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1/9405 LEVEL 1/9405
CLASSIFIED
Item #: SCP-9405
Argus
Semi-legendary depiction of SCP-9405-α in the Emblemata
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-9405 is contained.
Foundation surveillance assets are to maintain an alert for sightings of SCP-9405-β or reports of infiltration of the SCP-9405 caverns by civilians. If these occur too frequently, Foundation agents are to seize control of SCP-9405 by any and all means, including force majeure, and evacuate the environs. However, for the moment, SCP-9405 is classified as Argus.
Description: SCP-9405 is a mausoleum, and attendant subterranean residence complex, located in a cave system beneath the women's quarters of the Paliani Monastery, in the Heraklion municipality of Greece. The tomb therein, dating to ca. 400 BC, is believed to be that of Lais of Corinth, a historically noteworthy hetaira. She is remembered primarily for her beauty by figures including Plato and Antipater of Sidon, otherwise appearing only sparsely in the historical record. No document mentions her presence on Crete (or anywhere else outside Corinth), and her identity can only be verified using esoteric methods.
The anomalous history of the complex can be divided into two broad phases: Between the 4th and 1st centuries BC, the complex served as a residence for between 50 and 100 women and some small number of transient men, drawn from across Crete. During this period, the community was not enormously wealthy but displayed a strikingly common use of the written word, implying high literacy rates. Between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, it experienced considerable upheaval, likely related to the advance of the Roman Republic across the island, and was depopulated.
Afterwards, it was rendered essentially mundane, and was inhabited only by vagrants until the foundation of the Paliani monastery ca. 400 AD. The founding members are known to have been aware of the existence of the complex, but did not have detailed knowledge of its history or properties. At its construction, SCP-9405 exhibited a variety of attendant anomalies, which are documented in the supplementary material. Today, two of these anomalies remain extant.
SCP-9405-α is a carved marble catafalque positioned by the western wall of the tomb, in the deepest sublevel of SCP-9405. On its eastern side, facing the room's entrance, is what appears to be a stylisation of a lioness chasing a ram. The lioness' facial features have been disfigured beyond recognition, and the ram's horns have been chipped away, apparently in a gradual process. Otherwise, the carvings do not show signs of weathering or decay. The upper surface of SCP-9405-α is deeply cracked, and no body is present.
Certain individuals experience a painful sensation akin to a powerful shock upon contact with SCP-9405-α. It is unknown what, precisely, causes this effect, but it is reported disproportionately often in male personnel and security specialists.
SCP-9405-β is an animate marble lioness, originally identical in form to that pictured on SCP-9405-α, which has suffered considerable damage. Most notably, its right foreleg has been broken off, with the shoulder shattered at the joint. It also displays numerous hairline fractures and chips, presumably inflicted during close combat. Finally, large portions of the face and flanks display pitting and spalling due to musket-fire.
This damage has rendered SCP-9405-β slow, but not weak, and it is capable of exerting well in excess of 20 kilonewtons of force with its limbs. It behaves aggressively towards precisely those individuals which trigger the injurious effect of SCP-9405-α, and will act in a territorial manner to keep them from entering SCP-9405's grounds. However, it displays affection and obedience to the inhabitants of SCP-9405 (currently the sisters of the monastery) and will allow all personnel to pass on their instruction.
Discovery: During the Cretan War of 1645, raiding Ottoman forces struck at the monastery, which was known not to be well-defended. Despite this, their first advance was repulsed. Records indicate the presence of "ferocious beasts" which fought on behalf of the monastery, giving its members time to escape before the next wave seized the building. These accounts caught the interest of the Foundation Historical Annex, who alerted the Department of Archaeology. Beginning on 18/05/2022, the Department carried out a survey of the site with permission of the contemporary residents, and discovered SCP-9405.
Prior to the unearthing of the main entrance, SCP-9405-β had been able to enter and exit the complex through a circuitous route of tunnels and caverns. The residents of the monastery maintained a wealth of folklore concerning SCP-9405-β, which they referred to as μικρή αδελφή.
Over the two years following the initial dig, personnel uncovered many further parahistorical artefacts, which are catalogued below.
