His teeth clamped together as he held back his scream. The pulsing in his head was unbearable and almost caused him to faint. Further he continued, drawing another long slender blade from its small leather scabbard. He wiped the blood from around his eyes to keep from blurring his vision. Then he began to slide the instrument under his largest toenail. He felt it reach the back and then gave it a jerk. With a tiny tearing sound and a gush of blood it tore loose. Gently he laid the knife down on a cloth with one hand and retrieved the piece of flesh with the other, placing it in the small ornate bowl in front of him.
A little while longer and he would know if his experiment was a success or not. He had worked everything out in his head and crossed referenced his ideas with everything he could find. Standing he looked about him, all the symbols were perfect and every act he imposed upon himself perfectly executed. His blood was mixed with all the components making up the protective circle so it would hold as long as he was alive. Tightening the metal bands wrapped around his skull he began his chanting and putting together the vision of the creature he was summoning in his head.



PAIN.

Somewhere between passion and death there lies another realm of experience all its own. One which sets our nerves on fire and clouds all other senses. Some find this sensation unbearable others find it arousing. An area in which few delve, but those who do find themselves forever changed by the experiences they find there. It is these people who have found a way to use this to push themselves to the boundaries of the illusion and beyond. The ability to experience a momentary feeling of their true divinity.

The Lore of Pain is a dangerous road in which the conjurer must push themselves to the very reaches of their endurance. They must expose themselves to all forms of pain and pursue through them in an attempt to break themselves free. Most beginners don't live long enough to see the fruits of the labors they have worked for, they die alone from self inflicted injuries, infections from unclean equipment and experiments gone horribly awry. But those who do become masters of creating more forms of agony, to themselves and others, than any other person could imagine. They are able to peer through the blood red cloud, through the illusion and into that from which we came. Having learned that suffering is vital to our existence and something that we all crave within ourselves.

To be presented here are the collected theories and experiments of those few. A grimore containing the rituals perfected over the years, archtypes of the type of people who make up the ranks of the followers of pain, the compendium of items that are historically crucial to the pursuit of agony and more. As this study of one of the many forms of power presented to us by using our own flesh and bodies continues much will be added and updated as seen fit.

RITUALS.

Peer Through Pain.
With this ritual the conjurer is able to create a portal through the illusion. This portal usually leads to a nearby purgatory. It also has the chance of opening in Inferno or Metropolis. However to accomplish this feat the conjurer must inflict pain upon himself to such a degree his suffering pulls that part of the illusion away temporarily. The opening can be seen by beings on the other side as well and they may cross over into our world through this hole. It appears as an open wound with torn edges and forms along the side of a structure such as a wall or large object.

Lore Rating: 5
Endurance cost: 35
Equipment: Various instruments of pain: torture devices, scalpels, vises, etc.
Magical Implements: The Chalice
Protective Circle: usually not needed.
Invocation: Stark silence is required by the conjurer. Yelling in pain is a form of release from pain and will ruin the ritual. The conjurer must use all his agony to open the portal.
Gestures: The conjurer must use the equipment to inflict pain upon himself while using his own blood to create a circle on the object (usually a wall, or on the floor, if an object it must be larger than the conjurer) he wishes to create the portal on. Also he must partially fill the chalice with his blood to symbolize his pooling of agony.
Visualization: The conjurer’s pain is an outreaching force that gathers at the wall where the circle is being made. Here it inflicts it pain upon the fabric of reality in order to open a wound that leads to another place.
Duration: 10 minutes.
Casting Time: 15 minutes.


Object of Agony
With this ritual the conjurer creates an object that will cause agony in those who wear it. This ritual, however, requires that a 'victim' is slowly tortured to death while wearing the target object. This is done by pulling the pain one feels into the object during a ritual, the longer the ritual lasts the more it has to absorb.
All the pain the victim feels is transferred into the object and those who wear it afterward are subjected to all of the pain all at once, requiring a CON roll in order to survive at a -1 for every hour extra the torture lasts. The first six hours of this ritual are simply used to prep the object and let it get 'in tune' with the victim. Afterwards the slow painful demise of the victim begins.

Lore Rating: 12
Endurance cost: 40
Equipment: The amulet or object that is the target of the ritual, various devices of torture to be used on the victim.
Magical Implements: The Crown to represent the power over another
Protective Circle: None usually needed.
Invocation: During initial preparation it is a low chant of various pain mantras. Once the torture of the victim begins in becomes yells and screams that usually fall in with those of the victim.
Gestures: During preparation the conjurer walks in circle around the victim holding the object over him, then places it on their chest, and continues the walk. Once the torture begins the movements become related to the practices being used, each movement is exaggerated and facial expressions are twisted into that of evil joy.
Visualization: Each moment of pain is a red and white glow that is drawn slowly into the target. Each scream and yell is a wave of black that is also absorbed by the target.
Duration: Object has one use only.
Casting Time: Minimum of 12 hours.


OBJECTS OF PAIN.

This section will deal with various objects of pain used throughout history. Various torture devices and means of self-mutilation.

Foot Press
This is one of the many devices created to inflict massive amounts of pain to the victim’s feet. Thereby when they were finished there they still had the rest of the body to work with in complete health.

The workings of this particular device settled around the crank, which lowered a spike and press down upon the top of the foot. Driving through the top of the foot the spike was there to help crack the arch a bone at a time as it slowly descended into the flesh and then muscle. The press and plate the foot rested upon was equipped with sharpened spikes that shredded the muscles and skin as the victim would involuntarily twitch his foot. Once the press was down and putting full pressure onto the foot the bones would then begin to break in the rest of the foot, sometimes until they were reduced to powder.

After the torture most victims were held by the arms and carried back to their cell, forcing them to try and walk on their broken and bloody feet. Repeated use of the device usually caused to floor to be permanently stained with two streaks leading from the device to the cells.

Game Effects

When being used on a NPC or PC to gain information. When the device is first being used and the spike is just starting to cut into the flesh the user must make a constitution roll to avoid talking. Those with Endure Pain do not need to make this roll. This caused 1 light wound per foot. After the spike is into the foot and bones begin to break there must be another constitution roll made, this time at a +5 to their roll. Those with Endure Pain do make this roll but not with the modifiers. This causes a serious wound per foot. Once the device is fully down the victim must make another constitution roll this time at +15 and an Ego roll, if any of these rolls are failed the victim talks. Those with Endure Pain do make this roll but only with a +5 to the roll, but they still have to make the Ego Throw as well. This causes another serious wound per foot as well. Note: These wounds never add up to a fatal wound, the victim is forced to live through it. The endurance loss is still taken, and when the level reaches zero they pass out. This effects even those with Endure Pain.