Forms of Execution

From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki

Forms of Execution

by Lady Dhae Massirith

- A black leatherbound book fastened with a silver clasp shaped like a skull. -

This is an overview discribing several of the possible methods of execution available. It by no means lists -all- the varients or forms of death possible. This is simply a guide and a tool to aid Students of Death.

- Lady Dhae Massirith, Order of the Ebon Skull

Boiled to Death

Usually the victims are boiled in a cauldron containing water, though some executioners use oil or tallow. The methods vary, from the prisoner

+ An illustration of victim's being boiled in a large cauldron. +

being placed in cold water which is then heated up, or forcing them into already boiling liquid, or suspending them from a beam and repeatly dipping them into the bubbling cauldron.

Blown from a Cannon

Prisoners suspected of being spies can be blown from a cannon: tied over the muzzle of the artillery piece, which is then fired.

Buried Alive

This speaks for itself.

+ A detailed illustration of a man buried up to his head in the ground as onlookers watch. +

Burning at the Stake

This method is used mostly for people accused of heresy, and is used in two different ways. The first one, most commonly depicted, consists of using a heap of logs with a wooden stake on top where the "unfortunate" prisoner is attached with chains and ropes. The other method, consists of tying the condemned on a pole and heaping up the logs around him, so that he or she dies inside of the flames.

Decapitation by the Sword or the Axe

Decapitation (or beheading) by the sword is a very common method of execution. The condemned must kneel down and the executioner uses a horizontal blow of the sword to cut his or her head off. The Executioner's axe, and others similar to it, require considerable skill and accuracy to be used

+ Sketches of several different axes with short description's under each. +

by the wielder. More than one blow was the usual rather than the unusual.

The accessory of the axe is the block. The block is a section of an oak log, rectangular in shape, and scooped out midway along each of the longer sides.

Flaying Alive

Where the victim is actually being skinned alive. This is a more leisurely method of execution, the skin being peeled away from the top of the skull first, and then down over the shoulders and torso, though few victims actually survive once the breast bone is exposed.

Hanging, the Gallows

Self explanatory.

+ An illustration of several prisioner's hanging from the gallows. +

Impalement

This is done by inserting a sharply pointed stake into his posterior, which then is forced through his body, emerging through the head, sometimes through the throat. This stake is then inverted and planted in the ground.

There are several different ways to impalment victim's, this just being the most popular and widely used.

The Death of Twenty-one Cuts

This entails the executioner slicing away pieces of the victim's body, then cutting off the limbs one by one, timing his or her carving so accurately that by the twentieth stroke, little is left, other than to administer the final blow.

The Guillotine

Once again, self explanatory. A popular form of execution in Nu'jelm.

The Iron Maiden

Infamous as a device used for both torture and execution. The victim is placed in the coffin like container which has a woman's face sculpted on top of it. By closing the lids of the maiden, iron spikes are driven through the victims body, the positions having been selected in such a way that no vital part is hurt.

+ A detailed illustration of an Iron Maiden, depicting both the outside and inside of the device. +

Alternatly, the spikes can be re-ajusted to grant an agonizingly prolonged death, or one that is blessedly short.

Torn Apart by Horses

This entails the limbs of the body being pulled off by bolting horses.

+ An illustration picturing a woman being pulled apart by four horses. +