First photographic record of an SCP-2823 event.

Item #: SCP-2823

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: Due to the unpredictable location, wide range, and spontaneity of SCP-2823 events, physical containment of SCP-2823 is currently impractical. Foundation personnel in the Environment Agency are to monitor flood defences throughout the East of England for potential SCP-2823 events, and surveillance cameras have been fitted at all pumping stations deemed at risk from SCP-2823.

Use of amnestics up to Class-B is authorised for civilian participants in SCP-2823 events. Anomalous regional temperature shifts caused by SCP-2823 are well within normal climatic bounds; media coverage thereof is thus not considered to be a threat to containment. Damage caused by SCP-2823 events is to be attributed to poor maintenance and/or soil composition of land in the East of England. Affected sites are to be cleaned of graffiti.

Research, Response and Engagement protocols related to SCP-2823 are to be handled by Site-██'s MTF-Kappa-17 (Yellow Anorak).

Description: SCP-2823 is an event affecting an area of former wetland within the counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom. This area, referred to traditionally as the Fens or Fenland, was mostly converted into arable land from the 17th century onwards via a system of ditches and pumping stations.

Estimates for how long SCP-2823 has been extant are imprecise at best, due to its overlap with contemporaneous rural protest movements. SCP-2823 was first officially catalogued in 1863, under the auspices of Her Majesty's Foundation for the Secure Containment of the Paranormal (HMFSCP), passing into modern containment after [REDACTED].

SCP-2823 begins with the sabotage of pumping stations, ditches and flood defences used to maintain drainage of the arable fenland. As fen-drainage has caused gradual shrinkage of land below sea level, failure of the overall drainage network causes significant flooding and consequent property damage.

Machinery affected by SCP-2823 appears to have been forcibly broken by implements tentatively identified as shovels or hammers, though surveillance of affected sites reveals no evidence of break-in. Blockage and disruption of piping and plumbing systems previously caused enormous damage to windmill, coal and diesel pumping setups; the introduction of closed system electric pumps after the Second World War has largely prevented blockages from SCP-2823.

SCP-2823 is accompanied by the appearance of graffiti on affected buildings and machinery, most commonly depicting stylised Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) rendered in red and blue paint. Graffiti appearing within Cambridgeshire and Norfolk has also rarely depicted a triple golden-crown on a blue field, the traditional coat of arms of East Anglia.

Not only are SCP-2823 events getting progressively less powerful, they also seem to be moving further apart. ███ and I plotted them out and it looks like they've been gradually slowing since first observation, just not dramatically enough for us to pay attention until we started to get empty years.

Not sure if it's slowing down because it's causing less damage, or if it's just correlated. It also seems like it's striking easier targets, pumping stations with older machinery. I've recommended to ██████ that he press for improvements at those sites.

- Agent M██████

Fields flooded as a result of SCP-2823 undergo a rapid temperature drop which freezes floodwaters to heights of up to a few metres.1 Once floodwaters have frozen, humanoid entities designated SCP-2823-1 gather in number upon the ice. The number of SCP-2823-1 instances fluctuates between events, but has steadily decreased over time to its current low.

SCP-2823-1 instances are clothed in an anachronistic mix of 16th-19th century rural English working-class clothing, and speak in the distinct historical dialect of the fenland. Original HMFSCP research records on SCP-2823 were significantly compromised following [REDACTED], with only the summary document and older photographic documentation remaining.

Photographed SCP-2823-1 instances recur inconsistently between SCP-2823 events, with the exception of several always-recurring figures identifying themselves by the names of prominent fen-skaters of the 'Golden Age'.2 Many of these historical fen-skaters were alive or indeed born after the first official record of SCP-2823, but the lack of surviving HMFSCP research makes it impossible to determine whether these recurring figures were identified within SCP-2823 before or during their lifetimes.

SCP-2823-1 instances are welcoming and friendly and will actively invite in passers-by and families from nearby villages.3 Attempts to distract SCP-2823-1 from their activities, including with interview, are met with irritation and are generally ignored. Attempts to disrupt SCP-2823 or detain instances for interview are responded to with verbal protest and eventually violence.

