1,001 Ways to Kill

[BlackBooks666]

// OOC: This journal will contain disturbing content.

An innocuous leather and glue-bound notebook. Probably purchased at Rashid al'Rashid's. The penmanship is practised but not terribly distinctive. The number of each page is noted. The pages are occasionally illustrated with scribbled anatomical depictions of bodily harm.

Method #1

Double Thumb.

(A simple anatomical illustration of how to hook the thumb for this technique. A second illustration shows how the wrists should be actuated to achieve "purchase".)

Hook the thumbs into the eyes. Like most of these techniques, purchase will be difficult to acquire. However a skilled blade or pugilist will be expecting a sword or a punch and not something so close or intimate. Use this to your advantage. Once you are inside, lock the contours of the eye sockets with the inner curve of your thumbs. They are now blind and you now have control of the skull, you can force the whole body to the ground, you can smash their skull against terrain. Or just leave them to cry and beg in the dark.

Unlike in some popular representations, eyes do not "pop like grapes". They will fill between your fingers and spill like most other organs. In this situation they hold their shape and will dislodge from the socket. Expect your hands to get bloodied.

Commentary.

The first time I used this technique, it was difficult. The bandit, some hired ruffian that picked the wrong day to be a hero, assaulted me in our sweep. He fenced off my usual advantages and nearly forced a stalemate. Two blades, hand-in-hand was enough keep me off balance. But, Double Thumb worked. It was not intentional, it was reflex. A simple advantage I could take without having to think about it. Motions that were learned but never before deployed. It felt too easy for something so devastating. He had the face of a boy.

So there I was with my thumbs hooked in his eyes, smashing his head against a stone. They looked at me like I was a maniac. I know I was screaming like a maniac. It took me some time to process what I did. Everything until after they began doling out the loot is a hazy patch in my memory. For once I was shaken.

The Other was dismissive when I brought it up. He's right of course. I can spare no sympathy on this path I've chosen. Not even for myself.