Familiar

Familiars are creatures who are bound to a character and follows them for a certain reason or from a certain force, warlocks and shaman are known to have familiars following them. Such cases in a warlock are demons he offers up a sacrifice to and binds to himself to operate like a guardian of sorts. For a shaman it is a spiritual thing for a familiar in usually the shape of a wolf to lead them or protect them, most likely a spirit of their ancestor. These creatures can be from guardians to slaves to deeply bound pets, in some rare cases hunters have familiars who are ethereal and spiritual.