Update 19/09/1975: Recurring SCP-2823 instances clearly remember previous attendees and have shown familiarity and willingness to engage with Foundation agents previously assigned to SCP-2823. Given this, and the length of time required to train agents to effectively communicate with SCP-2823, continuity of personnel assigned to SCP-2823 is considered a priority.

Attempts to question SCP-2823 instances about SCP-2823 events have largely met with failure, with instances secretive and unwilling to discuss the subject. Our current working hypothesis is that the instances fear being incriminated themselves. We believe that with time and further engagement, instances may trust our current agents enough to help shed light on the initial damage caused by SCP-2823 events.

Upon assembling, SCP-2823-1 will engage in drinking, celebration and conversation among themselves, largely jovial with the exception of frequent and ongoing complaints about the Levels.4 In particular, SCP-2823-1 regularly engage in recitations of the traditional protest song 'Powte's5 Complaint'. (See Addendum 1). An indeterminate time after assembling, SCP-2823-1 instances use gathered supplies to set up a fen-skating course, including (during darker periods) permanent iron-wrought gas-burning lampposts.

Once the course has been constructed, SCP-2823-1 engage in a traditional fen-skating tournament, conducted in Welsh Main format with up to 32 competitors.6 Once a winner is determined, the £10 prize purse is distributed to competitors and the fen-skating course is meticulously cleared. SCP-2823-1 instances disperse, appearing to vanish as they cross the threshold of SCP-2823's influence. The ice then melts and floodwaters recede.

Transcript 2823-21

Transcript 2823-21

The following transcription has been significantly edited to ease comprehension of the spoken language. The original recording can be accessed as part of the General Inventory of Site-██. SCP-2823-1 Count: 141 individuals.

Agent M█████ was deployed to an SCP-2823 event after several years of research into both SCP-2823 itself and the distinct spoken cadence of SCP-2823-1 instances. His specific mission parameters were simply to establish more significant rapport with SCP-2823 than had been achieved previously.

[01:34:34]

Agent M█████: Evening.

SCP-2823-1: Evening.

Agent M█████: Nice day for it.

SCP-2823-1: [grunt] Not bad. Better than '86.

Agent M█████: [laughter] Lot of fenmen on their arses that winter.

SCP-2823-1: [laughter] Too right.

Agent M█████: [spits] Turnout don't seem great these days.

SCP-2823-1: Aye. Things change.

Transcript 2823-26

Transcript 2823-26

The following transcription has been significantly edited to ease comprehension of the spoken language. The original recording can be accessed as part of the General Inventory of Site-██. SCP-2823-1 Count: 123 individuals.

[02:14:03]

Agent M█████: You nervous?

SCP-2823-1: [huffs] Bricking it. Haven't raced proper since the little one came.

Agent M█████: Balance issues?

SCP-2823-1: [laughter] Careful, you, I've sharpened these.

Agent M█████: Nah, you'll be alright. Dave's girl's wobbly on the sweep, you'll pace her easy.

SCP-2823-1: She turns well.

Agent M█████: Could just push her over.

SCP-2823-1: [laughter]

Transcript 2823-34

Transcript 2823-34

The following transcription has been significantly edited to ease comprehension of the spoken language. The original recording can be accessed as part of the General Inventory of Site-██. SCP-2823-1 Count: 110 individuals.

Transcript 53 marks a shift in Foundation protocol towards SCP-2823 instances, with Agent D██████ now also part of regular response to SCP-2823 events. Agent D██████ has undergone dialect training under Agent M█████'s tutelage, and is considered fully conversant. Agent D██████ has been instructed not to identify with the Foundation, but to pose as a local drawn in by SCP-2823. This altered protocol reflects updated strategy for obtaining information on SCP-2823 onset.

[00:56:22]

Agent D██████: Nah nah nah, wasn't the robbery exactly that got him sent down so long, more the disrespect. They just wanted to punish him for answering back.

SCP-2823-1: [spits] Sounds like the plod.

Agent D██████: 'Specially these new ones they've got in. Londoners, I think.

SCP-2823-1: Yeah, it will be. They don't trust us lot to thread a needle.

