Questions
Post questions about the TaL world, how magic works.... ...or more general questions you have concerning TaL or its creators here. :3

The familiar binding spell, at its most basic level, involves transferring the soul into your familiar. There's a transfer of character traits between familiar and mage because of it (usually it's a one way transfer, though sometimes the mage's own senses are known to heighten etc to match their familiar.) Most notably the familiar gains the ability to reason. There is a bit of magic involved, I think, in preparing the animal to handle its job as carrier of the mages soul. Intelligence is also influenced by the mage, as one of the personality traits transferred. Furthermore, familiars tend to be heartier and live longer then their normal species. That make sense/answer your question? ^.^;

Haha, all familiars have free will, of course, because they're still their own thing. It's rare that a mage has a battle of wills with their familiar, but its known to happen before with more intelligent animals (though never to such an extent as with Raamah and Barak, and such a conflict would be over much greater matters) An especially intelligent familiar might, in fact, try to do something like subvert it's mage's suicide attempt. For the most part, however, mage and familiar have a very harmonious interaction, as they're two halves of a whole, if that makes sense. In that vein, mages tend more towards requesting things of their familiars, as opposed to ordering them. It makes for a more congenial relationship.

Oh, not at all, we're happy to answer any questions you might have. ^^ It's nice to see such enthusiasm as well. ;3 All mages can do various types of spells, but they tend to be related to and effected by their element. (Some spells are very neutral though, like a light spell or shield spell. These may, however, be effected by element; like a shield made of wind, for example.) An animal mage, is one that has an exceptional relationship to animals of all sorts, besides the special one with their familiar. Their specialized magic tends to focus around communicating with, and influencing animals to a particular task. (Because of this, animal mages are also known to do things with their familiars no other mages can, and their familiars also tend to be more intelligent then average. An illusionist, as the name implies, deals with illusions. Primarily these are based around sight, but Masters have been known to create illusions that can effect all the senses. Once again, however, all mages have their 'nuetral' spells on top of their specialization.

Some magic is passive, varying based on mages and elements (animal mages tend to have a constant ability to deal with animals, spell or none, for example.) Furthermore, Masters can do just about any magic without spell circles. To get to that level takes a lot, though. Complex things require complex spells; it wouldn't take much effort for Raamah to magically fling a stone at someone. ;) He would, however, require a spell circle (admittably a small one.) As for the page.... XD Actually, from my point of view, it was supposed to be more like "wtf? Read? That's so basic!' and then 'oh noooes! That sounds so haaaaaard! I have trouble trying to get it to jump through the hoops! D:'

Well, they ARE hard/annoying to draw and ADK has forgotten before... **cough** They could be called a physical manifestation of someone's potential to magic. They're a birthmark, who all with magical potential are born with. Each is unique, though their familiar will carry them too (often not in the same place, however, like how Raamah's is on his chest and Barak's on his nape) The symbols on the birthmark can usually be 'read' by those who have enough knowledge of magical symbolism and manifestation to identify basic information about the person, such as the element they're attuned to. For familiars, this is a manifestation of the bond, and the mage's soul within them.