No familiar is a waste. None are let-downs or runners up. Familiars are always exactly what a mage needs in a companion, even if they do not know it.

Sure, I’m little and soft and terribly cute, and in the eyes of many, that’s all I’ll ever be. To my mage, Lim, the esteemed brewer of potions, I am the finest herbalist to work at his side.

In the same way that mages are chosen by Nature, so are familiars. I have skills, perhaps even duties, that work best alongside Lim’s. We can change our paths, they’re like knotted forest trails rather than clean lines, but our essences work together to create harmony.

My gift is in scent. I can smell when a herb is just right for one potion, or another, as its strength changes throughout the seasons. That one is too weak, that one too old, that one too sun-damaged. That one… is very poisonous and will stop your heart in four minutes.

See? Not just a pretty face, am I?