Artefacts:
Note that the below is not an exhaustive list of artefacts. Many of the discovered objects are of extremely minor anomalous effect or historical interest, and are standard for the period. For example, a great number of amulets to Mithras have been found in and especially around the complex, many of which display elevated Akiva emissions, as would be expected. For a complete catalogue, consult RAISA Reliquary 9405-3507.
- Graves & Grave-Goods
- Statuary Artefacts
- Miscellanea
Bodies believed to be from the period SCP-9405 was inhabited are interred exclusively on the plain the monastery overlooks. These include both remains of the residents of SCP-9405 and other burials carried out by its inhabitants. A brief list:
— Around 600 remains arranged in a roughly orderly manner across the better part of the plain. ca. 550 are female, and 50 male. Remarkably, no infant remains can be found among them. Most deaths appear to have been from natural causes. A few apparently incidental injuries are present, but all have healed exceptionally well. Many are buried with simple personal effects: small sherds of ceramic, simple jewellery, or copper beads. Dated roughly uniformly between 400 and 100 BC.
Damaged weapons recovered among remains. These are the only valuable items present.
— ~20 male remains, piled densely in a single region. These bear signs of serious injury, commonly including shattered ribcages and skulls, and have been arranged apparently without much care. Few material artefacts are buried with them. Dated to around 80 BC.
— A single set of remains that has been thoroughly pulverised. Although only belonging to a single individual, no single bone fragment measures more than three square centimetres in area. The region in which these remains are buried is distant from the rest, and the earth over them is barren. Dated to around 80 BC.
— 15 remains, 13 female and 2 male, buried haphazardly, and with no grave-goods. All show signs of traumatic deaths. Dated to around 60 BC.
— Remains belonging to 5 individuals, occupying a distinct position on the plain. Though gross morphology is subtly different between instances, all are genetically identical. Four seem to have died peacefully, but the fifth bears a compound fracture across the skull. Burial sites also contain trace amounts of precious metals and signs of reburial, implying the looting of more extensive goods at some point. Dated evenly through the years between 400 and 80 BC.
Sketch of instance by Salvator Rosa, who was related a description secondhand. The significance of the other skull is unknown.
Throughout the site, various instances of sculpture can be found, primarily formed of marble. Many of these are mundane in nature, but of particular interest are several which, due to their unusual construction and notable placement within the complex, are believed to have been previously animate. The Department believes these to be decommissioned SCP-9405-β instances. These are:
The front half of a marble cow, bisected cleanly by unknown means. Its flesh ends at the neck, and its head is simply a bovine skull. The tips of its horns have been broken off, and a thunderbolt has been etched into its flank. Though weathered, flecks of dried organic matter can be found on its head, neck, and hooves, originating from at least 12 distinct persons. Found in the lower chambers of SCP-9405.
An owl, embedded into the rock of the cave system. Physical contact with the instance produces a sense of reassurance. Found in what was a common residence area. The stones of the room are covered in simplistic sketches of various faces, at around waist-level.
Department-commissioned reconstruction of cervine statue, complete with curved antlers
Various fragments of a cervine statue scattered across multiple chambers. They display unusual warping and melting inconsistent with mechanical breakage alone, and some pieces bear a glassy surface texture. The antlers occupy a central position in a shrine (see Miscellania). Found distributed throughout the upper residential levels of SCP-9405. Only about three-fifths of the whole statue has been recovered to date.
A statue of a newborn lamb, found atop a ridge overlooking the valley, entirely undamaged. It is depicted curled up, as if only momentarily resting, and ready to wake.
Aside from the previous two categories, the Department has discovered a variety of artefacts and desiderata that do not occur in a common enough pattern to have their own dedicated category. The most notable of these are below.
Graffiti is found in many of the upper chambers of SCP-9405, which have been used as impromptu quarters for soldiers repeatedly throughout the last two thousand years. These include:
- Damn these hills, original text in German.
- Mustafa was here and This frost is too much, original text in Arabic.
- LEGIO VII AUGUSTA and, below it, CITY OF WHORES, original text in Latin.
- Even now, I dream of this. It is nearly time. Across the years, sisters—, text cuts off abruptly due to damage to the surface, originally in Doric Greek.
