Supernal Companion

{{Infobox_Merit
|Source=Summoners
|Pages=p. 186
|Status=Banned
|Fixed=Yes
|Type=Retainer
|Restriction=Mage
|Level1=5
}}
Smart mages that decide to pursue Supernal summoning magic start by calling up something small that can easily be dealt with, in case something goes wrong. More often than not, the mage sends these minor entities home after a cursory examination, impatient to move on to bigger and better things when she is sure her magic works properly. Other mages ﬁnd themselves enamored of the creatures that they summon and decide to use such entities as familiars. In addition to the experience points cost of this Merit, which indicates time spent in study learning exactly how to bind a Supernal creature to her, the mage must complete the Supernal summoning ritual to call her new familiar. Binding a Supernal entity requires the mage to spend one dot of Willpower and to reveal her real name to the creature. Supernal Companions are created using the guidelines shown in [[Mage: The Awakening]] on p. 83 for Twilight familiars. A Supernal Companion spends most of its time in Twilight but can manifest at its master’s side by spending a point of Essence (this ability is separate from the single Numen allowed to familiars at creation). In addition to the other beneﬁts gained by a mage for owning a familiar, she can drain up to two Essence from the Supernal Companion for an equal amount of Mana once each day.

Note that the process of binding a Supernal entity to oneself in such a manner permits the being to survive indeﬁnitely away from its realm of origin. Forcibly subjecting an unwilling Supernal spirit to the familiar bond (and many of them are, indeed, unwilling to be conﬁned to the material realm), however, is an act of hubris, requiring any mage with a Wisdom of 3 or
greater to roll two dice to resist degeneration.



{{Links|Retainer}}{{characteristics}}