Exotic Methods for Executions?

[L. Marcus]

Since the Fantasy genre is so full of violence - and since I am a sick little puppy - I'd like to draw upon your sadistic little imaginations with the following question: How do the Powers-That-Be in your campaign kill off the worst wrongdoers?

 

Over here in Sweden, in medieval times, we had the spiktunna, a barrel lined on the inside with long nails. The convict would be bound, hand and foot, stuffed into the barrel and rolled down a suitably steep slope . . .

 

There's an old folk ballad about how a king was spurned by a young maiden, so he put her in a barrel and had her rolled around his cobbelled courtyard.

 

The song is very romantic.

[Greatwyrm]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

Well, you've got all the old standbys -- beheading, crucifixion, drowning, being eaten by things. In fantasy, you get the added bonus of magic. I'm sure a high wizard with unlimited resources at his disposal could come up with plenty of magical ways to kill people in a rude and exorbitant fashion.

 

A spell to turn you into a pinata and let the local children beat you apart and eat the candy.

 

A spell to just completely obliderate you.

 

A spell that basically burns you at the stake, just much slower. (RKA 4d6, gradual effect - 1 point/5 min.)

 

A spell that mind controls you to kill yourself by cutting yourself a part a little bit at a time.

[Susano]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

Hmm... drawing and quartering. Drawing is pulling out the entrails, then the body is cut into quarters.

 

Burning at the stake. Strangualtion before is optional.

 

Impaling. Forcing the body down on a long, sharpened stake. Vlad was said to dine in a forest of impaled Turks.

 

I have seen illustrations of the Barbary Pirates tossing people onto huge hooks set into the sides of walls.

 

Pulling someone apart via a team of horses.

 

Putting the person in a huge pot and boiling them alive.

 

Iron maiden -- basically a box lined with pointed spikes.

 

I know some churches from the Middle Ages have cages hanging out in front. They would put people in said cages and simply leave them. But, I think the person was dead first.

[L. Marcus]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

When Carolus Linnaéus came to my home town, the first things he saw were two hanged robbers and a same who'd been steglad, i. e. had his arms and legs crushed by a big wooden wheel, and then been nailed up on said wheel to slowly die . . .

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

The absolutely most twisted concept for torture/ execution I've ever come across was in one of Sax Rohmer's "Fu Manchu" stories: "The Seven Gates of Joyful Wisdom." The Doctor claimed that this was an ancient Chinese technique for punishment, but I have no idea if that has any basis in fact.

 

WARNING: this gets pretty graphic:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The naked victim is laid prone on the floor, and a close-fitting metal cage is placed over his body, immobilizing him. The cage is separated into seven sections, with small raisable gates at each division, from the base of the feet to the neck. At the foot of the cage is an enclosure full of starving rats.

 

As each gate is raised, the rats are released into a higher section of the cage, feeding as they go, until they finally reach the victim's head. The victim is unable to move to avoid them, but can clearly watch their progress through the spaces between the bars of the cage...

[Lanith]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

Stoning was always an old favorite of mine. Everyone in town gets rocks of various sizes to throw at the victim, escape if you can.

 

I once read about a man who was sentenced by a raj to carry a stone slab from the palace to a deserted place outside of town, lie down the convict was covered with the stone and an elephant stood on the stone.

[Susano]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

Drinking liquid lead and other metals.

 

Flayed alive.

 

I recall something about sewing the cheating wife and her lover together and then leaving them out in the wilds.

[Ulryk]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

In the 'Truth is stranger than fiction" dept...

 

Originally the Greeks and later the Romans had the brazen bull. It was a hollow bronze sculpture with a door on it and the victim was placed inside. The entire contraption was placed over flame. The nose of the bull had tubes that led to the inner chamber and were fluted. As the victim was cooked his screams would be amplified by the nose construction and were referred to as 'songs'. The inventor was the devices first victim as a test of it's effectiveness. There was one Roman leader that regarded the death scream song as the most beautiful music he had ever heard and often required it's 'music' to be able to go to sleep.

 

I first heard about this device on the History channel, but here is a slightly different take on this story...

 

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Brazen_bull

 

Here are more resources on historical torture devices...

