Tormented Soles - Prologue.

[Kalamos]

A Dagger in the Dark - The History Behind.


Oralack the Great, head of the Sacred Empire of Morea is dead.
No successor has risen to claim the throne - all blood-heirs are either small babies or withered old fools.

Only three men - Rothas, Karvos and Lorwys Galthari - stood and vied for succession - but the Geramorea - the Imperial Senate - rejected their claims and elected an infant as a puppet sovereign.

So the three Galthari Princes started worming their way in the shadows, by corruption and murder, to sway Geramorea's decision in their favour. But when success and throne finally seemed at hand, a mysterious hand took the baby Emperor's life and threw Empire into chaos.

Geramorea took power as a temporary measure, while House Galthari almost collapsed upon itself, torn apart by distrust and treachery.
Kin accused kin, distrust degenerated into hatred. Hatred into strife.

Each Factions within House Galthari accused the others of the murder - and the once proud House Galthari became a sorry shadow of its former self.

Geramorea passed strict laws to cement its power, and effectively barred from succession even the most collateral heirs.

That was only the first step.

 

[Kalamos]

Spring 1565 - Fall 1574 IR.

Brother Against Brother - the Galthari War.

Conflict has been ablaze for almost ten years, between the three warring factions of House Galthari.
The feud that originated the war is all but forgotten.

The devious young princes are now power-hungry warlords: whatever claim they had to the throne has long been declared void by the Geramorea - the Morean Senate - and their run for succession, thwarted, turned into an all-out war for territory.



Galthari Rule - Iron Fist and Velvet Gag.

In ten year of senseless brutality, the princes have grown to be merciless kings - nothing is too base or sadistic for them.

While torture is routinely employed throughout the Empire, Galthari rulers are especially infamous for their cruelty upon their own subjects - and they revel in concocting elaborate shows where common criminals, prisoners of war and runaway slaves are publically tormented for the perverse pleasure of the restless populance.

The luckiest die, their blood-curling cries barely muffled by flesh tearing metal gags, when the torturers plunge hot pokers in their quivering bare flesh once too many.


Some are spared, only to face a fate worse than death itself - stripped of dignity, bereft of the only chance for a painful yet honourable demise, they end up enlarging the ranks of the countless pleasure slaves, helpless mere playthings in the skilled hands of merciless tormentors.

Can you hear their plights? Their pitiful moans? Their frenzied laughters?
Aye, frenzied laughters: for tickle-torture is perhaps the favourite kind of tribolation, and it considered a refined form of entertainment by the debauched nobility.

Prison inmates, rebellious servants - sometimes even innocent peasants - are brought before their captors, locked in specially designed dungeons, and their most sensitive spots mercilessly titillated by relentless torturers.

No torture is worse for the ticklish, than never-ending tickle torture.

 

[Kalamos]

Winter 1574 IR.

Cold Strategy - Fiery War.

So far, Morean aristocracy has turned a blind eye over the Galthari private war.
No one moves so much as a finger to prevent the kinslaying bloodshed.

In almost ten years of uninterrupted conflict, countless Galthari soldiers have fallen on the field, dying by the sword and the hollow glory of the warring kings, unsung heroes of a meaningless strife.

Geramorea's secret rationale behind its glaring lack of action was rather devious and cold-blooded: the sundering war served the purpose of keeping House Galthari divided perfectly; as long as the kings fought among themselves, no successor would rise, and wrestle the throne from the Senate - the undisputed and only keeper of Morean power.

What Geramores failed to admit was, strife had escalated to a full blown civil war. Instead of dwindling, Galthari power had started swelling.

War was draining Morean coffers and undermining the safety of borders, since soldiers deserted their guardposts to take part in the conflict.



Geramorea's Enactment - A New Turn Of Events.

About a forthnight ago, Geramor Kathos met his untimely end, and Geramorea lost his first and foremost opponent to Galthari's supremacy.

Without Kathos's strong-willed guidance, Senate had to admit failure.
The cunningly conceived plan to foil Galthari's rise to power had backfired badly.

Geramores had to concoct a new plan, and put an end to the conflict - so, they passed a hastily contrived enactment to reduce fundings to Tharagyan Provinces - Galthari's area of influence.

They hoped this would effectively cut Galthari's power to hire and mantain imperial hosts; the measure proved to be nothing more than a temporary setback.

Spring is coming.
Galthari kings are ready to wage war.

Again...