Familiars are bonded spiritual companions to Mages. They can be either corporeal or incorporeal. Corporeal familiars often take the form of animals.
Spirits have a complex relationship to the Material Realm; they may be birthed by strong emotions, the creation of objects or the birth of new life, or perhaps ephemera simply finds a home and identity by connecting with such things. Spirits begin their lives as tiny dormant motes of Essence. Eventually, as their material reflection grows and strengthens, they become powerful enough to awaken (or be awakened by something else). While some spirits may exhibit complex behaviour and high levels of intelligence, they always act according to their natures: wolf spirits hunt, toy spirits play, and disease spirits spread disease.