Tressym A tressym was a magical beast resembling a small winged cat . They could be found across the warm and temperate lands of Faerûn , and were most common in northern Cormyr , particularly in the village of Eveningstar where they were seen as good luck charms and mascots and praised for keeping down rodents . They were also popular as familiars for good wizard s . Description . A tressym resembled a small cat , roughly the size of a common housecat , and growing up to 2 feet ( 61 centimeters ) long from nose to tail . Their primary feature was of course their wings . Extending from their well - muscled shoulders , these wings were formed like a bat ' s , being divided into arc - segments by hollow elongated " finger " bones . However , the leathery membranes between these bones were covered in feathers . These wings had a maximum wingspan of 3 feet ( 0 . 9 meters ) . Tressym were fluffy and their coat varied in color and length as much as regular cats . The majority were short - haired , with black , gray , or tabby fur . Some tressym had owl - like faces with tufts of fur at the points of their ears . The fingers of their wings could end in ornate feathers with circular designs rather like the " eyes " of a peacock ' s plumage . They were widely considered to be cute or beautiful . Traits . A tressym was classified as a magical beast . Combining the sensory abilities of the cat and the owl and a magical beast , the tressym was equipped with a number of natural and supernatural senses . First , they had the cat ' s native ability to find and follow a scent . To see in the dark , they possessed infravision or darkvision , as well as the ability to see in low - light conditions . Furthermore , they had the ability to sense invisible creatures and objects up to 90 feet ( 27 meters ) away . Finally , through either taste , touch , or scent , they could also detect poison s that were harmful to the sentient folk of the world . However , tressym were themselves immune to apparently every known kind of poison , suffering no ill effects whatsoever . This ability could not be conferred to other creatures , however . Tressym had skills in stealth , climbing , balance , and alertness comparable to a regular cat , but were of course a little better at balancing and climbing owing to their wings . However , they didn ' t have nearly the same talent for jumping . Their wings were not strong enough to carry great weights . They could not carry a halfling ; if a halfling was falling , a tressym might strain to haul them up , and could do little more than slow , but not break , their fall . Behavior . Tressyms were highly intelligent , being a little above average human intelligence . They could not speak human languages , but had their own language , " tressymspeak " , which was based on purrs and growls . They were semi - wild , and most people thought of them as " mischievous little terrors " , but otherwise tended to be shy and skittish . They were often solitary creatures , rarely living or hunting with others of their kind , though did usually get along fine . Some bonded with individuals of other races , like elves and humans , forming close friendships . Stories told of heroic tressym sacrificing themselves to save beloved companions . Equally , they could have strong hatreds of those they disliked . They enjoyed teasing dog s ( which could not give chase ) but not to the point of danger . They ignored and left in peace birds ( when not preying upon them ) , griffon s , and other flying creatures . However , they were deadly rivals to stirge s and manticore s , to the point that packs of tressym would gather to combat them . Combat . Like ordinary cats , tressym typically stalked and pounced on their prey , using their claws and fangs to slay it . However , the ability to fly gave them a new dimension to hunt in and made them much more dangerous to birds and insects . They could also get into aerial catfights . Otherwise , they avoided fighting with anything larger than themselves , by flying away and hiding . If pursued by larger flying creature , then they would go to ground and seek a small hole or crevice to conceal themselves in . Nevertheless , they were cunning and quick learners , knowing enough to scratch a foe ' s eyes and soon learning the danger of weapons and wands held by people . Ecology . Tressym were carnivorous , like cats , usually hunting birds , rodents , and insects . However , they did not prey on baby birds or eggs . They mated as often as regular cats , and did not mate for life . Tressym were closely related to the small feral cats that prowled the forests of the Heartlands , which had been domesticated across Faerûn , from the Sword Coast to Cormyr , the Dalelands , Sembia , and the Moonsea . Thus tressym could even mate with normal cats , with which they were fully fertile . However , on average , only 10 % of mixed - bred kittens would be winged , while the rest were wingless . In good health and without accidents or hazards , a tressym could live over twenty years . Locations . In the wild , they could be found in warm and temperate lands . They could easily find and take shelter from bad winter weather , or fly away from it entirely . Individual wild and domestic tressym could be found all over Faerûn , albeit very rarely . They only appeared to gather and breed in large numbers in northern Cormyr , mostly lairing in Starwater Gorge . Night and day , they hunted the fields for rodents , avoiding the local cats and dogs and not fighting or teasing them . Tressym were relatively common in the nearby village of Eveningstar , found prowling the streets and perched in the trees ; Eveningstar was renowned for its tressym . A clowder of wild tressym dwelled at the Leaves of Learning temple to Oghma in Highmoon in the Dalelands . Cormyrian traders had brought them from Eveningstar to Deepingdale to sell in the High