It is unknown how the relatively impoverished residents of SCP-9405 were able to produce the dyes needed for this fresco.
A collection of shrines to various classical Hellenic divinities, such as Athena, Demeter, and Hestia, is assembled throughout the caves. These are unlike their typical depictions, as each bears the same facial features: dark curled hair, an aquiline nose, and blue eyes. One shrine breaks from typical religious forms: instead of statuary or imagery, at its centre are a pair of marble antlers, which have shattered and then been tied together with twine (see Statuary Artefacts). It was dedicated to Artemis; water poured over the antlers will vanish before it hits the ground, and the next projectile aimed by supplicants will always hit its target.
The lowermost chamber of the cave system is filled with an underground body of water. Within it are four sets of synthetic material, which resemble sets of sloughed human skin. Chemical analysis does not conclusively identify the substance, though it contains complex proteins or protein-analogues. It has an iridescent appearance, and is strikingly coloured, with patterns resembling those found on a peacock's feathers.
Addendum 9405-1: After the conclusion of the survey, Department staff noted that SCP-9405 was deeply embedded in both the physical structure and the culture of the nuns, and full containment would necessitate a large-scale amnesticisation campaign. Today, the monastery is a moderately popular tourist destination, and its surface levels are almost perpetually occupied.
Consequently, it was determined impossible to simply keep the nuns in place while erasing knowledge of the complex and SCP-9405-β. In fact, full containment would necessitate evacuation of all current inhabitants, and a large-scale disinformation scheme across Heraklion and indeed much of wider Greece.
Since the monastery had historically been able to avoid the spread of information outside its bounds, and had not allowed outsiders access to the grounds until the Foundation's active intrusion, it was decided that simply reinforcing its natural isolationist tendencies would be sufficient. It has been declared a protected historical site, and monasterial officials have agreed to disallow further study of the area.
Today, SCP-9405 remains under the effective containment and control of the sisters of the Paliani Monastery.
Addendum 9405-2: During the dig, Department analysts discovered several fragmentary texts. These were not meaningfully translatable in themselves. However, after comparison with manuscripts in the monastery's collection, researchers were able to identify common threads and motifs, hypothesising that perhaps they were both descended from the same text. After thorough interpolation by retrocognitive techniques, they were able to reconstruct a few small passages, likely written by the residents during SCP-9405's inhabited period. The translations are necessarily uncertain, but are presented below for completeness. These represent the final artefacts collected from the SCP-9405 dig site.
[…] came up from Knossos, bearing [marks?/scars?]. I took her hands and […] no man would [pursue/find?] her here. […] beneath the earth, born […] waits. Women, all, who […] the [huntress/maiden?] was completed by […] have taken a new face. […] twenty women at last […] who did not yesterday. This is the work.
[…] Each woman who arrives broken leaves whole, or […] but remains […] The guardians stand […] Sister, and Old Mother. […] The steel of [soldiers/raiders?] is […] flesh from their bones with the tomb's fire, if necessary. […] be glad. Their [oars/hulls?] shall not [reach?] […] the young grow old […]
They hunted the child with […] perhaps more. [Seeking?/Demanding?] return of stolen […] Elder Sister met them […] fell before she broke. Only three […] I, myself […] for the [augur/priest?]. What was left […] wind spread him far. […] will not accept his bones.
The students of the sun […] killing light. And [Mithras?/The sky-father?] […] spiteful, and cruel. They fear […] see hope in the East. What is […] My guardians fall […] Little Sister still waits. She […] and struck, but fights on. […] worse each year. I must speak with [the consul?] […]
The lady was […] cowardly scheme. Creticus will be […] has not [risen/woken?] from the lake. We prepare to mourn […] Lais, you were ours. How long shall […] In the hills, a lamb [surprises/appears?] […] wait, and be ready.
[…] what was here. For generations […] lived without shame […] my mother, and her mother's mother died in [peace/silence?]. Their swords cannot take that […] day is coming when their gods […] forgiven. Lais promised a new […] dais is broken. Death shall [flee/surrender?] […] Whatever they say, we were not […] what we made […] enough. Across the years, sisters, I salute you.