Cofamiliars

Famliars: a social relationship between a humanoid and non-humanoid. Religious, customary, legal? What social mores and terminology? How long do they last? Ping Lilkei and Hippy to discuss more. Possible origins: caur (fingerless elephants), sremic tribes, verdigris plains (scarabs), Zanarrol (could be early adopter from Caur), or maybe in multiple places. Definitely related to non-humanoids though. Is at least 100's of years old.
Regions: all around the reach, Ashup, possibly lnrmng, seem, chaneritt, north Caracar, VP. Not in the pangol empire.
Terms: familiar, Cofamiliar, Twined
How does cofamiliarity interact with partnership/marriage?
Vow/oath of twining: for your _____, I lend you my aid
Untwining (sometimes as part of a funeral): "until we may aid each other again"
Lots of regional variations
Customary, but not strictly legal or religious in nature
Only 2 members, but you can be in multiple at once. Some charitable orders have members who twine with dozens of the needy
Takes the place of state welfare in many places - still, largely done on the basis of mutual benefit
Cofamiliar Examples:
caur elephants? Did they invent the system?
Some man-eaters, such as the that one swalloweasel?
Urchins?
Sentient slick cormorants (if these are a thing) - replace other cormorant-bonders
Northern sphinxes?
Humans with disabilities, neuroatypical, or just close partnerships? Would probably want a different name!
Ithrum and Hahemir are co-familiars?
In the Giteri, a gifted cannot twine without their kinma's consent
How do Ennant/Zanarrol hares feel about Twining? Do the Ennant reject it, supporting themselves with messenger revenue instead?