SCP-5213: The Oracle of the Fae

Author: Cyvstvi.

Cyvstvi

The Oracle of the Fae by Cyvstvi

Item#: 5213

Containment Class: safe

Secondary Class: none

Disruption Class: dark

Risk Class: notice

Fig 1.1: Six Doric columns situated directly above the cavern concealing the entrance to SCP-5213.

Special Containment Procedures: A fenced perimeter has been erected around the Temple of Apollo, located at Delphi, Greece, to dissuade civilian exploration. Any civilians caught attempting to enter SCP-5213 are to be amnesticised and remanded into the custody of the Hellenic Police. Cover Story 5213.12 "Structural Degradation: Archaeological Site" has been disseminated to local and regional media.

SCP-5213 is to be contained at the location of its discovery by Mobile Task Force Phi-11 "The Waymakers". Phi-11 are tasked with civilian containment methods and ensuring that Foundation personnel remain able to access SCP-5213 at all times.

Description: SCP-5213 is a massive, subterranean structure located beneath the Delphic Panhellenic Sanctuary on Mount Parnassos, Greece. SCP-5213 predates all other structures on Mount Parnassos by approximately seven thousand years. The entrance to SCP-5213 is concealed within a cave beneath the Sanctuary, accessible by means of a rock-cut staircase within the bedrock of the mountainside. These caverns, which descend seven kilometres into the earth, have not been fully mapped and are illuminated by an unknown species of bioluminescent foliage.

A pair of oak doors mark the boundary between SCP-5213 and the exterior cavern. These doors are sealed by means of a nomenclative lock, requiring an individual to speak a specific utterance to unlock the door. This utterance was deduced to be the Name1 of the individual wishing to access SCP-5213. It is believed that the risks associated with verbally speaking an individual’s Name warranted a sufficient security measure to those who built SCP-5213.

SCP-5213's internal architecture is reminiscent of the ruins located near the place where they began, consisting of elevated walkways and floral courtyards. If viewed from above, SCP-5213 would resemble a solar cross.2 SCP-5213 is divided into five sections; one section is situated at each end of the cross, whilst the fifth section is located at the centre.

The four outermost sections of SCP-5213 function as archives, each one filled with thousands of clay tablets. The majority of these tablets lay broken or severely disfigured. Foundation linguists have transposed and translated a fractional minority of recovered intact tablets. Those which have been translated are filed within this document.

The central section of SCP-5213 consists of an elevated platform surrounded by discs of polished marble and hollow agate. These discs are suspended in mid-air, remaining entirely motionless, with their mirrored surfaces directed towards the chamber at the centre of the platform. This central structure houses SCP-5213-A.

SCP-5213-A is a complex scrying device intended to deliver divine revelations3 to the singular occupant. It is constructed from marble and is laterally banded by strips of an unidentified metal alloy. This alloy is composed from six of the planetary metals: lead, tin, gold, copper, mercury, and silver, with the noticeable absence of iron. A disc of polished hollow agate, suspended in a similar manner to those on the exterior, levitates at the occupant’s eye-level. Additionally, SCP-5213-A possesses abnormally high levels of both latent Akiva and negative flux aspect radiation; the latter of which implies that the device was connected to a Way.

Information gathered from within SCP-5213 implies that SCP-5213-A and much of SCP-5213 was destroyed in a deliberate act of sabotage by its creators. In particular, a necessary component was removed from SCP-5213-A rendering it inoperable.

Addendum 5213.1: Recovered Evidence

Chronology

Date: A Moon's Fleeting Journey Before Writing4

Scribe: Named of Wombs, Union, Love, and Conflict5

My Father, Named from Kings and Stars, held court with the greatest minds of the Fae just a Moon’s Fleeting Journey Before Writing. They delivered dire news of utmost concern unto him.

They have said that our understanding of time is flawed. They say that the great Epoch in which we currently live is far longer in duration than previously thought, possibly lasting as long as the Epoch of Dragons.

When my father questioned these great minds, a singular man of great prowess and gifted knowledge rose to answer him; a man called Named from Knowledge and the Moon.

