[Dragaera] Lifespans of familiars (Was Vlad & Cawti & Dzur Speculation)

[Jon_Lincicum at stream.com]

David Maxwell <david at crlf.net> 
07/28/06 11:12 AM

To
"Mark A. Mandel" <thnidu at yahoo.com>
cc
Jon_Lincicum at stream.com, Dragaera list <dragaera at dragaera.info>
Subject
Re: [Dragaera] Lifespans of familiars (Was Vlad & Cawti & Dzur 
Speculation)




>> (in response to a number of posts)
>> Remember Vlad's contract with Loiosh's mother! (from memory, so not 
100%
>> precise):
>> 
>>   And what will you give it in return?
>> 
>>   My friendship, long life, and fresh red meat without hunting.
>> 
>> *Long life*. Evidently the familiar bond extends the familiar's 
lifespan
>> beyond the norm for its species, possibly for as long as the master 
lives.

Hmmm... I'm not so sure this means what you think it means.

>I don't reason this as any more of a guarantee than saying goodbye to a
>Vulcan.
>
>Your speculation could be true, or "long life" == "well fed". I don't 
think
>the text is evidence for either side, but I default to "well fed", 
without
>further argument.

This seems more plausible.

I don't think the witch-spell agreement can necessarily be taken to mean 
that the familiar will live longer than is natural for that species. 
(Although that is one possible interpretation.)

At the same time, I have a hard time envisioning Vlad trying to carry on 
with life after losing Loiosh.

He would be a broken man. 

Also, some of our other examples (notably Ambrus) do seem to have lived 
for longer than you would expect them to. 

How old was Noish-pa when he acquired Ambrus as his familiar? Isn't this 
something a witch does in childhood? And now Noish-pa is 70 or so? 

Granted, we don't know that Ambrus was his first familiar, or how many 
others he may have gone through. 

Majikjon