Familiar Spirit

A familiar is a spirit that is created due to someone practicing magic, sepcifically "High Magics" like sorcery. The familiar spirit is essentially a response to the channeling of mana, the "equal and opposite" reaction to the use of sorcery. It is the Yin to the magic Yang of an individual. Oftentimes these creatures will manifest traits opposite to that of the magics used to create them (a sorcerer who only used hellfire's familiar may appear to be a swirling aura of cold energy).

These familiars are tucked away in the astral plane and generally do not interact with a sorcerer. However in rare and execptional cases, the variety and quantity of magic being used may lead the spirit to gain a sort of intelligence and self-awareness. Particularly powerful familiars have been known to manifest physically in or around laylines and nodes, and occassionally may cross permenantly. Familiars who cross take on a solid and well-defined physical form and are technically a sort of proto-bygone (requiring energy from their paired sorcerer to survive). These are often not recognized by the sorcerer in question, though they may attempt to be as near to the sorcerer as possible. If unnnoticed, the familiar that has crossed at a node will be forced to retreat back to the astral plane in a few weeks.

However, on rare occasion, a familiar may be recognized by a sorcerer. There are rituals that can attune and bond a caster to his/her familiar, which allows the familiar to help the caster. The benifits are unique in each case, but usually significant. The drawbacks are equally great, though. Typically, a sorcerer depends upon their familiar in some profound way. Being separated for long may cause warping of personality, madness, sickness, or even death. Therefore, sorcerers with bonded familiars always know where they can find a landline or node so that they may re-unite with their familiars. If the spirit is forcibly detained, it can be very dangerous for both parties.