Does the demon die too, when its master dies? 'Cause there's been some confusing stuff about that, and I'm not sure... Also, doesn't the master have to be in a pentacle to release the demon? I might have missed something, but in the beginning of The Golem's Eye, and the Emperor releases Bartimaeus, he's not in a pentacle, but at the end of The Amulet of Samarkand, Nat had to draw a pentacle to release Bartimaeus from his power. Was that just because at the time, Bartimaeus was in Adelbrand's Pentacle, or what?

The master has power over the spirit. The only to release a spirit from slavery without dying are the words of Dismissal. One of the reasons Nat had to draw a pentacle was: Yeah, the Adelbrand's pentacle and Indefinite Confinement spell was to be cut too. That's all I know.
And this is in the wrong place. It should be in Bartiforums discussion, I think. That's the adim's job.

Sorry, I thought this was the Bartiforums Discussion; that's what it says on the top... Anyway, thanks! =)

Crap, no, not Bartiforums discussion, its general discussion. My bad. So sorry for confusing you.

Ah, got it now. I'll remember that for next time. Thanks (again)! Hehe.

Characters or general discussion; either would probably fit. I've moved it to characters, anyway.

If the spirit's master dies, the spirit is free to head off back to the Other Place unless there are other bindings upon it (such as the indefinite confinement spell Nat had on Barti in book one). That's why if the pentacle doesn't hold, the spirit pops out and eats the summoner - because that lets it go home again.
Spirits can be dismissed without needing a pentacle. Nat only needed the pentacle to remove the other bindings at the same time.

Very well spoken, kudos Sentynel.

Im just slightly confused with something. In the third book makepeace asks all the magicians to dismiss all their demons. However, later on when whitwell is being processed she summons an afrit without a pentacle. Does dismissal mean that they return to the other place or just wander off? HELP!!

Dissmissal like that means keeping them away for the sake of the performance, like good manners.

A pentacle isn't actually required to summon a spirit; it just keeps the spirit trapped while you put initial bindings and stuff on it to stop it eating you. Once you've done that, or if it's a weak spirit like an imp, you can summon it without the pentacle. (Technically, there's nothing stopping you summoning a powerful spirit for the first time with no pentacle; it's just that it'll eat you before you have a chance to bind it so it can't)

And it wreaks havoc before departing.

wrote:Look what happened to Atlantis

said Bartimaeus.

Quite.
Also, the scholar Kitty knew said that the Marid got his leg before enchantments set it.
Even w/ protection, they can be fast.

I've got a quick question that relates to the title of this topic, if a magician summons a spirit, and gives it an order, a spirit has to obey it, because if it doesn't, the magician will punish it. And, if a magician dies, if he hasn't put a indefinate confinement spell or something on to the spirit, the spirit goes straight to the other place, right? So, if a spirit just kills his magician and the magician hasn't put a indefinate confinement spell or something, he can't get punished, bacause his master is dead. So why doesn't this happen?

I think I'm missing something.

Because there are bindings that physically prevent the spirit from harming its master.

Correct.
If there weren't, Magicians wouldn't exist; spirits would kill them instantly.
A quote-
"The Girl grinned coldly. "Would a magician do so well against your wickedness?"
She had a point there. For a start, a magician wouldn't have wanted to come within a dogs bark of me without protected up to the hilt with charms and pentacles."
There.
Pg.46 of AoS, 2/3rds the way down.

So for those who are just as smart as Jabor, it means if they didn't have the bindings to not kill their master before the commands, none of the Bartimaeus Trilogy or history would happen.
Any other questions newbies? :P

Good answer.
Kudos on the response.