[Mirikon]

He can't help pestering sheep. It's how he was raised.

I'm Canadian, not Welsh!

A moose is just an over-large sheep.

[Michael Chandra]

You mean Mongo?

[CanRay]

A moose is just an over-large sheep.

A moose is more likely to mate with a compact car.

Also, the old VW Bug's horn sounded enough like a mating call to a Moose that...

Well, you get the idea.

[Angelone]

My sister was bitten by a moose once.

[Mirikon]

My sister was bitten by a moose once.

Ooh, some Monty Python. Nice!

[Angelone]

It was set up so well I'm surprised I was the one to say it.

[Sichr]

Indeed, not much is known about the Ghost Dance, other than the fact that performing a massive blood ritual on a power site can do big things. Not the least of the mysteries is where Daniel Howling Coyote got the knowledge for the Dance from. Even the dragons and immortal elves aren't certain (or they aren't even telling EACHOTHER). Though after reading Worlds Without End, I wonder if perhaps Thaiss(sp?), Aina's son, taught him. Apparently, he tried to do something like that before, but it didn't work because the mana levels were too low.

Hmm...

Just think of what Aztechnology could do if they had that many of their blood mages sacrifice themselves in a ritual like that on such a site.

I dont think they would need that number. Remember, it was early awakening or mostly pre-awakening rite, and power levels and skill of participants was hardly the same as for todays mages...

[Parker]

Here's the kicker, though.  If ya look at the Shadowrun time-line; the events before 2017 were mainly mundane and the appearance of the Awakening were small and mainly limited.  But after the Great Ghost Dance, the Awakening sped up dramatically and events followed as recorded.  The G.G.D. ritual was a powerful blood-magic ritual.  So who or what taught Howling Coyote to successfully pull off a magic ceremony with a practically zero background count of mana?  I've heard rumors that under FASA, the 6th-World was jump-started 200 years earlier then the 5,000 year span suggests. So who or what wanted magic to return early to the planet?  Ahh, ya gotta love the lore lode.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

... yeah, well, you can't believe every rumor you hear.  If you look at the Shadowrun timeline, before the 'official' Awakening you had 'spike babies' - the century ferret, humanoid spike babies, that sort of thing.  However, the Great Ghost Dance didn't happen until after the rise of magic went 'above zero' on 24 December 2011.  Coleman led his followers out of one of the camps (Abeline, wasn't it?) at the same moment that Ryumyo became the Early Wyrm.  While it's possible (and suggested) that the barrier spell he held up to stop the bullets was Ghost-Dance fuelled, most if not all of the Great Ghost Dance magic was done well after that time.

However, it is pretty clear that someone taught him that sort of metamagic.

[Parker]

     Still though....of the 'Awakened' players, who?  A Great dragon?  Ryumyo was the only Great dragon known to have appeared and they showed, as a group, no interest in us.  Dunkelzahn was the only one who seemed interested and that was to prepare meta-humanity for the changes that occurred as the mana level rose.  The IE's showed only the interest in placing their long-formed plans into fruition as events occurred; whether it was creating themselves nation-states (Tir Taingire, Tir na Og) or even international organizations (The Atlantean  Foundation).
     That leaves the third and last category.  Greater free-spirits.  Remember, Daniel Howling-Coyote was a follower of Dog.  But was it truly his mentor and tutored him in the shamanic tradition?  Perhaps, if you don't like the possibility that another 'tricked' him into an agreement to free his people from oppression and the camps for reasons unknown ; then I'll leave this fourth and least likely option.
      An agent of the Horrors posed as his totem and offered him a faustian deal to mentor him in shamanic magic and teach him how to do the Great Ghost Dance ritual correctly in exchange for the life energy sacrificed and the results that exist in-game.

I could see the fourth being printed up as an adventure by Catalyst;  but I would prefer the third, myself.  After all, trickster beings appear in every culture on earth.   Who knows maybe only one handles them all.

[Mirikon]

That's the thing, Parker, even the great dragons and immortal elves have no clue how Howling Coyote learned all that. The only theory I have that is little more than a random guess would be Thaiss, Aina Dupree's son. He tried to do that kind of thing before, but the mana levels weren't high enough. Otherwise, the only real guess I have is that Coyote, being the trickster he is, thought it would be fun to teach Danny a few new tricks.

[Belker]

     That leaves the third and last category.  Greater free-spirits.  Remember, Daniel Howling-Coyote was a follower of Dog.  But was it truly his mentor and tutored him in the shamanic tradition?  Perhaps, if you don't like the possibility that another 'tricked' him into an agreement to free his people from oppression and the camps for reasons unknown ; then I'll leave this fourth and least likely option.

I'm 95% certain that Howling Coyote actually followed Coyote, not Dog, based on what happens when he appears in Find Your Own Truth, last of the Secrets of Power trilogy. Which, when combined with your theory, implies that Coyote did the tricking. Interesting.

But I'm not sure how that would square with the Mayan calendar, unless some sort of prophecy was involved - which I didn't think was possible in the SR universe.

[Tzeentch]

Thais is the one who taught Howling Coyote the ritual. I have no idea if that is still canonical or not.

[Sichr]

And who is Thais?

[Crimsondude]

Well if it is still canon that makes his secret membership in the Draco Foundation a lot more interesting.

Thais is the half-elf/half-Horror son of Aina Dupree.