Aatsuk

Aatsuk is extremely mysterious. She's simultaneously a familiar for several of my characters. None of my characters know it's the same jackdaw. Even if they did, none of them would know if she time-travels, or if she splits her consciousness. No one knows quite what she's capable of, just that she never seems to push herself.

She's snarky, and arrogant, always looking down on and mocking the efforts of anyone else who understands her. She isn't necessarily understandable just because someone can talk to animals; she can freely control who understands her. She's cunning and sneaky, double crossing anyone, and happily making "triple agent" seem like something a newborn could manage. Only she has any idea who - or if - she's loyal to. She's manipulative too, and her position as familiar makes it a lot easier to deliberately give terrible advice and be believed.

Apperance-wise, she's literally just a typical Icelandic Jackdaw, except she exerts a potent signature of dark magic, and those who have been significantly exposed to her before can tell it's her if they encounter her again. She never seems to get hurt by anything, either, not that wounded jackdaws stand out much among jackdaws.

Aatsuk contains at least part of the soul of at least one deceased god. Aatsuk is an inversion of "Kustaa" which means "staff of the gods". Quite what gods those are, and what she's meant to do, and whether she's even on their sides any more are all questions no one has yet realised the importance of regarding her.