"We do not speak of the familiar spirits of witches and warlocks, but of the simulacrum of life created by certain occultists"
Homunculi and simulacrums. Flesh Golems, in a sense. Not the natural creatures, or pets, of witches. But there is a similarity between occultists' Familiars and witches'; they are both used to aid the magic of their masters. Witches maintain a constant link to the magical source with their pets; occultists open up a link.
Familiars are seen around Innsmouth Academy and featured in its missions. But they are also seen in London; a mission in an underground Roman passageway.
Lore[]
1.
- "Our wisdom flows so sweet. Taste and see…
- TRANSMIT - initiate the suture signal - RECEIVE - initiate the revivification process - IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE! - illumine the Reanimated - WITNESS - The Familiars."
Savage Coast, 258 × 176
2.
- "We do not speak of the familiar spirits of witches and warlocks, but of the simulacrum of life created by certain occultists. The formula and spells come in endless variety and potency. Some familiars live for centuries, others know existence for only seconds."
Savage Coast 247 × 288. Drop from Corrective Familiars
3.
- "Through a window of time, we spy the great alchemist Paracelsus penning notes detailing the creation of a homunculus -- the semen of a man who has been hanged to death is collected and baked into a mound of horse manure. The resulting creature will serve the magician who creates it."
Savage Coast, 270 × 343. Ground floor classroom of Innsmouth Academy
4.
- "This is only one recipe. Some ancient, some new. Some ingredients gory, others synthetic. The discovery of proteins, fibres and other materials actively involved in the process have been discovered and synthesised, making the creation of familiars considerably easier and quicker. Familiars are used by magicians the world over as servants and bodyguards. Other, stranger uses have been put to them. Pleasure companions, inhuman dance troupes, and fleshless carnivals have all been constructed."
City of the Sun God, 129 × 25
5.
- "Dimly intelligent but not sapient, familiars are useful creatures to have about. Often, they can be cheaply mass produced. They also learn, albeit very slowly, so that they can eventually be trusted with more and more complex tasks. Mages from every culture throughout human history have learnt how to make these creatures. While they aesthetically vary widely, as does the specifics of the rites to make them, familiars are basically the same creature everywhere: a kind of magic servitor, or, when made in a group, an egregore of gross matter."
Savage Coast, 277 × 362. Roof of Innsmouth Academy during The Faculty
6.
- "Familiars who have survived for centuries often edge from simply well-trained to genuinely sapient. Often, they strain under their slavery or abominate their origins. Some go on to become monsters, filled with hate for themselves and their human masters. Rarer, but known, are those that wish only to live with human freedom and dignity. Oddly, familiars seem to have some in-built detestation of others of their kind. One magician's familiars, left alone, will attack another's. Other kinds of constructed life, such as scarecrows, seems to infuriate these apparently emotionless drones."
Savage Coast, 128 × 144. Basement of the Innsmouth Academy during Carter Unleashed. Through the maintenance door, first room on the right, behind a shelf