Ah yes, a grouchy old man prone to raging violence, gotta have one in every story lol. I REALLY think you should read Wolves of the Beyond, sounds like it would be right up your alley, especially with this "gift" business.

My character is Outcast, a coywolf. Her mother was a disperser wolf who eneded up having pups with a coyote. She was the only pup to survive, and when she was young a coyote pup would come beg for scraps at her den. They ended up becoming "sisters" and when Outcast's mom went missing, the pup took Outcast to her pack.

Also, just to shed a little light, coyotes (in my mind) aren't as superstitious/spiritual as wolves. They don't believe in skyhunters, rules from the ancients, that kind of stuff (they still have myths about scary creatures though, as long as there's proof, so don't worry, they'll know about Bone). They're very practical survivalists that believe in the here and now and what they can see.

I thought it would distinguish them a little from the wolves, espically since they're smaller and have more dangers to worry about, so they can't afford to waste time and energy with traditions. They do what they have to do to make it through the night. (They also have simple names that describe their traits, like Giant the huge coyote, Guardian the protective coyote, Scavenger the one thats always find food, etc. That's how the coyotes gave Outcast her name, she didn't fit with them or the wolves.)

Outcast is a red coywolf with dark yellow-orange eyes, larger than most coyotes and smaller than most full grown wolves (Her snout is wide like a wolf's but her ears are large like a coyote's). She's with a coyote pack, but she is still considered dangerous because of her wolf blood, so she keeps her distance to avoid conflict. Still, she's used to being at the top of the foodchain within her pack, so it's a huge difference for her when she comes across a wolf.

Phew. Now it's my turn to apologize for how long that was. That enough words for ya Dodo dex?

~CL1