Agent D██████: Is it as bad as that?

SCP-2823-1: They've already taken our livelihoods. Can't respect a man if you can do that to him.

Transcript 2823-53

Transcript 2823-53

The following transcription has been significantly edited to ease comprehension of the spoken language. The original recording can be accessed as part of the General Inventory of Site-██. SCP-2823-1 Count: 88 individuals.

[05:43:20]

Agent M█████: Beautiful win from that Berry lad.

SCP-2823-1: S'the long legs, gives him that extra push.

Agent M█████: Good race technically, I reckon.

SCP-2823-1: Not like the shambles we had in the semis. Who's the Smart lad with the daft name - ?

Agent M█████: - Fish.

SCP-2823-1: [laughter] Aye, Fish. Boy couldn't stick a turn if the reaper had his own pink arse on the wager.

Transcript 2823-54

Transcript 2823-54

The following transcription has been significantly edited to ease comprehension of the spoken language. The original recording can be accessed as part of the General Inventory of Site-██. SCP-2823-1 Count: 88 individuals.

Transcript 54 marks the first instance of meaningful information from SCP-2823-1 instances regarding the onset of SCP-2823 events. It followed an unusually destructive event, responsible for significant property damage to homes within the ████████ development.

[03:01:23]

Agent D██████: You hear about the level? Collapsed overnight.

SCP-2823-1: S'what happens to people who try to camp out on Jack Flood's turf.

Agent D██████: You taking the piss?

SCP-2823-1: Nah, nah.

[EXTENDED SILENCE]

Agent D██████: You haven't done something stupid, have you?

[EXTENDED SILENCE]

Agent D██████: If you get caught -

SCP-2823-1: Calm yourself, girl. Flood don't need me to do anything, does he? He's got his own hands.

Transcript 2823-62

Transcript 2823-62

The following transcription has been significantly edited to ease comprehension of the spoken language. The original recording can be accessed as part of the General Inventory of Site-██. SCP-2823-1 Count: 61 individuals.

[02:51:36]

SCP-2823-1: Alright ████.

Agent M█████: Alright Fred.

SCP-2823-1: Not drinking, old man?

Agent M█████: Nah, not today.

SCP-2823-1: Ah, 'course, I forget you're working. [slapping Agent M█████'s shoulder] Good thing that.

Agent M█████: Eh? How's that?

SCP-2823-1: [spits] Nice knowing we'll be remembered.

Addendum 1

Powte's Complaint

Come, Brethren of the water and let us all assemble

To treat upon this matter, which makes us quake and tremble;

For we shall rue, if it be true, t' Fens be undertaken,

And where we feed in Fen and Reed, they’ll feed both Beef and Bacon.

They’ll sow both beans and oats, where never man yet thought it,

Where men did row in boat, ere the undertakers bought it:

But, Ceres, thou behold us now, let wild oats be their venture,

Oh let the frogs and miry bogs destroy where they do enter.

Behold the great design, which they do now determine,

Will make our bodies pine, a prey to crows and vermine:

For they do mean all Fens to drain, and waters overmaster,

All will be dry, and we must die, ’cause Essex calves want pasture.

The feather’d fowls have wings, to fly to other nations;

But we have no such things, to aid our transportations;

We must give place (oh grievous case) to hornéd beasts and cattle,

Except that we can all agree to drive them out by battle.

Footnotes

1. Based on topographical records of affected sites, this appears to 'restore' land to historical depths before soil shrinkage caused by wetland reclamation.

2. Recorded 'permanent members' thusfar include William 'Turkey' Smart, brothers 'Fish' and James Smart, Sophie Winters, Genevieve Dewsbury, Laura Parvitt, Robert League, Fortitude Johnson, Larman Register, and John Berry. All of these instances appear roughly the same age, despite their historical counterparts having being born at wildly varying times.

3. This invitation does not appear to have anomalous or cognitohazardous properties, nor any lasting effect on civilian participants beyond enjoyment of the festivities.

4. The Levels were the successive draining projects which converted the Fenland into farmland.

5. An archaic dialect term for fowler.

6. The last six SCP-2823 events have only included 16 competitors, due to reduced attendance.