Another aspect of magic briefly touched on with leech magic and soul magic is gaining more power from another creature or higher powered being. While some using wild magic or foci magic may also utilize leech magic and soul magic if they so choose to experiment and refine such abilities, an easier way for a practitioner of any of these styles is to form a pact or binding.
A player might recall that with a tamed creature or charmed sentient they can get them to do some things on their behalf, such as attacking enemies, or sharing their resources and abilities. This is, however, the forcing of one's WIL onto another, and not the same as a pact or binding. A pact specifically is when a creature or character that is more powerful than the player makes an agreement to come forth when summoned, or to lend a helping hand in the form of an ability or giving items. This technically can happen even without it being magical in nature, such as when two neighboring tribes form a pact to provide support if an invader encroaches on their land, but this is always distinguished from a normal alliance in that the ally or higher powered being does not need to be present to offer their support, nor does it take Favor to maintain it, so long as one's relationship with the ally does not break the vows of the pact itself. It can be as simple as a quick communication with the ally in the pact to request information, such as the location of a safehouse, or more complex, such as having an air strike called in when under enemy fire on the battlefield. Any ally that one has a pact with should be designated as (Pact) next to their name on their entry, and any higher powered being will have certain abilities marked with (Pact) to show that those abilities may be used once a day without FP cost, but if using them outside of the pact they will use +1 FP more than they would if it wasn't a pacted ability. Additionally, the pact only extends to the details of the vow made during it and the wording of it, making it risky business to rely on.
A binding, conversely, deals with when a creature or character willingly submits to the character to do their bidding without question. They are typically one at an equal or lower level to the character that bound them, and unlike a tamed creature or character, they cannot be turned against the one they are bound to even if one overwhelms their WIL. Any ally or companion that is bound should be listed as their name (Bound), and in addition to this restriction they may have more power granted them by the one to whom they are bound. If the one that bound them gives up some FP, they may use it instead of their own or when theirs is empty, and have their own WIL plus the WIL of the one who bound them for use when resisting any challenge that may test it. Bound creatures and characters are more fearless and determined to serve the one they gave their allegiance to, and as a result give 10% of their XP gain automatically to the one who bound them if they are present.
Pacts and Bindings are very useful when one has allies, companions or even fellow teammates, but despite whatever circumstances pushed the parties involved into making one, they are always voluntary, making them rare to find in the general populous, more commonly found in cults, with apprentices to their masters, and other groupings that try to rely on each other more collectively than individually.
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