Introduction to Runes - SCP Foundation

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Subject: Mandatory Seminar - Runes and you!

Hello! If you are reading this, we have selected you, your department, site, and/or team to attend this mandatory seminar! If this is sent to a department, site or team lead, please send some appropriate members under your purview. This is not to be used as a punishment detail, as attendees will need to be able to facilitate the dissemination of this knowledge and training.

This seminar will take place over three weeks in Site-64's B-Wing; accommodations will be provided. The topic of discussion will be Thaumaturgical Runes: the basics, their usages, and their nuances. Attendees will learn about the lore and practice behind the art, the mechanics, components, and differences based on the cultures and traditions of runes. This information is shared to spread awareness and more effectively handle issues that arise in the field or other research in a safe manner.

After all, you don't want to try to neutralize Daevite runes with the Sarkic alphabet!

The sessions will also include a brief overview of thaumaturgy and its workings, especially in comparison and contrast to runes. This will most likely contain some review for most attending; for those unfamiliar with such things, fret not! We shall equip you well with the needed knowledge.

Note, please ensure attendees have or will be approved for at least Level-3-Deep-Blue clearance prior to attending. This is due to the clearance required by some renowned groups attending. If you're getting this you can most likely figure out which more classified groups will be sending members.

Otherwise, allow me to introduce myself; I am Dr. Jasper Coldsmith, DThaRS: Doctor of Thaumaturgic Runic Sciences. I am a second-generation Foundation staff, was dead for a few years in the line of duty, and am currently designated SCP-7963-1A.

Assisting me will be Researcher Thomas Yaltz who many may be familiar with, a man with many names, also designated as SCP-507.

Please note that we will not tolerate any discrimination towards anomalous staff. Not for Yaltz and me, but for the wizards in the room.

We look forward to working with you.

-J. Coldsmith

Introduction

Seminar Video Log Transcript

Date: 5/06/202X

Subject: Introduction to Runes

Seminar Lead: Dr. Jasper Coldsmith

Team Members: Researcher Thomas Yaltz

[BEGIN VIDEO]

Footage shows people entering the meeting room as the starting time nears.

At the start time, hands grasp the front desk from underneath it, pulling out a mechanical form that rapidly unfolds into a humanoid shape, rotating its joints and torso into a front-facing position. The now-revealed robot reaches back down, pulls out a white lab coat, donning it with slow mechanical precision.

Coldsmith: Greetings! Welcome to our first day; Introduction to Runes! We will begin momentarily as soon as Tom arrives.

A few minutes pass before Coldsmith reaches into their lab coat pocket, pulls out their phone, and begins typing on it.

Air is displaced in a loud popping noise as a figure appears in the front of the room, wearing a large grey conical hat that slightly sags; they look around the room momentarily before speaking.

Yaltz: A Wizard is never late. He arrives precisely when he means to.

Coldsmith snaps his fingers and points to Yaltz.

Coldsmith: Yeah he's uh, a Type Blue now; Grabnok the Grey. He has what is known as a bloodline, we'll go over that later, and how they can be helpful in the construction of a rune.

Coldsmith: Many of you know the drill, it's a part of your daily life. For those not in a magic-oriented workplace, we'll cover some tidbits from Director Moose's older "Magic Seminar," which you should all be able to find in the network now available to you in workplace training.

Coldsmith: There are many types of workings of magic but the key is simple: sympathy. If one wants to throw a ball of fire you'd use something representative of fire, a lighter is cheap; matches more so. You're caught with your pants down; use friction. Fire is heat, and it's easy to make. This same concept of sympathy is very central to runes as well.

Yaltz: Another key part of a working, or a spell, would be the backlash. Newton rears his damned head in our magic as well, that bastard. The same fireball spell might leave you ironically a bit chilly, or the area around you might start to frost over; depending on how you constructed the spell and what was used for it.

Yaltz: Using that lighter is not as bad as winging it with a bit of friction; there was a flame, and it got big. You can also think of it as reality snapping back. If equal and opposite reactions do not work for you, how about one from my favorite show: Equivalent Exchange.

Coldsmith looks into the audience after hearing some comments.

Coldsmith: No, you can't call me full metal.

Coldsmith: Runes handle things like a ritual would with varying degrees of preparation time. You could of course build a more elaborate, permanent rune that would be comparable to a ritual in time and resources. Still, unless the materials are garbage, they will generally be reusable or long-lasting.

Yaltz: Some would be easier than lighting a match.

Yaltz picks up a blue marker and draws a few symbols inside of a circle before placing his hand on the board; causing the drawing to glow briefly.

Yaltz: And like a blast from the magic orientation past I now speak in blue. Da ba dee and all that. You'll notice the dry-erase marker on the board looks like someone dabbed an eraser on parts of it now, that is the rune being worn down in exchange.

Coldsmith: Materials matter overall as they would in normal workings; in the case of runes format and language apply as well. For our current example of fire, use a language associated with fire, warmth, or heat. Spanish would be a good mundane language to write in for this, as opposed to a Nordic language; conversely, a more supernatural language would flavor our spiciness differently. Enokian, the language of the angels, would give us some nice holy fire while a Tartarean dialect would give us some good old hellfire. Alternatively, get some of Agent Navarro's blood and write it in whatever mundane language to give you nuclear fire because his bloodline is bullshit.

Coldsmith: Bloodlines and actual blood from specific people that can be used or mixed into the materials for runes would greatly enhance the finished product. In some cases, it can even apply the bloodline's unique traits. If you want nuclear power, get Navarro. If you want dimensional bullshit, get some from Yaltz here; it's why he can poof around. Do note that he's doing the equivalent of dimension-shifting and not real in-house teleportation.

Coldsmith: Now, that we've covered our broad topic base briefly thus far, let us move forward into rune-working basics and how it can cover more basic spellcraft.

Video has reached the end of its playtime. Next video: "Basics of Rune Work" has been queued.

[END VIDEO]

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Basics of Runes & You! (To be released)