The Last Paladin IC VI - Return of the Paladin

[Maquise]

"Emptiness..." The confessor says as you regain a modicum of your faculties. "Emptiness of one's belly. Such terrible suffering. Do you understand, now? Do you understand what you did?"

[Frosty]

Karrin is in pain...lots of it...but she still can't help but be herself. "B...better than you, you wannabe judge. I lived to make mistakes. You probably didn't. ARRRRRRRHG!" She screams some more as her intestines are completely removed.

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[Maquise]

"Your words ring hollow. I do not harm the innocent," the confessor says as your entrails are carried off to parts unknown, leaving you on the rack, your gut hanging open and empty.

[Frosty]

"MY...WORDS...RING...TRUE. I understand...BETTER...than you...BECAUSE...I...can make...and HAVE made...mistakes! That is what...free will...ENTAILS...and it is something you...do not have..."

[Maquise]

The confessor remains silent as you are held on the rack.

[Frosty]

"Those without sin...are not QUALIFIED...to cast the first stone...for you have not been tempted...CANNOT be tempted...cannot have TRIUMPHED...your sin or lack thereof...is meaningless compared to mortal struggle!"

[Maquise]

"Your words do nothing to change the pain you have inflicted."

[Frosty]

"And you notice I'm not complaining about the pain. I just don't want to listen to YOU being judgmental. I know I've caused pain and I don't need little sh*ts like you lecturing me about it. Now can we get on with whatever else you've got planned? This is getting boring."

Lots of bravado on her part, given how each word and each breath brings her more pain right now.

[Maquise]

"So be it." The chains release you, and you fall back into the sigil.

You stand up slowly, legs shaking. You place a hand on your bare midriff, and find the only trace of the wound inflicted is the blood spilled. There is phantom pain inside you, but it is not the same as having your organs missing.

"Let us continue." The smoke returns displaying more images.

[Frosty]

Familiar images rise up. A ruined hamlet. Devils everywhere. Liriam fighting off the fiends. During her paladin training, Liriam took Karrin on a mission. Liriam was busy holding off some fiends and told Karrin to guard some townsfolk. Karrin did at first, but she also really, REALLY wanted to prove her combat prowess.

When she thought the fiends were fleeing area, she went off to try to kill off the fleeing low-level devils as to not let them have a chance to wreck havoc in the future. It was a ruse. Other devils doubled back and slaughtered the townsfolk.

Karrin's desire to prove and showcase herself caused the death of others. Liriam didn't speak to Karrin for a week.

Spirit-Karrin bristles at these images. "I could never forgive myself for those deaths. It was a failing of judgement, not skill. What will you do, have devils tear me from limb to limb? Too late. Harbinger already did that. It hurt...a lot. But at least I bought time for my friends to get to safety. And the Grippli."

[Maquise]

The chains descend, and drag you upwards.

"Your punishment shall be in the infernal tradition of improving a failure. Your arrogance caused you to fail as a guardian. Therefore, through humiliation, you shall become the image of a superior guardian. The Gargoyle."

You don't know much about the Gargoyle. It is believed to be a form of torture favored by devils, and that it in some way causes the victim to resemble the eponymous stone beasts.

[Frosty]

"Oh, so now you're concerned about my self-improvement? Whatever. Bring it on! Gargoyle me!"

[Maquise]

"As you wish."

You are strapped in a vertical position, facing downwards. Your chest is against the slab. You hear a strange sound above you, and feel an intense heat coming from above.

[Frosty]

Karrin doesn't know whether her natural resistance to heat will help against this, but she is steeled by two facts.

One, she's already dead, so this really isn't damaging her any further. Two, the 'wounds' disappear after the punishment. "How is this supposed to be humiliating hmm? It's just uncomfortable."

[Maquise]

"The Gargoyle has not begun," the confessor says.

You hear a strange hissing sound, and it takes a moment for you to recognize it as coming from molten metal.

Hooks rise up from around you, and tear the gown off of your backside. They then latch onto your buttocks and spread them apart. A conical, hollow tube is forcefully inserted into your anus.

"Tell me, what do you know of gargoyles? The ones carved and used on castles and battlements, not the creatures."

[Frosty]

"Never thought about them much. They don't move. They could look ominous. They are frivolous expenses for the very wealthy to show off. What, you're going to let molten metal solidify inside of me to make me not move?"

[Maquise]

"They serve as spouts. Rain water flows from their mouths. From you, another liquid will flow."

There is the groan of rusty metal hinges from above you, like a great cauldron tipping. The liquid pours out from above, entering the funnel and then flowing into you.

[Frosty]

The pain...it is TRULY indescribable. Karrin has been burned before...she's even been burned in the butt before. But this...the molten liquid going up through her intestines and eventually out her mouth...this is LITERALLY what it feels like to be burned and charred and roasted from the INSIDE!

