Huckleberry (familiar)

Huckleberry is the player's talking familiar who resembles a miniature cat with large ears. He guides the player through the game story, following the player and providing insight into the past and commentary on points of interest, but will not follow the player into the Miasma.

## Life

### Background

Huckleberry has been a familiar in the player's family for at least a century. Little is known about his origins, though the player gradually learns more as the story progresses, mostly firsthand (see *Origins*; **WARNING:** **SPOILERS AHEAD**). Huckleberry has the voice of a young man, but is more than 300 years old (Abraham remarks in one conversation that Huck must be at least 200 years old). Like most familiars, Huckleberry couldn't speak the human language naturally, but the player's great-uncle Virgil taught him "how to read the alphabet and articulate sounds" (learned in conversation after feeding him Huckleberry Soup), which made Huck realize he may be more than just a cat familiar.

#### Personality

Huckleberry is eager to help, personable (according to a letter from Ma and Pops), has a good sense of humor and a quick wit. He can sometimes come off a bit skittish, especially when the player is nearing the Miasma or planning to explore a new area within it. Huckleberry is occasionally altruistic, placing the interests of others before his own. He tells the player that he "can't stand being alone" (Topic: *Your True Form*). He is selective with those he considers friends, and is happy to talk to the player on a variety of topics besides the Homestead Arcana Program.

#### Diet

It is possible to feed Huckleberry from the interaction menu by selecting "Give" and then "Feed Huck." This requires inventory items consumable by Huck, though not necessarily by the player.

Huckleberry does not care for raw Huckleberry fruit, but will gladly chow down on a bowl of Huckleberry Soup. With other plants, he seems to prefer crops not consumable by humans (such as Birch Bark and Hemp), and has no taste for human food, with a couple exceptions below.

As part of game story, Huckleberry helps the player identify viable ingredients for each level of Scar fertilizer by having the player find a seedling for it in the current Miasma-covered area, plant it, and feed the harvested crop to Huckleberry. During these main story quest feedings, Huckleberry typically remarks on the pleasant taste of the item and gets the idea to use it in the next jar of fertilizer.

### Role as Familiar

Huckleberry tells the player that the role of familiars is to help witches cast magic. He mentions that part of that involves assistance with channeling plant growth, although he says that he does not have this ability, nor did most familiars he's known personally. To his knowledge, only one known familiar had this ability, but that the player wouldn't "want her as an ally" (*Familiars* conversation topic).

The player's great-great-grandmother is the oldest known Homesteader for whom Huckleberry served as a familiar. It is also possible that he helped out Grandma Betty (mentioned in a conversation with the player regarding The Academy).

Huckleberry took a personal liking to the player's Aunt Tilly and followed her into the wild when she became a Homesteader in the Pearl Canyon. Since this was not an official assignment, Huck did not feel compelled to guard Tilly the way he does with the player under a formal request by the Little Rock's Councilman Narrows. Instead, he used to run away often, sometimes for days or weeks at a time, leaving Aunt Tilly by herself at her homestead not far from the Miasma's reach.

### (Re-)Introduction

Huckleberry is given the task of overseeing the player's initiation into the Homestead Arcana Program by Little Rock's Councilman Narrows, who usually takes new Homesteaders through the initiation rites. At the time of this assignment, Huckleberry has only been back in the player's family for a week since his last disappearance.

The player can feed Huck as well as pet him by using the interaction command "Give," then giving the option to feed Huck something from the inventory or pet him. Huck reacts like a cat to pets and purrs as long as the player continues petting him by pressing the button prompt that appears on the screen during Pet Huck interaction. To cancel, press "Back."

#### Huck's Poultice

*Main article: Huck's Poultice*

After the player clears the Pearl Canyon of Miasma, Huckleberry comes running to the channeled Dust-eater and points out a Hopper who survived the Miasma's retreat (near the Incensier plant. The player is given the recipe for Huck's Poultice, which can be used on a wild creature in an area cleared of the Miasma to cure it, returning it to its natural state before being consumed by the Miasma.

## Main Story (Spoilers Ahead!)

***Note:** This section covers information about Huckleberry discovered as part of story progression and relies heavily on story spoilers. Please proceed at your own risk.*

### Origins

This means that the player's efforts to push back the Miasma are detrimental to Huck's health, which is what the Hermit was alluding to when she warned the player about the consequences of clearing the Miasma from the wilds.
When The Academy was active, Huckleberry remarks on rumors that its members would capture and perform autopsies on Miasma-dwelling creatures, and that he could not risk coming too close to them for this reason. At the time that he first mentions this, the connection between the two is not yet clear.
Despite depending on Miasma, Huck had been living outside it for years at a time. It is possible that his occasional stints of running away from the Gardner family were so he could recuperate in the Miasma before returning for another few decades.
When the player clears all game areas of Miasma, this triggers a cutscene in which Huckleberry states that he is unsure of how he will survive now that the Miasma is gone, and that he needs to go away once again as he tries to figure out a way to stay alive without Miasma.

### True Form

Shortly before finding out about Huck's origins, the player witnesses his true form firsthand during the battle with the Hermit in the Swamp. Huck swoops in to defend the player from the Hermit and her familiar, both of whom were attacking the player to thwart their attempt to heal the Swamp Dust-eater.

It is then that the player first sees Huckleberry not as an adorable miniature cat, but as a gigantic creature with claws, fangs, and a face resembling an animal skull. Huckleberry still has the same youthful voice, but his physique is far stronger, being able to jump high and far and engage in combat, and his personality becomes more feral and aggressive.
When the two reunite at the second Miasma Scar in The City, Huckleberry had been battling Ghosts for some time and confesses to gradually losing his sense of self in the Miasma amidst the constant fighting. He expresses concern over potentially losing his memory of the player as part of his ongoing transformation, but seeing how the player doesn't care about his appearance, he makes a vow to hang on to remnants of his self to continue protecting the player.
While outside the Miasma, Huckleberry returns to his original cat-like form; when he joins the player in The City for the final act, he appears in his beast form.