General questions
Can I roleplay my character as owning a horse, hawk, etc, as a regular pet?
Absolutely! Just keep in mind that these animals do not qualify as companions or familiars and should have a normal level of intelligence.
Can a single character have more than one guardian, familiar, or companion pet?
Chosen characters may only bond with one guardian and hedge witches may only bond with one familiar. However, all characters can own unlimited companion pets.
Chosen, guardians, and totems
Can a non-chosen character become a chosen character?
Yes! Any character who is not a hedge witch can be chosen. Feel free to begin RPing the "pre-chosen" of your quest guardian if you want to.
Can unawakened guardians (or other pets) communicate with one another telepathically?
No, they can only communicate using body language. Guardians and companions/familiars are more intelligent than real-life animals and can use fairly complex body language to convey their opinions and desires to both other animals and humans (for example, indicating that they want someone to follow them, expressing disgust at someone's gaudy outfit).
Do guardians acquired as adults skip their totem or growth stages RP-wise?
No, from an in character/roleplaying standpoint they've still grown from totems and experienced all stages of growth after that.
How long does it take a guardian to grow from totem to adult?
Time spent as a totem is very flexible and largely up to you to decide. A totem can manifest into a fawn after a single week or several months—whichever is most convenient for your character! After manifesting, a guardian takes about a year and a half on average to grow to full adulthood. However, since their growth time is influenced by their bonds with their chosen, guardians can reach adulthood in as little as ten months to a year if they have unusually strong bonds.
How large are guardians?
Guardian fawns are about the same size as regular fawns. Yearlings are about the size of adult whitetail deer, and adult bucks/does are the size of small horses, weighing in at around 850 lbs. (Keep in mind, however, that from an IC perspective guardians grow along a continuum, rather than abruptly jumping from stage to stage.) Awakened stags/hinds are very large, standing taller than most horses and weighing in at around 1,200 lbs. Male guardians are slightly larger than female guardians generally.
How large are totems?
Totems may vary slightly in size but are always small, able to fit within the palms of their chosens' hands.
Can children be chosen?
People as young as eleven or twelve have been known to undergo choosings, although it is fairly unusual. Keep in mind that while you're allowed to play a child/young teenaged chosen, they may not be able to participate in some aspects of the meta plot due to their age!
Do guardians and chosen always love each other and care about each other?
No! They usually do, because the bond between them means that they typically understand each other very well and often share emotions, but the relationship between a guardian and chosen isn't always perfect. If turbulence occurs, its source is usually the human chosen; guardians tend to love unconditionally, at least until trained to do otherwise. Chosen may resent the changes that their guardian has forced upon their lives, the inconvenience and emotional burden of being bonded, and so on.
What happens to a chosen if his/her guardian dies, or vice versa?
This is somewhat situational. The untimely or violent death of a guardian or chosen is a devastating experience. Some cannot tolerate the experience of losing their bonded companion and die themselves, others go insane, and still others continue to go on living with an outward semblance of normality, though their emotional scars are unlikely to ever completely heal. Guardians who are not fully awakened (haven't reached the stag/hind phase yet) typically don't survive the death of their chosen.
What happens if a totem is destroyed or broken?
The guardian spirit is destroyed also, even if it has already been released from the totem. Any significant breakage (eg, a leg being broken off) will release the energies inside and destroy the stone. Less serious damage to the stone, such as chips and cracks, may cause the guardian to fall permanently ill. Fortunately totems are extremely difficult to damage. Dropping them, throwing them, and even pounding them with a hammer won't leave so much as a dent.
Can guardians and their chosen always read each other's minds? Can they hide things (emotions, secrets) from each other?
The mental bond between a guardian and chosen is profound, but not all-inclusive. Typically the only emotions or sensations that are "sent" automatically are strong, sudden ones that the guardian or chosen finds difficult to control in the moment. They can indeed hide things from each other, although depending on the particular situation doing so may take some effort and/or eventually arouse suspicion. Keep in mind that guardians who are not fully awakened (haven't reached the stag/hind stage yet) aren't terribly complex beings and can't really comprehend the workings of a human mind in the same way another human might.
What happens when a guardian dies?
A guardian simply disappears at the moment of death, dispersing into a glowing wisp of spirit-stuff the color of its totem whorls (and eyes). Wherever it is, its totem also breaks in two. The vegetation in an area a guardian dies is rumored to flourish almost instantly. Fortunately, guardians are much more difficult to injure and kill than a normal animal—a property that increases as they grow older and awaken.
Can a person force a choosing by stealing a totem from the ward-tree?
As long as the totem in question hasn't already chosen someone else, yes— but with great difficulty. A stolen totem will repel a thief as strongly as it attracts its chosen. The result is a tortuous, sickening experience that few have the mental fortitude to endure. Eventually the totem will release its spirit guardian, but only reluctantly, and the bond between the guardian and "chosen" is frequently damaged or incomplete.
Can a person become chosen after receiving/stealing a totem from someone else?
If the totem has already chosen the first person, then no—the result would be the same as stealing a totem from the ward-tree (mentally sickening), except that the totem would never grow. It the first person recently STOLE the totem from the ward-tree, then yes, that is possible, though unlikely.
Are chosen known as Wardens in current times?
Yes—as of the 2013 spring equinox meta event (year 1797 IC), chosen have once more been granted the official title of Warden by the crown. Previously, the term only referred to the historical chosen of legend who fought in the ancient war between men and Wolves (many people did not believe in contemporary chosen until fairly recently).
Do guardians eat?
Guardians are immortal (unless killed) and do not need to eat to survive, but most of them still enjoy eating and will do so given the chance. Some guardians even feel weaker if they do not eat for long periods of time. Typically their diet is similar to that of deer and horses, but they may develop other tastes and can safely consume a wide variety of foods.
Do male guardians ever shed their antlers?
Typically they do not—guardians are magical creatures and their antlers aren't associated with a seasonal reproductive cycle. However, it still happens on rare occasions if the guardian's chosen is expecting it to happen and doesn't know any better; in this case the strength of their expectation might actually cause their guardian to temporarily lose his antlers! (We mostly just thought this would be funny. Poor bucks!)
Hedge witches and familiars
Can I play a hedge witch without owning a familiar?
Yes! You do not need a pet to be able to RP a hedge witch. While familiars make hedge magic stronger, they are not necessary to be able to practice it.
Can hedge witches be related to chosen characters?
Yes! Although there seems to be a strong heritable component to magic, hedge witches and chosen can still come from the same family (we even have at least a couple pairs of hedge witch/chosen twins). As long as someone is not a hedge witch themselves, they are able to be chosen.
How intelligent are familiars (versus regular companions or other animals)?
Both familiars and companions are extremely intelligent as a general rule. Their intelligence does vary somewhat by species, ranging from about as smart as a very smart dog (on the low end) to about as smart as an adult unawakened guardian (on the high end), which is very clever indeed. However, intelligence varies by individual, and it isn't impossible, for example, to have an extremely smart rabbit or an unusually dumb rook. Familiars tend to be a bit more intelligent than companions (or at least possess a more "humanlike" intelligence) due to their mental bond with a hedge witch, but the difference isn't huge.
