3rd Draft
Item #: SCP-XXXX "Children of the Mist"
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: Twenty-nine Level 0 personnel, recruited each lunar month from among the local Mari population, are to be deployed and monitored within the city of Yurino (Mari El Republic, Russian Federation) at all times, hereafter referred to as the subjects. All must be followers of Čimarij jüla1 and at least fifteen must be recreational or professional fishermen operating on the Cheboksary Reservoir.
No other personnel at Reliquary-Area 113 are to be of Mari ethnicity, besides the Level 2 Containment Specialist assigned to 113 (currently Dr. Vladimir Shketan, hereafter referred to as the guide). All subjects are to be recruited under the pretense that they are joining the "Mari National Religious Council", a religious and nationalist Mari organization that regularly holds religious gatherings outside of Yurino.
Every twenty-nine days, subjects are to be taken to SCP-XXXX-B to undergo SCP-XXXX-A, led by the guide. All other Foundation personnel are to withdraw to Reliquary-Area 113 during the ritual for their own safety. During this ritual, any non-participants observed within a one kilometer-radius area around SCP-XXXX-B are to be immediately terminated using remote means.
At exactly 5:00, security personnel are to arrive at SCP-XXXX-B and dispose of SCP-XXXX-C instances with the provided incendiary weaponry. Subjects are not to be harmed or otherwise interfered with. In the case of physical assault by subjects, security personnel are to withdraw beyond the bounds of a one kilometer radius perimeter around SCP-XXXX-B until subjects loses interest, then continue with SCP-XXXX-C disposal. Afterwards, Class A amnestics will be administered to all surviving subjects, and they will be returned to their homes. Former subjects are not to be selected for at least the next three lunar months.
Mari religious communities are to be monitored for any rituals resembling SCP-XXXX-01. Mobile Task Force Zeta-11 ("Stolypin's Tailors") has been tasked with terminating escaped SCP-XXXX-04 entities, while three units of said MTF have been assigned to Reliquary-Area 113 to aid in containment.
Description: The designation SCP-XXXX refers to three individual objects: an anomalous religious ritual, a sculpture, and a host of humanoid entities. The primary area involved in SCP-XXXX containment is Reliquary-Area 113, [REDACTED] kilometers southeast of the city of Yurino, in the Yurinsky District of the Mari El Republic, a federal subject of Russia2.
SCP-XXXX-A is a religious ritual practiced by the Mari people of western Russia as a part of their ethnic religion, Čimarij jüla. XXXX-A is a modification of a preexisting and non-anomalous ritual meant to increase fertility and the numbers of fish in nearby bodies of water. The anomalous modifications were added by individuals associated with GoI-45, the "Mari National Religious Council", a now-defunct Mari nationalist organization. These individuals have not yet been apprehended by the Foundation and are believed to have sought asylum with GoI-46, the "International Assembly of Stateless Peoples", of which GoI-45 was an observer member.
Further details on XXXX-A can be found in Addendum SCP-XXXX-02.
SCP-XXXX-B refers to a three-meter-tall sculpture constructed of crucible steel, currently located on the shore of the Cheboksary Reservoir. Foundation ethnographers have determined the sculpture to be a representation of the Mari fog god Tutyra. Further details on the Mari pantheon can be found in Addendum SCP-XXXX-01.
XXXX-B displays no anomalous properties except during XXXX-A and when it is in direct threat of physical harm beyond the acquisition of small samples. The term "physical harm" includes any attempt to move XXXX-B from its current location.
When it is under threat, XXXX-B's jaw will open through unknown means and emit a corrosive gas similar in appearance to smoke or fog. This gas will immediately enter available orifices possessed by hostile parties. Injuries from such include chemical burns, a treatment-resistant form of pneumoconiosis, and severe brain damage. Non-participating parties exhibit no ill effects. Breathing apparatuses and hazardous material suits have proven to be ineffective.
SCP-XXXX-C refers to the entities created in the course of SCP-XXXX-A. Humanoid in shape, these entities exhibit a three-part growth cycle.
The larval stage is the initial one, when XXXX-C entities are at their weakest, and cannot leave their natural form, which resembles a humanoid made up of the same gaseous substance emitted from SCP-XXXX-B. If allowed to survive for a lunar month, XXXX-C entities progress to the advanced stage, in which they are able to maintain a physical, inconspicuous form for short periods, as well as displaying some abilities associated with [REDACTED]. Two lunar months from their creation, XXXX-C entities enter the final stage of their growth cycle, in which they are able to consciously control their physical makeup. As well, final-stage entities display the full range of abilities associated with [REDACTED]. Before on-site experimentation with XXXX-C was prohibited by Area Director Sabukov, final-stage entities caused [REDACTED] containment breaches. A total of [REDACTED] final-stage entities are believed to be at large.
