Familiars

Familiars are the bonded pets of Mages. Mages have an unusually strong connection with their familiars, being able to feel their emotions empathically, or even see and hear what they experience directly sometimes. In olden times Wizards used to use spells to attempt to bond with all kinds of creatures with varying success. In the modern day phoenix e ggs are used to birth whatever creature the mage desires which then bonds naturally to the mage that raised it upon hatching.

The Best Friends Gang has 3 members with familiars currently. Kaya has "Fluttercat" a flying feline who can turn into a cloudlike mist. Ginny has "Izzy" a combination phoenix/psuedodragon with extremely minor ice elemental abilities, and Circe has "Kahn" a large tiger that was exposed to lots of wild magic during his incubation which has not yet demonstrated any unusual effects. It should be noted that Ruby Fuchs, an original member of the BFG had a bird named Appetite which is a familiar of the older non-phoenician variety. Perhaps this is still the elven style. Also maybe Ruby is dead or something now who knows.