Animals like and help you. However, your character feels obliged to protect his animal friends as well, the GM may enforce this compulsion on you. This schtick does work on Transformed Animals, but once they figure out you're a sorcerer, they probably become enraged.

Backlash with the Animal schtick makes you behave more like an animal for the rest of the scene.

This schtick is available in two variants, Animal Friend and Animal Totem. These are similar, but totem is more specialized on one certain type of animal and has two extra effects, Mystic Invocation and Skin Shift.

For animal attributes and abilities, see the chapter on Transformed Animals.

Animal Friend

With Animal Friend, you are the friend of all types of animals and can speak to them and request help. All animals become your friends, and your magic tradition usually requires that you reply in kind. Your abilities work on all types of animals, but you do not have access to the specific totem effects listed at the end of the schtick description.

Animal Totem

With Animal Totem you must choose an animal from the list in the Transformed Animal section as a totem. You can select Dragon, but see notes below. The only way to learn several types of animals is to take the schtick several times, at full cost each time. Animal Schticks are only available if you take the totem variant of the Animal schtick.

Animal Effects

Animal Senses

You can use the senses of the animal in human form. You gain the smell of a dog, the night vision of a cat, the sonar of a bat, the balance of a monkey or the eyesight of a hawk, as appropriate. Replace your Perception with your Sorcery for that particular sense only. Each use of the sense requires a separate spell, so it is no good passively.

Communication

You can communicate with animals, and speak their language fluently. Use Sorcery instead of your Charisma for purposes of dealing with them. Assume that animals communicated with have the intelligence of small children, and that they can give fair recollections of what they have seen or experienced. The animals like you and will not attack you without provocation. If you have the totem variant of this schtick, you can communicate with any animal, but can only expect help from your totem animal and "friendly'' animal types. In general, animals will behave towards you as if you were a member of your totem species.

Companion
If you befriend and train an animal companion, that animal can perform tricks and fight quite effectively. Use your Sorcery for actions appropriate to the type on animal; a cat can sneak and scout, a crow can scout and steal, a monkey can amuse and climb. The animal can attack using your Sorcery skill, but still defends using it's regular Dodge. Unnamed animals can make an active dodge to use your Sorcery for defense.

Merge
You can merge your consciousness with that of an animal. Your body is in a trance while merging, and you are thus automatically surprised, but you can break the trance at will. While merged, you can communicate with the animal and sense everything the animal experiences. You mentally ride along as the animal moves. Except for Perception and detection powers, you cannot use your own abilities through the animal. This is not mind control.

Sense Animal
You can sense the presence of animals within a hundred meters times your Sorcery action value. You only know that they are present until you can see them, whereupon you can sense their health and general well-being. Sensing a transformed animal in this fashion requires a Sorcery check against their Willpower, and must be done subtly, or they will sense your scrying.

Summon Animal

You may summon animals, if any are present in the region. The difficulty depends on their scarcity. A number of animals appear equal to the Outcome. Solitary animals come a few at the time, only the first comes on time.

Totem Effects

These effects are only available if you have the Totem variant of the Animal schtick.

Mystic Invocation

You can purchase and use the Transformed Animal schticks of your totem animal. You pay (8+X) experience points for a new animal schtick, where X is the ordinal number of the new schtick. This effect can only be used if you have the totem version of this schtick (see above).

Dragon note: you can invoke any transformed animal schtick, but pay (12+X) experience points.

Skin Shift

You can take on the shape of your totem animal for an indefinite period. This costs a Magic point each time you shift. Your clothes, weapons and other gear shift with you. You cannot speak and may lack manipulative digits while in animal form. Your physical attributes (Body, Reflexes) change into those of a typical animal of the type. You keep skills that the animal form can use. You may not use any Sorcery schtick except this one in animal form, but can substitute Sorcery for Martial Arts. Any other modifications your GM feels are sensible also apply, such as appropriate abilities (a scorpions deadly poison, for example) or disabilities at GMs discretion.