*Wira gulps suddenly, even as Skada is figuratively screaming in Loviana's ear for blood. With an effort Wira controls herself and begins to speak again.*
"Lady Nightfang promised me she'd take care of me and make me rich. I worked at the Velvet Arrow for two months before she was convinced I would be able to pay off my debt to her. I had... always had a curiosity about pain and pleasure, and I fell into the worship of the Pain Maiden fairly easily. Lady Nightfang was my Painmistress. Most of the scars I have, I recieved willingly. I was pregnant for a lot longer than I said, almost ninth months. Some men enjoyed tormenting pregnant women, even if they had to pay for the privilage. But I was paid too, and I was willing! Maybe that makes me bad, but I did not ask for what she did to me next.
"What I said about her ripping the babe from my womb to sacrifice it was true. I cried out during the ceremony, which Lady Nightfang said ruined it. She gave me to the Pain Maiden along with my child. I was given a Whore's Torment before being turned over to the woman you found me with. I'm not a good person, I gave away a babe, sacrificed him for my own selfish pleasure, before I knew I could love him! I'm wicked, evil! That's why I deserve to be dead," she sobs.
*A Whore's Torment, as Loviana knows, is one of the Thirty Trials that one could go through in the Halls of Pain. It is a lengthy and sadistic rape by demons of pain. If one doesn't cry out, they are released from the Halls. If they do, then they are sent for individual attention and correction. The number of people who have survived one of the Thirty Trials are figures of legend amongst Loviatar's lore, and can be counted on one hand. Feralina the Lustful, a Painmistress who released a slave and was given the Whore's Torment actually turned the tables on the demons and had them crying for mercy. Olar-saba, a male servant of a Painmistress refused a particular humiliation and was given the Torment of Stripping, where the skin is removed and the body vivisected in view of a taunting crowd full of faces from the victim's past. Olar-saba survived and returned to sacrifice his own Painmistress. Finally, Xantip the Dark, a lowly servant in a temple that spied upon forbidden rites, was given the Torment of Perfect Night, where she was separated from her senses for a week, then subjected to a dizzing array of light, color, sound, taste, smell, and sensation. Most go mad, but Xantip survived and became a Painmistress in her own right, establishing a branch of the church that deals with psycological pain and torment.*
*Orshallan looked to be both disgusted and horrified, and finally furious, but midway through Wira's recitation, his face suddenly clears, and you can see him mouthing prayers to Heironeous.*
"Lady Nightfang promised me she'd take care of me and make me rich. I worked at the Velvet Arrow for two months before she was convinced I would be able to pay off my debt to her. I had... always had a curiosity about pain and pleasure, and I fell into the worship of the Pain Maiden fairly easily. Lady Nightfang was my Painmistress. Most of the scars I have, I recieved willingly. I was pregnant for a lot longer than I said, almost ninth months. Some men enjoyed tormenting pregnant women, even if they had to pay for the privilage. But I was paid too, and I was willing! Maybe that makes me bad, but I did not ask for what she did to me next.
"What I said about her ripping the babe from my womb to sacrifice it was true. I cried out during the ceremony, which Lady Nightfang said ruined it. She gave me to the Pain Maiden along with my child. I was given a Whore's Torment before being turned over to the woman you found me with. I'm not a good person, I gave away a babe, sacrificed him for my own selfish pleasure, before I knew I could love him! I'm wicked, evil! That's why I deserve to be dead," she sobs.
*A Whore's Torment, as Loviana knows, is one of the Thirty Trials that one could go through in the Halls of Pain. It is a lengthy and sadistic rape by demons of pain. If one doesn't cry out, they are released from the Halls. If they do, then they are sent for individual attention and correction. The number of people who have survived one of the Thirty Trials are figures of legend amongst Loviatar's lore, and can be counted on one hand. Feralina the Lustful, a Painmistress who released a slave and was given the Whore's Torment actually turned the tables on the demons and had them crying for mercy. Olar-saba, a male servant of a Painmistress refused a particular humiliation and was given the Torment of Stripping, where the skin is removed and the body vivisected in view of a taunting crowd full of faces from the victim's past. Olar-saba survived and returned to sacrifice his own Painmistress. Finally, Xantip the Dark, a lowly servant in a temple that spied upon forbidden rites, was given the Torment of Perfect Night, where she was separated from her senses for a week, then subjected to a dizzing array of light, color, sound, taste, smell, and sensation. Most go mad, but Xantip survived and became a Painmistress in her own right, establishing a branch of the church that deals with psycological pain and torment.*
*Orshallan looked to be both disgusted and horrified, and finally furious, but midway through Wira's recitation, his face suddenly clears, and you can see him mouthing prayers to Heironeous.*
