BoM/TWS Message Forum

Alright, let's do a multiple set of questions, each leading to a principal one.

First: is there a spell to bind a creature, such as an animal, into service as a familiar?

Second: if there is such a spell, would it use the magician's essentia?

Third (and important one): if there are spells to bind familiars, and they require the magician's essentia...would that mean that a familiar is a valid target for any of the Libra's spells?

(Explanation: normally, the concept of familiars - spirits that adopt the form of animals; or creatures, typically animals, which are magically linked to the magician and therefore work as a servant of sorts, developing intellect on the way - involves binding the spirit or creature to the caster. There's two instances of binding magic at work: the first is the golem line of spells, and the second is the blood brotherhood spell that Blackwell uses on Will on one of the branches, as a way to ensure neither acts against the other. The blood brotherhood spell doesn't involve consuming or sharing the user's essentia, therefore it's merely a binding spell. However, the way spells to create or bind familiars work, I believe it must require using the magician's essentia.

I could explain how such a spell could work, but I need that confirmation that essentia is spent to bind the familiar into service, if such a spell does work. If so, there's a myriad of possibilities that could be done, as a familiar would be in many ways a servant, if not like a golem, but also having the imago of an animal, therefore subverting many of the intentions of the Libra's author to keep the transformations on humans only. At the very best, it could involve the familiar being placed the mask of someone and suddenly turning into said someone.

Naturally, creating a familiar counts against the limit of golems one can have at a time, and killing a familiar has a pretty nasty effect on the magician itself...)