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The Golden Nation of Mill'en

Capital Punishment

Introduction to the treatise on execution in Mill'en
By Lorelei

As we seek to perfect and uphold the law, as the Teacher bids us, we hold it to be true that there are crimes for which no reasonable punishment can be found except to extingish the fire of life within the perpetrator. It is for this reason that the various forms of execution exist, and although you may quail at what follows, it must be remembered that these harshest of measures are not used lightly.

Doubtless one can point to times past where these punishments were used more freely or more reservedly than today, but to doubt such judgement is to doubt the law itself, and that we must not do lest all our work come to nought.

Note on the office of executioner - The executioner is appointed by the Majeste and hence they are considered to be the hand of the Majeste. Therefore, regardless of the prior status of the person in question, be they noble or common, their hand is that of the Majeste in the dealing of such punishments as are decreed by the Law. To enact execution in any circumstance other than directed by the presiding justice is to impersonate the Majeste and will be tried as such. In the case of ecclesiastical court, the executioner is appointed by the leader of the church and considered to be the hand of the Teacher. Hence to act falsely in such an office is a blasphemous act most foul.

For these reasons there has been no necessity of hiding the identity of the executioner, a practise common in other nations. In point of fact there has only been one recorded incident of attempted retribution against the executioner. The attempt was unsuccessful and the felon was hanged for the collected offences of Assault with Intent, Obstruction in Law and Disrespect of Majesty.

Part the First - being a detailed account of the methods of execution particular to each court of law, accompanied by commentaries on their usage.

Court Martial:

The most commonly used method of execution by the Court Martial is known as the Gauntlet.

The condemned soldier is stripped to the waist and must pass between two rows of his fellows armed with pikes or swords. The condemned must proceed steadily at a drum beat as the members of the gauntlet strike at him, each keeping one foot in place.

Should the condemned reach the end of the gauntlet, there are several possibilities, dependent on the severity of his crimes and the judgement of the presiding justice. (1) he may be allowed to live, tended to in the normal fashion for a wounded solider and return to duty with all misdemeanours considered paid for. (2) he may be taken to solitary confinement to heal unattended, or more often to die from his wounds. (3) he may be forced back into the gauntlet whereupon the two lines of soldiers advance a step and the condemned man is impaled.

In naval regiments the gauntlet is replaced by Keelhauling

The condemned sailor is tied to a rope which passes under the the hull of the ship. This results in a flaying of the condemned man's skin by the shells which inhabit the ship's underbelly.If the rope is hauled slowly the condemned will be pulled just below the hull, but will most likely be drowned.

As with the gauntlet, the man who survives may be spared, or he may be returned to the water to be keelhauled a second or third time until his death is assured.

Ecclesiastical Court:

The Ecclesiastical Court does not usually enact the death sentence without reference to the high court, except in certain matters for which no mortal law can be considered to apply. Where a person has been found guilty by both Ecclesiastical Court and High Court and sentenced to death, the usual method is burning at the stake.

The condemned is chained to a broad stake set into the ground. They are then surrounded by branches and bundles of brushwood which are set alight. The tallow of the mortal flesh is such that once alight, the condemned will burn readily.

It is not uncommon for the condemned to be set on a platform to allow the assembled crowd to see them writhing in the flames. It has been said that the fire is a signal to the gods to recognise the priest's crimes.

In times past laymen convicted of ecclesiastial crimes would be subject to perhaps the most repulsive of all death sentences. It has not been enacted at any time during written records, however it still exists within the annals of ecclesiastical law.

A tree trunk is hollowed out and the naked criminal firmly fastened within, the head, hands, and feet protruding. The condemned is forced to drink milk and honey until their bowels fail, and more honey is rubbed onto his body so as to attract insects to the exposed appendages. They are then set to float on a stagnant pond. The foul matter of the condemned will soon accumulate within the container, attracting more insects, which eat and breed within his exposed - and increasingly gangrenous - flesh. Also biting and stinging insects such as wasps, are attracted by honey on the body. Death is eventually brought on by starvation, lack of water and poisonous shock.

Malicious conjuration was a heretical act of great magnitude punishable by Flaying. The crime is unheard of in recent times but appears in ecclesiastical records, however flaying is enacted for other crimes and will therefore be described at this juncture.

The condemned is shackled to a post or placed in stocks. They are then stripped to the waist and beaten with birch branches or crafted flails until the skin is removed. Death from shock usually occurs before the flaying is complete.

The body is then publicly burned to ashes in an effort to sever any links between the condemned and the summoned creature. In the few recorded cases of this crime being punished, it appears that the flaying occurs over several days with the condemned kept alive by medical attention and sustenance until death occurs by exposure, weakness or the bloodied body being ravaged by local dogs in the night.

Common Court:

The Common Court does not itself enact the sentence as such cases are passed to High Court with a recommended penalty of death. It is worthy of note however, that the usual death by hanging which follows from this has resulted in the phrase 'Hanging Nobility' - meaning a man or woman who has been promoted to higher status for the purpose of being hanged. On rare occasions a case will be deemed to require further trial, in which case, should the sentence of death be passed again, the method will often be more severe.

High Court:

Hanging or Decapitation are the normal methods employed and the exactitudes vary across the country.

Hanging involves the placing of a rope noose around the neck of the condemned. The rope is secured from a tree or gallows and the condemnded dies by strangulation. In many places the condemned will be stood on a stool or platform which is then removed from under their feet causing a swift drop which breaks the neck. In others the rope is weighted after being passed over the gallows, and once released pulls the condemned into the air as the weight falls.

These two methods have resulted in such phrases as 'the drop' and 'the swinging dance' being used to refer to the process of hanging. In cases where a noble has been stripped and entered the Black Legion for a crime for which a commoner would certainly have been killed, a straw man may be dressed in the nobles clothes and a public hanging conducted. (This normally occurs where the noble in question has also been sentenced to disinheritance)

In a few cities a method of seated hanging has been used, known as garrotting after the assassin's tool which similarly involves strangulation from behind.

The condemned man is strapped into a high-backed chair made for the purpose, his neck resting against a block affixed to the chair. As with hanging a noose is placed around the neck, and the rope is then hauled backward, strangling the person and breaking the neck against the wooden block.

The normal method of Decapitation is a simple one.

The condemned places his neck upon a block and a sword or axe is brought down swiftly severing the head from the body. In some southern towns the Gnollish practice of decapitation using a falling blade contraption has been adopted.

Since the advent of dark powder and with the increasing popularity of female executioners, it has become customary for a loaded pistol to be kept at the side of the headman's block. In the event that the headman or woman fails to kill the condemned with the first blow, a single shot to the head prevents suffering.

Trial by combat, although not in itself a sentence of death, often becomes so when the presiding justice decrees unfamiliar weapons and an inbeatable opponent. This renders success virtually impossible, and in some cities has become such a popular practice that the court appoints a champion to ensure the desired outcome.

to be continued...

imaginax	Latest page update: made by imaginax , Apr 12 2007, 3:07 PM EDT (about this update About This Update added gallows picture - imaginax 1 image added view changes - complete history)
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