Ranse Truman

Ranse Truman
Ranse Truman (also known as RT) is an inmate of Abbott State Penitentary whose cryptic writings feature on the pre-Chapter loading screens of both Suffering games.

Appearance/Characteristics
Ranse, when encountered in the second game, is shown as a dishevelled, but calm civilian whom is very talkative. He is shirtless when encountered, with white shoes and blue pants tied at the waist, and numerous bandages cover his body and hands, giving the impression that he has been holding his own in the cataclysm. His midriff is covered in blood from a neck wound, which looks self-inflicted. A Fire Axe is nearby, presumably his discarded weapon.

Mentally speaking, Ranse seems sane, but accustomed to the Malefactor hordes to such a degree that they don't even notice him when they spawn from the room's Hell-Hole. From his writings, it can be derived that Ranse is very observant, morbid and perhaps even philosophical when discussing the history, legacy and phenomena of Carnate and the prison system.

If Torque stands in earshot of Ranse, he will talk about the urban legends of Carnate and Baltimore, including The Creeper's legacy, the riots in the prison and how he apparently was removed from Abbott for "trying that thing with a sharpened spoon".



The Suffering: Ties That Bind
In The Suffering: Ties That Bind, he is found after you leave  Blackmore's Drowning Pool. He is encountered at Chapter 17, sitting solemly beside the Hell-hole on the floor in the abandoned house, and will share his knowledge of Carnate and Baltimore if you stick around with him. Later, in Chapter 18, Blackmore will inform the player that he has sent a wave of Malefactors after Ranse, and if the player chooses, they can run back and save Ranse for Good morality.

Ranse's Messages 
The Suffering  Chapter 1, The Worst Place on Earth

"My first day on the island I knew my life was over. I had reached the heart of darkness, a stygian abyss, the supreme nexus of despair. I knew."

The Suffering Chapter 2, Descending

"Take away a man's light, his clothes, his food, his friends, his air, and you leave him with nothing but himself. And for most that is not pleasant company."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 3, Slumber of the Dead

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"When you compare killing a person to putting down a dog, you cheapen all human life. And life in Abbott is the cheapest you'll find anywhere."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 4, Abbott Prison Blues

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"They prime us to kill each other and then smile when we do. But I don't blame the psychos, or the gangs, or even the hacks. Abbott sucks us all down."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 5, No More Prisons

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"How many have come to Abbott without guilt? Too many. But I don't worry about the innocent, because on Carnate none of us is without sin for long."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 6, I Can Sleep When I'm Dead

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"Abbott's high homicide rate is well known. But only whispered is its staggering suicide rate, which is highest of any prison in America."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 7, Everything Beautiful is Gone

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"No matter how tough you are, a measure of fear can help keep you alive. In Abbott a man who isn't afraid is too stupid to live."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 8, Darkest Night, Eternal Blight

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"I worked the cemetery for one week. I had to quit, couldn't face it anymore. I knew some day I would end up here, buried forever on Carnate. I couldn't handle that reality."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 9, Oblivion Regained

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"The quarry legend goes: prisoners were trapped by a cave in, the guards wouldn't lift a finger to save them. Personally, I think the hacks were doing them a favor."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 10, You've Mistaken Me For Someone Else

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"The worst crimes aren't committed by the body, they're invented in the mind. The urge to kill is the purest evil and supressing it only lasts so long. Dr. Killjoy realized this."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 11, Hate the Sin Not The Sinner

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"From what I know, Dr. Killjoy's motives were pure. That he committed crimes against humanity shouldn't surprise, given where he did his work."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 12, A Lonely Place To Die

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"In the end none of it matters: the size of our family, how much we have, or who we count as friends. In the end we all die alone. It's not death I fear, it's dying here."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 13, Dancing At The Dawn Of The Apocalypse

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"Inmates all know the story of the slaves locked below deck and devoured by rats. But they also know the true horror lasted 250 years. It continues today, everywhere."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 14, Surfacing

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"Many try to bury the sins of the past. But if you deny them, pretend they never happened, wish them all away, they will come back to the surface a million times stronger."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 15, An Eye For An Eye Makes The Whole World Blind

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"They say Horace doesn't rest. His crime was horrible, but his execution was worse. Every now and again I catch a scent of him, and I want to die myself."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 16, Who Wants To Deny The World Forever?

