Apogees

the highest point in the development of something; a climax or culmination.

— Google definition of apogee

Apogees, the monsters that plague civilization, are a well-known and integral part of magic. Magic, a system full of opposites and the balance between the two, manifests its channelers in a similar way. Apogees are in essence creatures completely controlled by their magic, rather than the other way around. The magic seeps into every part of their body, destroying the matter that exists until the victim is an ooze of plasma and free electrons held together only by this pure magic. The victim is controlled by the primal desires of this magic, whether it is light magic with the goal of healing or dark magic intent on destruction.
Apogees take on the misshapen, melted shape of whatever they were created out of and appear to be made out of liquid and mist. They constantly drip what seems like liquid magic onto the ground and are surrounded by a visible aura of energy. Their bodies can tank injuries that would kill a bear and can inflict damage with their claws, teeth, or magic. Apogees are feared throughout the world for the destruction they have caused, even though most types of Apogee are actually quite docile. Light Apogee and Energy Apogee can actually be helpful because of their desires to heal wounds and protect "good". However, other types are extremely hostile towards Avani civilization and are driven to destroy it at all costs.

Types of Apogee

Light Domain

Name: Risen
Color: White/Gold
Subdomain: Creation and Healing
Description: Often possessing vestigial wings, which is perhaps the orgin of the concept of angels, Risen can teleport between areas containing a light source. They can heal most injuries and attempt to protect creations of nature and civilization. Though usually docile, Risen are no pushovers. If they are provoked they will not hesitate to kill the provoker and whoever is around them. Their mortal enemy is the Apogees of the Dark domain, and battles with these creatures have annihilated innocent cities caught in the cross fire.

Redemption Domain

Name: Forgiven
Color: Light blue
Subdomain: Protection and Energy
Description: Forgiven, capable of casting defensive shields and manipulating various types of energy to their advantage, are perhaps the friendliest types of Apogee. Their goal is to defend others. Forgiven never attack first, never target cities, never harm innocent Avani, and never seem to cause problems for civilization. Even against their mortal enemies, the Apogees of the Dark domain, Forgiven only fight if in defense of another. Humanoid versions often seem to carry shields.

Passion Domain

Name: Spoken
Color: Red
Subdomain: Soul and Body
Description: The Spoken are temperamental Apogees with no set goals, but they are extremely driven: once they have a task they will stop at nothing but success or death to achieve it. With the ability of soul, Spoken are so-named for their ability to communicate through telepathy (unique for Apogees) and can manipulate their magic to be quite convincing. Spoken have a great deal more free will than other types of Apogee, and it is speculated that they have individual beliefs and desires. They have a lot of stamina and strength.

Chaos Domain

Name: Random
Color: Element based or black
Subdomain: Chance and the Elements
Description: Named by someone who either hated the standard naming scheme or had a sense of humor, Random are forces against civilization and organization. Each one is connected to a specific element, which determines its abilities. One might use fire, another could wield lightning, while still another could spawn tornadoes. While Random are around strange things tend to happen and the natural world seems to fall apart. They will choose what they attack and what they leave alone seemingly based on nothing but a coin flip. However, they dislike civilization and are likely to go against it. Order Apogees can also set them off.

Fortune Domain

Name: Chosen
Color: Dark blue
Subdomain: Luck and Prosperity
Description: Chosen, though not the most destructive Apogees, can be the hardest to deal with. Whenever the odds of something are uncertain they will always fall in favor of the Apogee. Arrow shots that could've hit the creature miss, sword strikes deal only glancing blows when they should've been lethal, and spears break when they should've held firm. Improbable things just tend to happen that help out the Chosen. They seek artifacts and valuable objects to collect in their underground lairs. Wherever they walk, the Chosen leave a thin trail of gold flakes on the ground.

Shadow Domain

Name: Hidden
Color: ?
Subdomain: Concealment and illusion
Description: Known by the effects they leave rather than their true appearance, Hidden specialize in tricking their opponents in battle. They can change their color to roughly match the background of what is behind them (though not well enough to trick the trained eye) and cast spells to frieghten or blind their foes. They are attracted to the destruction of repositories of knowledge, and their mortal enemy is the Awoken.

