Familiar

A familiar is its practitioner’s greatest ally and lifelong companion. Familiars serve as both a tool and wellspring for magical energy, and act as ambassadors when dealing with spirits and Others. Fate will conspire to keep the practitioner and their Familiar together unless measures are taken by a third party aware of the connection.

The bond between Familiar and practitioner typically allows the use of their services in exchange for a chance to be mortal, in addition to any other terms which have been negotiated. However, should the familiar be more powerful they can use that connection to seize control over the practitioner. When the contract is made the familiar will take on a different shape. Not all familiars take the form of a living creature, some become inanimate objects.

Ritual

The most commonly used form of the ritual give the familiar the chance to guard its secrets or share fully with it's new partner.<ref> - Excerpt from Conviction 5.4</ref>

Effects

The bond is a sharing of substance between partners, generally the mortality of one will ground the Other while it can give skills and power to it's practitioner friend, they become more.<ref>“There’s a ritual that you can enact, that ties you to an Other. It will give you some talents or skills, and in exchange, you give it a taste of mortality. As Alpeana alludes, it can be a break from their standard responsibilities or the demands they have for certain foods. A vampire, for example, would not need to drink blood. [...] The Seal of Solomon was far harsher to them than it was to most. Practitioners who want to extend their power and raise their status will often pick a Familiar. Some families will have their children take a familiar early, to establish a firm bond with one kind of Other. The Familiar grants power, awareness, and some extra innate ability, depending on what it is. Powerful or insidious familiars may overwhelm you through that connection that is formed, so be wary. Know your strength.”

“And in exchange, they become mortal? They don’t have to eat?” Lucy asked.

“Alpeana would not need to work. An Other in the process of falling apart, such as the Girl by Candlelight, who became the Edith you now know, might be shored up. An option they could not take, because the Doom Matthew now houses would have destroyed them both. Faerie might seek it out to enrich their understanding of human experience. A goblin would be free to be active for more than a few hours at a stretch, when they normally sleep for twenty or so hours every day, and they would have easy passage over places with power and running water.”

“Sounds great,” Avery said. “Aside from the risk of getting too big a familiar, why wouldn’t we do this? Why wait?”

“Because it is a lifelong commitment. The Other would be with you until you died. You would want to be sure he or she was committed to the responsibility, that he or she was compatible with you. Families that choose familiars for their children will pick suitable and safe ones, negotiating well in advance, if they don’t simply expect their child to adapt.” - Excerpt from Stolen Away 2.6</ref> The Other will typically gain an animal form, assuming they don't have a physical form already, while a practitioner can have delayed senescence as a consequence of becoming just a bit more other.<ref>“A bond to an Other. Lifelong, inviolable. A connection is drawn between practitioner and familiar. This can be a controlling connection, picking a weak familiar and dominating it. For a long time, this was the only way things were done. It can be another kind of domineering relationship. Picking a familiar with no true mind of its own. Often, the familiar will be raised up, rounded out, until it is on a roughly even keel. An echo or ghost could develop a full personality, instead of being a stuttering replay of events. A vestige, or a broken shadow of an existence? It could patch itself up. What it pulls in is often consciously or unconsciously influenced by the practitioner, who has the power in the relationship.”
[...]
“Here we have what looks like a balanced relationship. Now, every type of familiar relationship has its benefits. A domineering one can turn the familiar into a target. The familiar can be made to absorb the hurt, harm, or part of a curse that the practitioner has to endure. They are, when beneficial, one and the same, for purposes of the power they have at their disposal, but the domineering practitioner retains control.”
[...]
“With the more equal bond, the pairing can exchange power. Talia could give Effy a bit of her humanity as a boost, or personal power, to help her heal, or dig up that bit of extra strength. That flow can work the other way. Effy could give Talia some of her power as a doll, with that emphasis on blood, guts, and dollness. If Effy gave Talia a lot of her personal power, let’s say half… what happens over the next day, or week?”

Some people raised hands.

“Jarvis.”

“It balances out?”

“The power finds its balance. Talia would naturally give Effy some of her power over time, until they were even. Then they would recover together. Eating well, sleeping well, and taking care of needs as human or Other help that recovery. Can Effy become an animal?”

Talia shook her head.

“The partnership of master and familiar is often a reprieve for the Other. Temporary freedom from needs, demands, work, or anything else. If Effy required a regular supply of blood and oil, as some dolls do-”

“I don’t.”

“But if you did, Effy, then you wouldn’t require it while you’re a familiar. You get your sustenance from your master or partner. If you had a lifespan, it would be put on pause. Of course, needier others have a heavier drain on their master.”

Effy nodded.

“Humans still age, at roughly the same rate, but they often find they age easier while they have a familiar. They may also find that they are more Other, in subtle ways. The edges are rounded off in the need for sleep and food. Some Others are better at that than others.”

He hit a button. The air was filled with monstrous silhouettes and corresponding animals.

“The animal form is mortality. For many Others, it’s a strong enticement. To have a heartbeat. To have warmth, the ability to taste food, and the ability to engage with the world. An Other in animal form can, unless especially wild, go without too much remark in civilized society. A dog can be walked, a mouse or snake kept in a sleeve, and a bird can fly overhead.”

Avery watched as Jorja’s familiar, which had been the floaty guy with the backwards baseball cap, now a terrier, followed the movement of birds through the air.

“There is a third type of practitioner-familiar bond. Not the master, not the partner, but the subservient. Frankly, if you want to pick a familiar that’s much stronger than you, the Blue Heron Institute can counsel you, but we’ll be doing it with a mind to discouraging you and making sure you’re fully equipped with the necessary information. We would be dealing with the familiar as an Other, and you as its slave or servant, and we have no interest in doing that.” - Excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.7</ref>

Variations

It is possible, though uncommon, for an Other to be used as both Familiar and Implement.

Notably you can only have one familiar in western culture, but eastern culture allows for many, although the relationship is different - closer to that of a lord over vassals and not built on cooperation.

As shown below nearly anything can be a Familiar provided it is an other and allows a binding.

Notable Familiars & Their Masters

• Rose D. Thorburn, Sr. – A large gray housecat. (Unidentified)
• Laird Behaim – A mechanical gold/ivory pocket watch with a time spirit.
• Johannes Lillegard – A large Afghan Hound (Faysal Anwar, Gatekeeper of the Seventh Ring)
• Briar Girl – An elemental beast of some sort, theorized to be more in control of her than she is in control of it.
• Blake Thorburn - A Song Sparrow (Evan, Ghost)
• Joseph Attwell - A person with a disfigured face (Face-stealing Bogeyman)
• Sandra Duchamp - A Stoat (Hildr, Scandinavian Troll)
• Lacey - A possessed human (Vic)
• Eloise - A Tattoo (Schartzmugel; a giant centipede with fungus for a head}

Related Books

• Famulus concerning the Familiar bond.<ref>Read relevant excerpt in Here from Interlude 2.x</ref>

History

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>“Lovely,” Mrs. Durocher said.  “We have so many this year.  This spirit isn’t a familiar, is it?”

“A boon companion,” Avery said.  “I was under the impression they were similar.  At least based on what little I’ve heard of familiars.”

“They are.  In old, old days, they preceded familiar relationships.  Bonds forged not with a ritual, but a journey of necessity,” Mrs. Durocher said. - Excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.4</ref>

References

<references/>