Post by Dread Gnat on Mar 11, 2012 2:22:49 GMT -5
These are some (But certainly not all) of the torture methods commonly used within the Amalgamation.
The Knee Splitter
Favoured by the Inquisition because of its versatility. The knee splitter is a vice-like instrument with three to twenty sharp spikes outfitted on both sides of the grip. As the torturer turns the handle, the claws slowly squeeze against each other mutilating and penetrating the skin and bones of the knee. Although its use rarely results in death, the effect was to render the knees completely useless. It can also be used on other parts of the body such as elbows, arms and even the lower legs. Some Inquisitors heat the claws beforehand to maximize pain.
The Head Crusher
Popular in use, a victim’s chin is placed over a bottom bar and the head under an upper cap. The torturer slowly turns the screw, pressing the bar against the cap. The head is then slowly compressed, first shattering the teeth into the jaw, then a slow death with agonizing pain. Some variants of this device include small containers that receive the eyeballs as they squeeze out of the victims’ eye sockets. This instrument is an effective way to extract confessions, as the period of pain can be prolonged for many hours if the torturer chooses to. If the torture is stopped midway, the victim often has irreparable damage done to the brain, jaw or eyes.
Saw Torture
If an inquisitor is hard on coin, this is a cheap way to torture and kill a victim accused of witchery, adultery, murder, blasphemy or even theft. The victim is tied upside down, allowing blood to be diverted to the head. This ensures that the victim remains awake for as long as possible. It slows the loss of blood and causes maximum humiliation. The torture could last several hours. While some victims are cut completely in half as a symbolic gesture, most are only cut up to their abdomen to prolong the time it took to die.
The Breaking Wheel
This device always kills its victim, but does so very slowly. The victim's limbs are tied to the spokes of a large wooden wheel. The wheel is then slowly turned while the torturer smashes the victims’ limbs with an iron hammer, breaking them in many places. Once his bones are broken, he is left on the wheel to die. Sometimes the wheel is placed on a tall pole so birds can pick and eat the flesh of the still-living person. It can take up to two or three days for him to die of dehydration. Sometimes it is 'mercifully' ordered that the executioner strike the criminal on the chest and stomach.
The Pear of Anguish
This brutal instrument is used to torture liars, and blasphemers. The pear-shaped instrument is inserted into one of the victim's orifices, -often the mouth. The instrument consists of four leaves that slowly separate from each other as the torturer turns the screw at the top. The device mutilates the victim’s orifice, and can dislocate or break the jawbones. This torture rarely brings death, but is often followed by other torture methods.
The Rack
The Rack consists of a wooden frame usually with two ropes fixed to the bottom and another two tied to a handle in the top. As the torturer turns the handle, the ropes pull the victim's arms, eventually dislocating bones with a loud crack. If the torturer keeps turning the handles, the limbs are torn right off the body.
Some inquisitors use a variant of the Rack which includes spikes that penetrate the victim's back when he or she is forced to lie on table. As the limbs are pulled apart, so is the spine, increasing not only the physical pain, but the psychological pain of knowing that, even if he or she were to survive, mobility of any kind would be lost forever.
Coffin Torture
The victim is placed inside a metal cage roughly made in the shape of a body. Torturers can force overweight victims into a smaller device, or even make the "coffin" slightly larger than a victim’s body to make him more uncomfortable. The cage is frequently hung from a tree or a gallows. Serious crimes, such as heresy or blasphemy, are punished by death inside the coffin where the victim is placed under the sun allowing birds or animals to eat his or her flesh. Sometimes onlookers throw rocks and other objects to further increase the pain
The Iron Balls Torture
With this method of torture, an accused is hung by the wrists, with a heavy iron ball at each foot; for the extraordinary torture, the body is stretched horizontally by means of ropes passing through rings riveted into the wall, and attached to the four limbs, the only support given to the culprit being the point of a stake cut in a diamond shape, which just touches the end of the back-bone. A doctor and a surgeon is often present, feeling the pulse at the temples of the patient, so as to be able to judge the moment when the victim can no longer bear the pain. At that moment he is untied, hot fomentations are used to revive him, restoratives are administered, and, as soon as he recovers a little strength, he is again put to the torture, which goes on thus for six consecutive hours.
Thumbscrews
A common method of inflicting intense pain on prisoners. The thumbscrew is a simple device designed to crush whatever is inserted. Typically thumbs, but even fingers or toes, are placed in the vice and slowly crushed. The force of thumbscrews are such that a bone can be crushed and broken. The thumbscrews are especially useful to interrogators as they are a portable means of torture and not restricted to the confines of the torture chamber.
Impalement
Simple, yet effective. An inquisitor simply forces a victim to sit on a sharp and thick pole. The pole is then raised upright and the victim is left to slide further down the pole by his or her own weight. Often, the pole emerges through the sternum so that its tip can be placed under the chin to prevent further sliding. It can take the victim three days to die.
