The cat o’ nine tails is a whip with nine “claws”, knotted thongs of cotton cord, designed to lacerate the skin in parallel wounds.
It was used for corporal punishment, for example in the Royal Navy, where flogging was regularly administered for drunkenness or striking an officer. These offenses could give you a dozen lashes whereas desertion, mutiny or theft could give you up to five hundred. In the case of the “offense” of sodomy the death penalty was normally administered, but an alternative to this was awarding one thousand lashes – something that carried a similar chance of survival.
“Flogging around the fleet” was the severest form of flogging where the offender was rowed between the ships in port, being flogged at each ship. This continued over months and years until the sailor died. After having endured each round of punishment the sailor’s back was rinsed with seawater which was then mistakenly thought to help reduce the risk of infection.
The expression “rubbing salt into his wounds” is said to come from this practice.
Taroticum is our second Patreon bonus campaign and this is the third and final of three episodes that will be released for all of our listeners so that you can get a taste of it. On the five dollar level on Patreon you can already find episode 4 as well as the full first five play sessions in raw format. Patreons also have the ability to influence the campaign directly by selecting which card from the major arcana will influence each play session.
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Campaign: Taroticum, KULT: Divinity Lost
Music by: Atrium Carceri, Apocryphos, Eldar, Kammarheit, God Body Disconnect, Herbst9, Cities Last Broadcast
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