Foresworn
They do not scream. They do not shout. Five or more figures in black and burgundy move through the brush like a single organism, communicating only through hand signals, their rusted metal masks catching whatever light remains. If you see them at all, it is because they want you to see them. By that point, they are already on all sides.
The Foresworn are a raider tribe born from a very specific cruelty. During the events surrounding the Sunken Saints around 122 DC, a Tainted warlord named Cirrus established a stronghold in the Shattered City and began systematically targeting Murder Inc. His method was brutally efficient: captured Murder Inc members were infected with Stage 3 Bad Brain and turned into the very thing the organization existed to destroy. The irony was not lost on Cirrus, though whether the Foresworn themselves appreciate it is debatable. Stage 3 Bad Brain does not leave much room for appreciation of anything.
What Cirrus created, perhaps accidentally, was a raider tribe that retained fragments of assassin training filtered through the lens of profound neurological damage. The Foresworn stalk their prey with coordinated discipline, take down targets quickly and quietly, and then perform a ritual that no sane person would devise: they form a circle around the bound victim, begin to hum in unison, and one of their number steps forward to carve out the still-beating heart. The heart is offered to the highest-ranking member present, the Eater, and then consumed by the group.
If the victim is identified as a member of Murder Inc, the ritual changes. Instead of taking the heart, a Foresworn cuts open their own arm, feeds the victim their tainted blood, and welcomes the newly infected as one of their own. The organization that created itself through shared purpose finds its dark mirror in an enemy that propagates through forced corruption.
Cirrus fell during the Dead Waters event at the Sunken Saints, killed by those he had threatened. Without their creator's ability to drive and coordinate raiders at scale, the Foresworn have diminished in number. They have not disappeared. Small packs still roam the wastes, drawn to areas where Murder Inc members operate openly, hunting the hunters with the patience of predators who have nothing left to lose. Their numbers may be fewer, but their methods remain unchanged: silence, coordination, the hum, the circle, the blade.
The Foresworn are a raider tribe born from a very specific cruelty. During the events surrounding the Sunken Saints around 122 DC, a Tainted warlord named Cirrus established a stronghold in the Shattered City and began systematically targeting Murder Inc. His method was brutally efficient: captured Murder Inc members were infected with Stage 3 Bad Brain and turned into the very thing the organization existed to destroy. The irony was not lost on Cirrus, though whether the Foresworn themselves appreciate it is debatable. Stage 3 Bad Brain does not leave much room for appreciation of anything.
What Cirrus created, perhaps accidentally, was a raider tribe that retained fragments of assassin training filtered through the lens of profound neurological damage. The Foresworn stalk their prey with coordinated discipline, take down targets quickly and quietly, and then perform a ritual that no sane person would devise: they form a circle around the bound victim, begin to hum in unison, and one of their number steps forward to carve out the still-beating heart. The heart is offered to the highest-ranking member present, the Eater, and then consumed by the group.
If the victim is identified as a member of Murder Inc, the ritual changes. Instead of taking the heart, a Foresworn cuts open their own arm, feeds the victim their tainted blood, and welcomes the newly infected as one of their own. The organization that created itself through shared purpose finds its dark mirror in an enemy that propagates through forced corruption.
Cirrus fell during the Dead Waters event at the Sunken Saints, killed by those he had threatened. Without their creator's ability to drive and coordinate raiders at scale, the Foresworn have diminished in number. They have not disappeared. Small packs still roam the wastes, drawn to areas where Murder Inc members operate openly, hunting the hunters with the patience of predators who have nothing left to lose. Their numbers may be fewer, but their methods remain unchanged: silence, coordination, the hum, the circle, the blade.
Basic Information
Anatomy
The Foresworn dress in tattered, bloodied clothing in shades of black with burgundy and deep purple accents. Each wears a smooth metal mask, heavily rusted, that conceals their features entirely. Hoods are pulled forward so that only the mask is visible, creating a faceless, uniform appearance across the pack. Belts carry weapons, lengths of rope, and trophies taken from previous kills: ears, fingers, teeth.
The Heartrenders (the most common rank) carry pewter or dull silver masks, while the rare Eater who leads a pack wears a mask that has been handed down through combat succession. When an Eater falls, the Heartrender who performed the most during the preceding hunt claims the mask and, with it, the rank. The transition is ritualistic but swift; the Foresworn do not mourn.
Beneath the masks and hoods, the Foresworn bear the physical markers of Stage 3 Bad Brain: neurological degradation severe enough to override whatever the host was before infection. Former identities are gone. What remains is the hunt.
The Heartrenders (the most common rank) carry pewter or dull silver masks, while the rare Eater who leads a pack wears a mask that has been handed down through combat succession. When an Eater falls, the Heartrender who performed the most during the preceding hunt claims the mask and, with it, the rank. The transition is ritualistic but swift; the Foresworn do not mourn.
Beneath the masks and hoods, the Foresworn bear the physical markers of Stage 3 Bad Brain: neurological degradation severe enough to override whatever the host was before infection. Former identities are gone. What remains is the hunt.
Behaviour
Silence is the Foresworn's signature. Where most raider tribes announce themselves with war cries, engine roars, or the crack of gunfire, the Foresworn communicate exclusively through hand gestures. They move as a coordinated pack, always in groups of five or more, positioning themselves around a target before any of them are noticed. The attack, when it comes, is swift: knock the target into bleedout, bind them, extract them to a predetermined location. The rest of the pack disperses immediately to prevent pursuit, reassembling at the meetup point only when they are certain they have not been followed.
The heart-carving ritual is central to their identity. It is not performed in haste or anger; the Foresworn approach it with the same deliberate coordination they bring to the ambush itself. The humming is low, resonant, and steady, maintained by every member of the circle while the designated carver works. The Eater receives the heart first. In groups where the Eater has been killed, a Heartrender ascends to replace them by donning the fallen Eater's mask.
The Foresworn preferentially target areas with a visible Murder Inc presence. Whether this is a remnant of Cirrus's original directive or something the Bad Brain itself has encoded into their behavior is unknown.
The heart-carving ritual is central to their identity. It is not performed in haste or anger; the Foresworn approach it with the same deliberate coordination they bring to the ambush itself. The humming is low, resonant, and steady, maintained by every member of the circle while the designated carver works. The Eater receives the heart first. In groups where the Eater has been killed, a Heartrender ascends to replace them by donning the fallen Eater's mask.
The Foresworn preferentially target areas with a visible Murder Inc presence. Whether this is a remnant of Cirrus's original directive or something the Bad Brain itself has encoded into their behavior is unknown.
