Virago Spirit

Virago Spirits (ビラーゴ 霊 Birāgo Rei) are a race of Magical beings that live in their own alternate dimension, referred to as the Niflheimr (領域の少女 (ニフルーイームル) Nifurūīmuru; Norse for "Abode of Mist", Japanese for "Domain of Maidens"). Mages who specialize in the summoning Virago Spirits are referred to as 'Virago Spirit Mages'. Virago Spirits are summoned via cards; these cards, much like a children's card game, are mass produced, and unlike the more well known Celestial Spirit Keys, there are hundreds of copies of various cards, as hundreds of the same spirits exist within the Niflheimr.

The magic used to summon Virago Spirits is called Virago Magic.

Overview
Exclusively female, Virago Spirits are a race of magical beings that were created centuries ago as beings of war. The original creator long since lost to the ages, the method in which these women are created, while firmly listed as "Magic", has always been described by many as more akin to alchemy; even the Spirits, themselves artificial life, have seen as a form of homunculi (ホムンクリ homunkuri; Latin for "little man"). The art with which these spirits are created has been passed down to a secret family for centuries, from the beginning of their conception to the current century, Virago Spirits have been created tirelessly, and after the war in which they were made to participate, were shelved into an empty dimension through a form of Time-Space Magic (時空間魔法 Jikū Mahō) that is regarded as truly lost; the spell's name, incantation, and effect are as lost to time as the originator of the spirits.

Each Virago Spirit possesses a set personality depending on their type; as multiple cards of the same Spirit are produced, this saves the creator of the Spirit effort by setting them into a unique cast they must follow, much like NPC characters in a game. Within this personality, however, they can actively communicate with their Masters or fellow spirits, and seem to possess a degree of medium awareness. However, despite this, they are still at the beck of call of their summoning Master; no Virago Spirit can disobey a direct order of the Master in possession of their card. Due to being Spirits created for battle, they are designed to hear and obey orders without hesitation.

Typically, Virago Spirits resemble human females, and their anatomy would follow similar rules; a similar skeletal structure, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and all other bodily functions would mimic that of a human. Virago Spirits, unlike Celestial Spirits, are not biologically immortal, they are simply long-lived. Eventually, they will die, though their life span measures in centuries, and their anatomy is made to adapt to this; the brain of a Virago Spirit can hold far more memories than the brain of a human, befitting their nature as creatures of long life, and preventing them from absolutely losing their minds to insanity. There are some Virago Spirits with more mechanical, or monstrous, appearances, but even these are confirmed to be female creatures.

Summoning
To obtain a Virago Magic Card, the user does not simply go out and purchase them; while these cards can be sold to magic shops that will happily sell them for Jewels, a Virago Spirit Mage is introduced to their first Spirit usually by the act of conducting the Summoning Ritual (お召し儀典 Omeshi Saishi). To initiate the ritual, the prospective Virago Spirit Mage must first create seven magic circles in the ground, six centered around the focus circle, connecting each circle to the primary one in the center. The mage then channels their magic power into the foremost circle, which spreads throughout each and every circle, lightning them up with ghostly pale flames, before the energy is poured into the center, and seventh, circle, which glows bright white. This energy itself is sent directly to the Niflheimr, and the first Spirit who takes the magic offering will materialize itself physically before its new Master.

From the moment of the summoning, this particular spirit is now tied to its Master, and, through a combination of its magic power, and the Master's, the spirit creates a card, through which it encases itself when after, until it is needed for battle. While the amount of spirits a user can summon at any given time depends on their magical energy, the maximum one summon from any ritual set simultaneously is a total of 10 spirits; the minimum obviously being one.

This contract of sorts, however, is disturbingly easy to shatter; if a different mage obtains a card in use, and summons the spirit with their own magical energy, that spirit becomes tied to them, and they become a Master. The ritual, in this case, would be unnecessary, as it is only used to bring the spirits to this world and tie them to their initial Master; cards sold in shops that have been purchased by shop owners from other mages are thus, easy to wield for newer users.

Virago Spirit Cards are notably far more durable than traditional cards; spilling such things as ink and water traditionally slip right off, leaving the card as good as new. However, destroying the card, which can be done through magic or ripping, will kill the Spirit, obviously severing their link to their Master.

Known Virago Spirits
A/N: For users of this magic, simply create a section for your own character, and list their cards with links to their respective pages.

Trivia

 * Originally, the Celestial Spirit Mages were supposed to summon their spirits through cards, as opposed to keys; Hiro decided this idea was overdone, and opted to use keys as the method for summoning. Darkrai was more than happy to twist this concept for his own usage.
 * Virago is a woman who demonstrates exemplary and heroic qualities. The word comes from the Latin word vir, meaning 'man' (cf. virile) to which the suffix -ago is added, a suffix that effectively re-genders the word to be female.
 * This species was approved by Per.