Editing Familiar (section)

===Antecedents===
Long, long ago, boon companions like those granted by the [[Forest Ribbon Trail]] preceded familiar relationships. A significant journey, rather than a ritual, creating the link.<ref name=":3">“Lovely,” Mrs. Durocher said.  “We have so many this year.  This spirit isn’t a familiar, is it?”<br><br>“A boon companion,” Avery said.  “I was under the impression they were similar.  At least based on what little I’ve heard of familiars.”<br><br>“They are.  In old, old days, they preceded familiar relationships.  Bonds forged not with a ritual, but a journey of necessity,” Mrs. Durocher said. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/08/29 Excerpt] from [[Leaving a Mark 4.4]]</ref> Powerful [[Others]] serving as domineering patrons, as with [[Wild Practitioner]]s, also served as proto-familiar relationships; as did more aggressive long-term bonds where the Other subverted, attacked, or possessed the [[human]] trying to deal with them.<ref name=":4">'''Tyranny''' on the part of the practitioner, who holds the power and controls their other half. The familiar may be feeble, chosen for that reason, but its power is not the goal.  This is the old way, but not the oldest, exactly.  Discussed further in chapter two.<br>[...]<br>'''Subverted''' practitioner-familiar relationships are ones where the familiar controls the relationship.  The result of choosing a motivated Other with a great deal of power, the subverted relationship is, essentially, the end of the practitioner’s free life, and any freedom they are granted is at the Other’s whim.  The benefit, if it can be called that, is to have more power at one’s fingertips, but such power isn’t even necessarily at the practitioner’s disposal.  This relationship defined the pre-Famulus era.  Touched on in the next chapter.<br>[...]<br>For much of human history, the benefits that Aloysius and Walter now enjoy were not possible, and most relationships between practitioner and Other were patronage, with the Other handing out limited power at a disproportionate cost, or subverted bonds, where the Other tied themselves to the practitioner in what was ultimately a parasitic or domineering role.<br><br>Parallels can be drawn to possession, where there is a link, albeit a very short one, and the Other occupies the body of a [[practitioner]], an [[aware]], or an [[innocent]].  This was the closest convention, and many deals with Others were seen as doomed ones.  The earliest relationships were made between strong practitioners and the weakest Others, and served to insulate the practitioner against the possibility of being strongarmed into other deals.<br><br>As civilization sprawled and the most dangerous Others were dealt with, the nature of a master-familiar relationship took comfortable hold, and other possibilities arose, such as the parallel arrangement, or the careful proportionate dynamic.  These would often happen out of necessity, knowledge was handed down, and they saw more common use. - Excerpt from [[Famulus]], quoted in Bonus Material: [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/29 Famulus Text]</ref><ref name=":6" />