Dark Domain

Name: Fallen
Color: Purple
Subdomain: Destruction and Corruption
Description: Fallen are the polar opposite of Risen and the most common type of Apogee. Their only goal seems to be the destruction of civilization and life. They can taint fields with their ooze, poison creatures with slashes of their claws, and convert more to their ranks with their bite. Even the aura they exude can inflict victims with Soul Sickness. Often these fallen will possess weaponry as well, if capable of carrying it. Fallen are the best known of all the Apogee types. Though some Avani may never have seen another Apogee, everyone have seen Fallen during their constant attacks on cities.

Retribution Domain

Name: Driven
Color: Dark green
Subdomain: The senses and Punishment
Description: Controlled by their desire to seek retribution, the Driven are attracted to the locations of major injustices with the intent of harming those who committed it. This can easily be manipulated: some magicians can mark a foe with a signal that attracts these creatures to attack. When on the warpath Driven will destroy anything in the way of their path to "Justice". They can reflect the damage done to them by others and have heightened senses. It is believed that sometimes the souls of betrayed individuals become Driven, who then seek out their betrayer upon creation.

Psychic Domain

Name: Proven
Color: Dark Red
Subdomain: Mind and Aura
Description: Tranquil yet vicious, Proven are controlled overwhelmingly by their interest in suppressing what their minds consider excess emotions. Whether the emotion is good or bad, they will attempt to mentally manipulate their victim to a state of apathy or kill them if that cannot be acheived. Passion, especially dogmatism, repulses them. Nations that hold elections must be prepared to defend against incursions by these creatures during political rallies and debates. It seems likely that Proven can also read minds.

Order Domain

Name: Frozen
Color: Silver-grey
Subdomain: Space and rigidity
Description: The frozen, though not good or bad on the scale of morality, are the friends of the benevolent king and ruthless dictator alike. They seem to like civilization and organizations, while having an intuitive sense for the laws enacted by the government of an area. Rebellions and resistances have often met their end by the Frozen attracted to attack them. However, this is a double-edged sword. Frozen can distinguish between legal and illegal but not between punishments, so the slightest infractions can have these creatures barreling down on someone with their claws ready. It is made more complicated from their enforcement of laws that nobody has heard of and haven't been relevant for centuries. Frozen can manipulate space and the objects in it, moving them around or causing things to slow down/speed up. They can also temporarily petrify individuals.

Fate Domain

Name: Stolen
Color: Light Green
Subdomain: Time and nature
Description: Named for the peculiar way that fate magic steals Avani away, deciding from the beginning if a magician is destined to become an Apogee and confining their actions into a self-fulfilling loop towards this conclusion. Unless another steps in to change something magicians who lose their free will are doomed to become Apogees. The Stolen subsequently have the least free will among Apogees. Though they have little overriding objective, only the vague goal of maintaining balance and fate, the Stolen are trapped to obey a certain fate. Combined with their ability to time travel, Stolen end up doing a lot of things for no reason other than knowledge that their future self came back in time and did it. Lots of causal loops and self-fulfilling paradoxes occur when Stolen are around.

Divination Domain

Name: Awoken
Color: Orange
Subdomain: Vigilance and foreordination
Description: Awoken seem like the type of Apogee with the least likelihood of causing problems. Their only goal is to reveal truth for the world to see. However, this poses quite the problem for anyone intent on hiding their bank password, keeping a forbidden relationship secret from their family, or stopping a rival government from obtaining secret weaponry. Whenever a secret of sufficient size is hidden from most of the world, Awoken are sure to be near. They will stop at nothing, even willing to kill to ensure it is revealed publicly. It is also difficult to counter them as Awoken have at least some ability to see possible futures. If an action is likely enough the Awoken can see it before it happens and react to it. They hate Shadow domain Apogees and constantly fight them.

by jmcninja

Fallen Apogee: Whoever or whatever it once was, this creature is now almost pure magic. Somehow it was impaled by its own sword.

— Image by jmcninja