Famous Familiars
Other articles in our Familiars series.
The Life of Pets, Familiars and Animal Companions
Life of Pets II
Fun Familiars for 5e
Feats for Familiars
A series of lost books tells of familiars that are famous in their own right. Many of these books have been lost throughout time, but others have been uncovered by industrious spellcasters, research librarians, and unscrupulous archaeologists. How many of these books will be recovered is a mystery. Still, given that a single book can fetch a price higher than some kingdoms are worth, the hunt for additional books from the Famous Familiars series will continue in earnest.
The books in this set are different colors, although they are muted as they have faded over time. On the cover of these thin hardcover books is a drawing of a creature, underneath which is the creature's name. In the bottom left-hand corner is a volume number of where the book belongs in the set. Each book comprises 10 pages, which tells the story of the fantastical creature, with the last page being left blank. There are an unknown number of these books in existence.
Each of these legendary familiars serves the wielder of the book as a familiar, forming a magical, telepathic bond with that willing companion. While the two are bonded, you can sense what the legendary familiar senses as long as you are within 1 mile of each other. While the legendary familiar is within 10 feet of you, you share its Magic Resistance trait. The legendary familiar can end its service at any time and for any reason, ending the telepathic bond and unattuning you to the item.
When you are attuned to one of these books, the verbal incantation and somatic hand movements needed to summon the creature, using the find familiar spell, as your familiar appear on the last page of the book. When you take the Attack action, you can forgo one of your own attacks to allow your familiar to make one attack with its reaction. After the spell is cast, you immediately lose your attunement to the book but retain the knowledge to summon the new familiar when you use the ind familiar spell.
After the first time you summon a legendary familiar, it can decide to ignfore your summons, and the spell fails, and the components are consumed.
The Book of Blue
This book has a deep rich blue cover, and in the bottom left corner is written Volume 3 in black ink. The cover is adorned with a picture of a velociraptor.
Blue is one of four magical velociraptors (the others being named Echo, Delta, and Charlie) who were imbued with fey magic by Queen Titania and granted a superior level of intelligence. The velociraptor's ability to follow commands led the Seelie Court to task all four creatures with protecting the Sylvan realms.
Blue, the smartest of the four, won her independence by killing countless enemies of the Seelie Court during her time of service, many of which are stories of legend. She still wanders the Feywild, disposing of potential threats on her own accord, usually with ruthless efficiency.
After reading the book in its entirety, you may summon Blue as your familiar when casting the find familiar spell.
The Book of Monchi
This book has a soft tan felt cover, and in the bottom left corner is written Volume 12 in black ink. Two large round eyes on a sketched face in charcoal of a creature that looks almost like a dog.
No one is quite sure what type of creature Monchi is, but she has the physical appearance of a dog who underwent several failed wizard experiments. Others say that Monchi is some sort of small pig, the result of a simple farmer attempting to crossbreed pigs with some sort of aberration.
It's unclear how this causes her to become more endearing, but most people find her quite cute and loveable. It's a good thing, too, since Monchi is not very smart. Oddly, her stunning lack of intelligence makes her resistant to the mental abilities and attacks of other creatures.
Monchi’s small tan fur-covered body is almost circular in shape, and her legs are absurdly short. Her bulging eyes take up most of her face and usually face in opposite directions. This gives her such a wide range of vision that it is impossible to sneak up on her. Her tiny ears stand straight up at the top of her head. Her tongue is incredibly long, and many wonder how it fits into her normal size mouth.
If one stares too long at Monchi, they become so bewildered they are frozen in place. In extreme cases, a searing pain shoots through their head as if they had drunk a pint of ice-cold dwarven lager too fast. It is always recommended to look away when you reach down to pet the adorably freakish Monchi.
After reading the book in its entirety, you may summon Monchi as your familiar when casting the find familiar spell. Monchi will immediately lick the caster in the face (this does no damage), sealing the bond between Monchi and the wizard.
The Book of Mumble
In this set, a rare two-tone book, its front and back covers are a pale black color while the spine is a faded white. In the bottom left corner is written Volume 13 in black ink. The cover has a sketch of a small penguin in the center.
In his waning years, the archmage Palandaz's only companion in his tower was his familiar Mumble. In his arrogant youth, Palandaz had built a tower bigger and higher than any in the land. The tower stretched to the clouds, filled with countless rooms and arcane texts. It was, however, a prison of his own making, as he could not remember the way out, and his magical defenses did not allow teleportation of any type in or out.
Palandaz attempted to train Mumble in several skills to keep himself entertained, from painting to archery to an odd game called ping pong he had once heard of. Of all the activities Mumble tried, it turned out that he had a natural talent to tap dance. Mumble loved to dance, keeping his master enthralled with original dances until his death.
After reading the book in its entirety, you may summon Mumble as your familiar when casting the find familiar spell. Mumble will excitedly do a short dance when he sees its summoner.
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