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What's something really painful that you can pour into an open wound?

megamania said:
Sodium salt or other?

Mixed just right, some salts could react with the body chemistry or other fluids and cause any number of neat effects for the sake of this thread's theme :]
... Well, that's a salt of a different color.
 

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Can't believe I'm posting to this...

You want to either insert something such as the glass bits mentioned before, that creates new wounds when moved, or you want something that can be washed away easily. Nerve cells that send the pain signal quickly "tire out" and stop sending a signal if it is constant. You want to stop delivering pain for a while and then resume it. This allows the person to fully feel the pain each time and can add that fear thing Harmon mentioned.
 


Greylock said:
Chased a thief around the store and had several tussles with him. He was determined, and managed to elude me and another man trying to tackle him. Think greased pig. But in the process, he pepper sprayed me four (yes, 4) times. Right smack in the face.

When I was finally in the bathroom attempting to find my bearings, my sanity, and my eyeballs, everyone started in with home-remedies. The most promising sounding was the milk treatment.

Well. I ended up puffy, half-blind, in excrutiating pain, sweating, angry, and covered in milk. The eventual stink made things only so much better.

HTH

Did they catch the bastard?



I heard about the glass rod torture when I was 8 and it gave me nightmares for
a very long time.

To combine some tortures above, habanero/tabasco/hot pepper on
the groin --- it has the same thin layer of skin as the mouth/lips and
the added psychological impact of being...well, the groin. Also, minimal
physical damage so it's reusable.

-D
 



What you can use really depends on if you are in a fantasy setting or a modern setting. Also, you said the villain has OCD, but did not mention his focus. Most people who have this disorder focus on one aspect of their life. For example, one OCD sufferer I have seen has a thing about alignment, and that includes the fringe on his carpeting. Another focuses on personal hygiene, and he is constantly washing himself and anything he has to touch. This can be an important aspect of the character’s outward appearance.

So, without that knowledge it will not be as easy to give good suggestions, but here goes.

For a fantasy setting, your choices are limited, but still extremely effective. Excluding magical additives and fantasy insects (both highly recommended), you have some interesting choices. The easiest to obtain is urine, preferably stale. You get the initial pain and a chance for infection.

Salt has been ruled out, but if sodium is available (not impossible if alchemy is possible) try a grain or two of that. Holding it with tweezers and applying it to the wound is the best method.

Another simple thing is a hot, but not glowing, piece of wire thrust into the wound. Hold the wire over a candle in front of the victim for added psychological effect.

If the torturer doesn’t mind getting messy, just sticking a finger into a wound and wiggling it can cause much pain if the wound is a deep one.

Applying a little tincture of iodine periodically can make a wound hurt like no tomorrow. Ask anyone growing up before the mid-1970s about that.

Since a tincture is mostly ethanol, you can always use wine or vinegar; those will work for periodic applications.

Wood splinters can be inserted into the wound and lit. Use a piece just a shade smaller than a toothpick.

Any simple and easily obtained acid can be applied drop by drop. Just make sure to pause and talk to/question/verbally torment the victim between drops. This works particularly well if the drops are applied on a timed schedule. Actually, that applies to just about all of the above mentioned applications.

Another simple application is pressure. Pressing on a wound with a fairly heavy weight, preferably with at least a mildly pointed end, can be extremely effective.

One last one for you. Use a magnifying lens to focus sunlight into the wound. Pinpoint burning of ones own flesh is a real motivator.

For a modern setting I could get much more creative and potentially graphic, but I will leave that to your imagination.
 

I've been told that garlic juice causes dibilitating agony when applied to a wound. Examples of coating musket balls with it so as to make even a grazing wound remove an opponent from the fight were offered.

I think the fear angle is the way to go. Show your victim things. Demonstrate things to them. Leave your collection of sawtoothed scalples in plain view. Placing things under people's skin is a great way to cause terror. I know it'd make me talk.

The insect angle is a good one. Putting pupae under someone's skin, and describing in intimate detail how the larvae will chew their way out as you sew the wounds closed. Works very well if you're calm, speaking of the insects in almost nurturing tones. Try to make your victim feel privaleged to be used in such a manner.

Deforming them, and eventually releasing them, is a powerful way to cause very long term suffering. As is amputating things, or, worse, removing all the bones from their hands or feet before letting them go.

Then there's the angle of beating them senseless and letting them heal before doing it again, and never asking them a question.

- Kemrain the [Evil].
 


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