 

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Torture

 

One torture from antiquity I could not find on that list was ingestion of molten metal. The victim would have molten gold, iron, or most commonly lead poured into their mouths with their head restricted. The gag reflex would force open the throat on contact and the majority of the liquid would pour down into their stomach. After the victim died the molds created would be extracted and kept as a most gruesome form of art.

 

EDIT: Actually the victim was the 'mold' per se, but I think you get my point.

[shadowcat1313]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

theres always the simple one of polymorphing said victim into a mouse, and turning it loose where the cats can find it, snakes would be a lot quicker about it so not quite as much torture.

[Ulryk]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

Actually that reminds me of another Roman execution method. Placing the victim in a burlap sack with a dog, a monkey and a snake, sewing it all up tight and then throwing the lot into the water.

 

And no I am not a freak... I just watch a lot of history channel...

 

 

They are the freaks.

[Dog Soldier]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

In a fantasy novel I read long ago but can't recall the name of the Wizard caused the victims bones to ignite and be totally consumed.

[Vondy]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

Biblical methods:

 

Stoning: you take them to the tallest structure or precipice in the area and throw them off. If they survive you drop a large rock on them. For most capital offenses.

 

Strangulation: put the person in knee deep goat dung and then take the bedsheet the crime was committed on, wrap it around their neck, and have the aggrieved parties or witnesses puuuuuullll. This was reserved for the violation of specific sex taboos: adultery and voluntary incest.

 

Burning: strap the person down on their back, wedge their mouth open, and poor molten lead down their throat. Oddly, this was reserved for one person: a cohen's (priests) daughter who violated sex taboos. I don't think there were any others.

 

Beheading: with a sword. This was reserved for idoloters, blasphemers, and informers. It was also used for people who tried to convert Jews to other faiths. Sometimes hanging was substituted.

 

Personally - I prefer the Jawbone of an Ass.

[Agemegos]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

When Carolus Linnaéus came to my home town' date=' the first things he saw were two hanged robbers and a same who'd been [i']steglad[/i], i. e. had his arms and legs crushed by a big wooden wheel, and then been nailed up on said wheel to slowly die . . .

 

The English term is "broken on the wheel".

[Nevenall]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

It's not actually all that grusome, but I have heard tell of a method which involved spliting open a live tree, placing the victim inside, and having the tree compress their chest so they strangulate.

It doesn't sound all that effective at the moment. Perhaps I am missing some details.

 

Also, there is my friend's favorite method/pasttime which is described simply as "Pitbull and Meat Sauce."

[Guest WhammeWhamme]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

I rather like:

 

1) Place under a board. 2) Add weights. 3) Return to step two, keep going.

 

Tying them up and using them to test the range of a catapult.

 

Gladiatorial Death Matches.

[Lezentauw]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

One of the more gruesome, was an American Indian method. I think it was the Souix the implemented this one. I know that it was used in the west where it gets hot during the day...

 

 

 

 

They would lay a person on the ground and bind each limb with a leather cord to a stake as far apart as they could. So far nothing to exotic. Then they would take another leather cord and soak it in water, double it up and insert an arrowhead into the middle. They then tied that to the persons head like a sweatband, only difference is that the tip of the arrowhead was set right in the middle of the forehead. The rest was up to the sun to dehidrate and shrink the leather cord, which would slowly pull the arrowhead into the person skull...

[Captain Obvious]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

There was a sci-fi novel that I read once (I think it was Deathworld III by Harry Harrison), where the primitives on this one planet would torture/execute people by cutting off one joint a day. When it's just fingers and toes, it's just painful, especially if the wounds get infected, so death doesn't come for quite some time.

[War Cry]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

Another American Indain method was to stake a person out naked next to an ant hill. Fill and cover all body orifices with honey,sometimes slitting the eyelids and let the ants do the work by slowly eating the honey and the victim.

[Lezentauw]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

Yeah I remembered something about an ant hill, but I was not sure if they smoked it or not. Hence the reason I did not post it.

[Metaphysician]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

There was a sci-fi novel that I read once (I think it was Deathworld III by Harry Harrison)' date=' where the primitives on this one planet would torture/execute people by cutting off one joint a day. When it's just fingers and toes, it's just painful, especially if the wounds get infected, so death doesn't come for quite some time.[/quote']

 

I've heard about this being a Jamaican posse punishment.

