Coyote Notes
Takanata has being doing investigations on Coyote.
Consulting with Li Kao, he suggested that the thing I did not know the answer to which would provide the most enlightenment was "Why wasn't Coyote in disguise as Fox when you first ran in to him?"
Consulting with Sister Dohna of the Ways of the Three Worlds temple (see ThreeWorlds), after consideration she believes the answer to that question is that Coyote did not know what Fox looked like at that time.
Takanata concludes that this means Coyote has less of a deliberate plan here, and is more simply exploring to see what he can do.
I Ching Scrying on the Great Spirits and their relationships with Coyote:
I get tokens for the 12 cycle spirits, and then add tokens for the four wanna-bes (Dragon, Wolf, Horse, Whale). Then I try to divide them into Yin/Yang/Chi regarding Coyote.
I am even less clear on what I think those divisions mean here than I usually am. One possibility: Yang: Helping Coyote Yin: Opposing Coyote Chi: Messing with Coyote
You start out thinking this, but you decide to switch Yang and Yin. No one is as yangily pro-Coyote as they are yangily anti-Coyote. And Chi isn't really right, it's something else.
Crane is Yang for Yin reasons.
Bear is Yang for Yang reasons
Dog is Yang for Chi reasons
Butterfly is Yin for Chi reasons.
Serpent is Chi for Chi reasons
Phoenix is Yin for Yang reasons
Tortoise is Chi for Yin reasons
Magpie is Chi for Chi reasons
Fox is Chi for [redacted] reasons
Spider is Yang for Yin reasons
Tiger is Chi for Yang reasons
Monkey is Yin for Yang reasons
Dragon is Yang for Chi reasons
Wolf is Yang for Chi reasons
Horse is Chi for Chi reasons
Whale is Yin for Yang reasons
I get to ask 11 questions about the Yang answers, 13 about the Yin, and 11 about the Chi.
Yang:
1) Was Crane Yang for Yang reasons when she warned Li Merit about Coyote at the Temple of the Invisible Wind?
Hmm. No, we think still Yin reasons. (But the Yang and Yin of the reasons aren't the same as the Yang and Yin of being pro or anti Coyote. We don't think this mechanic has ever had those mean the same thing...)
Maybe we're confused about this question.
2) Are Dog and Dragon's "Yang for Chi reasons" approximately the same?
Mostly; Dragon is more principle and Dog is more personal.
3) Are Spider's Yin reasons something more than just "he doesn't belong in My Empire"?
It's in that ballpark, but much more so.
4) Are Wolf's Yang reasons related to "there are already enough canine-ish things here"?
Not primarily or even secondarily. It might be included towards the bottom of the list.
5) Are Dog's "more personal" Chi reasons actually related to prior history between Dog and Coyote, or just a matter of their clashing natures?
The latter, but there's also something more involved. (Not history).
6) Is Bear Yang-enough that he is taking active steps, or is he still in the "don't do anything until Really Provoked" stage of his nature?
mm, it's somewhat in between. He's not in seek-and-destroy mode, but he's closer to "on hold" than "will swat if provoked".
7) Does Crane understand what Coyote wants here?
No.
8) Is Wolf's Yang-ness related to whatever Coyote did to mess with Wolf's Talisman?
In part.
9) Is Bear "On Hold" just because there's a big foreign spirit in the Empire, or is there something more specific he is paying attention to?
It's more about an opposition of natures than an opposition of plot.
10) Are Dog's personal reasons about Coyote's interactions with another Great Spirit or Spirits?
The Coyote/Fox thing is part of it.
11) Is any of Spider's Yangness because Coyote's "always double down" nature resonates with Aku's "always reach higher" nature?
Mmm, not particularly. But that's an interesting thought. Spider is "build a wall" xenophobic, but Aku is not. Spider's Yangness is more driven by Spider than Aku here. Aku may be on spider-autopilot in this case because he hasn't turned sufficient attention to Coyote yet.