The Knee Splitter
Favoured by the Inquisition because of its versatility. The knee splitter is a vice-like instrument with three to twenty sharp spikes outfitted on both sides of the grip. As the torturer turns the handle, the claws slowly squeeze against each other mutilating and penetrating the skin and bones of the knee. Although its use rarely results in death, the effect was to render the knees completely useless. It can also be used on other parts of the body such as elbows, arms and even the lower legs. Some Inquisitors heat the claws beforehand to maximize pain.
The Head Crusher
Popular in use, a victim’s chin is placed over a bottom bar and the head under an upper cap. The torturer slowly turns the screw, pressing the bar against the cap. The head is then slowly compressed, first shattering the teeth into the jaw, then a slow death with agonizing pain. Some variants of this device include small containers that receive the eyeballs as they squeeze out of the victims’ eye sockets. This instrument is an effective way to extract confessions, as the period of pain can be prolonged for many hours if the torturer chooses to. If the torture is stopped midway, the victim often has irreparable damage done to the brain, jaw or eyes.
Saw Torture
If an inquisitor is hard on coin, this is a cheap way to torture and kill a victim accused of witchery, adultery, murder, blasphemy or even theft. The victim is tied upside down, allowing blood to be diverted to the head. This ensures that the victim remains awake for as long as possible. It slows the loss of blood and causes maximum humiliation. The torture could last several hours. While some victims are cut completely in half as a symbolic gesture, most are only cut up to their abdomen to prolong the time it took to die.
The Breaking Wheel
This device always kills its victim, but does so very slowly. The victim's limbs are tied to the spokes of a large wooden wheel. The wheel is then slowly turned while the torturer smashes the victims’ limbs with an iron hammer, breaking them in many places. Once his bones are broken, he is left on the wheel to die. Sometimes the wheel is placed on a tall pole so birds can pick and eat the flesh of the still-living person. It can take up to two or three days for him to die of dehydration. Sometimes it is 'mercifully' ordered that the executioner strike the criminal on the chest and stomach.
The Pear of Anguish
This brutal instrument is used to torture liars, and blasphemers. The pear-shaped instrument is inserted into one of the victim's orifices, -often the mouth. The instrument consists of four leaves that slowly separate from each other as the torturer turns the screw at the top. The device mutilates the victim’s orifice, and can dislocate or break the jawbones. This torture rarely brings death, but is often followed by other torture methods.
The Rack
The Rack consists of a wooden frame usually with two ropes fixed to the bottom and another two tied to a handle in the top. As the torturer turns the handle, the ropes pull the victim's arms, eventually dislocating bones with a loud crack. If the torturer keeps turning the handles, the limbs are torn right off the body.
Some inquisitors use a variant of the Rack which includes spikes that penetrate the victim's back when he or she is forced to lie on table. As the limbs are pulled apart, so is the spine, increasing not only the physical pain, but the psychological pain of knowing that, even if he or she were to survive, mobility of any kind would be lost forever.
Coffin Torture
The victim is placed inside a metal cage roughly made in the shape of a body. Torturers can force overweight victims into a smaller device, or even make the "coffin" slightly larger than a victim’s body to make him more uncomfortable. The cage is frequently hung from a tree or a gallows. Serious crimes, such as heresy or blasphemy, are punished by death inside the coffin where the victim is placed under the sun allowing birds or animals to eat his or her flesh. Sometimes onlookers throw rocks and other objects to further increase the pain
The Iron Balls Torture
With this method of torture, an accused is hung by the wrists, with a heavy iron ball at each foot; for the extraordinary torture, the body is stretched horizontally by means of ropes passing through rings riveted into the wall, and attached to the four limbs, the only support given to the culprit being the point of a stake cut in a diamond shape, which just touches the end of the back-bone. A doctor and a surgeon is often present, feeling the pulse at the temples of the patient, so as to be able to judge the moment when the victim can no longer bear the pain. At that moment he is untied, hot fomentations are used to revive him, restoratives are administered, and, as soon as he recovers a little strength, he is again put to the torture, which goes on thus for six consecutive hours.
Thumbscrews
A common method of inflicting intense pain on prisoners. The thumbscrew is a simple device designed to crush whatever is inserted. Typically thumbs, but even fingers or toes, are placed in the vice and slowly crushed. The force of thumbscrews are such that a bone can be crushed and broken. The thumbscrews are especially useful to interrogators as they are a portable means of torture and not restricted to the confines of the torture chamber.
Impalement
Simple, yet effective. An inquisitor simply forces a victim to sit on a sharp and thick pole. The pole is then raised upright and the victim is left to slide further down the pole by his or her own weight. Often, the pole emerges through the sternum so that its tip can be placed under the chin to prevent further sliding. It can take the victim three days to die.