Familiars
Familiars are semi-immortal guardians and advisors to powerful mages or lines of mages. While most familiars tend to be pet animals such as cats, dogs, or birds, there have been accounts of some monsters and even demons becoming familiars as well. Accounts of Kin becoming familiars are unsubstantiated and pure hearsay.
When a person forms a deep connection with a potential familiar, the familiar receives a vision of a certain runic circle, and they are also blessed with the knowledge of their "true name". Their master can use the rune circle to cast its spell and form a Familiar Pact - similar to a Demonic Pact, but not inherently evil; more like a business agreement or a simple promise enforced by the cosmic power of the universe. It is more difficult to cast this spell on a creature that was not fully sentient to begin with, since this power bestows upon such creatures full sentience and the ability to communicate with their master in some capacity (usually telepathy).
Familiars do not age, and are not sent to the Cycle when they are defeated; instead, they enter an isolated limbo space where they stay and hibernate - or in the case of demons, they are sent back to the Demon Realm for a time. Familiars do not have to worry for long, however, since they can easily be resummoned once their master is able to cast the Familiar spell again.
Ownership of a familiar can be passed on to other people, and is indeed encouraged due to the fact that part of a familiar's usefulness is in their knowledge and experience. Owners of familiars tend to pass their familiars on to their children so as to protect them and keep their traditions alive.
A familiar's true name is the anchor of their identity, similarly to how demons have their own names for summoning each one individually; if no one alive knows a familiar’s true name and there are no more records of it in the world, the familiar essentially dies and is taken from the dead space where they wait in limbo to the Cycle.
After a familiar has been created, it can serve masters who aren't Veil-Touched; this is how mages pass down their familiars to their children.
When a person forms a deep connection with a potential familiar, the familiar receives a vision of a certain runic circle, and they are also blessed with the knowledge of their "true name". Their master can use the rune circle to cast its spell and form a Familiar Pact - similar to a Demonic Pact, but not inherently evil; more like a business agreement or a simple promise enforced by the cosmic power of the universe. It is more difficult to cast this spell on a creature that was not fully sentient to begin with, since this power bestows upon such creatures full sentience and the ability to communicate with their master in some capacity (usually telepathy).
Familiars do not age, and are not sent to the Cycle when they are defeated; instead, they enter an isolated limbo space where they stay and hibernate - or in the case of demons, they are sent back to the Demon Realm for a time. Familiars do not have to worry for long, however, since they can easily be resummoned once their master is able to cast the Familiar spell again.
Ownership of a familiar can be passed on to other people, and is indeed encouraged due to the fact that part of a familiar's usefulness is in their knowledge and experience. Owners of familiars tend to pass their familiars on to their children so as to protect them and keep their traditions alive.
A familiar's true name is the anchor of their identity, similarly to how demons have their own names for summoning each one individually; if no one alive knows a familiar’s true name and there are no more records of it in the world, the familiar essentially dies and is taken from the dead space where they wait in limbo to the Cycle.
After a familiar has been created, it can serve masters who aren't Veil-Touched; this is how mages pass down their familiars to their children.
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