Jared Hopworth

Jared Hopworth, also known as The Boneturner, learnt the skill of 'bone turning' from *The Boneturner's Tale*, a Leitner tome. This book describes a person who removed bones from others and twisted their bodies, skills learnt and mastered by Jared. He was able to manipulate bones and flesh, and he appears to be associated with consumption, either a literal consumption or a consuming desire for a perfect body.

## Description

After his first encounter with *Boneturner's Tale*, Jared was 'longer' than he was before, standing at a 'strange angle', wearing loose trousers and a hood that covered his face. His fingers were 'sharp' as though his skin was being pushed into a point from the inside, and had 'added some extra limbs' which caused him to move strangely.

When punched, Sebastian Adekoya described his flesh as retracting and drawing him in close, his strangely sharpened ribs shifting as if to grab his hand from within.

After this, Jared's appearance changes often, his body a large mass of limbs, meat and bones that constantly twist and change his own body. As of 2012, he was able to appear as a very large man with a "handsome face".

## History

Jared was a childhood friend of Sebastian Adekoya. When Sebastian left town to attend university they grew distant, and when Sebastian returned Jared started a campaign of petty terror against him. In September of 1996 at the Chiswick Library, Jared obtained *The Boneturner's Tale.*

Jared used *the Boneturner's Tale* to learn the skill or power of boneturning: the ability to remove bones from living people without breaking the skin. He likely practised on his pet rat the night he obtained the book, as well as his father and mother, the latter of which quickly returned *The Boneturner's Tale* to Chiswick Library. That same night, Jared returned to the library, larger and bulkier than before with extra limbs and likely other people's bones. He took *The Boneturner's Tale* from Sebastian and fled. He was also likely responsible for Sebastian's death ten years later as, despite no signs of crushing, his body was twisted and misshapen in ways consistent with the effect of boneturning powers. At some point, he also gained the ability to shape flesh and other parts of the body.

After leaving home, Jared worked at several odd jobs where his odd appearance did not matter. He found himself occupying a butcher’s shop in Stockwell, using his boneturning powers to dispose of bodies for the Ukrainian mafia. He received around 14 victims there, removing their bones and twisting them into different shapes before throwing them and the rest of their bodies into a glistening, toothed hole in the floor, sometimes adding parts to himself. Eventually, when his last victim, Hector Lerado, died, he butchered his corpse and threw it into the hole as well.

At some time in 2012, he owned a gym catering to people who wanted to achieve a “perfect body” and push themselves beyond their normal limits. While this included illegal steroid use, it more accurately involved Jared using his powers to physically remake participants into creatures with nonhuman “perfect” anatomies. Ross Davenport, a member of the gym, stumbled across this fact by accident, and was pursued by a horde of creatures that encouraged him to join them, but was let go by Jared saying that it was "too soon.” However, fellow gym-goer Marie Balandin expressed potential interest in obtaining a "perfect body".

Despite being an avatar of the Flesh, Jared displays no interest in bringing forth its ritual, as he is unambitious and rather likes the world as it is, turning away other agents of the Flesh when asked to join them.

In 2016, Jared began to receive letters from an unknown source, in large print on expensive white paper, with details of a name and place or time. While initially sceptical of these mysterious unsigned letters, curiosity led him to take one up on its message, finding a woman with "extremely good bones". Following the instructions given in further letters, he had a constant source of high-quality bones and victims to terrorise. Jared began to trust the sender and did not question them when he was asked to invade the Magnus Archives and kill Jonathan Sims.

He and some 'friends' squeezed through the pipes and up through the floor, attacking The Archives while John was in a coma. Melanie King attacked and repelled many of the invaders with a knife, chopping off many of Jared's hands and stabbing him in three different hearts. Afraid, he ran through a door placed by Helen to trap him, where he remained within the Distortion's corridors for some time.

In MAG 131, Jonathan Sims entered Helen's corridors to find Jared, offering his freedom in exchange for the removal of one rib. Jared agreed, and also traded his short statement for a second rib, which he described as "a weird one". While the bone removal process is not painful for Jared, it appeared excruciating for the Archivist. Jared left through another door, which Helen opened in an exterior wall some distance above a river.

In the post-Change world, Jared became The Gardener, planting and attending to his victims in his Mortal Garden. As The Archivist made his way through the garden, Jared was aware of John's intentions, asking for a description of his domain before he died. John obliged, before killing The Boneturner with his newfound power.

## Episode Appearances

**Bold** marks episodes where Jared has given a statement.

* MAG 49: The Butcher’s Window
* MAG 90: Body Builder
* **MAG 131: Flesh**
* MAG 160: The Eye Opens (mentioned)
* MAG 171: The Gardener

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 MAG 49: The Butcher’s Window
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 MAG 90: Body Builder
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 MAG 17: The Boneturner's Tale
4. ↑ MAG 131: Flesh