Cayden Navaar Roleplays/Cleaning House

Cleaning House

The previous night had gone through in silence, but none could deny the chaos and uproar through the streets of Kalmar that morning. Guards combed the streets on the prowl. No rhyme nor reason seemed to be given to their targets. No collectives targeted, no black market traders driven out. Each guard was given the same set of instructions. "Your realm needs you. Come with me," was all they told the men and women, and then escorted them away as if under protection. The Tidemaster's orders had been absolute. Gather seventy five men and women serving the realm. What was to be done with them remained to be seen.

The city of Kalmar, built at the base of the volcano, was also home to a number of unique locations, something the previous judge had yet to explore, something Cayden wished he hadn't either. The judgment grounds where all of these men and women were herded was drawing a crowd, one of curiosity more than command as the escorted citizens were brought into a building. Cayden himself waited outside, today having exchanged his robes for his travel gear, including the great axe he usually carried around. It didn't take long for the first muffled screams to come from the building. Then the next. Then a third. Cayden signaled the guards. Shortly, word of an execution would spread through the city.

It took until about mid-day for all of the selected prisoners to be rounded up, put in shackles, and be dragged back out onto the grounds. Cayden had gone to each torch and sprinkled in a bit of ash, causing the flames to burn nearly black as people looked on in horror. "Good men and women of Alexandria," Cayden called out. Once. Twice. By the third time, the air had grown tense, hanging on to the Decapitator's words as everyone wanted to know what was happening. "Today, we are cleaning out the failings of our government. Alexandria is still a fledgling realm and we are now on our third leader. At some point, it is no longer the men and women we choose, but how we conduct ourselves. To that point, I would like the men and women of Group A to step forward.

With several nudges and a couple of jabs from the butt of a spear, twenty five men stepped forward. "You men and women, are the product of nepotism. Useless bureaucrats whose only accomplishment has been to suckle on the teat of someone with real talent. Your very existence in the halls of our leadership fouls up the way things are administered. Today we intend to send a reminder to the few that are left, a reminder that there will be no more second chances. These first men will be executed on the spot. Their corpses will be returned to their families, at which point I expect we shall see far fewer favorites in our halls, I hope."

Crying desperately for help, the first man was pulled forward and brought before Cayden who looked back with a stoic expression. It was time to live up to his title. The man struggled, of course, held down by three guardsmen as he tried to wriggle free. Raising his own axe, Cayden looked down at the man. "Let this be your last act of service to Alexandria."

Thunk

The axe made contact with wood as the man's head rolled free. It always amazed him how fragile life was, that all it took was a single stroke of the axe to end it all, and how soft flesh and bone were under the weight of one. The first blood splatter coated his axe, and that didn't stop him from swinging it over his shoulder for all of the city to see the glistening red-bathed steel. Forcing himself to watch, he waited just long enough before continuing. "Bring the next one forward."

Thunk.

Thunk.

Thunk.

Twenty four more people were dragged before an executioner that day. Each head that rolled, tottered off before a man that was holding back his cares. By ten, some of the crowd dispersed, others remained with morbid curiosity, and drew others in to fill the gaps. The black flames flickered from time to time, but never once faltered, just like the judge, until his axe may have always been red, and even the prisoners in groups B and C were silent in horror. The Tidemaster wanted fear? As the last body lay motionless before him, Cayden gave it one swift kick to send it skittering a short ways away with a new spray of blood. He cast a look out over the crowd, and then turned back to his prisoners. "Group B, step forward."

Cayden looked on as Group B cautiously stepped forward, knowing they were bound for the axe. The first person was brought forward and Cayden looked out at the crowd. "This group of men and women are corrupt. They would sell your food while you slept. They would offer doors into the heart of our realm for our enemies. What they do is for themselves and no one else. These men will die by drowning, and they will be sent to a pauper's grave."

The last sentence sent a ripple through the prisoners and the crowds as interest renewed. Corruption? Drowning? All eyes fell back on the Decapitator and he signaled for the next round to begin. The first prisoner had weights attached to his feet and he was dragged towards what Cayden had discovered was a pool of water deep enough to drown someone in. "Make sure he's not holding his breath," he ordered, as the man was brought to the pool. One of the guards slammed a fist into the prisoner's gut, causing a sharp exhale before being shoved into the water. The process wasn't long after that. From somewhere in the back, a cart was dragged out for the bodies in time for the first one to be exhumed from the water. “Now, let us begin in earnest.”

It was here that Cayden first learned to question the sensibilities of mankind. No drowning took the same amount of time, as they waited for the last air bubbles to come up to the surface. Yet again though, it seemed the crowd only partially changed half-way through. The rest were hanging on by morbid curiosity at this point. Who made up the third group? How would they be punished?

As the last corpse was loaded onto the cart and hauled away, Cayden only gestured to group C. "All of you know what you have done. Sedition. Treason. More than corruption you seek to bring down the realm from within. It pains me to do this to my fellow man, but you shall be sentenced to death by geyser. May your suffering remind you of what you inflicted upon your homes. When it is done, you will be brought to the lava fields and cast into the flames. There will be no burial."

For the first time in group C a choke and sobbing could be heard, yet the priest remained impassive as a gate was opened to reveal a fountain of boiling water that pulsed in a fury. Two men with bidents stepped forward this time, and a new cart casually took the place of the old one. The first prisoner approached the geyser with a loud swallow, looking on at his fate. The guards carefully arranged one of the bidents around the man and without warning pushed him inside before he could plead. The scream started, but immediately cut off, and the disfigured body, red and rippled with boils, that came through was left to cool on dirt and stone. Twenty four more to go, Cayden thought and signaled for the procession of prisoners to begin at a faster pace.

Hssss

He knew the sound was the geyser, but in his mind it was the sizzling of flesh. The crowds looked on in horror and awe as the first bodies were hauled away. The bidents of the guards had been super heated, and leaving burn marks before they even put a man through the waters. It was the last man that gave the most trouble. Attempting to runaway while the guards were distracted. Standing at about six and a half feet tall, the Decapitator simply grabbed the man as he passed, and promptly started to drag the man back. "I fear not the waters of Dalai, nor the flames of Galtea," he said quietly. Hot mist and boiling water filled the air until Cayden was almost on top of the geyser. "Now, in you go."

He did not look away, though his heart sank a little more as the last traces of movement left the body. It did not take long for him to get back to the execution platform and look back out at the crowd. "Alexandria started as a dream, a dream that was waylaid by many trials. As one of the founding nobles of this realm, it is my duty to help see it rise up to meet its full potential, and yours as well. Do not suffer your friends and family to be miserable for a few coins or promises abroad. Do what you can to make Alexandria better, and rise to the top with it. Those who try to betray the realm... This is their fate."