Traits: The most notable trait of the dignified 
Butterfly koi is their long, flowing fins. The 
breeding lineage that gives them these majestic 
fins is also responsible for their lengthened 
whiskers and "pom-pom" shape nostrils. 
Butterfly koi are attired in scales of a dazzling 
spectrum of all various colors, patterns, and 
shapes typical to koi. It should be noted that 
overfeeding your koi in order to attain an 
attractive loaf shape is not recommended for 
many reasons. 


Nature: Butterfly koi do not greatly differ from 
typical koi in terms of temperament, but of 
course all koi are individuals and each 
possesses their own unique personality and any 
individual with an affinity for koi must remember 
this. It can be assumed that in general, butterfly 
koi are sweet, friendly, and intelligent when 
properly motivated, and will even helpfully 
retrieve items lost at the bottom of their living 
space (however, they will only release custody 
of the retrieved item to someone they trust 
implicitly, and even then it may require 
substantial delicate persuasion to extract said 
item). They are slightly more easily distracted 
than the average koi, and prone to attempting to 
"tough out" injuries incurred by their activities45. 


Butterfly koi do exhibit a slightly greater 
resistance to standard healing magic than the 
typical koi, but use of civilized medication and 
wild plant cures have the usual success, 
especially if the cures are introduced via food 
pellet. Should you endeavor to bring one or 
more butterfly koi into your life, remember to 
stock your cures accordingly. Reputable 


remedies and cures are readily available if they 
are asked after with patience and tact. And if you 
remember to ask that you want them made into 
food pellets. The inquirer is assured that 
apothecaries will understand. 


Contrary to popular belief, koi are never liable to 
eat you out of house and home, and butterfly koi 
are no exception to this truth. Like many fish, the 
appropriate amount to feed a koi is determined 
by the water temperature. Being cold water fish, 
koi are cheerfully comfortable at 15-21° C and 
only require once-a-day feeding. 


It is additionally important to note that koi are 
made gregarious and highly trainable by their 
great love of food. A few weeks is all that is 
needed to teach koi to eat from your hand, and 
only a few days for koi to recognize you as 
someone who feeds them. 


History & Associated Parties: Depending on 
where you are, this could be due to intentional 
breeding in order to achieve desired traits, 
accidental breeding from invasive koi, or cultural 
interchange precipitated by the Firebelly Clan's 
invention of salt-water transportation’89. 


In some places in the Ways, butterfly koi adhere 
to a monastic tradition. This is not necessarily a 
peaceful monastic tradition; in fact, the warrior- 
monks of some traditions are three feet of 
indomitable fish-brawn strength. Despite this, the 
most famous butterfly koi of the Library is strictly 
a pacifist. It is most polite to never inquire why. 
However, it is considered acceptable to ask him 
for referrals should you wish emergence into 
social koi circles. 


The most famous butterfly koi, The Carp of the 
Sky, is a butterfly soragoi!9 koi. Members of the 


Library will know him for his great wisdom, 
impeccable color-matching fashion sense, long 
barbels, portal creation talents!1, and the 
treatise he wrote on the creation and 
establishment of Ways. It is doubtful that the 
anecdote about long whiskers being a sign of 
great wisdom is true!2, but The Carp of the Sky 
most certainly has long whiskers. 


Approach: Come armed with a generous heart, 
and an abundance of patience and food. When 
you add a koi to your inner circle, be it family, 
group of friends, or underwater basket-weaving 
appreciation club, it is understood that it will be 
treated in a manner that befits its dignity and 
relationship with you. Exact accommodation 
specifications will vary based on the size and 
prudishness of your butterfly koi; consult your koi 
associate to determine these requirements 
should your koi be too coy to state them outright. 


Koi are social fish, and you will need to spend at 
least a week getting to know your associates, 
and vice versa. Including your new koi 
companion(s) in games, conversations, and 
lunches (feeding the koi only; do not eat the koi 
for lunch) are excellent ways to help their 
personality shine through. After establishing 
acquaintance between your current companions 
and the new koi, social interaction is still very 
important. It has been known that telepathic 
blackguards'314 will attempt to woo lonely koi for 
their own gain. The best way to prevent such a 
thing is by making sure your koi know that they 
are loved and cared for. 


Do be on the watch for allergies, both magical 
and mundane in nature! While koi may not look 
like they're suffering from a reaction from the 
perspective of others!516, allergies are just as 


miserable for them as they are for any greater- 
form being capable of having allergies. Common 
substances to be wary of are corn, human- 
produced non-organic colors used to make food 
deceptively vibrant, and certain earth-affinity 
magics. 


