Childhunter Fallen

Told among various Avani nations to children, the legend goes that the Apogees of Darkness, the Fallen, are attracted to naughty hatchlings. If they sense a child behaving poorly nearby Fallen will attempt to reach and kill them. If enough children in a village are bad, it could attract abnormally-common Fallen attacks.

Summary

Specifically, the belief is that the negative emotions and behaviors attract the Fallen in greater numbers. During the revolution that created the Jasani, for example, the rebels attracted people to their side by claiming a rapid increase in Fallen attacks was because of the government's misdeeds. Fallen often create new spawning pools near the location of massacres, battlefields, sieges, and raids. Attacks seem to be more common and more severe during times of great tragedy and conflict.
Parents are quick to exploit this phenomenon against their children. "Fallen will come if you and your friends keep hanging around the bad side of town" or "if you try to sneak out again a Fallen might get you" are common refrains in Alvana. Of course, the supposed penalty for misbehavior is always death or, for particularly bad crimes, becoming a Fallen yourself. It is an extremely effective story. Nearly every child has seen a Fallen and know how terrifying they are. Many hatchlings have watched with wide eyes as their village or city fend off hundreds at once, and every family knows the heartache of a relative who never returned from their militia service. Scholars have wondered why this story is still told in spite of the heartache it conjures up. Perhaps the answer is that many parents believe the stories as well.

Historical Basis

From a purely analytical standpoint, the stories come from a blending and misunderstanding of other facts. It is true that Apogees of the Psychic domain (Proven) can detect and seek to put an end to strong negative emotions, and Order Apogee (Frozen) are driven by the goal of punishing wrongdoing with swift death. However, Proven are rare and Frozen only recognize the laws of government entities (a Parent telling their kid to eat breakfast doesn't count). There is little evidence that Fallen can detect naughty children or have any interest in punishing them. Fallen only have the goal of inflicting destruction, so the fact that disobedient hatchlings occasionally end up on the receiving end of this goal is only coincidence.
There is also only circumstantial evidence that Fallen care about negative emotions and behaviors. Their attraction to battlefields is probably only because these provide plenty of bodies to corrupt into joining their ranks. Attacks likely seem more severe during major disasters and hard times since these are often accompanied by less people to defend against them. In short, this is probably nothing more than superstition about these horrifying beasts.

by jmcninja

Fallen Apogee

— Image by jmcninja