Karrin would scream, except her mouth is too busy spewing molten metal! The paladin tries to focus on something...on ANYTHING in order to keep her sanity. She could focus on the confessor, and gather up feelings of rage and hatred. Yes, she can focus on that for a long time, even with the blinding amounts of pain. But, she chooses another way. She closes her eyes and focuses on Mira instead. She thinks about every single happy moment they have had together, including the moment when she (presumably) saved Mira from the Pit Fiend.

[Maquise]

The confessor stands and watches silently as you are burned from the inside out. Neither he nor the contraption show any sign of stopping or even slowing the flow.

[Frosty]

Karrin is determined not to give the confessor any satisfaction of seeing her beg for mercy. She just lies there and takes it (not that she has much choice).

[Maquise]

Eventually, the flow relents.

"You claim to seek justice. You wish to believe yourself a being of justice," the confessor says. "I trust you to be honest with me. Do you believe you have endured sufficient penance for the fate you brought onto those villagers? Have you suffered enough to set the balance right?"

[Frosty]

Karrin coughs for a good while before she answers. "Justice is not measured by an eye for an eye. If it is, well...I *am* dead. But you are making assumptions. Setting the scales right does NOT require the suffering of the offending party. It requires restitution. I could do no more for those individuals, but we took care of their friends and relatively as best we can, and my sacrifices since then to help mortals as a whole has indeed made up for the mistakes, at least in one aspect. I can't bring them back to life...or at least I don't think I can, but I can make damned sure that the lessons I've learned from that encounter helps me help others better in the future. My suffering, though long have I suffered, has NO bearing on whether or not I have made sufficient restitution. Pain and suffering...emotional otherwise, is a good tool to teach a lesson. Here, you're YEARS too late. I've already taken the lesson to heart."

Karrin takes a deep breath. "As further proof I practice what I preach, just look to the illithid. He has done many horrible things, yet I chose to spare him instead of slaying him. He has the potential to help others, and that has more value than making him suffer."

[Maquise]

The confessor pours a bit more into you, but then releases you. You fall back to the sigil, once more rejuvenated, save for blisters on and around your rear entrance.

"One last sin," the confessor says, "before your fate shall be decided."

The images return, this time the most recent. On one side, you see Mirabelle, imprisoned by the crucidaemon. It is inflicting unspeakable tortures upon her. On the other side, you see your tryst with Anita the first night you were with the goblins. Mira's screams of pain contrast with your cries of pleasure as Anita services you orally.

[Frosty]

karrin growls. "The decision to release the 'celestial' from the device was made with as much information as we had at the time. Any damage done by that daemon is on the daemon, not on me. My infidelity is a completely separate matter...and one unfortunately I did not have enough time to...set the balance right. I promised I would, and the Thrones willing, I would yet have a chance to make things right. Nothing you can do to me is as painful as Mira's disappointment and anger."

[Maquise]

You hear light footsteps approaching, followed by much heavier ones.

You look, and see a humanoid woman, wearing a skin-tight black leather outfit studded with gold that accents her perfect figure. Her skin is ash grey, her eyes are a burning orange and slit like a cat. Her jet-black hair is tied back in a ponytail, and a pair of diminutive horns jut from her temples, decorated by gold rings. A pair of black-feathered jut from her back, and she carries a barbed whip in her hand. You recognize her as Lilliel, the Harlot-Queen and personal consort to Asmodeus.

"This one has confessed guilty to infidelity, Your Highness," the confessor says to Lilliel. The archdevil smiles wickedly (as though she were capable of anything else), and saunters over to you.

Stepping up to the edge of your sigil, she looks you over. "So, this is the celestial slut. I'm surprised. Somehow I thought your tits would be bigger."

[Frosty]

The paladin blinks. "Wait...are you kidding me? Out of ALL the things the consort of Asmodeus could say to the mortal representative of Thrones...THAT is what you choose to focus on, o Queen? Well, you *are* the queen of harlots, so I suppose that is what you would focus on..."

[Maquise]

"She is yours, O queen," the confessor says.

"You hear that?" she asks. "You're mine, just like all the other whores in Hell. Bring her," she orders into the shadows. A pair of cornugons emerge, and seize you. You are powerless to resist their grasp.

They drag you through the labyrinth of Erebus, into one of Lillien's dungeons. Cries of pain are mixed with pleasure here, as you see a multitude of souls and fiends engaged in various acts of sexual depravity.

[Frosty]

Karrin sighs. "So, you are going to what...punish me for infidelity? You, the Harlot Queen?"

[Maquise]

"I will do with you as I wish."

She brings you to a set of stocks at waist-height. The cornugons force you into it, bending you over. Lillien tears open your dress and spreads your buttocks, examining your holes.

"It seems the confessor elected to punish you with the Gargoyle," she says, noticing your blisters. "A most inventive form of torture. I approve."

[Frosty]

"Yeah. It hurt a lot. So what's so interesting about my holes? What? Never seen one before?"