The Hurai were winged cats associated with Heptus, Master of Knowledge. They represented the union of opposites: the earth and the sky, the concrete and the abstract, the countable and the infinite. According to Anhurian folklore, the god sent them to those who won his favor, to encourage their intuition and keep them company in the solitude of knowledge. The hurai stayed with their masters until their deaths and guided their souls to the Great Cycle, unless they abandoned the path of wisdom and fell into pride and vain erudition. Even today, the entrance to the shrines of Heptus and many academic institutions is flanked by guardian statues in the form of hurai.
It is said that Sargon the Black was always accompanied by Erashtu, a hurai with red and gold feathers, and that other wizards such as Klázmor and the infamous Mirmandula were also visited by these creatures, although the cathawks later left them. This is probably the origin of the modern belief that cats are typical familiars for magicians.
