Phage

Phages are alien parasites which live inside the bodies of their human hosts in exchange for granting them supernatural abilities. Each phage is unique, as well as the abilities it grants.

Phage hosts are known as mages. There are eighty-eight in all.

Biology

Phages are 12-16 inches tall, consisting of a central 'drill' section and six spindly legs. It uses its legs only when penetrating its host, and otherwise uses a mechanism not fully understood to move vast distances in the blink of an eye.

Phages are indestructible and unimprisonable.

Behavior

Phage infection happens through either duel or inheritance.

A duel occurs when a mage is intentionally killed by another person, after which the phage will inhabit the body of the killer. Ninety-nine in a hundred mages acquired their powers by dueling. It is important to note that while the term summons heroic images of muscle quivering against muscle, almost all 'duels' are won while the given mage is asleep.

Inheritance, on the other hand, is extremely rare, and mages who acquire their power this way are often seen as messianic figures. Inheritance is the result of a mage dying outside of a duel, usually by suicide, after which his phage must choose a new host. This process of inheritance is entirely unknown, although phages (nearly) always choose someone celebrating their 18th birthday.

When a mage loses a duel to another mage, the fate of his parasite is determined by The Dialect

 History                         

Phages first appeared in Europe at the height of the Roman Empire. This is the only known instance of inheritance being dictated by geography, as the first 88 mages were all soldiers in the same centurion.

Since then the history of humanity has been the history of mages.