Actually, the piece I thought of was very similar to your lynx idea. I was still going to call it a lion, but a true adaptation, according the rules I set up, would allow it to move up to four spaces. I was going to set a limit at two, but still allow a change of direction, the igui attack, and perhaps the turn passing (though I'm not sure about that last one). The reason I suggest this as the opposite face for the gold is because I wanted all my pieces to have a similar piece on the opposite side. The lower value would be more forward oriented, but would move in a certain way or up to a certain number of squares, i.e. the pawn one, the iron general two, the knight three, the goose four. On the opposite side would be the same move or maximum number of squares in the forward direction, plus increased abilities, including more retreating options. A lion like this would indeed move two forward, just like the gold, but have improved abilities and retreat. That is my reasoning. I am still unsure about your thoughts as to not including it, and I'm honestly still interested in how it would behave with full abilities. But we can try that later. If you're open to several games, we can experiment with several rule sets. Let's use what we have for now and go from there.

I'll make a move soon. I have to adjust the board and take care of my sick wife.