I'll take to adressing the mage first because it's the shorter question:
Yes, I ment long-cast offensive, I made these yesterday and I was pretty tired, I think I saw shadow people for jesus sake. xD

Claus (Ichkazar) acts like a conduit and a generator of sorts, increasing the power of her attacks and channels the energy from her storm magic. In an essence she supplies the armor which in turn creates powerful spells. There are 24 different spells, one for every hour of the day. Basically it's just as you say, however if there's anything else needing explanation please ask.