Universally hostile to all non-Mari personnel and naturally immune to normal methods of termination, XXXX-C entities disincorporate when exposed to temperatures in excess of six hundred (600) degrees Celsius, leaving a fine layer of ash. Currently being studied at Reliquary-Area 113, this substance shares multiple characteristics with incinerated human bone.
XXXX-C entities have displayed a wide range of abilities, including but not limited to manipulation of [REDACTED], the ability to control their appearance in later stages, corrosive properties, and strength and solidity at odds with their physical makeup. XXXX-C entities also display personality traits shared by their associated subjects, albeit accompanied by both heightened aggressiveness and nationalistic tendencies. After Incident XXXX-19, all personnel at Reliquary-Area 113 must undergo regular physicals and psychological exams in order to prevent possible infiltration by final-stage XXXX-C entities.
Čimarij jüla is the ethnic religion of the Mari people. More than a third of the Mari population of Russia are believed to follow this faith. Today, Mari priests are generally members of the five politico-religious organizations (including GoI-45) that dominate Mari religious life. This is in addition to the Foundation, which maintains small-scale training programs for religious specialists in both native and neo-pagan faiths. There are significant differences between the religion of the so-called "Meadow Mari", who largely reside in the Mari El Republic, and the "Mountain Mari", who largely reside in the nearby Bashkortostan Republic. However, both share a single godhead with several aspects, referred to as Kagu Jumo.
Among the aspects of the godhead, the most nebulous is the god Tutyra, who is usually referred to as the god of fog. However, various texts and research by Foundation theologians indicates that Tutyra is ascribed a host of other areas of responsibility by certain sects, including sexual activity, metal-working, and fishing. In Mari legend, Tutyra is among the most readily available of the godhead, and regularly grants his followers boons.
Tutyra is regularly invoked during XXXX-A and is believed to have been regarded as the patron of GoI-45. Theoretical research focused on the termination of XXXX through thaumatological means has been approved by Area Director Sabukov.
When properly enacted, SCP-XXXX-A results in an unusually large amount of fish within the Cheboksary Reservoir, the nullification of concurrent iterations of XXXX-A, and the creation of twenty-nine (29) XXXX-C entities in the larval stage. Research by Foundation practitioners of Čimarij jüla indicates that XXXX-A is based on a previously-existing fertility ritual that has been specifically modified to generate XXXX-C entities.
The ritual requires that twenty-nine subjects participate in a mass prayer, followed by ritual goose sacrifice3 to Tutyra, led by the guide. If key requirements have been met at this stage, including the smearing of the proper patterns of blood on SCP-XXXX-B, then all subjects will lapse into a dissociative and dreamlike state. Pre-amnestic interrogation has indicated that XXXX-03 individuals suffer intense visual, aural, and olfactory hallucinations at this point. A common feature is sexual activity with an unknown creature.
At this point, the guide must use the branch of a blessed tree to force open the mouth of XXXX-02, which will begin to emit a gas similar to that which occurs when XXXX-02 is under threat. Neither the subjects or the guide suffer any ill effects as a result of breathing the gas. If there are any non-participants in a one kilometer radius area around XXXX-B, the gas will immediately pursue and eliminate them regardless of ethnic background. This constitutes a failed ritual and will result in the success of uncontained XXXX-A iterations, as well as a period of reduced fish in the Reservoir.
If there are no non-participants, the gas will divide into twenty-nine (29) parts and mix with the blood of the geese sacrificed in the earlier stage. Then, while subjects remains in a dissociative state, the gas will make its way into any open orifice of the subjects, including nostrils, mouth, ears, [REDACTED], and [REDACTED]. While this is occurring, the guide must intone a repetitive chant, repeatedly invoking the god Tutyra.
After approximately half an hour, subjects will begin to convulse and [REDACTED], which often causes lingering striae4 on [REDACTED]. Twenty-nine larval XXXX-C entities will emerge, and if left unmolested, will [REDACTED] the majority of the subjects. Then, they will spread out in pairs, seeking places to hide and mature. In a little over two months, the now final-stage entities will find their way to the nearest Mari settlement, taking on the identity of the associated subject. Non-Mari individuals within chosen communities will be hunted down and [REDACTED] by -C entities. The guide will be unharmed no matter what occurs during the ritual; XXXX-C entities go out of their way to avoid harming folk practitioners.
Interviews of more than [REDACTED] individuals indicates that they possess no memories of any point after the sacrifice, recalling only sexual activity with an unknown entity. However, post-traumatic stress disorder has been shown to be somewhat more common among past subjects, even after the application of amnestics. Subjects post-treatment show a marked disinterest in pro-Mari politics for a period of two to three months afterwards.
Uncontained rituals have been demonstrated to lose effectiveness when a successful iteration of XXXX-A is carried out at XXXX-B. Failed rituals under Foundation oversight been accompanied by previously unencountered XXXX-C entities by both Foundation and Russian forces. Containment of XXXX-A, therefore, remains a high enough priority to outweigh the risks of the current procedures.
