There are five of what were once cities connected within 
SCP-169, only two of which are named so far 
(Tentaboeoe and Hirakeroek). These five cities were, 
before the events of As Time Draws Near, connected 
under the Teachings of Marzed, led by His Graciousness 
Diviner Artem at the Crown of Velvet. Their religion 
preached of one true creator who formed each of the five 
cities and its inhabitants from pieces of himself. There 
are two Teachings-based holyman levels identified thus 
far: 


¢ Diviners, those who preach the teachings of 
Marzed while seeking knowledge of the world 
around them. 

* Castmen, low-level preachers and basic 
handymen for the church. 


It is not Known what is currently inhabiting the other cities 
within SCP-169, and whether or not they themselves are 
joined. 


The first organization to attempt containment of SCP-169 
was the American Secure Containment Initiative, which 
was not able to actually enact containment. However, 
they did make preparations for one day containing it, 
including creating alliances with European and American 
governments and building easier routes to the 
Leviathan's location (i.e the Panama Canal). The 
Initiative was absorbed by the Foundation in the middle 
of the twentieth century, and the resources with it. 


The Foundation currently contains SCP-169 in much the 
same way as is specified in the object's containment 
procedure, albeit with some alterations. As a result of 
certain developments in the activity of the Leviathan 
(detailed in Genesis), the Foundation has assigned a 
permanent contingency of ships and other craft, 
including some purpose-built structures, to the organism. 
Within these ships they monitor and study both 169 and 
the various biological entities and other irregularities 
which it produces. 


player will be placed at whatever point that player ceased playing 
last. All initial environments so far presented by the game have been 
within urban areas within the United States between the years 1923 
and 1942. 


By using commands LOOK AT SELF and INVENTORY, it has been 
confirmed that a player’s in-game avatar matches the appearance 
and dress the player had when starting the game. The player’s in- 
game avatar will also possess whatever objects or equipment the 
player had on their person when starting the game. 


The game is free-form and gives no obvious clues about how to win. 
However, it does keep a score that prints after every action. The 
score can go up or down with no indication of an upper or lower 
bound. High and low scores to date are and-_.|lfaplayerdies 
in-game, the score is set at 0, and any future command typed in by 
that player during any future game session will receive the 
response, “You cannot do that. You are dead.” 


No abnormal effects are detectable on a player during gameplay. 
However, after a game session, the next time the player enters a 
REM sleep state they will have an unnaturally vivid dream where 
they experience the events that occurred during the game. During 
the dream, the player’s perceptions are indistinguishable from 
reality. Extreme cases will show physical manifestations of injuries 
suffered within the dream. Examples include one subject who 
presented with bleeding of the fingernails after dreaming of 
unsuccessful attempts to escape the trunk of a car driven into the 
River, another subject who developed severe bruising of the face 
and strain of the anterior longitudinal ligament after dreaming of 
being beaten by a hostile police officer, and another subject who 
presented with partial paralysis after dreaming being a victim of a 
1929 gangland execution in a Chicago garage. 


Typically, such injuries are transient even in cases where the 
dreams end in fatality. However, severe psychological after-effects 
are likely, and will tend to be more severe than if the dreamed 
trauma had actually happened during a waking state. This is in large 
part due to the lack of volition subjects experience in the dream, and 
the foreknowledge of what is about to happen to them. All subjects 
report a complete belief in the reality of the dream world, even 


Other Leviathans 


There are potentially thousands of other Leviathans out 
in the universe. It's not known how they're born, but it's 
known that large pods will live in relatively empty solar 
systems close to the star before departing for their ark- 
based purposes. There's many stories you could tell with 
another Leviathan, such as a species-based origin story 
or perhaps your own new series detailing the life of one 
in space or from birth to death. 


Levinites 


Levinites is the non-canonical name for all inhabitants 
within each Leviathan. In most cases, Levinites will not 
start to form and evolve until after a Leviathan has 
landed on a planet. However, on some occasion this will 
occur before planetary touch down. Levinites may range 
wildly in appearance, diet, and if applicable, culture and 
technological progression. Because of the irregular 
connection of internal dwelling cavities within each 
Leviathan, either made by Levinite hand or naturally 
formed, Levinites may vary radically even within one 
Leviathan. 


As such, feel free to play around with various concepts of 
Levinites. Maybe there's a group that know of their 
Leviathan dwelling, maybe a large population are now 
taking to a planet after their Leviathan's death - there 
truly is no wrong direction to take them. 


Shadow in the Wake 


| am dying. 


