Familiars

Familiars, formerly known as Soul Spirits, are a physical manifestation of a goldblood's spirit, personality, passion and drive. They present themselves as an animal, and are the largest and most important source of mana for a goldblood. Familiars can come out as deformed if a goldblood reveals them before they have fully matured. As such, familiars are only revealed on a child's 15th birthday or later, and no earlier.

Familiars are split into five classes based off rarity. While many believe that higher class familiars are better and means the child is destined for greatness, this is not the case. High class familiars simply mean the child has unique traits which can be positive and negative. A common trend is that warlords and tyrants tend to have higher class familiars because of unique negative traits.

Formation
The very first familiar was revealed over 980 years ago, making familiars in the daily lives of Azelas a fairly recent habit. However, their presence has been noted for at least a hundred thousand years, first discovered by the ancient Khimeri. The very first familiar discovered was the Ancient Dragon, the only unbonded familiar who has existed for millions of years. While the Ancient Dragon has not been seen by anyone for the last hundred thousand years, its energy can be felt.

Familiars have no God and tend to follow the religion of their bond, but are considered impartial. However, there is a higher realm where all familiars go to after their bond has died. There, they lose their physical shape and turn back into pure energy, waiting for the day they are summoned again.