Country Familiars

Bastion has its pets, vermin, working animals, and other creatures. 

But out in Deep Country they'll tell you with glee that the big city doesn't have real Familiars. 

Of course it does, Bastion has everything, but it's not worth having the argument. Just let them have this one.

Familiars

• Each is unique and named, but exists in many distant places at once (don't try and pull any tricks around this, it won't work).
• They visit each place to help one particular person with a specific desire.
• They keep their host focused on this one goal, to the detriment of everything else.

So it's a simple, straightforward deal. They use their unnatural powers to help you with a thing, no strings attached, and once it's done they'll get out of your life. Though, in most stories the thing is never really done, and the familiar usually ends up outliving their host. 

And even though they're bound to help you free of charge, they still have hungers and hatreds, which they can be quite vocal about. You can just ignore them, of course, but often it just feels easier to keep them happy. 

If a Familiar feels unwelcome or unappreciated their favourite trick is to hide, often inside a valuable object or somehow behind your ear or inside the black of your eye. They don't stop helping altogether, but things would be so much quicker if you just indulged their needs. 

Their form is rarely straightforward, and it's not as simple as just being a black cat.

Maybe it's sort of a cat, but it's immediately obvious that they aren't. More like if your mind's eye tried to manifest a cat in front of you, but you hadn't seen one since your childhood. 

So if the simple stuff doesn't look right, naturally they tend to adopt more elaborate forms made of multiple animal parts and fancy embellishments. They take real pride in their appearance, and love a good neck-frill, prehensile tail, or iridescent coat. 

Let's do this with Spark Tables. Roll 4d20.

d20	Form	Power
1	Coiling	Precognition
2	Smiling	Invisibility
3	Wallowing	Death Touch
4	Lounging	Resurrection
5	Preening	Telekinesis
6	Watching	Pestilence
7	Stalking	Scrying
8	Gliding	Curses
9	Crawling	Pyrokinesis
10	Guarding	Time Manipulation
11	Fluttering	Illusionism
12	Lurking	Telepathy
13	Scurrying	Memory Manipulation
14	Burrowing	Weather Control
15	Basking	Protection
16	Creeping	Conjuration
17	Camouflaging	Light Manipulation
18	Stretching	Shape Shifting
19	Drooling	Knowledge
20	Whimpering	Shadow Craft

d20	Hunger	Hatred
1	Coal	Metal
2	Fire	Plants
3	Rodents	Dullards
4	Velvet	Paintings
5	Youth	Salt
6	Secrets	Wind
7	Praise	Blood
8	Beauty	Religion
9	Bone	Mud
10	Sweetness	Wood
11	Silk	Music
12	Meat	The Elderly
13	Antiquities	Milk
14	Gold	Cattle
15	Spices	Stone
16	Books	Insects
17	Reflections	Fiction
18	Alcohol	Dogs
19	Birds	The Ugly
20	Fungus	Carvings