Magi

The Magus.

There are several things to consider, and several things that characterize Magi. Their Guardian, their Quest, their Chalice, their Transformation as well as their...Magic. Duh. And last, of course... The Darkness.

So let us begin explaining what these are.

1. Guardians!

Guardians are magical beings that can take any appearance, and exist in a separate dimension. Each Magus is chosen by a Guardian, at a certain point in their life. Guardians are self admittedly tragic beings, but nobody knows why this is so. Every Magus can only have a Guardian, and should a Guardian reject it's Magus, they can kiss their magic farewell.

Unless the powers of a Magus explicitly allow it, Guardians cannot physically interact with anything in our world. They are purely ethereal, even if, quite powerful in their own world. A Guardian can pull a Magus into the magical world under very specific circumstances (for their Quest).

Guardians are also bound by a set of rules, called the Guardian's Code. These rules can never be explicitly broken (the few cases of "evil" Guardians, were conducting their activities based on alternative interpretations of the Code without truly breaking). Most of what is KNOWN of it, is about how they cannot allow their Magi to commit crimes or atrocities of any magnitude.

A Magus can always chose to say no, and refuse the Guardian's Quest. In that case, the Guardian is free to chose another person, and the human is also free to be chosen by another Guardian.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. The Quest and the obtainment of the Chalice.

You begin the rp at the moment you complete your quest, or when you are at the very last moments before it's completion. The chosen Magus' Guardian pulls said Magus in the magical world, and shapes an area to fit the conditions of a test, or trial of sorts. It usually takes many tries, and requires the Magus to do things in the material world as well, but once completed, the Guardian will pick up a shard of it's own being, and places it inside a glass polyhedron.

This is the Chalice. The Magus then infuses the Chalice itself with an item of their choice. The item is used to access the transformation, and the greater amount of the Magus' powers. The Chalice is indestructible, and only the Guardian who made it, can block access to it. Should the physical object the Chalice is in be destroyed, the Magus can automatically infuse it into another, with no repercussions. This process however, takes time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Transformation

In their day to day life, Magi look and actually are, mostly normal humans, possessing weaker, simpler and generally harmless versions of their powers. But by channeling onto their Chalice-infused object, the Magus can transform, into their battle form, and access their full powers. During the transformation, the Guardian pulls the Magus into the magical world, and then connects to the shard of it's being within the Chalice, granting the full amount of powers. It also comes with a change in apparel, of differing magnitudes (but a Taint resistant, as well as otherwise highly resistant costume and a weapon seem to be very common)

However, some Magi get another side of the coin. Some part of their transformation sticks. For example, a Magus might grow large, feathery wings that allow them to fly, as well as become able to control the wind. When they leave their transformation, they might discover the wings are there to stay, permanently. Sometime, there is a similar, mental form of the effect.

The very rare male Magi, experience transformation in odd and unpredictable ways.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. The Magic.

Depending on the form and abilities of the Guardian, a Magus is granted their magical powers. Neither the Magus, nor the Guardian gets to chose what exact power the Magus gets, or whether it comes with side effects, permanent appearance changes, or even other odder bits. The Magic has both it's Daily expression, as well as it's Battle expression.

At it's core, this Magic is meant to combat the Taint. But when diminished, it can often be used safely, in daily life as well. Also, not all of the Magic is designed to outright destroy Taint. Some of it is designed to simply purify it from beings, some is meant to protect innocents or one's teammates and allies, some to support said allies, or to provide specialized, unique help, in specific situation, or even provide an unpredictable advantage against the Taint!

Generally, the stronger it is in raw power or effect, the more drawbacks the Magic has, or perhaps it doesn't come with secondary abilities that make it easier.

For example, take a Magus who can shoot arrows made of fire.  If the fire was normal fire, the Magus using it would be given some form of fire and heat resistance, to not be damaged by their own magic.

If it's fire that burns away Taint, it might be that the user loses their normal sense of sight when transformed (or not... Some people are that unfortunate...), and can only see red silhouettes of anything Tainted, glowing brighter the more tainted they are, but are also granted superb aiming skills.

If it's fire that cannot be put out and slowly consumed any matter (but only one specific type of it at a time), then the user may not be immune to it, and must find a way to summon and fire their arrows without burning their hands...and from there their entire body.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------