The Familiar Animus

The Familiar Animus are a legacy created by Foster, associated with the Thyrsus path.

Introduction
The Familiar Animus is the legacy of familiars. The goal of the legacy is self-improvement, but is unique in that the improvement is twofold. As the mage shapes their soul, they also shape the soul of the creature with which they have an existing familiar link. Symbiosis is key – not only do they evolve, but their familiar evolves too. These two processes are crucially intertwined, and at each attainment the lines between the two become increasingly blurred. They learn from each other, begin to act more like one another, and the ultimate fourth-attainment endpoint results in a complete merge between mage and familiar, as both souls come together into one mind and one body. This attainment may well not exist, or be entirely hypothetical. It is nevertheless presented for clarity.

However, while this symbiosis has powerful effects for both mage and familiar, it also carries cost and considerable risk – much like a soul-stone, this process requires one to split their Awakened soul into two pieces. Unlike a soul-stone, the mage is still attached to the piece of soul they split, because the receptacle is alive; a “silver cord” between the two means they still have an intact soul (see Spirit and Soul below).That cord can be severed; should the mage’s familiar die, the piece of soul with which he has been imbued (which grows with each attainment) is gone forever. They cannot get it back, and will be fundamentally incomplete (see Failure below).

Spirit & Soul
The fundamental differences underlining a mage and their familiar are as follows: The Familiar Animus legacy seeks to break these boundaries down. At its core, this is the philosophy behind the legacy. It is achieved through the following process:
 * 1) The mage has an Awakened soul, and
 * 2) The familiar has (or arguably is) a spirit.
 * 1) Fragmenting the Awakened soul of the mage.
 * 2) Transferring the fragment into the soul of the familiar.
 * 3) The Awakened nature of the fragment magically ‘infects’ the soul of the familiar.
 * 4) The familiar Awakens (see below).
 * 5) The mage and familiar each increase their magical ability in the normal way.
 * 6) The ‘silver cord’ between the two allows them to transfer some magical power.
 * 7) Once the cord strengthens, the Awakened souls continues to fragment and transfer.
 * 8) The spirit feeds into its own soul and then transfers across also.
 * 9) The lines between the spirit and the souls mix together.

The Familiar Awakens
One of the defining traits of the Familiar Animus legacy is that it causes the mage’s familiar to Awaken. This unprecedented event occurs because one is placing a fragment of their Awakened soul into another living being. This causes a kind of ‘infection’ on the familiar’s soul, which transforms it instantly.

It is not exactly analogous to a human Awakening, and is not on the same scale, but it contains all the usual elements. The familiar goes to a Supernal Realm, visits a watchtower, and even carves a shadow name. The familiar is a part of the same path as their mage.

The familiar will spend an extended period of time in the supernal realm; between one day and one month. It is important that the familiar and the mage spend that time apart; once the familiar returns their bond will be stronger than before thanks to the Awakened part of the soul.

Is it Left-Handed?
There may be some debate as to whether the Familiar Animus legacy is Left-Handed. The splitting of the soul is a controversial topic, and non-human mages are currently unprecedented. In addition, the fact that the familiar is ‘forced’ to Awaken may be cited by some as evidence that the legacy is left-leaning. Despite this, it is not a sure thing – others might argue that the familiar consents to the process, and that while soul-splitting requires a great force of will, it is not an inherently Left-Handed act. Furthermore, the very fact that it takes such effort is a prime reason why it is such an integral part of the legacy – legacies are not supposed to be easy, after all.

It’s unlikely any typical mage society will come to a consensus on the matter, but the mage who takes this legacy always risks a certain level of exclusion from the people around them. This is actually beneficial to the legacy in a way – if one is separated from the people they knew, then the bond with their familiar can only strengthen. This is an extreme situation, but its effects may be felt all the same.

Failure
The bond between the mage and their familiar becomes more sacred as the attainments are progressed. However, even as it grows stronger the weight it represents means that if severed, the consequences can be dire.

