Gore-streaked

Warborne are human Aware who have fallen under the sway of War. Gore-Streaked or Gore-Strewn are a type of Practitioner that artificially induce this state in themselves.<ref name="6.2e1">Warborne were those born into places where war held more sway than life, death, or any of the other pillars of creation, and if they could hold onto that precedent, they could gainsay the other forces that might have sway over them. Through fighting, they could find love, wealth, and other things. Mortally wounded, they could fight on for a while, and if they could kill before they expired, they would survive. [...] Gore-streaked. It had come up in the student handbook, that four of their classmates were from the ‘Gore-Streaked’ Hennigar family. Practitioners who emulated the Warborne, or artificially created that Warborne state. - Excerpt from Cutting Class 6.2</ref>

Abilities

The most obvious ability of Warborne and Gore-strewn is that they can continue to fight after being mortally injured, and as long as they can do sufficient violence, death will not claim them.<ref name="6.2e1"/><ref>Hadley Hennigar
Eldest of this generation of the Hennigar clan, Hadley does not shy away from the family practice of the Gore-Strewn. Death refuses to claim her, but War certainly seems to have his hold on her. She gets her sport targeting Witch Hunters. That she’s still with us as the loudest student in the Western Wing is a testament to her talents. She attends Advanced classes, emphasizing war, elemental and price-based fields - Bonus Material: Student Guide</ref> This can also extend to any other problem, such as throwing off curses or restraints.<ref name="7.2e1">“Gore-strewn,” Avery said, as she drew nearer. “There’s a bunch of them on campus.”

“We don’t know the specifics,” Lucy said.

“You can shoot them, and they’ll draw on their contract to War or one of War’s children,” John said, somber. “They get time, and can shake off their imminent demise if they can do enough violence.”
[...]
“Being tied up too?” Avery whispered.

“Yes. Or curses, or binding, or anything that troubles them. But they have to do that violence.” - Excerpt from Gone Ahead 7.2</ref>

They may be able to acquire love, wealth, and other benefits through perpetuating War or performing violence.<ref name="6.2e1"/>

Hadley Hennigar demonstrated the ability to let out a "war cry" so loud and intense that it was painful to hear and shattered goblin restraints binding her, and imbued her and her weapons with glowing red energy.<ref>Hadley, hunched over, did her best to straighten up, as she was weighed down by the gunk.

She screamed, loud and fierce enough that Lucy had to cover her ears. Some of the construction materials slipped from where they sat. Small branches and leaves fell from the tree. The blades she was carrying glowed red, like they’d been in a furnace, and her eyes did the same.
[...]
The scream tore away the gunk and crap, freeing Hadley, and stirred up dirt, covering gunk around her. Veins stood out on her arms and neck and took on that red glow. - Excerpt from Gone Ahead 7.2</ref><ref>
[...]
Hadley, with one ruined foot, had both hands and one foot planted on the floor. She sprung forward, hop-running to minimize how much she walked on her damaged foot.

She hurled herself into the open, glass-less window in construction, bracing herself in the windowframe for a second before throwing herself to the right.

Verona blinked as the third knife slammed into Hadley’s head. She and the knife dropped.

“She could have caught it but she wanted to show off,” Estrella said. She cupped her hands and created a floating light that shed flakes of white. It erased the shadows from the two knives that were still up there.

Hadley, on the ground four stories below, screamed her declaration of war.

Oh. The knife hadn’t hit her. She’d thrown herself into the incoming knife, to remove it from play. - Excerpt from Gone Ahead 7.8</ref>

If a Gore-strewn fails to pay their debt to War, then they will suffer an equivalent or worse fate to the one they tried to escape; trying to evade this punishment hurts their Practice. For example, when Hadley was tricked by Toadswallow and failed to harm him, she fainted and fell face-first into a worse Goblin trap than the one her powers had freed her from.<ref>Hadley made her way back, holding her arm out, knife in hand. And that knife was embedded in a limp, bloated body. The body struggled a bit. [...] Hadley dropped her arm. The corpse dropped to the ground, splitting open. Lucy had to focus between Sight and sight to see. The vest. The monocle. The little pig-like ears.

But it wasn’t Toadswallow. A pig’s corpse, roughly his dimensions, wearing clothes like he did, and badly decaying, to the point that skin was slowly tearing from gravity alone. Insect life, a slurry of insides, and a morass of rodents fanned out from the split belly of it.

“He got away?”

“He got away,” Lucy whispered.

Snowdrop sneezed. Avery squeezed Lucy’s arm.

Hadley Hennigar swayed on the spot, then collapsed, face-first into the corpse-thing. Lucy cringed, and Avery made a face.

Some of the other students hurried forward to grab her, but hesitated to get close to the thing, covering their faces.

“If the gore-strewn can’t achieve the violence that they bought their extra time with, then they suffer an equivalent or worse fate,” John said. “Trying to avoid that fate hurts their practice.” - Excerpt from Gone Ahead 7.2</ref> In some cases, a Gore-strewn may consider it better to turn on an ally than fail to pay the debt, though attacking innocents may still be a worse option.<ref>The Hennigar howled.

“Don’t-” Elizabeth started.

“Shit,” Eloise said.

“Why shit?  What’s shit about this guy screaming his head off?” Angie asked.

“If he does that, he has to pick a fight and win.  It’s how the Hennigar’s gore-streaked practice works,” Elizabeth explained.  “They get hurt or basically killed, they scream, they pick the fight.  He’s hurt, he screamed-”

“And there’s no fight,” Eloise said.  “The goblins just pulled back some.”

The Hennigar boy got to his feet, rage in his eyes.  Elizabeth could imagine the mental calculus, as he realized he’d been baited.

His choices came down to targeting an innocent, which would have repercussions, especially if they noticed anything, targeting one of the two buddies he’d been hanging out with…

Or targeting them.  Their new group.  Maybe whoever he thought he could get away with hurting.
[...]
They ran.  The Hennigar boy came tearing after them, almost roaring.
[...]
The Hennigar boy came tearing around the corner, moving with increased speed. - Excerpt from Gone and Done It 17.a</ref>

Creation

Warborne are born naturally into war-torn places, if they hold on to the precedent that war is the only force that holds sway over them.<ref name="6.2e1"/>

John Stiles noted that Gore-strewn drawn on a "contract to War or one of War's children",<ref name="7.2e1" /> which may indicate that they acquire their power by literally bargaining with Incarnations of War or related Others.

Examples

• Hennigar family<ref name=":10">Kellen Hennigar, 15, Gore-streaked Undying Archer
  Sawyer Hennigar, 14, Gore-streaked Gunslinger
  Mccauleigh Hennigar, 13, Gore-streaked Dancer

- Bonus Material: Student Guide</ref>

• • Grayson Hennigar<ref>Off to the side, not even seeming to care or not whether he was talking, was a tall, square-jawed man with a nose that had been broken and not fixed, once upon a time. His clothes were the sort that someone who made tons of money bought if they wanted to ‘rough it’ and look outdoorsy. Good for someone who was going to camp, hunt, and hike trails, but the shirt probably cost a hundred bucks alone, the boots five hundred or more. His haircut looked expensive, the stubble on his lower face not incidental but cultivated, and his gaze was level and analytical when he looked at the students.
    [...]
    Mr. Hennigar,[...] The man with the bend in the bridge of his nose stepped forward. - Excerpt from Cutting Class 6.7</ref>
  • Hadley Hennigar
  • Kellen Hennigar - Undying Archer
  • Mccauleigh Hennigar - Gore-streaked Dancer
  • Sawyer Hennigar - Gunslinger

References

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