Useful templates to use and whatnot.
Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Safe/Euclid/Keter (indicate which class)
Special Containment Procedures: [Paragraphs explaining the Procedures]
Description: [Paragraphs explaining the Description]
Addendum: [Optional additional paragraphs]
 |
| ^^ Description of the picture ^^ |
Interviewed: [The person, persons, or SCP being interviewed]
Interviewer: [Interviewer, can be blocked out using █]
Foreword: [Small passage describing the interview]
<Begin Log, [optional time info]>
Interviewer: [speech]
Person: [speech]
[Repeat as necessary]
<End Log, [optional time info]>
Closing Statement: [Small summary and passage on what transpired afterward]
 |
| Photograph of SCP-XXXX-1 |
Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is to be fenced off to prevent civilian intrusion. In light of Incident XXXX-B (see Addendum XXXX-1), the perimeter must be monitored by security guards or other surveillance equipment at all times. The portion of roadway that SCP-XXXX is located by is closed off, and negotiations are being made with local planning boards and township councils to redirect vehicular traffic onto a new route, still yet to be constructed.
Description: SCP-XXXX is an region by the side of State Route ████, near ██ █████, Pennsylvania (geographic coordinates ██N ██' ██" ███E ██' ██"), measuring approximately four meters by four meters in area (the exact dimensions of this region, including its height, is difficult to determine due to its anomalous properties). When any animal weighing more than three kilograms (henceforth referred to as "the victim") enters SCP-XXXX, they will not be able to exit again. This indicates that the area is surrounded by an invisible barrier that is only permeable from the outside.
After precisely three hours, three or more entities (henceforth known as instances of SCP-XXXX-1) will appear from an unknown point in the sky high above SCP-XXXX and descend onto the ground. Instances of SCP-XXXX-1 resemble turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) in size and morphology. The number of entities that appear corresponds to the size of the victim that is trapped within SCP-XXXX, increasing in number with the victim's size. The victim does not acknowledge the presence of SCP-XXXX-1, and instances of SCP-XXXX-1 ignore all activity that takes place out of the area contained by SCP-XXXX.
The instances of SCP-XXXX-1 will remain on the ground for another two hours, displaying behaviors such as preening and basking that are standard for a normal turkey vulture. Occasionally, they will turn their heads in unison and look directly at the victim for approximately two minutes, before returning to their previous activities.
Two hours after manifesting, the instances of SCP-XXXX-1 will approach the victim and start to consume it. The victim is still alive during this period, and continues to disregard the existence of SCP-XXXX-1, showing no signs of pain or injury. The victim will typically die due to blood loss, although skull fracture and organ puncture is not uncommon due to the feeding patterns of SCP-XXXX-1.
After the victim dies, SCP-XXXX-1 will continue to feed on them for approximately an hour more before leaving the ground and flying up into the sky beyond range of view. They will ignore whatever remains of the victim are left, and remain absent until another animal enters SCP-XXXX, whereupon they will appear from where they vanished to repeat their apparent feeding process.
SCP-XXXX came to the Foundation's attention on █/██/██, when reports were made to the local police department about an exceptionally panicked deer. The animal was soon found to be trapped within SCP-XXXX. Standard amnestics were administered to the persons involved, and the area was secured by the Foundation.
Addendum XXXX-1: On █/█/██, a local civilian named Arnold Ferraro trespassed into Foundation property and inadvertently entered the area of SCP-XXXX. This allowed personnel to discover what happened when human subjects entered the area.
Interviewed: Arnold Ferraro
Interviewer: Dr. ██████
Foreword: Foundation personnel arrived at the scene at 9:35 EST. Mr. Ferraro had already been present in SCP-XXXX for 26 minutes.
<Begin Log, [9:37]>
Dr. ██████: [speech]
Mr. Ferraro: [speech]
[Repeat as necessary]
<End Log, [optional time info]>
Closing Statement: [Small summary and passage on what transpired afterward]
Dr. ██████: [speech]
Mr. Ferraro: [speech]
Say that there's an area by the side of the road. You can walk into it, but for whatever reason you cannot exit. After a couple hours, these "vultures" will appear out of your line of sight. They mill about for a couple more hours before they start eating you. However, you don't acknowledge them at first. In fact, you don't acknowledge that you're being eaten at all. After a while, when you're sort of half-eaten you do acknowledge the presence of the vultures (still not like they're eating you or whatever, but y'know it's cool). And they're actually quite pretty. They make me feel happy.