[Vondy]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

There is a persistent historical rumor that Edward II was executed by inserting a tube into his rectum followed by a red hot poker.

[Sociotard]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

Dang, alot of the good ones have been taken.

 

A current form of execution used in third world countries here and there is 'necklacing'. It's easy. A tire is placed around the neck of the bound victim and lit on fire. that's all.

 

There's the old trick of pirates: burry a man up to his neck during low tide, and let him watch the high tide roll in.

 

The ancient mongols (iirc) tide a man to a wild horse and sent him off into the wilderness to meet whatever fate came upon him.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

Dang, alot of the good ones have been taken.

 

There's something deeply disturbing about that remark.

 

Not the least of which is that I had the same thought.

[Vondy]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

So, in Jewish law its extremely difficult to meet the necessary standards of evidence for the death penalty, but there is one crime - murder - that someone who commits it, esp. multiple times, but avoids punishment on a technicality can't be allowed remain within society. Since the Torah did not mandate jail time (the only instances of imprisonment in scripture is a "house arrest" ordered by King David) the normal method of dealing with this was to remand the case to the king, who is assumed to have the power over life and death. The king can simply "deal with it." But what if there is no king? What recourse does society have? In such a case society must act to defend itself, but the modes of execution in the bible are not permitted to the court. Here is how that was handled:

 

MISHNAH: One who commits murder without witnesses is placed in a cell and [forcibly) fed with 'bread of adversity and water of affliction.'[1]

 

GEMARA: How do we know [that he committed murder if there were no witnesses]? — Rab said: On a 'disjoined' evidence [2]. Samuel said: Without a warning.[3] R. Hisda said in Abimi's name: Through witnesses who were disproved as to the minor circumstances [of the crime], but not on the vital points.[4] As we learned: It once happened that Ben Zakkai examined [the witnesses] as to the stalks of the figs.[5]

 

"And fed bread of adversity and water of affliction." Why does this Mishnah teach, AND FED WITH BREAD OF ADVERSITY AND WATER OF AFFLICTION', whilst the former teaches, HE IS PLACED BY BETH DIN IN A CELL AND FED WITH BARLEY BREAD UNTIL HIS STOMACH BURSTS? — R. Shesheth answered: In both cases he is fed with 'bread of adversity and water of affliction' for his intestines to shrink [thus blocking the passage], and then he is fed with barley bread until his stomach bursts.

 

[1] I.e., the murder was witnessed by two persons who were not standing together. In that case, he cannot be executed; hence he is imprisoned. cf. Mak. 6b.

[2] I.e., there were two witnesses, but invalid to impose the usual death sentence, because they did not warn him.

[3] By 'vital points' ([H]) time and place of the crime are meant; by 'minor circumstances' (bedikoth [H]) the weapon, clothes worn by the victim or the murderer, etc. Since the vital evidence has not been disproved, the accused is adjudged a murderer; as, however, the witnesses were disproved on minor details, he cannot be executed, and is therefore placed in a cell.

[4] The witnesses having deposed that the murder took place under a fig tree. Ben Zakkai examined them on the nature of the stalks, Whether thick or thin, etc. v. supra 40a ff.

[5] V. Gemara.

 

OUCH!

[Mark Taylor]

Re: Exotic Methods for Executions?

 

One of the problems with burning at the stake (from the POV of a person wanting to inflict a maximally painful death) is that the victim tends to pass out from smoke inhalation at a relatively early stage, thus missing out on most of the agony of actually burning to death. The solution: make them wear a gas mask, then burn them at the stake. Much nastier.

 

I once ran a fantasy campaign set on a flat world (not Discworld). One of the preferred punishments for criminals in certain communities living close to the edge was just to throw the criminal over the edge. It's not entirely clear what happened to them after that, but it's unlikely to have been pleasant.

 

This one is from Iain M Banks's SF novel Consider Phlebas. The Condemned man is placed in a small, sealed room in the very deepest dungeon of the castle. The waste outlets from all the castle's toilets and other waste disposal facilities empty into this room. The castle's occupants then proceed to have a great big party. The Condemned man is given the ironic title of "guest of honour".