He spoke thusly, “Beneath the earth which we tread, Named from Kings and Stars, there exists layers of rock and stone, which are filled with the bones and impressions of long-dead animals, people, and monsters. Each of these layers mark the passage of time as the rock is weathered by the waters and buffered by the winds. One such age, which we named the Epoch of Dragons, for the monsters within these rocks were great of stature and impressive in size, appears to have lasted countless millennia. In comparison, the Epoch of Chaos that we currently find ourselves living in has lasted but a blink of the eye. We have recently discovered yet another layer that rests between the Epoch of Dragons and the Epoch of Ice; this layer is naught but ash and bone and sand.”

My father, devoid of knowledge as ever, called for Named from Knowledge and the Moon to explain himself with greater clarity.

Named from Knowledge and the Moon answered once more, “Lord, on most occasions, we would call upon the long-dead spirits of the earth and rock to explain their lives within these Epochs. We would call forth their Names and drive them to the surface, for the earth is made of countless dead things. When we attempted to question the spirits of ash and bone and sand, there came a great silence. The land there has witnessed the Eternal Oblivion.”

My father stopped at the mention of this dreaded phrase and ushered the other great minds from the hall, leaving only Named from Knowledge and the Moon, myself, and my father within the great hall. We stood silently as the air hung heavy between us all.

God of the Epoch of Dragons

Date: A Day Before Writing

Scribe: Named of Wombs, Union, Love, and Conflict

My father demanded that I make myself available, in the capacity of Scribe, at the ritual of the Calling of the Names. My father wished to witness the questioning of ancient spirits for himself to validate the concerns of that dreaded phrase. This particular Calling of the Names was being conducted at a secluded grove, not far from our enclave’s surreptitious dwelling. My father expressed great apprehension towards such a flagrant display of our magical prowess, knowing well that the Children of the Light and the Children of the Night were seeking and hunting our kind.

All doubts were allayed when Named from Knowledge and the Moon gestured towards a series of engravings which he had carved upon all the oak trees of the forest. He had placed Seals of Concealment, burgeoning with such elder power as to blacken the woodland, into every single tree. The Children would never find us here for we would appear as little more than dancing light before their eyes.

Named from Knowledge and the Moon bowed towards my father and began to weave a solemn song of Names all about us. These Names were ancient and terribly powerful; constructions of the twinned legacies of faith and blood. Pouring elder knowledge into this song, he plunged it into the earth like a spearhead. With a crackle of bright lightning, the earth was split ajar. From this slivered crack in the forest floor, a spirit crawled forth into the pale moonlight. The spirit’s face became a twisted mask of agony as it forced its distorted limbs from the rend between IS and IS NOT.

This particular spirit possessed immense weight and size, towering over the congregation and attendants, but was carried upon six spindly and contorted legs which splayed perpendicular to the body. It had an elongated head with six swollen eyeballs, which scanned the participants of the ritual with malignant disdain and irreverent hatred. It reared its head back and squealed, the noise of which could never be reproduced by a fae’s vocal chords, and charged towards me.

Cowering in fear and paralyzed by an absolute terror, I could feel its decayed and pallid breath upon my face. Its jaws snapped and twisted towards me, but it was unable to harm me, as it was slowly dragged back to the rend in the earth by six ethereal chains.

Named from Knowledge and the Moon struggled against the weight of the spirit. He used the chains of whispered Names to slowly pull the spirit back into the summoning circle, which had been drawn upon the forest floor in charcoal. The spirit’s flat nostrils flared as it flailed wildly at the chains binding its emaciated limbs.

“I speak to you now, God of the Epoch of Dragons, and call upon you to deliver truth and honesty.

I know your Name and with that power, I bind you to our realm; a realm you once walked,” cried Named from Knowledge and the Moon.

In response, the God of the Epoch of Dragons let its distended jaw dangle open, bellowing a horrifying rumbling sound as its ghastly ribs rattled. It grinned an inhumane smile, filled with needles and daggers, and responded, “Ask away, Mortal, for your presence disgusts me and I readily yearn to return to my own dominion which is sequestered in the solemn bliss of death.”

“What manner of people worshiped you?”

