(urth) Torturers?

[Dave Lebling]

It is specifically stated that torture in the Commonwealth is a 
punishment, not a means of obtaining truth. The Guild performs exactly 
the tortures ordered, and the torturers are taught to completely ignore 
anything their victims say. Severian is chided for listening to a victim 
at one point during his apprenticeship.

Torturers in our time may ostensibly be in search of truth, but the 
Guild is inflicting judicial punishment.

-- Dave Lebling, aka vizcacha

brunians at brunians.org wrote:
> A torturer insists upon being told the truth, and has various means to
> ensure that he is being told the truth.
>
> These seem to me to be useful qualifications for a successful monarch.
>