Fraudulent "home remedies" are rampant when 
it comes to mundane fish, and even more so 
when magic is involved. If you have never heard 
a recommendation of a certain remedy before, 
there is probably a very good reason why, as all 
fish will chatter when something goes well. For 
everyone's sake, be a patron only of medicines 
that are known to work, not things that some 
fish-ignorant crackpot came up with after a 
binge. 17 


Observations & Stories 


"Big Daddy is such a silly fish when spring 
comes around. As soon as the first buds can be 
seen on the trees, he leaps up out of the water 
on his tail and just dances for joy. He's so 
ridiculous at times, but we do love him dearly. 
He is just the best at performing the duties of 
school leader, even if he is skinnier than some of 
us ladies, and we always get fed until we burst. 
And he can ham for food like none of the rest of 
us can! It may be his long fins, but | would bet an 
entire meal that it's his beautiful heart." -Sweet 
Momma'8 


"| heard about a fellow chagoi who noticed 
something strange floating along the top of her 
pond. When she investigated it, she noticed that 
it was sucking up all the things on the surface of 


[DATA EXPUNGED], appearing on the writing material. They linger 
as long as the computer is operating, disappear when it is shut 
down, and reappear upon restarting the computer and re-opening 
the word processor. The image-editing software's effects are similar, 
though much broader in scope. The Solitaire game may be played 
using ordinary playing cards. 


Every effort must be made to avoid crashing SCP-713. When the 
machine locks up, its cursor either disappears immediately, dropping 
any held object, or [DATA EXPUNGED] consistent with crushing 
forces of over _ KN. Other error types have commensurately more 
damaging results. See experiment logs and incident reports for 
further details. 


Addendum: Writing materials tested to date with SCP-713's word 
processor include copy paper, college-ruled notebook paper (text 
conformed to the lines), handmade vellum, tracing paper, [DATA 

EXPUNGED)], a chalkboard, and a blank wall. Testing is ongoing. 


Note: | will shoot the next son of a bitch that pulls a lens flare out of 
this thing. —Dr. 


Note: Testing has been suspended after Incident 713-03, in which 
D-713-233 "dragged" D-713-054 into the "Trash". Until D-713-054's 
fate has been determined, access to SCP-713 is denied without 
express authorization from Level 4 staff or higher. 


Note: Further testing authorized. See Experiment Log 713 for 
details. 


« SCP-712 | SCP-713 | SCP-714 » 


the pond, taking away from the potential food of 
her and her school! So with a mighty leap, she 
leapt atop the stealer of foods, and sunk it to the 
bottom of the pond. She had to do this many 
times, but eventually the human noticed that this 
stealer of foods needed to be removed, and took 
it away. Truly an admirable koi." -Eater of 
Cereals 


"Well, Hanako was not a butterfly koi 
specifically, but if you want an example of the 
deep bonds that develop between koi and 
owner, you need look no further than her. Even 
her humans realized that she could hear and 
understand them, and was more than able to tell 
between them, and most humans can't do that at 
all! No offense meant, of course, but you do tend 
to miss those sorts of things. Anyways, we knew 
Hanako best for her great devotion to her 
humans, as well as her poetic talent. | actually 
have a volume of her haiku here, if you want to 
read some of her work. Her most beautiful 
poems are from her last days, | do highly 
recommend it." -Ryujin 


"According to urban legend, after the Kobe 
earthquake, the two-time Grand Champion 
Loran leapt from the humans attempting to 
rescue her from her pond, and sought out other 
members of her school in order to get the 
humans to rescue them first. Only after the other 
living koi had been retrieved did Loran permit 
herself to be rescued. It's a very touching story 
of what a leader fish will do for their school when 
disaster strikes." -Suichuu 


"BLOOP BLOOP BLOOP bloop noot." - 
traditional honorable koi greeting 


Doubt 


Once again, your friendly neighborhood Speaker 
here to remind you that the opinions and ideas 


presented in this text are definitely biased. But if 
you needed me to tell you that when one of the 
co-authors was a butterfly koi, | don't know what 
to tell you. -Speaker19202122 


1. THE IDEA OF "TRUE" MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL 
IS FOOLISH. ALL CARP ARE PART OF THE SCHOOL. 
-CARP OF THE SKY 

2. In places where carp are not the dominant species, 
however, koi contests often give priority to "true 
nishikigoi" before other koi like butterfly koi, or ghost koi, 
or any breed created by crossing traditional koi with other 
carp. -Laurie 

3. UNACCEPTABLE. -CARP OF THE SKY 

4. PAIN IS TEMPORARY. THE WELFARE OF THE 
SCHOOL IS ETERNAL. -CARP OF THE SKY 

5. The welfare of the school is not helped if you tear off 
half of a pectoral fin poking things that are not to be 
poked. -Laurie 

6. Koi have many ways to identify a feeder. This could be 
either voice, face, or footstep recognition. Sometimes 
aura, but one must remember to bathe regularly lest 
ambient energy-particulate dust make the auric field 
murky. -Laurie 

7. THE FIREBELLY CLAN IS NOT USUALLY KNOWN 
FOR THEIR INVENTIVENESS, BUT THEY ARE 
KNOWN FOR BEING GALVANIZED BY THE MERE 
WHISPER OF FAMINE. THE SCHOOL HAS BEEN 
HELPED MANY TIMES BY THEIR HUNGER. -CARP OF 
THE SKY 

8. Firebelly clan carp are noted for their dark brown to 
black bodies with orange or red bellies. They're very 
striking. -Laurie 