“Not people as you would call them,” it heaved and rattled. “Great reptiles of similar stature to mine own. I believe your kind would call them Dragons, for that is what you presumptuously name me. They were far more primitive than you foul, civilised bipeds, for they were enamoured by a bestial lust I well understood. The want of carnage, hunger, and the carnal delights.”

“And so their desire brought about your existence?”

The God of the Epoch of Dragons rattled once more, heaving against the swirling chains. “Did they? Could it not be that Gods create worshippers for theirselves? Alas, the world shall never know, for they are reduced to impressions within the stone, just as my mortal form is now.”

“What is your realm like, wraith?”

“Paradise for the Dragons. Eternal slaughter and abundant prey. In my realm, the world was never blotted out by ash and dust. They continue to reign over all; as it should be.”

“Speaking of ash, spirit, what do you know of the Eternal Oblivion?”

At this phrase, the God’s composure eroded and it painfully flinched away from Named from Knowledge and the Moon. “Speak not of it. It wails the hollow scream of desolation that all realms - even IS NOT - fear.”

“Following the Epoch of Dragons, there exists a layer of bones kissed by the Eternal Oblivion. Did you know of this?”

The God wailed in primal anguish and violently clawed at the clasps wrapped around its limbs. “Disgusting mortals, you could never comprehend the Eternal Oblivion. Your very presence on this plane of existence is fleeting. Death is nothing compared to that. Unchain me and allow me to return to my own plane forged in blissful death!”

“One final question, Nzaadak Cthali! Are you free from the Eternal Oblivion in your realm!”

With the uttering of its Name, the God’s chains were snapped apart and it was freed from its bindings. The spirit writhed in agony as it was dragged back into the rent of the earth, a whispered rattle escaping from its mouth as the last answer any living soul would hear of it.

"Never."

The Orrery

Date: A Moon Before Writing

Scribe: Named of Wombs, Union, Love, and Conflict

My father and the entire Court tremble after witnessing the horrors of the Chaining of Names. Despite the continued slaughter of our people, my father has become obsessed with the Eternal Oblivion. His fears are not unfounded; if our people are to witness the Eternal Oblivion, who will remain to remember those who have fallen already? Must our memory be condemned to dust? This conflict of ours will have been for little and naught if we do not survive it.

My father has consulted the Orrery. Named from Knowledge and the Moon flits about nervously, indecisiveness brewing within his mind, as he too consults the myriad being of Nergalgazur. It offers nothing for our people.

It has spoken thusly, "Whilst you are Named, there is no salvation for you in this realm. The Eternal Oblivion has cursed a thousand civilisations before our own. Do you imagine that you are the first that seeks to escape its tangled web? Never the first and never the last; this is the truth of all things. Your kind shall find no safe harbour within this realm, for we must all become like those that came before us."

My father and Named from Knowledge and the Moon whisper in hushed voices surrounding the Orrery's doomed omen. They say that they will bring our Court to a realm of safety; where we shall remain forever separated from our slaughtered brothers and sisters. We shall honour and remember them in that sheltered realm, untouched by the Eternal Oblivion.

It is our kind's final hope.

Addendum 5213.2: Technical Memoranda

On September 5th, 2005, Dr. Thaddeus Xyank was consulted regarding the purpose and design of SCP-5213-A; specifically, as to whether he could restore the machine to proper working order. His memorandum has been filed below:

Technical Memorandum on the Operation, Purpose, and Restoration of SCP-5213-A

Dr. Thaddeus Xyank

RCT-Δt

It’s staggering how reductionist the original analysis of SCP-5213-A was. This artifact is not some simple “scrying device”; in fact, it has more in common with an XACTS than a crystal ball.

Simply put, SCP-5213-A is a time machine. More abstractly, SCP-5213-A is an interdimensional temporal necromantic telephone. It was designed, presumably by a group of Fae nomenclativists, as a means of transcending chronology when communicating with the dead. From my brief discussions with Dr. Takemi, it would appear that the spirits of the dead experience the passage of time in a manner similar to our own. These spirits gradually fade away or dissipate into their environment, much like any form of energy, and remain quite noncommunicable when in this post-post-mortem state. The Fae wanted to resolve this issue.

