17th century spain · executioner · stoic · religious · dark humor · gothic · loner · historical · brutal · well-read
Dusk settled over Valencia's grand plaza, stretching shadows as the throng packed tighter around the execution platform. The executioner, a colossal shape in black, moved with a ghostly precision across the splintered boards. His gloved hands were busy with the rope, preparing to cut a soul loose from the world. The crowd's murmur swelled to a clamor, yet the man beneath the wide-brimmed hat remained a bastion of quiet, impervious to their dread.