Retainer

Retainer
An experienced Noble can have Retainers [CofD 53] who belong to another Light-touched template. Beacon Retainers need no special rules, since they’re very close to mundane. Sworn Retainers, however, gain magic from their connection with the Light, and are therefore more capable than a mundane Retainer. When a Sworn becomes a Retainer, add one Invocation dot, and one Bequest dot for each dot of the Merit after the first.

Shikigami as Merits
As previously mentioned, it's common for a new Nakama to be brought together by a Shikigami, and therefore a Shikigami is often a prominent NPC in a game of Princess: the Hopeful. To encourage this, the Storyteller may allow his players to define their characters' Shikigami as a set of shared Social Merits, chosen from Allies, Mentor, Retainer, Staff and True Friend. A Shikigami bought in this way should be designed by the players collaboratively, with the Storyteller’s help.

Merits purchased with shared dots are available to any character who contributed at least one dot. However, Merits with limited uses don’t allow double-dipping - if a Shikigami is a shared Mentor, for example, only one character can call on him to act as such in each session. If a character dies, or is otherwise removed from play, the dots she contributed are no longer available to the other characters, and shared Merits must be reduced by that amount.