Execution

The twelve sanctified methods of execution under the Uzdumalian Empire consisted of the Dark Hunger, the Bright Thirst, the Pleasure Choke, the Poisonous Kiss, the Regrettable Vivisection, the Donkey Grasp, the Soft Mummification, the Slow Bleed, the Merciful Whack, the Garden Chill, the Long Journey, and the Weighted Drown. Each of these executions corresponded with the sentencing body's assignation of the type of guilt to the crime committed, and all were performed by borrits whose specializations suited them for these particular styles of death. As with all Uzdan punishments, the success of escape and survival was a sign that luck was on the criminal's side, and so no further action could be taken against the criminal, even if re-apprehended at a later time.

The Dark Hunger

The Dark Hunger was a common sentence for crimes committed out of greed that deprived the criminal's friends or family of resources. It was performed by imprisoning the criminal in a 10-meter-deep hole in the ground whose cover was supplied by a series of thickly-woven grass mats, allowing air and rain to enter the hole, but no food. A borrit was assigned the duty of sitting by the hole to listen for groans and report when the criminal ceased to make them. Although death from hunger was clearly the intention of the Dark Hunger, most criminals died from self-inflicted wounds sustained while attempting to dig out, or from drowning when heavy rains filled the hole. Surprisingly, there are only three known cases of escape from the Dark Hunger.

The Bright Thirst

The Bright Thirst was assigned to criminals who committed heresies against the Great Uzdumalian Church of State. The criminal was led into a large cage heated on all sides by constant flames. Although most criminals seem to have perished from being cooked alive, due to the overzealousness of the borrit responsible for stoking the fires, the ideal death for heretics was merely to be desiccated by the lack of moisture in the air. Thus, the body would not be charred over time, but slowly shrunken and brittle. The fires were kept burning long after the death of the criminal so that the body would retain little of its original weight, and, like the heresies it represented, be disposed of without effort.

The Pleasure Choke

A particularly humiliating manner of execution was the Pleasure Choke, reserved for botched treasonous plots like Targarn's in the Drakna Conspiracy. The criminal was placed on a public stage surrounded by two-way mirrors, so that the execution could be viewed, while the executed could only watch his own execution. A prostitute-borrit, trained in the sexual arts, would enter the stage and place a noose around the criminal's throat before beginning to perform his or her craft. As the condemned struggled to consummate the sexual activity being advanced, the noose would be drawn tighter. Although one might imagine the condemned would wish to shrink from, rather than consummate, this resulted in the far more humiliating prospect of not only drawing out a slow, fearful, and painful death, but also submitting to repeated sexual assault, after which the borrit might strangle the condemned at will. The only way one might escape this torture would be to reach orgasm as quickly as possible and hope for a sudden, not-entirely unpleasurable death.

The Poisonous Kiss

The Poisonous Kiss was reserved for pairs of criminals who had plotted together to commit a crime. In this execution, the one who had been responsible for inventing the plot would be tied to a chair with his mouth held open while the accomplice's mouth was filled with olyane, a slow-acting but deadly poison. The accomplice was given the opportunity to spit the poison into the plotter's mouth or to swallow it completely himself so as to spare the life of the one who had lured him into the plot. There is only one recorded case of the accomplice choosing not to take his revenge.

The Regrettable Vivisection

Although not technically an execution, the Regrettable Vivisection could be performed at the pleasure of the state on any citizen of Uzda for purposes of scientific research if the body to be vivisected was of sufficient interest to curious scholars. Although some analgesic could be applied, the victim of the Regrettable Vivisection often died of shock or heart attack in the midst of the procedure.

The Donkey Grasp

While the Poisonous Kiss was reserved for deceivers and their followers, the Donkey Grasp was performed as a punishment for having succumbed to the will of an idiot. The condemned was bound lengthwise to an ass and sent to wander the desert until both were dead. The Donkey Grasp was one of the most unreliable methods of execution, as donkeys often found their way out of the desert, where locals often remarked on the luck of the helpless prisoner and nursed him back to health.

The Soft Mummification

Assigned to high-level persons who had committed crimes through neglecting their responsibilities, the Soft Mummification was performed by borrits who would gently wrap the bound body of the condemned in soft gauze made of wool. As the layers of wool grew thicker and more impenetrable, the condemned would suffocate by the end of the day.

The Slow Bleed

The Slow Bleed was the only execution to be performed at the will of the Emperor alone for a failure to perform at his pleasure, as in the case of Professor Emeritus Eblas, who arrived late to the presentation of Beasts of the World to Emperor Drevis IV. A single cut was made to a prominent vein of the body, and a fresh stream of water was kept continuously pouring over it until the death of the condemned.

The Merciful Whack

The accidental criminal, whose failure to remain alert had resulted in the demise of another, would be repaid with a single violent blow to the top of the skull. Ideally, the Merciful Whack was performed without notice, in a public place, as the condemned was walking from one place to another. Although many of those condemned escaped the Merciful Whack by becoming hermits in remote areas, they lived wretched, fearful lives, not knowing if or when the executioner would find them and deliver the blow. Those who managed to survive the single blow were, of course, pardoned, though they had most likely sustained injuries from which they could never fully recover, as no physician would treat them.

The Garden Chill

Criminals who were found guilty of using political positions to increase their own comforts or those of their families could be sentenced to the Garden Chill, performed only at the height of the winter months, when they would be released, naked, into a locked courtyard filled with woody, thorny plants. Their bloody, frozen bodies were retrieved within a few days and returned to their next of kin.

The Long Journey

A secret escape by one who had not yet been found guilty of a crime was punished by the Long Journey, in which the body of the condemned was tied into a sack and dragged behind an elephant that was then released into the wilderness. The body was rarely recovered, as the elephant was likely to trample the sack into the ground in an attempt to disconnect it from itself as soon as it joined with a wild herd. With the body tied to it, an elephant would be unable to rejoin the herd.

The Weighted Drown

The only state-sponsored method of suicide, the Weighted Drown could be requested by any citizen whose lucklessness had made life unbearable. The self-condemned would find his or her hands tied by the fingers with wire to an enormous stone, which was then cast into the sea. Ironically, the condemned often found that the wires could be manipulated with ease to release the fingers, and he or she could swim to safety. Believing this to be a stroke of excellent luck, the once-luckless would find that fortune had shifted. Once self-rescued from the Weighted Drown, one would choose a new name and start over in a new community, where the bad luck that had followed up to that point might not be able to pursue. At several points, organizations formed to re-evaluated the method of the Weighted Drown so as to increase its effectiveness as an execution, but since it was largely used as a cure for severe depression (either by death or by magnificent recovery) the method was never overturned.

References:

Beasts of the World

Borrits

Chance

Drakna Conspiracy

Great Uzdumalian Church of State

Heretical Sects of Uzda

Olyane