Long ago did | know this; | had begun to slow in my age, and many 
times | would feel an aching that ran rampant within my core. My 
mind would wander and become hazy. Great periods of time would 
lapse without my knowing. | would travel between the points of light 
in what seemed to be a matter of minutes, when | knew that truly it 
had been longer. | was becoming old, an honor my kind hold very 
dear to them. With my end would come new beginnings. This would 
give my life meaning. 


| did not want to die. | do not believe any do - to be robbed from the 
sights of all things for the purpose of others seemed, to me, an 
honor | did not want to have. | was content with my life in the 
expanse. | enjoyed encountering new places and beings, each with 
their own stories. | was content with this, but my body was not. It 
was prepared to leave me, whether my mind was ready to part with 
it or not. 


Despite what | felt, | knew it was time to find a place to lie. | was a 
bumbling elder. My presence would serve only as a hindrance to my 
kind and their own journeys through the expanse. As is customary of 
my kind, | would find a plane to lie, and | would lie there until my 
time had passed. Only then would new beginnings come from my 
end, and | knew | would be a blessing upon the plane | perished in. 


| looked for some time, perhaps longer than most of my kind. While | 
was giving up the adventures that came with traveling the expanse, | 
did not want to spend my end staring into a plane of death and 
desolation. My time was spent searching for a land that would be 
beautiful; one that would provide much entertainment for my burden 
and | once my time had come. | sought new experiences that would 
unfold before my eyes. But it was a difficult journey, and | did not 
believe that | would find a place for my end. | closed my eyes, and 


hoped for my future. 


When my eyes had opened again, | was somewhere new. Time had 
once again passed without my control, and | was in a new cluster of 
planes, full of many intriguing but dead territories. | passed by two 
massive planes of wind and color, both equally beautiful and 
marvelous, but unsuitable for myself or my burden. | passed through 
a field of debris, occasionally bouncing off my exterior in a painful 
but unavoidable path of rotation. | passed a plane of rich red, and 
with the lines | knew life had once been here. | wept for the beauty 
that was lost there, in a time long before my presence. 


That was when | saw it - a plane of rich blues, greens, and tans, with 
wisps of white floating around in a shifting cocoon of movement. 
This land was full of many lives, and what | knew would be many 
great experiences. This would be my horizon until my end, and 
would the home of my burden. This place would grow around me as 
| withered within it, and | knew that my presence would be one of 
great significance to those who lived here. | had found my land, and 
gently did | make my descent into the blue. 


Later | would learn the natives would one day call this place Earth. | 
was fond of this name, and | Knew that my burden would be, too, 
when their time had come. 


A rumble within me brings my mind out of history long- 
passed. The darkness before my eyes is still, and the 
ringing in my ears reminds me that my time is nearing. 


Bells rang throughout the city, alerting the citizenry that it was time. 
The streets quickly filled with Tentaboins, each heading towards the 
Announcement Hall. Two Castmen finished dressing the stage with 
the rich blues of ulcarans as a crowd began to form. The expectant 
peoples paced quickly through the city, the pitter-patter of their steps 
and the echo of their voices resounding through every building and 
alleyway. Through every arch way and down every stone-lined 
street they marched towards the Hall, a procession of many legs 
and voices. 


The crowd grew in size outside, the collective murmurs filling the air. 
An assembly had been called today by none other than City Head 
Hervult himself. Presence was mandatory, an honor bestowed only 
for days of worship. As armed forces patrolled the streets, checking 
each house for anybody bold or blasphemous enough to skip, those 
in the crowd began to wonder at the significance of the assembly. 
Each face was pointed towards the looming Announcement Hall and 
its accompanying empty podium. A Castman had told them the 
announcement would be soon. This was an hour ago, and the crowd 
had grown anxious. Some whispered it was a call for war with the 
city of Hirakeroek, in the neighboring cavern. Others thought it was 
of religious significance: that the Great Deliverance was upon them. 


Only one man this day knew the truth. Diviner and Castman Anzak 
stood inside, nervously glancing at the crowd from a window. He 
knew the news he held was blasphemy. He knew the crowd would 
panic. He would have, too, had he been out there. He hardly 
believed in his own news, and he desperately wished it wasn't true, 
but the facts didn't lie. Anzak knew that. And he hated it. 


He was nervously double-checking his notes and his soeech when 
he heard City Head Astair take to the podium. A hush fell over the 
crowd as he towered over them. He, too, was anxious to hear the 
announcement. His Graciousness Diviner Artem had sent word to 
the City Head, the call for the announcement scribed in rich, waxy 
velvet and porous whitestone - such luxuries only saved for the most 
significant of matters. 


