Sioux

Sioux	Tradition
Combat	Beast
Detection	Plant
Health	Fire
Illusion	Air
Manipulation	Guardian
Drain	Willpower + Intuition
Preferred Spells	Clout, Control Thoughts, Forced Defense, Invisibility, Silence
Preferred Adept Powers	Critical Strike, Freefall, Increase Reflexes, Missile Mastery

Perhaps the most important thing to understand about beliefs in the Sioux tradition is the term Wakan Tanka. By most interpretations it means “Great Spirit,” meaning the power of life that animates everything in this world, from the sun to the earth to the plants and animals that live on it. Wakan Tanka has been described as a sheltering tree covering all the children of the one mother and one father.

But there is also an interpretation of Wakan Tanka that takes it to mean “Great Mystery.” This serves as a reminder that the power that animates the world is not something mere humans understand, and that we should accept it in its mystery rather than trying to impose human understanding on it. Living with this incomprehensibility is part of life, and the sooner one can accommodate oneself to it, the sooner you can be more in harmony with the world and nature instead of living in conflict.

Don’t let this goal of peace fool you into thinking that everything about the Sioux tradition is sweetness and light. Sioux mythology is full of a vast range of characters. Iktomi the spider and Coyote are always around to cause trouble, Unktehi the serpent makes trouble for the Thunderbird, and Double Face preys on humanity. The Great Spirit may be incomprehensible, but the trouble these other beings can cause is only too plain, and practitioners of the Sioux tradition are well aware of what they need to look out for. Or, if they are of a more mischievous frame of mind, who to emulate.

Rather than study formulae or ancient tomes, practitioners of the Sioux tradition try to take clues and hints from how to best do magic from the world around them. The world is full of information to those who take the time to observe it, and Sioux Awakened are usually willing to take that time. They observe carefully, letting the auras and beings around them speak, doing their best to hear the stories they are telling rather than impose their own meaning upon them. Once they have that information, though, they are swift and sure—and devastating, if they need to be.

There is a healthy tradition of Sioux adepts, practitioners who are well versed in the language of the land and use that knowledge to travel swiftly and silently and enter places thought to be secure. They often carry a bit of the spirit of Inktomi or Coyote with them, adding a twist of humor or mischievousness to their actions. There is also a strong population of Sioux enchanters and spellcasters, channeling their knowledge of the life given by Wakan Tanka into strong protections for creation— or into devastating strikes against the flaws they perceive.

Snana Cansasa meditates in her lodge and spends a part of each day contemplating her place in her surroundings, but don’t go looking for her on a mountainside or on the plains. She is an analyst with Eagle Security in Cheyenne, and her understanding of designing defenses against Awakened threats is perhaps unparalleled. She will not, of course, willingly pass any of her knowledge with shadowrunners, but a team that can generate the right cover story may be able to get an appointment to see her in her lofty office.

(p49-50 SG)