The Museum of Technology and Invention houses a wide array of exhibits. One of the most frequented exhibits however is the Torture and Punishment Exhibit. This exhibit covers many centuries of devices and implements used to extract information, to punish wrong doers of the time, or to carry out the sentence of death as decreed by the authorities of the time.

This exhibit is not for the faint of heart, or the gentle of sensibilities. Many of these implements exacted a terrible toll in suffering and cruelty. So, before entering this exhibit, please be prepared for some gruesome images and cruel punishments.

To the left of the door as you enter the exhibit is the ubiquitous Torture Chair. This device has a variety of permutations across Europe, but this remained in use until the 19th Century of this world?s history!

The chair itself contains up to 2000 metal spikes in addition to a means of fixing the victim into the chair, and applying pressure to force the person?s body, or appendages more firmly against the spikes.

The victim was always seated on the torture chair au naturalle, and the purpose was to perforate the flesh without immediately damaging critical organs. The would keep the victim alive and in a great deal of pain .

The museum has two versions of this device, which was simply a ?must have? for any torture room.

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The Spanish Donkey has many variants, but the crux of this torture device is to split a person open. The victim is seated atop a vertical wooden wedge completely nude. Weights are then affixed to the legs with cause the victim to become pulled down onto the sharpened wedge. This implement can be moderately mild if very little weight is employed, or it can literally split an adult open if significant amounts of weight are applied to the lower legs.

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Resting in a clear case on a pedestal is an iron device called an Ear Chopper. It was not designed to kill the victim, but rather to inflict a punishment that would mark the guilty party for life by lopping off one or both ears. The iron ?cap? was fitted onto the head with the knives raised. The ears protrude through the ear holes, and the iron bands guide the blade down to slice off the ear at the scalp line. There are not many references to this device, and surviving examples are very rare. This one was donated by Earl Deatherage of RhyDin.


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Beside the examples of the fairly benign Branks is the Spiked Torture Helmut. This device also fit over the head, and included enough iron to support the head and neck. Inside the helmut were spikes, which were driven into the forehead at the turn of a screw device. Each turn of the handle resulted in driving the spike deeper into the cranium. Based on physiological studies, it is possible that some victims remained alive for a time even after the spike had crushed through the actual skull.

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The next display case has five variants of a tool called a Tongue Tearer. One of the medieval punishments for heretics and blasphemers was the removal of that person?s tongue. These tools were designed for just that purpose. The victim was seated and secured while the jaws were forcibly opened. Then these tong like tools were inserted into the mouth and grabbed onto the tongue, which was then ripped from the mouth. Most of these had rough surfaces to aid in grasping the tongue with enough grip to pull the tongue out. However, variants have been found that had staggered teeth, much like a pair of pinking shears that were designed to shred the tongue to pieces.

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Tearing, shredding and rending flesh was common as a form of torture. This display cabinet contained a Breast Ripper. It was designed to mutilate the female breast. It was clamped down over the breast and could be used either cold, or red hot, depending on the goal of the interrogator. This was primarily used on women found guilty of heresy, blasphemy, adultery, self induced abortion, or erotic white magic.

Another tearing and rending tool was the Cat?s Paw, or Spanish Tickler. Both of these names belie the truly horrible nature and purpose of this tool. It was a steel bar armed with 4 ? 6 sharpened ?claws?, which where swiped across the naked body. These claws ripped skin, muscle, tendon, and even bone from the victim.

A variation of the Breast Ripper was the Spider. This was a set of clawed bars that a woman was dragged along until her breasts were ripped off. Rippers resemble the tongs used to lift large blocks of ice. The Iron Spider had between 4 prongs and 6. It was also used to pick up and suspend victims by soft tissue, such as the buttocks, the belly, and rarely by the head.


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Many common forms of torture involved the crushing of an appendage. No portion of the body was prohibited, and the decision regarding what to crush was dependent upon the crime committed. The Foot Screw was designed to crush the foot. Early versions allowed the foot to be inserted and then an arched bar was screwed down onto the foot until the bones were crushed and broken by the pressure. Later versions added spikes which perforated the foot as it was crushed.

