An illumination found on the opening page of SCP-6587, depicting Adam naming the animals.

Item #: SCP-6587

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-6587 is preserved in a standard storage unit in Site-24's Anomalous Artefacts Wing. Digital copies of the book's contents are available on request to research personnel possessing Level 3 clearance and above.

Description: SCP-6587 is a medieval bestiary compiled in Averoigne, France. Despite its age, SCP-6587 is in remarkably good condition, with no visible stains or damages.

While authorship of SCP-6587 remains uncertain, handwriting analysis suggests it was penned by a single individual at some point in the late twelfth century. The preface bears the following inscription (translated from medieval Latin):

Let all praise be unto God,

For these wonders He hath shown me.

While physically non-anomalous, SCP-6587 warrants containment due to the unique nature of its contents. As with similar manuscripts, SCP-6587 contains detailed descriptions of various species of animal, with accompanying illustrations.

However, all animals documented in SCP-6587 appear to correspond to those whose existence was unknown to Europeans at the time of writing, including species indigenous to Oceania and the Americas. However, it should be noted that these depictions are highly embellished, and largely devoid of any scientific basis, with most entries relying instead on allegory and religious symbolism.

SCP-6587 was first obtained by the Estate noir1 in 1895. After its authenticity was confirmed by medievalist scholars, SCP-6587 was transferred to Foundation custody in 1904.

Addendum: Several translated passages from SCP-6587 have been transcribed by the Department of Mythology and Folkloristics below:

Of the Ignavus2

In the vibrant forests of Antillia, there lurks that most loathsome of creatures, the shiftless ignavus. Doubtlessly the most indolent beast in Creation, the ignavus has the face of a bear and the body of an ape, with fur grown thick and matted from incessant neglect. So detached are these creatures from spiritual concerns that they may never set foot on the ground, but confine themselves to the treetops, using their three great talons to hang listlessly from branches. Here, the ignavus spends all its days in a heedless slumber, too torpid even to dream, and rousing only once a month to feed and mate.

As seasons pass, the idle beast's untended pelt becomes overgrown with a kind of foul green mold, inviting the company of flies and worms. After consuming the creature's putrid hide, these vermin will continue to partake of the ignavus' flesh and innards, although so docile is this animal that it scarcely takes notice of its own destruction.

Of the Peregrine3

Of the many curious animals found in the untamed wilds of Terra Australis, none are so strange in appearance as the proud peregrine, which is the enemy of the tactless and uncouth. With bill of mallard, hide of otter, claws of cockerel and tail of beaver, these are the only beasts in all Creation to give both eggs and milk. The peregrine restricts his movements to lakes and riversides, feeding on shrubs and small fish, and poses no threat to men who approach him, providing they afford this rare beast his due reverence.

The patient peregrine retains his fearsome wrath solely for those who see fit to make laughter and mockery when met with his extraordinary form. The insulted peregrine will hereupon strike the unfortunate lout, and with his spurs deliver a sting more potent than that of either sword or serpent, causing him the slowest of deaths in the greatest of agonies. Let the peregrine serve to remind us never to take joy in the disfigurements or misfortunes of others.

Of the Opilio4

The opilio is a creature scarcely larger than a cat, which has silver fur, naked tail, white face and tapered snout. These beasts may live for no longer than a year, and mate only once. The female opilio possesses twin wombs, and will expel a litter comprising no fewer than a score and ten offspring within one day of conception. These pups are born hairless, each no bigger than a honeybee, and spend their first month clinging to their mother's back and sides while she teaches them how best to forage and make shelter.

Should any member of her myriad brood fall from its place, the mother opilio will take notice and swiftly begin her search. She will wander through all weather, forgoing both sleep and sustenance until the lost pup is retrieved. Once found, the mother opilio will grasp the wayward babe with the fingers of her tail and return it to its place, whereupon she and her children shall rejoice. In this sense, the opilio may be considered a living illustration of the Parable of the Lost Sheep, whereby the shepherd leaves his ninety-nine sheep to find the one that has strayed from its flock.

Of the Boreae5

In the frigid wastes of Farthest North, there exists a species of upright bird called the boreae which cannot fly but are fine swimmers. For lack of seed or berry, the boreae live solely on fish, and may be seen sliding on their bellies across the frozen hills for ease of movement. These birds are neither wholly righteous nor wicked. Much like men, the boreae hold potential for both good and evil, as signified by their dense plumage, which is coloured black and white in equal measure. A borea that has lived for seven years will shed its feathers all at once on the eve of the winter solstice.

When this occurs, the birds must travel in their nakedness to ascend a great marble cliff, before throwing themselves in unison from its ledge. Those among them that have led lives of careless decadence will plunge helplessly to the craggy shores below, where their bloodied remains are scavenged by the ravenous sea leopards. However, those boreae that have lived humbly and virtuously will by grace of God make use of their wings, and fly south to the fair and verdant domain of Prester John, to live forever in the land of warmth and plenty.

Footnotes

1. Foundation precursor organization, active in France between the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries.

2. Meaning idle or slovenly.

3. Meaning foreign or outlandish.

4. Latin term for sheep-herder.

5. Derived from Boreas, an ancient Greek personification of the north wind.

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