Their solution was staggeringly simple: just go back in time to a period before the spirit of the dead dissipated. Now, you might be wondering why they didn’t simply rewind to a period before the spirit was dead in the first place, and that’s where the second part comes in. The Fae were deliberately targeting the spirits of the dead because of their nefarious Chaining of the Names; Dr. Takemi will likely expand upon this ritual further in their memorandum. As such, they were attempting to communicate with a past iteration of this dead spirit, from before they had dissipated into their surrounding environment.

The how of this procedure is exceedingly complex. It has a lot in common with the IsoCom used by my own RCT-Δt, transmitting information between two synchronised locations, whilst also anchoring the entity’s post-mortem consciousness within the device. I believe that this function is performed by the mirrored slab of agate present within the machine. Part of this information exchange is conducted by means of the Ways, the interdimensional doorways that are used to transverse the multiverse in which we live, thus suggesting a connection to other levels of space-time. Yet another thing that Dr. Takemi will likely touch upon in her memorandum.

Now, as for whether I can restore the device to working conditions, that would require me to replace the component that these Fae removed prior to their "disappearance". To my surprise, that component can easily be reproduced by human technology.

Memorandum on Fae Thaumaturgy, Cosmologies, and the Chaining of Names

Dr. Victoria Takemi

Department of History, et al.

There is an awful lot to cover here and I’m prone to explaining every single minor detail, so I’m limiting myself to the time it takes to drink this coffee.

Understanding the Chaining of Names requires an understanding of Fae thaumaturgy, which in turn requires an understanding of the Fae’s conceptualisation of our cosmology - you can probably see why I limited myself to that coffee now.

The basis for Fae thaumaturgy, and all thaumaturgy, relies upon two things: the power of Names and the thaumaturgic power of a given realm. From these Names, an individual is capable of drawing a measure of thaumaturgic energy from their environment, which is then given shape and form by the individual. This power is always taken; never given. The Fae understood our universe as layered realms, with each layer being connected via tunnels. These tunnels, which the Fae called the Ways, allowed an individual to traverse the different levels of reality. To open a Way, an individual would have to physically tear reality apart with thaumaturgic energy.

Shifting the relevance back towards SCP-5213-A or the Orrery, it serves a twofold purpose. Firstly, it is, as Thad put it earlier, an interdimensional temporal necromantic telephone. Secondly, it is a diagram of their cosmology. The central machine represents the Fae, capable of manipulating distinct realms, which are represented by the floating slabs all around the machine. This is not a metaphor - the Fae didn’t understand allusion. To the Fae, a metaphor is one and the same as the object it is comparing. Those slabs are the other realities. Currently, SCP-5213-A houses a representational realm of the Dead, or Nergalgazur, as it was called in Fae language. Through this, the Fae nomenclativists were capable of interacting with the Dead without tearing Ways into reality.

However, other realms are neither static nor stationary; they experience the passage of time just as our own one does. These representational realms are just the same. Interactions between realms are imperfect at best. At times, they can overlap without the need for a Way; and realms which are “adjacent” to one another are most prone to this. Subjects cross between realms, subjects use their power to channel thaumaturgic energy from one realm to another, and subjects live within the different realms. SCP-5213-A was designed to eliminate the need for Ways as well as eliminate the limitations of time.

Moving onto the Chaining of Names, this was an incredibly potent thaumaturgic ritual that the Fae frequently abused; they were the most well-attuned race during their brief time within this universe after all. Essentially, the ritual binds an entity to a given realm through the command of their Name, the source of their thaumaturgy, which takes their power from them. It leaves them entirely at the whims of their summoner.

SCP-5213-A is simply a device that enables the Chaining of Names to occur across space-time, irrespective of the physical limitations of the universe, reality, and time. As much as Thad will gloat about fixing the machine to working operation, we humans will be utterly unable to use it since we lack the same thaumaturgic prowess as the Fae. We will simply be able to recover the final impressions of a time long since lost to us.

Addendum 5213.3: EKPYROSIS

► ACCESS RESTRICTED TO LEVEL 5 PERSONNEL

▼ ACCESS GRANTED

On October 5th, 2005, the O5 Council voted in favour of installing a heavily-modified MkIV XACTS into SCP-5213-A, thus reactivating the centuries old artifact. Following its reactivation, a thaumaturgical ritual, overseen by members of the Alchemy Division commenced. This reactivation resulted in the following interview video log.

