It would be nice if dwarves could create leather whips for their fortress guard to dispense lashes as punishment. A leather whip would do very little actual damage,
...dude, I like the idea, but seriously, research your shit. Being lashed was lethal as all fuck-off, man. Still is. Lash somebody too much? Too bad, now they're dead. Lashers who were ordered to give somebody twenty strokes with the whip would count to a number just a few below the actually ordered amount of lashings, just on the off-chance they miscounted and needed some leeway to make sure they didn't kill the victim.
Y'know that "crack" noise you hear when Indiana Jones pulls those impressive bullwhip antics? That's the whip
breaking the goddamned sound barrier.Imagine a thin, strong piece of leather hitting your back about twenty times in rapid succesion. That's what a lashing was. It doesn't need to be made of metal to score away flesh, it does that fine on its own - in the hands of a skilled user. It's certainly a tool of punishment (or cattle herdin', which we don't really need because dwarves are perfectly content to grab a huge, snarling crocodile by the tail and drag it to the proper pasture or cage), and doesn't have much use as a weapon (when it's made of leather, at least), but please, don't underestimate the power of a whip. Giving somebody a lashing will leave them near dead - and in the worst cases, just plum dead.
Just don't assign any weapons to your captain of the guard and he'll punch the living buggery out of any criminal. Or, y'know - spend a few chains and make a jail, so they don't get beaten at all.