9. Wait a minute... -Speaker 

10. "Soragoi" quite literally means "sky carp," referring to 


the blue-gray coloration of those carp. The Carp of the 
Sky chose his name because of this, and also resides on 
the peak of a mountain for the same purpose. -Speaker 
11. Including the aptly named "carpal tunnel," where 
migrating carp take a shortcut through the wrists of 
sentients living in other places. -Speaker 

12. IT IS. -CARP OF THE SKY 

13. A little harsh, | would think. -Speaker 

14. Anyone who breaks the heart of my koi is going to 
get theirheadbroken. -Laurie 

15. Andsomekoi may hide their reactions. -Laurie 

16. | WAS UNWILLING TO WASTE DELICIOUS CORN 
CHIPS. -CARP OF THE SKY 

17. And, for your own sake, don't ever admit to a fish- 
affinity individual that you've used one of these if you 
want to remain intact. In Laurie's case, the 
disreputableness of the "cure" you admit to using is 
directly proportional to the velocity at which you will be 
punched through the atmosphere. -Speaker 

18. Who isnamingthe fish in this pond? This is just 
criminal. -Speaker 

19. THERE IS NO BIAS, ONLY TRUTH. NO LONG 
LIAR'S NOSE, ONLY LONG WHISKERS. -CARP OF 
THE SKY 

20. Are you accusing me of being biased? -Laurie 

21. ...| definitely don't know what to tellyou. -Speaker 
22. BLOOP BLOOP NOOT. -CARP OF THE SKY 


A Wedding Gift For A Lady Mantis 


Honorable Red-Scaled Ichthyoid 
Bodyguard-Companion 


Akai-no-Ren, Crimson Ray-blade Lotus fish, 
that finned menace who bit three noblemantids!?:2 


Conspectus 


When an admirer from outside the mantis court 
endeavors to wed a high-ranking mantid noble, it 
is a long-held custom for the outside party to 
present a special wedding gift to their intended 
mantis. According to ceremony, this gift is 
expected to be alive, to symbolize the 
importance of a life-nurturing hand to temper a 
mantid's natural inclination to violence. Rare 
medicinal plants are the most commonly-seen 
gifts, with miniature aphid-kittens’ being the 
second-most given. A certain cloud-scorpion 
Grauen Wolke, however, upon his marriage to 
the Lady Master Shiritorit decided to present her 
with a rather unconventional wedding gift. 


Illustration 


Akai-no-Ren, when not wearing his typical 
enchanted sky-armor. Note silver armor-affinity 
iridescence below pupil. Also note characteristic 
pout. 


Knowledge 


These words are penned by the young spiderkin 
Wulfric S., as part of a series of records 
commemorating events of the wedding between 
the cloud-scorpion Grauen Wolke of the 
seventh-cluster cloud-culture sky-crawlers, and 
the illustrious Master Shiritori Zakuro, also 
known as Lady Ren, of the mantids' High 
Craftsmen’s Court. 


The Lord Wolke chose to bestow upon his 
beloved a fish of proud warrior lineage, capable 
of breathing outside water and traversing the 
open air itself with the help of custom-made 
ceremonial sky-armor forged by cloud-culture 
scorpion smiths. 


Traits: Akai-no-Ren possesses scales of a vivid 
red coloration, accentuated with silver flecks at 
his sides and chin. Within the bottom portion of 
each eye shimmers an iridescence below the 
pupil; it was this characteristic that initially 
prompted Lord Wolke to investigate this 
particular fish's potential to become attuned with 
sky-silver armor worked by the famed cloud- 
scorpion smiths. 


Akai's fins are fairly long for his kind, a vestigial 
sign of form-modification enchantments, and are 
usually kept flared open while he is hovering in 
place accompanying his mistress. His teeth are 
small but sharp, even without the air-affinity 


amplification effects of his sky-armor. While his 
natural diet is carnivorous, the sky-armor 
enables him to partake of certain plants and 
fruits. It, however, does not prevent bloating. 


The sky-armor crafted for Akai-no-Ren is a dark, 
deep bloodlike crimson, edged with sky-silver 
and padded with cloud-silk. The shape is 
complicated, but the harness and interconnected 
plates are a single piece that does not require 
any special storage attentions. It is flexible but 
remains readily secure if fastened correctly, and 
only requires a monthly dew-bath to retain its 
quality and properties. With it, Akai-no-Ren is 
able to breathe and swim in the open air, as well 
as grow in size when flaring aggressively5:6 as 
the armor allows the fins to be moved 
unhindered. It is encouraged to not provoke the 
fish while in enclosed spaces.7:8 


Nature: As can likely be expected, Akai-no-Ren 
adores his Lady, tolerates his lord, and will 
happily bite anyone else. When not 
accompanying his family on social outings, Akai 
is often found guarding the household doors, or 
napping on top of houseplants (or the prone 
bodies of uninvited guests who have been 
incapacitated via a bite to the head). Lady 
Zakuro has trained him to keep off of her 
apparatus crafting tables, but he will patrol the 
airspace above her head while she works.9