City Head Hervult cleared his throat, smiled broadly, and began to 
speak to the crowd. "My fellow citizens of Tentaboe, | call you here 
on this most important of days. His Graciousness Diviner Artem has 
sent a caravan of holymen here today, and to all connecting cities 
and caverns, to share this news." He turned toward the 
Announcement Hall, and all eyes followed his. 


"Diviner Anzak, if you'd please join me on the stage?" 


« | HUB | Interlude - Drift » 


Interlude - Drift 


0855, 9/18/19 - Command Site-206 receives a 
transmission from SCPS Jonah. SCPS Jonah, formerly 
USS , had recently been sent to the 
archipelago with MTF Gamma-6 to investigate unusual 
phenomena around the area. 


Y¥6-0204: This is of Mobile Task Force 
Gamma-6, designation 0204, sending from SCPS Jonah. 
We think we've discovered the nature of the anomaly. 


Operator: This is Command Site-206. What's the nature 
of your discovery, ? 


Y6-0204: Well, we have a doctor here, a Dr. , who 
says the islands, uh, moved. 


Operator: Repeat that? 


Y6-0204: Command, they moved. A whole three 
kilometers. Dr. thought it might have just been 
some weird continental drift or something - the islands 
get tremors pretty frequently - but we went and did a full 
reconnaissance of the islands. We're pretty sure we 
know what happened. 


Operator: And? 


Y6-0204: The islands aren't rock, Command. They're 
organic. Like, alive. 


Operator: What exactly do you mean by that? 


Y¥6-0204: Alive, sir. We had a few people dive down and 
check the rock below. It's the same as low as we Can go. 


We, uh, we think it's on top of something. 
Operator: Stand by. 
Y6-0204: Roger. 


Dr. :Gamma-6,thisis Dr. _ . I've been told of the 
nature of your discovery. Resources are now en route to 
your position. Very specialized resources, with 
specialized equipment and specialized personnel. 


Y6-0204: Dr. __, we still have men out on the islands. 
We're armed with researchers. We're fully capable of 
continuing investigation. 


Dr. :Gamma-6, your assignment is, as of now, to 
maintain current position and await further orders. 
Please retrieve your team on the islands and wait for the 
arrival of SCPS Guardian. That is all. 


Y6-0204: Yes, sir. 
« Shadow In The Wake | HUB | Eden » 


Eden 


| remember the warmth. That is the first thing | recall. The light was 
there as well, the soft orange glow of a dying star. But the warmth... 
It cannot be easily described. It is nothing like the cold of this place. 


There were others there, like me. We are large creatures, and so we 
do not live in a place crowded with rocks, as this system is. Our 
home is not filled with stone but with soft warmth, and with the quiet 
light of a star that has found its place. | was told that the star was 
young when we first arrived there, and there is an ancient one who 
claims to remember when it would still speak. | do not believe his 
ramblings. 


We spend a great deal of time as children incapable of rational 
thought. None remember this period of their lives, though the 
caretakers tell us that it is amusing. We chase after debris with a joy 
that is lost to the old, cavorting through space with an innocence that 
some have spent an eternity trying to recreate. 


But, of course, you are not here to learn this. You are here because 
you wonder what our purpose is, what | am here to do? 


There is a seed within each of us. As we mature, it evolves. 
Eventually, it multiplies. The process is... complex, and | fear it is 
beyond your understanding. | will say that we may exercise some 
control over this evolution, and that many of our race take great 
pride in the complexity and beauty of their creations. 


We carry this seed with us throughout our lifetimes, thousands of 
tiny lives held in an embryonic limbo. Some choose to never allow 
this seed to grow, unwilling to leave the glory of the skies for 
something so mundane as gardening. But others of us, we know 
what must be done. 


And so we leave. We leave the warmth and joy and peace of that 
glad star and depart into the cold void. None who leave ever return. 


No songs are sung of their success, no warnings returned from their 
deaths. None are heard from again. 


We search through debris and rocks and vast stretches of black 
nothingness, looking for somewhere that a small seed might take 
root and grow. It is a long, impossible task, and my telling of it would 
take many of your lifetimes. 


Suffice it to say that after a great deal of searching, | happened upon 
a small planet that looked rather promising. And so | took the 
plunge. 


That is not an experience | wish to repeat. The fires of the air 
scalded me terribly before | came to rest in the oceans, and my 
recovery was long and unpleasant. But | had dedicated myself to 
this task, and | could not turn from it.