Avatars, Totems & Familiars

Clerics, druids and arcanists all have access to a form of spirit that provides additional capabilities.
Avatars are an extension of the Gods support for their representatives and generally increase the priests abilities to demonstrate one aspect of the Gods power. Their existence stretches back into history for as long as the Gods themselves have existed.
All indications are that totems are animal spirits that are strengthened through being linked to their companion druid. It seems to be generally accepted that the totemic bond is strongest when it happens serendipitously as opposed to training the druid to search for an animal he or she wishes to bond with. The first known instances of totems are found in ancient native orc records where Druids of the Dekatur faith seemed to regard them as reincarnations of ancestral guides.
Familiars are different to Avatars and Totems in that the initial bonding is not a gift or a demonstration of friendship, it is an act of binding by the arcanist along with an imposition of the mages desires on the capabilities of the Familiar. Unsurprisingly, the first known examples of familiars are found amongst the Elves who seem to have been trying to emulate Totems. It is perhaps interesting to note that whilst all Elven arcanists are believed to bind a familiar, they are a lot more reticent about manifesting them.
During the war between the Wild and the Empire, both sides developed capabilities to neutralise and in some cases destroy Totems and Familiars, with Familiars seeming to be particularly targeted. In general most religions regard all three of these spirit companions as fundamentally sound, although both Barosa and Dekatur Judge are known to advise caution around becoming too dependent upon the familiar – no specific reasons cited.