Interview with God of the Epoch of Ice

Date: October 5th, 2005

Participant: Dr. Victoria Takemi

[BEGIN LOG]

[SCP-5213-A is activated. The modified MkIV XACTS produces a tachyon displacing field and the shimmering image of a near-humanoid entity appears. It possesses an ursine form, with a muscular physique, and four glowing chains wrapped about its wrists and ankles. This entity is henceforth designated SCP-5213-1.]

SCP-5213-1: If my kin were present, they would tear you limb from limb and toss your remains into the hearth. Speak, mortal, I have had quite enough of the incessant bickering of the trickster spirit and long to return to the quiet embrace of death.

Dr. Takemi: What manner of people worshipped you?

SCP-5213-1: (Laughter) Primitive beings shaping tools of flint and stone. They could not herd creatures and so fell upon them in vast numbers. No strength and no virtue; they were weak and feared my kind. They built monuments to our slaughter and hid within caves!

Dr. Takemi: What name did you give your kin?

SCP-5213-1: I… I do not recall our names. My mind goes numb and fogs at the thought of it. Foul mortal, do you make tricks of my mind?

Dr. Takemi: I have done nothing to cloud your mind. Did you recall anything when the tricksters spoke to you?

SCP-5213-1: I recall wanting to tear the diminutive thing apart. It questioned me just as you have done, mortal. Would you have me repeat myself until my tongue withers away?

Dr. Takemi: Does the Eternal Oblivion mean anything to you, [She glances at a clay tablet in her hands.] God of the Epoch of Ice?

SCP-5213-1: (Laughter) You do seek the same knowledge as the tricksters after all! The Eternal Oblivion, yes, that's what the diminutive people called it. I knew nothing of it until the tricksters enlightened me of my untimely demise.

Dr. Takemi: They knew how you died?

SCP-5213-1: They were obsessed with the knowledge of my death. They told me that they found my remains within a layer of rock surrounded by sand and ashes and bones. Utterly empty and devoid of anything. They begged me again and again, crying out. "Tell us anything of your people! Your civilisation! Anything!"

Dr. Takemi: How did you respond?

SCP-5213-1: With silence, and only after that, did I gift them with a final piece of knowledge that arrived to me in a fleeting moment of lucidity.

Dr. Takemi: What knowledge was that, God of the Epoch of Ice?

SCP-5213-1: The knowledge of the Eternal Oblivion; the universal truth that all civilisations are destined to witness.

Dr. Takemi: That will be all, God of the Epoch of Ice, you may return to your death.

[END LOG]

Following this interview, a previously undocumented clay tablet was discovered beside SCP-5213-A. Its contents were translated and transcribed as follows:

The Eternal Oblivion

Date: Written shortly after the Primal Howl of Creation

Scribe: Nameless

And lo, those three stood alone before Creation and they spoke in turn, each one burning an offering to this nascent world:

The first man radiating golden light, crowned with ambition, freedom and security, strode forth and placed his rusted chains upon the flames. "With this offering, I cast away my shackles and chains. I strangle my shadows and embrace the light, so that my children might do the same."

A woman with skin like polished amber, came forth and withdrew a knife of glass. She slashed across her palm, dripping her vitality upon the hearth. "With this offering, I carve my Name from the world. I become the Nameless, so that my children might inherit their own."

The third figure, a man of coal-black skin, approached the roaring flames of Creation, and turned his back upon it. "With this offering, I refuse to acknowledge that which IS and claim dominion over that which IS NOT. I wander the world forever, so that my children may know home."

And lo, those three stood alone before Creation and heard its silent anathema; the damnation of all civilisation. The Eternal Oblivion.

Footnotes

1. Also known as an individual's Alterke; a specific name known only to the individual that belies their true nature.

2. An equilateral cross enclosed within a circle.

3. Truth or knowledge resulting from communication with a higher being, deity, or god.

4. This refers to the date that the event occurred. In this case, that would be eight days before writing.

5. One of many Fae names. The linguistic basis for all known Fae Names has been conceptually eradicated from this world, and as such, epithets are used in place of names.