Details: found in [REDACTED], Pennsylvania (geographic coordinates BLACKBOXBLACKBOXBLACKBOX). Brought to attention of Foundation from panicking deer. Local hokey decided to trespass, giving us our first look at what happens to humans (provide interview log). Site fenced off, road closed, coordinating with township committee to redirect a new road (of course, like that's going to happen anytime soon :P)
Question: is XXXX just something that's there, or is in fact sentient? Is this its method of trapping prey? Do we need to feed it? If that's the case, what would happen if we don't feed it? Are XXXX-1 instances actually parasites? Can one or the other or both of these things communicate? Are they telling us something right now, and we just don't know that it's happening? Discuss.
Height possibility: extends up into the sky beyond our reach, and instead of simply appearing, the vultures descend from the clouds? Adds a bit more mystery I suppose. < DO THIS POSSIBLY MAYBE OR GET FEEDBACK ABOUT IT EVEN
^Corollary to the above paragraph, if the size of XXXX is 4x4m with a not-too-unreasonable height, it would theoretically be possible that the victim would die from carbon dioxide poisoning as their own exhalations fill the area up. If this is the case, after the victim dies, the trap could "open up" to a certain degree in order to allow wind and the ambient air to reoxygenate things before closing to wait for the next unlucky soul.
^Corollary to the corollary of the above paragraph although it doesn't seem so at first, SCP-XXXX-1 eat their fill, and then just leave the remains of their victim after disappearing again, not paying any more attention to them. So basically all the bodies of the victims are laying inside the trap, rotting. So essentially the stench is prolly horrific in there. If the skip reoxygenates itself every once in a while, we might get a little whiff of the problem ourselves. </lolimadeapunny>
Two possibilities
much obliged for this tasty sample. i expect more soon thank you
I am grateful for this unexpected but satisfying surprise. The boys and I would appreciate another sampling at some point in the near future. Thank you once again.
The question is whether or not it would be more unsettling for the note to be written with broken grammarz…or absolutely perfect English.
Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Safe/Euclid/Keter (indicate which class)
Special Containment Procedures: [Paragraphs explaining the Procedures]
Description: [Paragraphs explaining the Description]
Addendum: [Optional additional paragraphs]
2/1/13, additional expansion and XXXX-2 2/2/13. It's a crappy working title, but I suppose I can fix it somewhat. I really, really like this one. I'm not willing to put stuff down here yet until I can get a more organized format down; right now I have it in a notebook. But let me explain what I can. At the SCP Foundation, there are quite a few of humans-in-animals, or least animals who think they're humans - Blackwood, Bishop Fox, and the Communist Spiders, to name a few. But why humans? Shouldn't it be likely that a non-human ended up in the body of another animal?
Chelonians with a god complex.
And they fly.
Yep.
SCP-XXXX is an unknown phenomenon that affects chelonians (turtles, tortoises, terrapins, and whatnot). Basically, it causes them to be launched into the air with a great deal of force. The smaller the turtle, the greater the distance, naturally, and this launching probably happens more readily with smaller species. However, you still get the odd Galapagos tortoise crashing through the bathroom ceiling every now and then. It is unknown how this phenomenon is spread or transmitted; we don't know if it's an infection, a genetic trait, a disorder, or what. (Interestingly enough, there have been reports of a gharial (primitive crocodilian) possessing the same ability, but this is unsubstantiated).
As you may know turtles are unseeming creatures. They just go with the flow. But they're inquisitive things. I have a turtle, and he recognizes when I'm by his tank. People often label reptiles as dumb and slimy and whatever, but that's not true. Turtles seem to have some degree of intelligence about them. Not necessarily "create a particle accelerator with ingenuity alone" intelligence, just a way of…working things out.
Now imagine this turtle who has just been surprised when it has been shot up into the air a great distance by means unknown to it and has somehow survived the landing. It may very well wonder how it did this. Of course, it doesn't know for sure, but it might wonder. It might occur to it that if it can "fly", as it has just demonstrated, it might be able to do other things that it hasn't figured out then. And that's where the turtle's train of thought heads of the rails.
Because then, the turtle might surmise that, if it can accomplish this amazing feat of flight, it might be able to accomplish anything.
And so the turtle gets a god complex.
Okay, here's where the details get sketchy and unorganized. Proceed at your own risk.
-
The Foundation collects all instances of these flying turtles that they can: An Eastern painted turtle, the first that they discovered; a wood turtle, who has a tendency of escaping every turtle enclosure that it's put in (this is not a turtle superpower. Wood turtles can climb brick walls. I speak the truth); an Aldabra tortoise, notable because it's a fukken huge turtle that happened to generate a lot of media attention when it flew; and an alligator snapping turtle, because if a 150-kilo ball of fury with some razor sharp claws and a killer beak raining down on your unsuspecting self at great speed from the sky isn't anomalous, I don't know what it.
