...that fiendish Baron! What's he up to now?!

"Inspired by his correspondence with a certain Hungarian Countess*, who shared a fair amount of his views on how to properly treat the peasentry and who in particular never got tired of pointing out how 'motivating' the right kind of tools could be, if used on disobedient servant - girls, the Baron has begun trying out new methods, too. Of course he first had to experiment with the Countess' tool of choice and so he had his castle's blacksmith forge a perfectly straight, 10 foot long iron pole that was sharpened on both ends and polished smoothly to perfection. He then had his men ram the pole into the ground with half of its length sticking out on the field, just outside the castle walls. A few days later he had aquired the first suitable test subject for his trials. Shortly before the preparations were finished it began to rain and in the distance the faint sound of thunder even warned of a nearing lightning storm, the first of this year's summer. With a disparaging laugh and a dismissive hand wave, he allowed his servants to retreat into the safety of the castle walls, as they were scared of the storm's slowly but surely advancing fury. When he was finally alone with his test subject he savoured the moment, took a few deep breaths, first sensing the smell of the moist, green field surrounding him and then with his hand firmly dug into the shivering maidens hair he took in the sweet scent of her, as he carressed her unclad, angelic little form. The Baron had always enjoyed the feeling of a warm summer rain on his naked skin, had loved to play out in the rain even when he was just a little boy. So he enjoyed this little experiment even more, as he first made her a woman, carrying her weight with his strong arms while standing in the summer's warmly drizzling precipitation. Then when he was satisfied it was time to try and see if that pole worked as advertised by his dear friend, the Countess. And indeed, on his first try he managed to thread the needle cleanly into the struggling girls entrance, despite all her writhing and futile attempts to kick with her legs, that were bound from the ankles to her wrists behind her back. With a firm grip of one hand on her neck and the other on her chest he made sure that she stayed upright and as perfectly aligned on the iron as humanly possible, while the force of her own weight slowly but steadily dragged her down to the ground. When the tip of the pole emerged from her mouth and her tormented wailing and whimpering finally ceased he was most pleased with his handiwork. He still supported her weight while she sank further down on the now blood covered rod, until her feet touched the ground. "My! You're quite a spirited one!" he laughed, as he observed her trying to push herself up on that pole again, only to sink down again as soon as the bindings on her wrists and ankles made any further upwards movement impossible. But unwavering in her defiance, even though her vision had already started to dim, the poor thing did not let her knees touch the ground, it looked as if she even tried to use her tongue for help, as she tried to push herself up once again... and again... and again... Seeing this most gruesome but curious spectacle rekindled the fires in the Baron's loins and so he didn't waste any time and gave a last parting gift to his little test subject. As he was done, the roar of yet more thunder rolled over the field and reminded him that it was time for him to seek shelter, too. He swiftly dressed back up and retreated back into his castle. Back inside he had his servants start making preparations for a warm bath and beverage and then sat down at a window of his chambers, from where he could overlook the field with the experiment. Much to his satisfaction, the maid was still trying to free herself out of her predicament, though at this time her efforts had lost some of the earlier esprit. Soon the storm had passed and gave way to a breathtaking sunset, framing the -in his eyes- gorgeous sight of his trial's result. When the girl had finally ended her struggles and the sun went over the horizon his bath was ready. Making himself comfortable in the warm basin, he sent for his scribe and set out to dictate a reply to the Countess' correspondence: "My dearest Elizabeth, I must thank you kindly for the most splendid suggestion you offered in your last letter. I'd love to hear more from your expertise on the matter..."

*for those who've never heard of her, the Countess that this refers to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Báthory

...like I said, history is ripe with... 'inspiration'. :3