Azynac

Wizards need their familiars and rangers their companion, but these are not as different as one might think

— Ernist Vonleu

Azynac are tiny fey spirits that manifest their energy in familiars or companions.

Appearance

Azynac are spirits made from Fey energy, their original appearance looks like a tiny glowing orb surrounded by smoke that trails behind them as they fly around. Inattentive travelers tend to confuse the appearance of Azynac with Will-o'-Wisps, but Azynac tend to give of less light as their glowing orb is smaller than that of a Will-o'-Wisp and is covered in coloured smoke. The colour of the smoke changes with age, Azynac start as a dim white and slowly mature into a dark colour, while the intensity of the colour changes, the colour itself stays the same from the moment Azynac first gains it.
As shapechangers Azynac can take on many different shapes of animals. This shapechanging happens once they are summoned into a material body. The shape and colouration of these material bodies are left to the wishes of their master, but particular defiant Azynac might sneak some of their own colour into the design.

Behaviour

Within the Feywild Azynacs behaviour can be seen as rather playfull as the spirits tend to stay near their place of origin and fly around the nearby area. Azynacs have very little cognitive power themselves, making them easy to summon and bond to animals or people. When they have aquired a master they become more docile and easily controlled by the person whom they serve, always willing to obey given commands. Some tend to keep their playfull behaviour, acting more animated than their natural counterparts would.

Summoning

The summoning of Azynacs happens via various means, such as the Find Familiar spell used by many arcane casters or companions for rangers and druids. Azynac will either create a material body, for familiars, nature spirits and swarms, or form a bond with a natural animal when summoned, for companions. Often the same Azynac will be in service for a master independent of the form they take and an Azynac will stay available for that person until either the Azynac or the person dies. More complex forms like swarms and companions will often be taken by older Azynac, while younger Azynac will prefer to be summoned as familiars or spirits. When a Azynac is summoned to be a companion it will share its consciousness with the beast, allowing the beast to act on its natural instincs, but also understand and follow the commands of its master.

Type

Fey

Size

Tiny

Allignment

Chaotic neutral

Lifespan

About a century

Language

Sylvan

Location

Feywild

Other planes

Azynacs cannot exist in their original form outside of their home plane as their original form requires too much energy to subsist, hence them changing shapen when they are summoned. The only way to see the original form of an Azynac is by either finding them in the wild on their home plane or watching very closely when they die as at that point they will return to their original shape for a short period of time before being transported back to their home plane.

Other types

Besides the Feywild, Azynac can also be found in other realms, changing their typing from fey to celestial or fiend. But Azynacs are most prevalent in the Feywild. Finding Azynac from other realms is a lot more difficult and they are less likely to be summoned as they are less willing to be bonded than their fey counterpart. Celestial or fiend Azynacs are often given to people as a boon of their patron or deity, while almost everyone with access to the right methods can summon a fey Azynac.