Familiar children are taught at a private school run by
Familiars called Brookridge Academy. The school is in the midst of a small town
that's primarially a weekend getaway place for people so there is little chance of
the children being bothered. At the school these children are taught to read and
speak ancient symbols and what it means to be a Familiar, including they must be
strong if they want to survive the Coming. When the time is right, each child prooves
themselves to determine if he or she is a true Familiar.
The initiation is performed in the basement of the school by the cult Priestess and is conducted entirely in the ancient language Familiars know how to speak. Two snakes are brought forth and the priestess cuts the head off one of them with a special knife known as the kariff and drips the blood into a cup. She then dips the end into the cup and turns to face the child, who willing presents her their arm. The knife end is pressed against the child's skin, giving them a cut in the shape of the cult's symbol and infecting them with the virus. If the child survices, he or she is a true Familiar. If not, they were not meant to be a Familiar. Only after a child prooves themselves are told everything about the Coming.
The initiation is performed in the basement of the school by the cult Priestess and is conducted entirely in the ancient language Familiars know how to speak. Two snakes are brought forth and the priestess cuts the head off one of them with a special knife known as the kariff and drips the blood into a cup. She then dips the end into the cup and turns to face the child, who willing presents her their arm. The knife end is pressed against the child's skin, giving them a cut in the shape of the cult's symbol and infecting them with the virus. If the child survices, he or she is a true Familiar. If not, they were not meant to be a Familiar. Only after a child prooves themselves are told everything about the Coming.
Initiation The Betrayal