Put in Foundation note from a member of staff: Of course, when a turtle falls from the sky there's a good chance it will die upon impact. But as time has gone on, less and less have been dying when they hit the ground. Are they steering? Learning?
Interestingly enough, there is evidence of this phenomenon preserved in the fossil record. here's a list:
- Kayentachelys, a medium sized turtle from rocks of north Arizona dating back to the Early Jurassic. Found with shattered carapace and plastron, snapped neck.
- Archelon, a gigantic sea turtle, from the Late Cretaceous of the midwestern USA, found in land deposits despite being a marine animal.
- Trionyx messelianus, freshwater turtle from rocks of Paleogene Germany. Specimen cracked entirely in half.
- Meiolania (expand) (relict population? homicidal relict population?)
- Colossochelys (expand)
So turtles have probably been doing this for the near entirety of their existence.
Also, turtles are primitive archosaurs.
Flying turtles can hold a grudge.
 |
| 0:22:51, still shot. Footage labelled Joieux ███████ ██████ a Marcel Sabourin, recovered from the depositary of ██████ Academy, France. |
Butchers with no face. Based on picture from the Eisenberg scp-fuel file. This is a sapient species that uses our meat processing facilities for its own means. Our own and their own operations work alongside each other. However, the animals they use are entirely unknown to science. But whatever they are, they can feel, and communicate, and these butcher people are just mindlessly slaughtering them for food and stuff. The butcher people don't care, because they are just psychologically incapable of feeling sympathy for these animals. They just don't have the mindset. And to make matters worse, they don't care much for us either. A human accidentally ends up on the chopping block? Meh, whatever.
First discovery: Chicago, early 1900s (yes, you know what I am implying here). Maybe they can be found at modern places, all over the world? Factories? The deli? (Swiss cheese made out of Swiss dude…hmmm.)
[Implement?]
America, 1879. The honourable Lord Blackwood travels out into the Old West to investigate a petty feud between two distinguished paleontologists. Along the way he meets a religious order of cowboys, tribes of Indians…and clockwork dinosaurs.
Alright so what I have so far is this. This will either be awesome or burn hard. I am aiming for the "awesome" option.
There's a cult of CotBG hokeys situated out West, dedicated to spreading the XXX of God or some other somesuch purpose I have yet to determine. Anyway, they have a supply of SCP-217 and this time manipulation device thingamajig (mention/imply at some suitable point during the narrative that it was obtained through a MC&D auction). So naturally, in their somewhat skewed perception of the world (and through their knowledge of current events in the area), they decide DINOSAURS!!1! is the best course of action to achieving their goal.
Meanwhile, paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh are busy slugging it out in the badlands during the infamous "Bone Wars" between the two. Deceit, slandery, fierce competition, sabotage, and arson are all commonplace. Several rather talented fossil hunters are being thrown up into the mix, and [some geology dude who I have yet to figure out] is a bit concerned that this will all start ruining things. So, he contacts the esteemed Lord Blackwood for a bit of advice and to see if the old chap can try to sort things out.
And then at some point not too far into the story, these two plotlines just collide like a wandering bolide smashing headlong into Mexico at thousands of miles per hour.
Ideas: mention the 1876 Centennial Exposition, which becomes surprisingly relevant given the date, group of interest, and where Cope stored some of his fossils.
The dinosaurs themselves are as freaky as hell, but the diminished mental state that 217 infection brings about is more like the expectation of people at the time so there isn't as much of a fuss? I know that Cope/Marsh all the rest were all for active dinosaurs and stuff, but perhaps the story gets muddled/interefered with/censored/covered up as it gets passed down and inspired the "Dark Ages" of dino paleontology between the 1920s and the Dinosaur Renaissance?
Amphicoelias fragillimus is a friggin clockwork vector - it all makes sense now
Como Bluff
A Cambrian lake, hyperadvanced evolution and a Pikaia with an ego.
Shall I explain?
So there's this abandoned aquarium complex located in Belarus/Sudan/Kazakhstan/some other interesting country. The creatures living inside this place are all from the Burgess Shale fauna (quick list: Anomalocaris, Wiwaxia, Marrella, Hallucigenia, Opabinia, Nectocaris, Odontogriphus, Naraoia), relatively un-anomalous, aside from being 500 million years out of their comfort zone. Indeed, the entire aquatic ecosystem is unique in this respect. However, the reproductive cycles of these lifeforms are greatly accelerated; generations last anywhere from a month to mere days. Every three generations, precisely half of the offspring of each species remain the same, while the other half display aberrant anatomical features. This process repeats itself, without fault and without fail.