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"When we gaze into the blackest oblivion, all we see is ourselves. People on Carnate are fixated on that void, but I try my best to look away."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 17, Death Be Not Proud

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"When no evidence exists, the cunning will find some. Guilt by association can be sufficient. Still, I think the colonel honestly believed in the evil he did."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 18, Single Bullet Theory

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"In the end, the island took the soul of the colonel. It left him with no alternative but the bullet. It was the same gun he used at the executions."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 19, And A Child Shall Lead Them

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"When they burned the accused witches, they thought they were doing God's will.But that's the trick about killing someone, you can't take it back later."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering Chapter 20, Last Breath Before Dying

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"It all makes sense now. This place is magnification, concetration, purification. Now the world goes black. I see my reflection in a pool of blood. I kiss it all goodbye."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 1, Remembrance Of Things Past

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"When they transfered me to Eastern Baltimore Correctional, I thought I had escaped the encroaching darkness. But in my new cell the abyss was right there, waiting for me."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 2, Hopeless Bleak Despair

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"Those trapped in misery dream of escape. But just when you think you've made it out, it turns out you've never really left."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 3, The Weak Shall Inherit Nothing

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"Once is never enough. That's the lesson learned from the tale of the Creeper, the pimp who took misogyny to the next level. He knew something of insatiable appetites."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 4, The Hardest Homecoming

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"The places we live define us as much as we define them. They are filled with our rememberances. When we return to them, we give the dead life once more."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 5, The Unholy Burden

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"When the food ran out, the reverend would not watch his people die. He fed them with the only meat available. He knew he could live with the decision he made."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 6, Denial Of The Fittest

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"The demand is too persistent. People want something to make them forget. To let them escape. To believe in. As long as there is a need, the war will never be won"

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 7, The Will Of The People

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"For each person who fights an injustice, there are ten who build their careers on it. The slave hunter Copperfield knew his quarry well, and turned them into a handsome profit."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 8, Hitting Bottom

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"The city architects are duly remembered by history, while the true laborers are immortalized a different way. Many lay trapped beneath its streets for all time."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 9, Relentless Persistant Determination

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"Wherever there is power, there are people who will do anything to aquire it. All-consuming determination can be good, or very, very bad."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 10, Haven't We Met Somewhere Before?

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"None of us can control our lives, we are all victims of circumstances. Self-determination can only get us so far. We must choose from the paths fate lays before us."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 11, Repeat Offender

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"All across America prisons dot the landscape. A growth industry. Job security for the jailers. And has it helped? Doubtful. But could we live without them?"

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 12, Tipping Point

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"The inmates still speak of the riot in the lunch room and the warden who died there. Even with the inmates who died as a result, they say Elroy's death was worth it."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 13, Discipline And Punish

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"Elroy Senior was hated with good reason. The hideous fire beneath the machine shop took place on his watch. And his idea of inmate isolation was akin to live burial."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 14, Soft Sweat And Hard Labor

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"People want more than just protection, they want revenge. They want the guilty to suffer in kind. But laying the dead to rest isn't that easy."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 15, Lifetime Companion

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"The power of the human heart astonishes. The worst of the worst still manage to procreate. Even the deeply disturbed can find someone to love them."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 16, The Greatest Story Never Told

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"After enough time and sufficent bloodshed, certain locations gain a power of their own. In time, there will not be any truly peaceful places left."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 17, Home Of The Misdemeanor Homicide

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"There's a force at work here, something stronger than we can imagine. It lays dormant, waiting for the catalyst. All should fear the day he returns to town."

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">The Suffering: Ties That Bind Chapter 18, Born Into This

<p style="color:rgb(58,58,58);">"How many tragedies start in childhood? Environment is everything, and when placed in jeopardy, children will imagine what they need to survive."