Lilath, Adrius, & Antonia (Art credit: Instagram @pallasillustration)
The Boneriders are a group of Golds who serve as the elite guard of The Jackal. Originating from his classmates in House Pluto at The Institute of Mars, he officially established the group in the first half of 742 PCE between the end of the Martian Civil War and the beginning of The Rising as an intentional counterpart to the Howlers under Darrow O'Lykos.[1]
The group is fanatically devoted to the Jackal and follow his orders even after his death in November 743, with the first Bonerider Lilath au Faran loyally carrying out Adrius's contingencies even without his personal instruction.
Art Credit: Instagram @peerless_gold
History[]
Red Rising[]
Golden Son[]
The early Boneriders participated in The Triumph Massacre helping to eliminate Adrius and Octavia's enemies,[2] and the Howler Cyriana "Thistle" au Tanus defected to become a Bonerider.
Morning Star[]
As ArchGovernor of Mars, Adrius utilized the Boneriders to hunt the Sons of Ares and carry out general counterinsurgency operations.
In June 743 PCE, Antonia and Cyriana were dispatched to reinforce the Sword Armada in the Second Moon Lord Rebellion.[3]
When the Battle of Phobos began at the end of that month, several Boneriders were dispatched to lead the first wave of The Jackal's forces to retake the moon, and were massacred by rebel forces.[4]
Antonia and Cyriana were captured by The Rising after the Battle of Ilium and held in the brig of the Pandora. When Cyriana attempted to defect back to the Howlers, Antonia murdered her to keep her intel from falling into Darrow's hands.[5]
Upon arrival at Luna, Darrow, Virginia, Sevro, and Cassius staged the latter's escape with Antonia in order to gain access to the Sovereign's private bunker. Adrius accompanied them to the surface with a contingent of thirty boneriders.[6]
Following Adrius's capture in the Dragon Maw, Lilath attempted to bomb Luna with nuclear warheads before her ship was shot down,[7] after which she faked her death in the ensuing crash and fled to Earth in secret to evade capture. Nineteen of the thirty boneriders in The Citadel at the time of The Fall were captured and executed[6] along with The Jackal himself[7] before Virginia outlawed capital punishment.
The Solar War[]
Several Boneriders, mostly consisting of House Pluto students, were tracked down by the Solar Republic during the course of the Solar War and imprisoned in Deepgrave,[8][9] with Tharsus au Valii-Rath being one of the few known to remain at large.[10] Others fled to Earth with Lilath, who took control of The Syndicate in secret and began carrying out one of Adrius's contingency plans by commissioning the master Carver Zanzibar to create a clone of The Jackal, who Lilath gestated in her own womb.[11]
As the clone was being trained and educated for his future role as leader of the Boneriders, the remaining members of the group began preparations for their revenge against Darrow and Virginia for the death of the original Adrius.
Iron Gold[]
Under the clone's direction, The Syndicate organized the kidnapping of Pax Augustus in order to give the second Adrius an opponent for The Passage to earn a Peerless Scar.
At some point between 753 and 754 PCE, the Boneriders imprisoned in Deepgrave were quietly freed in order to aid in the clone's plans against the Republic.
Dark Age[]
The clone's planning culminated in the Day of Red Doves, when the Syndicate's puppets in the Vox Populi party orchestrated a coup against the Republic Senate, placing themselves in position for the clone and the Boneriders to use the new People's Tribunal as their puppets through which to rule Luna.
Light Bringer[]
Members[]
At their height in mid-743 PCE, the Boneriders had at least thirty-nine members outside of The Jackal himself.[12]
Leadership[]
- Adrius au Augustus (738-743 PCE)
- Lilath au Faran (743-754 PCE)
- Abomination (754 PCE - Present)
Other Members[]
- Antonia au Severus Julii
- Vixus au Sarna
- Tharsus au Valii-Rath (former)
- Novas
- Cyriana au Tanus (742-743 PCE)
- Pollux
- At least seventeen unnamed students of House Pluto
References[]
- ↑ Morning Star chapter 02 indicates that the Boneriders already formally existed as of eight months prior to March 743, which chapter 10 established was the same amount of time that had passed since Sevro released Darrow's carving.
- ↑ Golden Son, Chapter 51
- ↑ Morning Star, Chapter 60
- ↑ Morning Star, Chapter 25
- ↑ Morning Star, Chapter 52
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Morning Star, Chapter 64
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Morning Star, Chapter 63
- ↑ Iron Gold, Chapter 27
- ↑ Dark Age, Chapter 56
- ↑ Iron Gold, Chapter 45
- ↑ Dark Age, Chapter 55
- ↑ Dark Age establishes that seventeen Boneriders from House Pluto remain, and Morning Star chapter 64 mentions that nineteen of the thirty Boneriders who accompanied Adrius to Luna have been executed. Plus Antonia, Lilath, and Thistle gives a minimum of at least thirty-nine Boneriders before the Battle of Ilium.