The fact that the familiar is alive is the very thing that stops any mages losing their potential Gnosis as they might normally do when they create a soul-stone. But if the familiar then dies, all the potential raw magical energy stored within it is completely lost. By some of the later attainments, this can mean that over half of the mage’s original soul can be destroyed – an unimaginably terrible blow to anyone. While they may have begun the path to take on parts of their familiar, the fact that the process was underway means that they will be left with a strange combination of their former, complete soul, and vestiges of their familiar. The same will happen to the familiar if the mage dies, but unless the process was particularly far along, no independent observers may notice a substantial change in the animal. In the long-term, the nature of all legacies have worse ramifications.

Once a legacy is taken, it may not normally be changed or revoked without the aid of an archmage. This means that without direct and powerful intervention, they will be stuck with an inactive legacy for the remainder of their life. Their fundamentally incomplete soul will never be fixed, and they will be without the creature they pledged to merge souls with forever.

To this end, it becomes more and more important that the mage protects the familiar (and, later, vice versa). This will in turn strengthen their bond more – which is, after all, the ultimate goal.

First Attainment
Prerequisites: Gnosis 4, Spirit 2, Empathy 2, a familiar

To begin their path along the legacy, a ritual similar to that which creates a soul stone must be completed. As with a soul stone, the mage must sacrifice a dot of willpower (to be bought back at 8 experience points). The mage also spends a point of mana, but does not lose the potential Gnosis; as described above; although your soul is separated, it is still ultimately connected to you – for now. The mage is putting their soul fragment into their familiar, and as a consequence the familiar Awakens.

The mage gains the ability to look through the eyes of a spirit, and see what they see. They may use this on their familiar as an instant action without rolling dice, or on any other spirit by rolling Presence + Spirit, opposed by the spirit’s Resistance.

The familiar gains the ‘Mage Sight’ spell of both their Ruling Arcana, as dictated by their path.

Second Attainment
Prerequisites: Gnosis 6, Spirit 3, Empathy 3, Empathy specialisation in familiar, Mind 2

The bond strengthens further, and another fragment of soul is taken into the familiar. To this end another willpower dot is sacrificed and another potential Gnosis to be potentially lost in the event of death. In addition, the familiar undergoes a similar process with an element of its own Spirit, indicating the mutual nature of the transfer. This is mechanically ineffective, but can result in the mage taking on some mild elements of personality of its familiar.

The mage gains a rank-2 Gift from Werewolf: The Forsaken appropriate to the type of Spirit the familiar embodies. Gnosis replaces Renown in the roll.

The familiar gains two spells from the list below. At least one must be from their Ruling Arcanum, and the other may be from any Arcanum other than their Inferior. The familiar chooses the spells.
 * Decay (Death)
 * Shifting the Odds (Fate)
 * Invisible Object (Forces)
 * Transfer Base Features (Life)
 * Steel Windows (Matter)
 * Incognito Presence (Mind)
 * Unseen Spy (Prime)
 * Conceal Sympathy (Space)
 * Ephemeral Shield (Spirit)
 * Postcognition (Time)

Third Attainment
coming soon.

Fourth Attainment
Prerequisites: Gnosis 10, Spirit 5, Mind 3, Archmage

As mentioned above, this attainment is only theoretical. If it does exist, it can only be reached by becoming an archmage, and is thus one of the hardest feats possible for a mage. Nevertheless it may be hypothesised about, as a logical endpoint to the legacy. It is at this attainment that the physical bonds between mage and familiar melt away. The two souls now inhabit one mind, which lives within one body – a form that is simultaneously human and animal. Much like a werewolf, there may be possibilities of fluctuating between the two; however, as the mage-familiar has mastered both their forms at this stage they may do so at will, as though shapeshifting. Unlike shapeshifting, however, they are merely willing themselves to ‘present’ in a certain form, or as a combined form.