> Ikadz the Painmaster
> The Lord of Excruciation
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> Copyright =A9 1997 by Loren Miller
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> [Image] [Image] [Image]
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> I. Mythos and History
deleted... story of the painmaster and the first man to die
> Ikadz promises worshippers that if they serve the cult faithfully
> their souls will be shrived of their sins, purifying them for an
> afterlife spent shriving others whose purification is much more
> difficult. Ikadz worshippers do not have any particular burial
> practices, conforming to the practices of their neighbors.
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> Ikadz is associated primarily with the Rune of Disorder, for his main
> function is the destruction of the body. He is a guardian of the land
> of death, so he is also associated with Death. And his purpose is to
> uncover secrets beneath bloody layers of lies, so he is associated
> with Truth.
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> II. Cult Ecology
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> Ikadz is the discoverer of lies, the assassin of falsehood, the
> clear-minded warrior who parts the curtains of deception and reveals
> truth. He serves as a gatekeeper to the land of death, and severs from
> the newly dead all their useless and vain attachments to the living
> world they have left behind.
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> In order to achieve the cult's purpose, Ikadz teaches his followers
> the secrets of the Seven Excruciations, as described in the myth of
> Admaz and Ikadz. They are: (1) whipping, beating, and flogging of the
> skin of the body; (2) beating of the feet and hands, and the
> exploitation of the nail bed; (3) flaying of the skin; (4) castration,
> circumcision and sub-incision; (5) exsanguination and the draining of
> vital fluids; (6) causing pain by wounding or bruising internal
> organs; and (7) the breaking of bones and use of the rack.
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> III. The Cult in the World
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> In Carmania, Ikadz is a minor cult usually associated with Irripi
> Ontor. Ikadz is the cult of interrogators and torturers, who inflict
> pain in order to extract truth, who bring agony in order to shrive
> sinners of their sins, who kill slowly and horribly in order to steel
> their victims for the trials of the afterlife. Followers of Ikadz are
> not popular, but they are feared for the horrors they can inflict.
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> IV. Initiate Membership
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> Ikadz accepts all races, including those of chaos, into the cult.
> Skills tested are Knife or Whip, Intimidate, Speak (any) Language,
> Speak (any other) Language, and Search. Initiates are discouraged from
> joining any large military unit, and must swear not to use any blade
> longer than their forearm. Thus, they may use knives and shortswords,
> but no broadswords or other swords of war.
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> Cult Skills: Knife, Whip, Craft of Torture, First Aid, Speak (any
> known) Language, Search, Human Lore, Interrogate.
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> Spirit Magic: Bladesharp, Bludgeon, Disrupt, Demoralize, Fireblade,
> Light, Darkness, Protection.
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> Special Ikadz Skills
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> Craft: Torture (Knowledge 10%)
> Torturers are skilled and professional craftspersons whose media
> are human minds and bodies. The techniques they use to cause pain
> without causing death are multiple, but all are contained under
> this RuneQuest Knowledge skill. It includes the fine points of
> tickling, beating, flogging, flaying, bruising, bone-breaking,
> mutilation, psychological techniques such as the water torture,
> and knowledge of how long the human body can endure privations
> such as starvation or thirst before becoming incapable of
> communication.
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> Interrogate (Communication 10%)
> The ability to question a prisoner. Fast Talk appeals to the
> intellect of the target, Orate appeals to the emotions, and
> Interrogate appeals to the emotions and primarily to fear.
> Successful use of this skill causes the victim to reveal
> something they know about the question that has been posed.
> Unsuccessful use reveals nothing. If they know nothing, then
> successful use also reveals nothing. A fumbled attempt at
> interrogation will cause the victim to reveal something which is
> not true in a way that seems true. Critical success will reveal
> the precise extent of the victim's knowledge or ignorance. This
> is a skill for which success or failure should be determined in
> secret by the GM, rather than letting players see their own
> rolls.
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> V. Pain Master
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> Candidates must have reached 90% in Knife, Craft: Torture,
> Interrogate, and one other Cult Skill, and have a POW of 18. They must
> undergo an agonizing test of holiness at the hands of their elders
> (abstracted as rolling 1d100 under their POWx3). If they fail the test
> of holiness then not only must they wait a year to try again, but they
> are also incapacitated by pain until they recover (Roll 1d100 against
> CONx1 at the end of the first week, CONx2 at the end of the second,
> and so on, until they recover).
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> Common Divine Magic: all, Summon Pain Spirit, Command Pain Spirit
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> Special Divine Magic: Pain Blow; Sever Spirit (one use)
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> VI. Ikadz Special Magic
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> Pain Blow
> 2 points
> ranged, temporal, non-stackable, reusable
> This spell must be cast on a weapon. It causes any hit that penetrates
> armor to incapacitate the location struck in addition to normal
> damage. The victim can recover from this incapacitation by rolling
> under his CON x2 on 1d100, and he can try to do so each round. If a
> target has been injured in more than one location by a Pain Blow, he
> need only roll his CON x2 a single time to be freed of all
> incapacitating effects.
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> VII. Subcults
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> Spirit of Reprisal
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> Mhakk the Knife
> Pain spirit with POW 28
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> VIII. Associate Cults
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> Irripi Ontor gives Ikadz the spell of Truespeak (see Lhankor Mhy)
Cheers,
Loren
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