spiritually. As in other parts of the world, magic and the influence of the gods was on the rise again, and Coyote cast about for anyone left in his sphere of influence.
He found Darcie (a heretofore normal American farm teenager) holed up in her family house, immune to the Rash, just trying to survive the harsh winter (not too unlike a troll in that respect) and not despair. He senses in her magical ability, as the mages in Scandinavia, and she can see and communicate with him. Being the pragmatic sort, Coyote takes the opportunity where he finds it and urges her onto a journey to hook up with other survivors, and
not coincidentally establish a foothold for himself within the human population again.
I envision Coyote not quite chaotic good, but more motivated by self-interest, and his interests happen to coincide with Darcie's. I couldn't bear her leaving Mephistopheles behind, even though he would probably have a decent life on the farm as a feral, so he came with. My story does not record what Coyote thought about Mephistopheles, or Blessed Felines in general.
You may or may not envision others of his order in the Native American pantheon taking similar action in the remaining population. Coyote is also possibly mistaken about
all of the Native American population being wiped out.
In any case, Coyote's mission was successful in that Darcie did find others (I left it vague just where, but envision either Appalachia, Michigan's UP, or the Hudson Bay catchment) and she did end up passing her magical ability to her children.
It's kind of funny, because I initially created Darcie and her family to have One Job - delivering a photo of a dead dog to the Icelandic skalds. (Minutia_R in particular seems to enjoy my making up origin stories for sundry SSSS details.) Coyote wormed his way into it, as Coyote will, and imposed his will upon the story. He may have the last laugh yet, particularly if this story *does* get developed further!