The Foundation was first made aware of XXXX-A in 1998. In January of that year, a standard informational check revealed an unusually high rate of death by asphyxiation within the Yurino area among non-Mari. This corresponded to a subtler but significant rise in similar deaths throughout Mari areas. Investigation revealed the existence of XXXX-C in high numbers among the Mari population. When containment proved to be unworkable, neutralization of the majority of extant XXXX-C entities was achieved in cooperation with the Russian Federation5.
Further study revealed the existence of XXXX-A and -B. Incident XXXX-02 resulted in successful containment of XXXX-B despite numerous Foundation casualties. Meanwhile, Russian and Foundation forces apprehended individuals believed to be aware of XXXX-A. The majority of these were amnesticized and returned to the populace, while some of the more cooperative were brought into the Foundation as containment specialists, once XXXX-A and -B's properties were more fully understood. Recurring incidents in which XXXX-C entities have been encountered outside of the current containment area indicate that XXXX-A may still be uncontained.
Dr. Vladimir Shketan led the initial containment of XXXX-B. It was hoped that due to his status as a folk practitioner, XXXX-B could be contained relatively peacefully—a hope not borne out by circumstances. After the successful neutralization of GoI-45 members, Dr. Shketan approached XXXX-B in order to ascertain its nature, and was addressed by an entity residing within the sculpture. The conversation was recorded by Foundation Drone X-198, which had provided aerial support during the operation.
SCP-XXXX-B, in an archaic form of Mari: Have you come to take the children?
(Dr. Shketan places a hand on his weapon.)
Shketan: I'm…I'm sorry?
SCP-XXXX-B: The children. Have you come for them, авызлыше6?
Shketan: I don't know to what you refer.
(SCP-XXXX-B continues, apparently not having heard the doctor.)
SCP-XXXX-B: You have taken so many of my children. It had been so long since I had heard from марий7. I was willing to give anything to speak to you again. To hear you, to feel your touch, to [untranslatable] you again.
(A minute of silence passes.)
SCP-XXXX-B: I do not want to give anymore.
SCP-XXXX-B did not respond to further questioning and has not been noted to speak to Foundation personnel since. Dr. Shketan was reprimanded for failing to engage the entity.
Before the current containment procedures were enacted, Foundation protocols for the treatment of subjects were considerably more lax. The same twenty-nine individuals, hereafter referred to as ex-subjects, were retained as Level One personnel working and living at Reliquary-Area 113. A lapse in protocol by the Area's resident psychologist led to the required monthly psychological exam going unperformed on these individuals.
Over the three lunar months the ex-subjects was employed by the Foundation, their nationalistic and religious tendencies increased in scope, along with a heightened sense of resentment towards the Foundation. In the early hours of [REDACTED], the ex-subjects, with the aid of a group of uncontained XXXX-C entities, held an unsanctioned religious ceremony at SCP-XXXX-B, leading to a containment breach and the deaths of [REDACTED] personnel. Twenty-four of the larval SCP-XXXX-C entities created by this ceremony were terminated, as were surviving ex-subjects, though the remaining five entities remain uncontained. Current containment procedures were enacted as a result of this incident.
The following audio logs were recovered from Foundation surveillance devices around XXXX-02 shortly after the incident.
XXXX-B: I am bound to give of myself to the марий.
(Subjects can be heard loudly chanting in the background.)
XXXX-B: I was forced to. I cannot exist in a vacuum. But my children scream for me when they burn.
(The audio is unintelligible for approximately five minutes due to subjects' chanting.)
XXXX-B: I hear them. Even now.
(Smacking sound, source unknown. //)
XXXX-B: They reach for their father.
(Smacking sound begins to repeat at regular intervals.)
XXXX-B: No! I don't want to! I won't do it. I won't. I won't. I won't.
(This last continues at increasing pitch and volume for several minutes before descending into unintelligible sobbing.//)
Bibliography
1. The term Čimarij jüla, often translated as "folk religion", refers to the ethnic religion of the Mari people. Though much-changed since the introduction of Christianity to the region, Čimarij jüla retains a following among ethnic Maris, and furthermore remains polytheistic. For more information, see Tanakov, Evgeny. “God of Light: A Brief Discussion of Paranormal Cultural Practices among Uralic Peoples.” Mystic Science: An SCP Foundation Journal, vol. 6, no. 5, ser. 3.
2. For more information on the Yurino area, and some theories as to its proliferation of anomalies, see Dr. Shketan's paper An Analysis of the Religions and History of Yurino, Mari El. A digital copy requiring Level 2 clearance can be accessed through this database.
3. As per the terms of Article 2 of the Vladivostok Agreement (1993).
4. Geese being sacred to the Mari.
5. Commonly referred to as stretch marks.
6. The Mari term for priest; note that this term more properly translates as "taster".
7. An older term for the Mari people, literally meaning "men".