Volix

Well, I wanted something that could be cuddled, like cats. But everyone knows flying familiars are way better!

— Kilroy Persvinkle

After being created by wizards as intellegent familiars, Volix are now slowly finding their way into the high classes of society as loyal pets and guard animals.

History

The first volix were created by a wizard named Kilroy Persvinkle as a animal familiar. He used a cat and a bird as the base for the ritual, eventually combining them both, creating a cat with bird wings. He proudly showed of his creation to fellow wizards and other magic users and proclamed it was named Volix, mistaking the curious questions of the others about the name as meaning the pet name he had given the cat. Many other magic users replicated the process and made their own familiars.
It wasn't uncommon for a volix to survive it's master, resulting in stray volix in the worlds, living and breeding with common cats. Volix are still very uncommon in the wild, especially because their is only a one in ten chance a volix is born when breeding with normal cats. There are only a couple of animal merchants that breed and sell volix, making the animal even uncommon among every class, except magic users that can create their own.

appearance

Volix are winged cats. They tend to be about the same size as normal cats when excluding their wings. The ears of a volix are bigger and more fluffy than normal cats, just like their tail. Volix have stronger leg muscles and larger paws to accomodate their higher, wing-assisted, jumps. Just like normal cats, their fur colour depends on the underlying breed of cat that was used. This is also true for their wings, with different bird species, resulting in a wide variety of different looking volix. Exotic volix have also been seen with bat-like wings instead of the normal feathered wings that descend from birds.

Behaviour

Volix are incredibly intellegent, even if they normally behave similar to common cats and like playing and sleeping in warm places. They are also very loyal and tend to pick one person to call their person. This behaviour descended from being made as familiars to the specific person that created them. Often this is the person that spends the most time with the volix or that the volix sees as the most kind and harmless. This bond can be strenghtened by raising a young volix together with a young child. A volix is likely to protect their person in case of danger.
Since volix are really smart, they can be trained to do various tasks, but volix will only cooperate if they like the task and get a nice rewards for doing so. Not all volix like doing the same tasks and this depends a lot on their individual personality. Their are volix who have been taught to care for their person by bringing items such as medicine on the right times.

Care

When caring for a volix, it's important to make sure they have enough mental stimulation. This can be done by playing puzzle or search games or having the volix hunt rodents and birds around the house. Besides mental stimulation, physical exercise is also , especially for volix that like to sleep all day.
Since volix are omnivores it is essential that they are fed a varied diet. Volix often tend to prefer meat and like to gather it for themselves by hunting birds and rodents, but they greatly benefit from having plant based products in their meals. Especially difficult volix can be trained to eat their least favourite foods and being rewarded with more tasty food to give them enough nutrients.
Giving enough love and attention to a volix will make sure they stay happy and healthy. When a volix doesn't feel loved enough, they have no problem with abandonning the person or the household in search for a better place to live.

Scientific Name

Felis Volantis

Lifespan

20-30 years

Traits

Danger sense

Volix tend to have a good sense of danger, due to their high perception and good memory. When a volix has labelled an area or a person as dangerous, they will avoid that, even after the danger has been cleared. It takes a lot of effort to convince a volix that something is not dangerous anymore.

Touch telepathy

When a volix has chosen their specific person, they can use telapathy to communicate with that person when the volix thouches them. The communication is often very basic, without having indept chats, but volix that are deeply bonded to a person or have been educated can also hold more complex coversations