Item #: SCP-6311

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: For ease of containment, SCP-6311 has been relocated brick-by-brick from its original location to Site-93. Inspections and maintenance operations are to take place weekly in order to maintain SCP-6311's structural stability. These operations are to be conducted via remote drones in order to reduce the risk of accidental contact with SCP-6311-1.

Negotiation with SCP-6311-1 is to be conducted only by pre-authorized personnel of Level 3 or higher. Personnel negotiating with SCP-6311-1 are to barter with it using only the meat stock previously cleared for use. Offering of any personal resources outside of these are strictly forbidden.

Any personnel who do not emerge from SCP-6311 following a negotiation attempt are to be considered either lost or, depending on the results of future negotiations, meat.

Description: SCP-6311 is a stone bridge originally located on the outskirts of the Norwegian village of Fosby. Due to missing historical records, both the date of SCP-6311's construction and its original builders are unclear.

Walking directly over SCP-6311 results in no anomalous phenomena, nor does any other interaction with it — save for walking directly underneath the bridge's arc. When an individual moves underneath the bridge, they will instantly vanish, with testimony by test subjects indicating they are subsequently transported to an unknown space.

According to testimony, this space consists of an black void stretching on in every direction. Despite numerous attempts at exploration, no returning test subjects have been able to reach any form of landmark or other location within this space. As a result, it is believed that the only entities present within this space are the visitor and SCP-6311-1.

SCP-6311-1 is an entity of variable shape and size that resides within SCP-6311.

While subjects have been consistently unable to produce a coherent depiction of SCP-6311-1, they typically describe it using a multitude of contradictory traits. Attempts at taking photographs or videos of SCP-6311-1 have been similarly unsuccessful, producing nothing but pitch-black images.

SCP-6311-1 is sapient and capable of communication. It will typically speak with the visitor, offering them information in exchange for something of equal value. SCP-6311-1's sense of value is somewhat primitive in that it considers food — specifically raw meat — to be most valuable, just below human lives. If denied human sacrifice, it will typically demand large quantities of meat in exchange for whatever information is requested.

Testing of SCP-6311-1's capabilities has shown that it possesses a wide breadth of knowledge, providing accurate information on history, geography, military secrets, and potential improvements to containment for several other anomalies. However, it has not shown the capability to produce information which is known only to specific individuals — suggesting that whatever means it uses to procure this knowledge does not extend to telepathy or mind-reading.

Addendum 6311-1 (Folklore Analysis)

As SCP-6311 is currently under the purview of the Folklore Department, initial understanding of the anomaly was concocted using the Campbell Protocol. Under the Campbell Protocol, folklore and urban legends from the local area — as well as derivatives from further afield — are conflated and taken as fact for the purposes of initial containment. The following brief on SCP-6311 was conflated from the original source 'Three Billy Goats Gruff' and twenty-seven derivatives. Annotations have been left by Dr. Mary Cohort to aid in reader understanding.

Three innocent creatures are crossing a bridge. (Crossing in this sense may not mean literally crossing the bridge, but rather using the bridge to cross over to SCP-6311's realm.)

A hostile creature stops the three in turn. (In this case, we can easily surmise the hostile entity to be SCP-6311-1. In the vast majority of depictions, this entity is called a troll, and is referred to as such for the remainder of the brief.)

Each of the three individually promises the troll that the next one coming is bigger — and thus has more meat to offer. (I don't think I need to specify how this plays into 6311-1's specific interests.)

The third of the creatures defeats the troll in a physical altercation. (Unclear how this plays into our understanding of the anomaly. Is there a way to engage it outside of the negotiations we've observed?)

With the troll defeated, all three of the creatures pass unimpeded. (From my understanding, this could indicate two possible scenarios — once the entity is 'defeated', it can be utilized without fear, or the more mundane explanation that the bridge can be used normally if the entity is no longer present.)

Addendum 6311-2 (Initial Contact Record)

Following three D-Class incursions and interactions with SCP-6311-1, Head Researcher Mary-Anne Jameson elected to pass underneath SCP-6311 and communicate with the entity within personally. As recording devices have shown inconsistent efficacy within this space, an approximate record of this communication was transcribed following Head Researcher Jameson's return.

I still have difficulty describing precisely what I saw — after my initial observation, I found myself closing my eyes for much of the remainder — but these words are what come to mind when I think back to that moment. They are as accurate as anything else I could say.

It was a reptile in that it was cold. It was a mammal in that it was warm.

It was a lizard in that it was scaly. It was a lion in that it was furred. It was a machine in that it was metallic. It was a monument in that it was stone. It was a star in that it was bright.

It was an animal in that it was wild. It was a human in that it was cruel. It was a mosaic in that it was everything.

It was a troll.

It wasted no time in greeting me, in a way beyond words, before informing me in advance that it would require recompense for everything it provided to me in its realm. I agreed that payment would be provided. Apparently satisfied, it asked me what I desired of it.

I began from the questions we'd all discussed beforehand. To begin with, I asked if it could tell me its name. It asked me if I was willing to spend six billion human lives for that information — I quickly retracted the question. I then asked if it could tell me the principles by which it operated. It agreed in exchange for one lamb eyeball. Once provided, it told me that it worked by providing information in exchange for sustenance. Perhaps this was a foolish question on my part.

The discussion that followed spanned many hours, and ate through much of the meat stock we'd been provided by our usual source. I've sent over the containment revisions we've concocted to the relevant research teams, and the reports we've gotten back so far have been very positive. SCP-6311-1, as a continually usable resource, will be an undeniable boon to the Foundation.

This is why we do what we do here at Folklore, people. At first glance, these tales may look like scary stories to keep kids in line, but that simply isn't the case at all. In their time, this lore was how humanity taught itself about the dangers it couldn't possibly hope to understand — and we still have a whole lot to learn.

Let's get to work.

Incident 6311-1

On 13/09/2021, three days following Head Researcher Jameson's return from communicating with SCP-6311-1, she suddenly vanished from her on-site quarters. Inspection of her quarters has shown traces of her blood stained into her bedsheets, and several of her teeth blocking the drain in the adjoining bathroom. Surveillance in the room was inoperable during the presumed time of her disappearance.

The following message was found burnt into the ceiling:

DID YOU THINK MY TIME CAME FREE OF CHARGE?

Testing has been temporarily suspended.