react0rman

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.

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".