Tobias the Torturer

"... And though the bark cannot be lost, yet it can be tempest tossed."

In the Who's Who of Evil, considering all the disreputable scoundrels with feeble claim to humanity, one miserable scum-bag stands out. He was Monk Stephen's chief assistant, Tobias, who ran the "Reeducation Program." It was rumored that he'd been hand picked by Satan for the job.

The Reeducation Program included screening of those who could be useful to the evil ambitions of Monk Stephen, and the greater evil of mankind. The mission was to find those with talent and ability and retrain them to serve the elemental needs of darkness. Most of this included classrooms and facilities for practical exercise training but the umbrella extended to the dungeons at Devil's Keep. These Tobias operated with a depravity and wickedness here-to-fore unknown, hence the nickname "Tobias the Torturer." His legacy was a reputation for subtle, heinous cruelty that would have done the Marquis de Sade proud. What he and his henchmen did in the torture chambers, deep beneath the Keep is, even today, a low water mark to which human decency can sink. To write of it taints my pen and fouls the ink on what I'm about to record. I'm conflicted even taking up the task, certain that some will attribute it to some sort of subliminal, ill twisting perversity, of my character. My readers might ask why anyone would write of such things when not compelled to do so. HOWEVER, the sordid behavior I'm about to describe is not uncommon, nor is it restricted to places such as Devil's keep. It happens all around us and one does not have to look far to see the evidence... if anyone is naive enough to doubt its presence in the broader world about us.

There are many who take to the road of life with only the faintest notion of where they wish to proceed. They are buffeted by the winds, soaked by the rains, parched by the sun and stumble along the path of least resistance. One of these is the road to Hell. At times it's s but a path, at others a road, and at still others widens into a major through-fare. Devil's Keep stands at the gate, a veritable toll booth designed to take a pilgrim's riches, honor, goodness, and hope, and when the last vestiges are squeezed dry, from these poor tortured souls, offer them an escape from all misery.

Despite their repertoire or sordid deeds, there were limits to how far Satan's disciples could actually go. For one they could not actually take a human life. They could certainly make life a hell on earth but they were prohibited from snuffing it out or creating pain so severe that that the human spirt might decide to prematurely flee the body. So while they had latitude, they were constrained in this limited sense. If you're familiar with "Job" you'll have a better appreciation of what these limits are. After the Great Flood God promised he would never again expunge a human life and this constraint applies to Satan as well. If a prisoner asked for a drought of poison, they could readily provide it but they could not force a victim to drink. There was always an element of free choice, and the preferred method of influencing behavior was then and always will be, seduction in its many varieties and forms.

The Dungeon itself was a facility of last recourse. Before pilgrims were sent to the torture chambers, there were numerous mechanisms to seduce them into surrendering their souls to the Darkness. If you think about the Ten Commandants you can readily conjure to mind the opportunities afforded by Evil to subvert the souls of those who travel the road. With each compromise these poor people were snagged deeper and pulled closer into the corpulent body of sin until so overwhelmed with revulsion and disgust welcomed the escape death offered. Those who were basically good to begin with, the condition offered a challenge the evil minions took particular delight with. Plotting the downfall of those who retained a will to set good in dominion over evil, made the minions of evil resort to many imaginative and disgusting techniques, to subvert those who otherwise might have escaped eternal damnation.

The drug made from Guilderbloom is a great example. This was available to the Pilgrims for the quenching of their slightest thirst and while at first it showed little addictive propensities, with time it became all but impossible to resist. The drug itself was a physical and emotional pain killer, which created a euphoria that was compelling and peace of mind that can only be described as an "Out of Body." Little wonder was it that those so introduced at the Devil's Keep were intoxicated by its pleasure and the relief it offered from pain, the two being opposite ends of the same thread. As this drug exerted its influence, there was nothing (NOTHING!) the weak spirited could do to avoid its temptation. Once separated from its source those addicted were driven to extreme lengths to obtain more, at any cost, lusting for a return to the madness of pleasure or fleeing from the anguish of pain. It was nasty stuff, and the tool most commonly used to begin the process of compromise and corruption.