Now here's where it gets interesting. Inside this place, one single Pikaia exists, complete with biomechanical augmentations and an apparent degree of high intelligence. There is also a loudpseaker next to the main tank in which it lives, which it can apparently talk through. However, it comes along with a rather disgruntled personality. This leads to a delightful interview session. Apparently, its job is to maintain the place and oversee everything, making sure things go according to "plan". It calls itself the "Garden Guardian".
This is the super secret backstory: Someone, somewhere, got these lifeforms together and shaped them in order to make a little science experiment involving a very skewed and artificial view of punctuated equilibrium. This someonesomewhere augments the Pikaia and offers it a deal: if he oversees the project using his new skills, he will get a healthy salary and promising life in return. Nevertheless this job is rather stressful and tiring.
Lines of dialogue:
Whoa, hey! Jesus, don't touch anything.
As long as I get my three thousand a week, I'm happy.
Hey, I'm just the middle man. I get enough shit as it is.
Might end up as a tale, since if left unexplained it becomes slightly more worrying. But it might be a full fledged skip one day; I have an idea forming that goes in interesting directions. Tale first, then article?
So, there's a box. From the box, a bright red neck thing emerges periodically, topped by a biomechanical camera-head thing. And it screams at you. A shrill, bloodcurdling shriek crossed with an earsplitting alarm sound. And then for all intents and purposes you are dead to the world, but your brain is still working, and the image of this thing staring at you and the noise it's making are all that it processes.
Nobody knows who "made" it or why the hell it does this. It only activates periodically, and nobody really knows when it's going to snap. Tests with D-Class and Foundation personnel have yielded nothing. But "out in the wild", it does this. [The reason is because it's trying - and succeeding - to get inside people's heads, but it only does this for very specific people. People who have done nothing wrong. People who are, in a sense, innocent. People who do not deserve it. Because it's easiest to get into the head when the mind is carefree. Things like guilt and sorrow get in the way of the tech.]
Based on an absolutely vivid nightmare I once had.
Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Safe/Euclid/Keter (indicate which class)
Special Containment Procedures: [Paragraphs explaining the Procedures]
Description: [Paragraphs explaining the Description]
Addendum: [Optional additional paragraphs]
Two marabou storks, one male and one female. Occasionally, two Masai tribesmen will emerge from their mouths. They're generally cooperative with researchers and are more or less normal. Except for the fact that they revere vomit as sacred. The Foundation isn't quite sure what to do here, because aside from the whole climbing-out-of-a-bird thing, it's just anthropology and tribal tradition.
- I have a creepy picture of this ghosty green light eel thing. Maybe I should use it. (see below for teh pikshur)
- Cute little baby bearded dragon SCP. Go fight win
- We have no stomatopod skips? What heresy is this? We must remedy this immediately! Whoever wrote SCP-1569, thank you and Godspeed.
- Anomalous pet shop - gets bigger as you explore it further. No staff inside, all automated. Sells everything from iguanas to elephants to arowana fish. You can special order stuff too - Mock Turtle out of stock. (golden toad) Based on a dream I once had. (SEE ABOVE)
- Little minion. Magnifier/clip/plastic metal thing that is apparently sapient - doesn't talk, but makes cute noises. Displays the emotions, whether hidden or expressed, of the nearest person on a sticker attached to it. Gets sad if you yell at it. (see archives)
- Cambrian Lake (SEE ABOVE)
- time manipulation tale - such a travesty (will later expand)
- Remembrance Child - leave this until I have a load of experience under my belt, because it's a) humanoid and b) a difficult subject.
- "Blue Bugs" - Giant Keter ticks that emit such a high degree of heat that pretty much anything in the immediate area literally catches fire. As such we have to contain them in a volcano. (I kind of like the idea that they're just firestarters for an eldritch god campout.)
- The site does not yet have an article about a tapir. I shall remedy this.
- Join up at The Wanderer's Library.
Ideas from the idea generator! I may or may not use some of these eventually or I might just keep them around for the record.
- An article about some binoculars that's anomalously enigmatic, conveying awe.
- An article about a hyena that causes you to experience something similar to a vegetative state, conveying agony.
- An article about some oil that's anomalously telepathic, conveying anger.
- An article involving the Higgs boson that explains the Antikythera mechanism, conveying paranoia.
- An article that explores shapeshifters and non-Euclidean space, conveying greed.
- An article about an alpaca sharing features with cnidarians that threatens you with dentists, conveying pride.
- An article about a frog associated with parasites and vomiting, conveying envy.
- An article about a cake associated with the Church of the Broken God and cephalopods, conveying nausea.
Do not edit other writers' sandboxes without permission.