Finger crushing was also common. This small device was used to crush fingers into useless appendages which were usually cut off using the Mutilation Shears.

The Spanish Crusher was essentially a modified pair of hinged tongs that could crush anything you could put between the ribbed jaws. This included fingers, toes, ears, thumbs, and very sensitive parts of the male anatomy.

The Spanish Boot on the other hand was designed to crush the lower leg. There were innumerable variants of this tool, but the end result was always the same. The lower leg was crushed, and usually amputated due to the severity of the crushing of the bone. It consists of two semicircular pieces of wood held together either using iron bands or rope. During interrogation, when ever the victim refused to provide the correct answer, another bit of wood or iron was added, which resulted in tightening the boot around the leg. Some variants also had spikes on the inside which would slowly be driven into the leg as the boot was tightened.

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Iron Collars constitute the next case. These are metal rings that are placed around the victim?s neck. This is then tightened until the metal teeth are just beneath the chin. The victim is then hoisted into the air, leaving just their toes touching the ground. The teeth bite into the chin and throat. The victim is left suspended thusly.

A Chinese variant of this device had the prisoner?s head stuck through a hole in the top of a sturdy wooden box, with the feet barely off the ground.

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Hanging Cages, or Gibbets were very common sights in Europe. They were made out of slats of wood or iron, and served as a simple punishment where the victim was displayed and eventually freed, up to the ultimate punishment where the victim was left to die inside the cage. The bodies of executed highwaymen were covered in tar and left along rural routes as a deterrent to other would be highway men.

The cages often were studded in nails to discourage friends and relatives from trying to retrieve the body.

The last gibbeting in England was for two murderers in 1832.


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This entry was found in an archive. The data cylinder that had captured it was recently turned over for the museum's library.

She had run.

It was a mistake all in itself.

But, it was a mistake he would correct.

He had caught up with her trail quickly enough. She only had a day head start on him. He could simply reach out and strangle her with the Dark Side, but thought better of it. Hunting her and tracking her like an animal would be more fun. He had come across her campsite from the night before. She hadn't left long ago. Only a few hours now. He extended the talons over his hands, as he took to the trees for the bird's eye prospective. He could imagine her heart beating quickly as she ran through the woods.

He hadn't had a good hunt in some time. Hopefully, she would make it worth his while.

Even if she was a slave.

A dead slave, he reminded himself. She simply didn't know it yet.

The taloned fingers dug into a branch, keeping him steady as he looked out over the land, looking for some kind of disturbance to continue his tracking. She would most likely be heading back into town. Perhaps to find another master to defend her from him. A laugh that would be.

He had ordered his pets, the terror beasts, to surround the area, but not to harm her.

He wanted that pleasure for himself.

Birds broke through the trees some distance away. He know it could have been either his pets, or the girl. He narrowed his eyes darkly, avoiding the temptation of using his powers. He lept from the tree, and began making his way in the direction. She had gotten mixed up during the night, and is only heading farther into the forest. It was now his game.

She was running as fast as she could. She thought she had been going the right way. But, she should have reached the path by now. She fell to the ground crying a bit. She'd done that a lot in the last few days. How could she have been taken by such a monster like him! She had been such a happy young woman. Free.

But now. She tugged on the silver collar around her neck once again. It wasn't moving. She hated it. She didn't want to be a slave. How could one being do this to another? Simple: He wasn't human. He was a monster.

She thought of him, then looked around frantically. She'd rested too long. She got up and ran.

She didn't care where. Anything was better than being around him.

She ran as fast as she could, for as long as she could.

She figured she had gotten several miles away from him. Only to see him standing a few paces away from her.

He was grinning darkly, the talons raking one of the nearby trees. He wasn't panting.

It was if he were waiting for her. He took a few steps towards her. She stumbled backwards, tripping over a rock. She landed with a thud, and begun scooting back from him quickly.

She let out a scream as he began laughing. She began pleading for her life, and offered anything and everything to him.

He nodded darkly, with a smile to match.

He took the offering.

The light reflected off the metallic talons, as they slashed.

Her final screams scared off some native birds that burst through the tree tops.