Market , but the winged cats escaped and flew to the temple . They laired in the temple ' s Inner Court , becoming beloved companions to the priests and monks . They were allowed free access to the kitchen and pantry to hunt rat s and mice . The tressym would alert the temple staff if they spied a visitor acting suspiciously or a thief climbing over the walls . There were a number of tressym in the city of Ankhapur on the Lake of Steam , in southern Faerûn . Curiously , on the day before Highsummer each year , every tressym in the city mysteriously disappeared and only returned three days later . Tressym could also be found roaming the settled lands of Aglarond and Altumbel during the day . Attitudes . In Eveningstar , tressym were highly appreciated by both the villagers and the local farmers for their control of rodents in the fields . Folk saw them as mascots and good luck signs , and fed them and gave them free run of the village . while trying to limit their vandalism and airborne catfights . Mages regularly came to Eveningstar seeking a tressym as a familiar , but the locals tried to stop large - scale and magical trapping of them . Ghostwise halfling s viewed tressym as emblematic of stealth and cunning . Ghostwise mages sometimes chose them as familiars , and on occasion a druid adopted one as animal companion . They also occasionally became pets or companions of clan matriarchs or patriarchs . Druids who dwelt in harsh desert wastelands could also bond with a tressym as a companion animal . A number of deities and their religions were strongly associated with tressym . Prime among these was Sharess , goddess of cats , and Lurue , goddess of intelligent animals , as well as Cyrrollalee , the halfling goddess of friendship , and the elven deities Aerdrie Faenya , goddess of air and flight ; Erevan Ilesere , god of mischief ; and Hanali Celanil , goddess of love . Tressym could be the servants of these deities , or were sent by them as signs of their favor , or could even be sacred to their faith . Uses . Tressym were sometimes kept as familiar s by wizard s and sorcerer s . They needed to be experienced mages capable of bonding with a more advanced creature , and the tressym would only accept a good - hearted master . As familiars , tressym combined the senses of cat and owl , and furthermore were intelligent enough for many more tasks , being able to carry and operate complicated and delicate items to the limit of their capability , to fully observe and report on events , to concentrate on activities without distractions , and to safely identify poisons and toxic gases . Thus many mages , particularly good ones , sought out tressym , often coming to Eveningstar to find them . Two mages living in Eveningstar kept tressym as familiars , Maea Dulgussir and Lord Tessaril Winter herself . Tessaril ' s familiar accompanied her often , either perched upon her shoulder and circling her feet with many purrs . The tressym served as her unofficial food taster , insisting on sampling everything she ate and drank , which saved Tessaril from poisoning no less than six times . Tsarra Chaadren , a sorceress of Waterdeep , also had a tressym familiar , called " Nameless " . Apart from familiars , tressym made for popular pets . Calishite humans , who enjoyed exotic , magical pets , were drawn to tressym , among other magical beasts . Chondathan humans , particularly in Cormyr , favored felines and so especially appreciated tressym . Although a tressym ' s immunity to poisons reportedly could not be conferred upon other creatures , the tongue of a tressym was nevertheless an important component of treatments against poison . In 1372 DR , in the village of Hilltop in the Silver Marches , when Drogan Droganson was stricken by a poison that could not be healed by normal means , the Harper Ayala requested his pupil fetch tressym tongue , charcoal , and helmthorn berries from the herbalist Farghan . The subsequent concoction helped , but did not heal , Drogan . History . The tressym were believed to the product of a wizard ' s experimentation long ago . However , it wasn ' t until the Year of the Tressym , 1263 DR , that they became widespread in Faerûn . As the name of the year suggested , this had been foretold by Alaundo the Seer himself , writing in the Year of the Clinging Death , 75 DR . The sorceress Tsarra Chaadren acquired a tressym familiar around 1364 DR , but even after a decade of bonding with him , he did not tell her his name . Lady Laeral Silverhand took to calling the winged cat " Nameless " , which the cat didn ' t mind . Nameless had a jet - black coat and mismatched eyes , one blue eye and one green . Appendix . Background . The tressym is likely based on the of cryptozoology , where certain cats are observed to apparently possess wings , either born with them or grown later in life . These " wings " tend to flap up and down as the cat runs , and are said to help the cat run faster or jump further and , rarely , fly . In medieval Christianity , demons were sometimes depicted as bat - winged cats , as both animals were associated with the Devil . However , most winged cat cases have perfectly natural causes . The most common is a severe case of matting , in which the fur forms wide felted mats that may resemble wings . Another is a deformity , feline cutaneous asthenia , in which the cat ' s skin turns elastic and stretches , giving the appearance of wings on the back , haunches , or shoulders ; these often may even be moved by the cat and sometimes tear off . Rarely , a winged cat ' s wings might be a conjoined twin or be additional limbs . Less natural causes are that a winged cat specimen may in fact be a fraud or fake , such as a stuffed union of bird and cat . Tressym first appeared in the published Realms in the adventure module " Haunted Halls of Eveningstar " , with a small role as the familiar of Lord Tessaril Winter .