The Night Angel Trilogy - Magic - Vir

Vir

The vir is used by Meisters, Vürdmeisters and the Ursuul family. Vir users are also referred to as wytches, though this term insults them. When the people of Khalidor pray to Khali, their goddess, she takes a small portion of their glore vyrden and siphons it into her "reservoir" of magic; she then returns however much she desires back to them as vir. Like the Talent, it can act as an extension of the physical being. The difference between vir and Talent is that the vir is living, and has a measure of sentience, mostly because it is part of Khali. Many Meisters and Vürdmeisters who find themselves in harm's way will be protected by it unintentionally. It is described as a magical parasite. It opens new channels in the user's Talent, so initially a vir user will have stronger Talent, but the vir eventually consumes all the user's Talent permanently.

A Meister's or Vürdmeister's strength in the vir is measured in shu'ra. There are thirteen shu'ra; however, only the Godking can attain the thirteenth. The vir appears on a Meister as a black, living tattoo of vines on the body of a Meister. The strength of a Meister's vir is shown by the amount of vir on his or her body, and the intricacy of the tattoos represents his or her mastery of the vir. Usually only the wytch's arms show vir, but stronger vir users, such as Dorian and Garoth Ursuul, are almost completely covered in vir when they choose to display it. The Ursuuls are the only Meisters who can hide their vir and bring it to the surface of their bodies at will. According to Neph Dada, the Ursuuls are also capable of removing access to the vir from another wytch. Curoch also has the power to destroy the vir contained in a wytch's body and does so in a small but violent concussive explosion. The Ursuul family's hidden vir can be stopped by stopping the physical expression of it, which appears to be the only weakness of their ability to hide their vir. While the Ursuuls can control the vir and who is able to use it, Khali controls the reservoir of vir and talent, which allows her to decide the level of a wytch's power.