Observations & Stories 


"The Choir came to me when | was berating my 


ex-wife Moon for her disappearance. | knew the 
witch had run off with Sila again so | howled at 
the black, starry sky. The Choir came up from 
underneath me, nearly made me lose all my fur 
in fright. Fortunately | had spare fur from that 
time | tricked mole rat out of hers. Choir asked to 
join me in my song. | said yeah. We sung. She's 
got a great range. I'm fairly sure Moon could 
hear me in the Place Beyond the Sky, in 30 part 
harmony. Amazing. 10/10 would sing with again" 
~Coyote 


"They won't shut up. Ever." ~O. M. Jenkins 


Doubt 


"The Choir claim they are peaceful and 
benevolent and that their planet was destroyed 
by a vindictive stellar body. While they haven't 
been aggressive yet they do pose a major threat 
to Earth's ecosystems with their massive 
consumption of crustaceans. Furthermore their 
songs have entirely unknown threat potential. If 
they can open Ways, if these worms can burrow 
through space on their own how can any of us 
expect to be safe or able to sleep at night 
knowing that loud-uppity worms could start 
singing Puccini at any moment? | bet you dollars 
to divas that these things collapsed their own 
eco (or echo) system and are just beginning to 
destroy ours!"~ O. M. Jenkins1° 


1. It appears that this entry was written by the choir 
themselves. No idea how; they don't have hands, 
perhaps dictated? ~Septimus 

2. The Choir Below are bad at describing themselves in 


human terms. They're basically giant, tufted, polychaete 
worms covered in thousands of continually singing 
human mouths. Inside the tufts is an angelic human face 
with a generally friendly neutral expression. Think one of 
these —<— but much stranger. ~Septimus 

3. The Choir can indeed open Ways when they sing 
loudly and at sufficient density. 

4. This is pretty spot-on but the Choir can be known for 
being terrible neighbors because they fundamentally do 
not understand peace and quiet. 

5. Overly fond of shrimp. Keep them out of Marine 
Protected Areas. 

6. Probably this thing that the Jailors care about. 

7. The Choir is completely harmless... as long as you like 
singing and seafood. ~Septimus 

8. It was really bad you guys. Like... | didn't know a 5000 
pound worm could swell up that bad... we needed to hit 
them with an epi pen and everything. In other news epi 
pens work on giant, alien worms. ~Jacob 

9. This anonymous editor is correct. We do sing through 
things. We are the Choir Below. 

10. In other words get off my lawn you damn singing 
worm children. Seriously Jenkins did you think about this 
before you wrote it? ~Jacob 


The Second Child 


The Second of the Lost Children 


Envy's Beacon, SCP-017, penumbra wanderer, The 
Second Child 


Conspectus 


The Second Lost Child’, a creature of shadow, 
is likely the most dangerous of the Lost Children. 
Even gods tremble with unease at its passage. It 
is held captive by the SCP Foundation, who 
knew not what they sacrificed to imprison it. 
Most Hand members feel this is for the best.2 


The Second Child appears often in ancient texts, 
and is commonly used as a symbol of mystery, 
love, eternal hunger, and all of the above.3 
During the Great Purge, the lore of the Lost 
Children was burned and shattered after the 
Edict of Karnath was proclaimed. A taboo 
against writing down further information grew out 
of this event. There seems to be a special taboo 
associated with the Second Child, though it is 
unclear why.4 Therefore most knowledge of the 
Second Child has been lost, though a few select 
tomes are said to exist somewhere in the 
Archives.° 


The Second Child will attack and consume any 
thing casting a shadow upon it. Despite its role 


in many ancient stories, no recent accounts of it 
indicate attempts to take any other action or 
communicate in any way. 


Illustration 


Recovered image of the Second Lost Child in its 
present cell. 


Knowledge 


Traits: The Second Child's appearance is that of 
a human-like child of one to two years in age. 
Many say now that its features are impossible to 
discern, though there are many flowery 
descriptions in literary sources. Of course, none 
specify gender, sex, ethnicity, or any similar 
details. The being seems as if it is almost 


entirely made up of the shadowstuff that cloaks 
it.6 


Nature: The Second Child is a shadow being, 
which seems to be made up of god-stuff of 
unclear origin. There are many non-specific and 
contradictory accounts of the Second Child's 
makeup (perhaps made so by the old taboo 
against setting down certain pieces of 
knowledge about the being). 


If a shadow is cast on the Second Child, it will 
leap through the air at the caster of the shadow, 
and consume the caster within its shroud. It is 
not known what happens to those consumed by 
the Second Child's shroud, but they vanish 


completely once consumed. 


History & Associated Parties: The Second 
Child is strongly associated with the other Lost 
Children, but in most of the stories, the Second 
Child is shown choosing not to keep company 
with them, even before the Lost Children as a 
whole were scattered across the Earth. The 
reasons for this are not known. It does not seem 
to have been actively hostile to the other Lost 
Children, except the Fourth. 


Many old scholars view the Second Child and all 
other Lost Children as inherently opposed to the 
Children of Dust” by their very nature, and 
therefore the two must always be in conflict 
except when walking the pathways of the gods.8 
This view has fallen out of favor in recent years, 
replaced by a more nuanced point of view on the 
remaining known Lost Children.2 However, 
modern views on the Second Child are mostly 
the same as the traditional views. 


The Second Child was captured by the SCP 
Foundation approximately thirty years ago!9, 
and imprisoned in a cage of glass, constantly 
illuminated by mundane light fixtures. It has 
escaped six times since and been re-caged 
each time. It is not known whether this was due 
to technical failures in its cage and lack of 
understanding on the part of the Jailors, ora 
deliberate escape attempt. Its cage is extremely 
well defended, having been brought to the Jailor 
facility guarding the abandoned White Heretic's 
City.11 


The Cult of New Umbra?2 believes that the 
Second Child wishes to be freed (by them) and 
to lead them to paradise. They have been 
hunting for a tome called the Book of Shadows 
within the Archives which is said to contain 


information that may help them13, but fortunately 
most of their Library Cards have been revoked 
due to various small yet foolish offenses. 


Approach: The Second Child is extraordinarily 
dangerous. It is advised to not approach it at all 
if possible. If one encounters the Second Child 
and has a chance to react, one may keep it at 
bay with a sufficiently bright light (either 
mundane or magical), and call for help by any 
means possible. Do not ever cast your shadow 
upon the Second Child. 


Thankfully, encountering the Second Child is 
presently unlikely. However, if they escape, they 
have been known to make use of Ways, and 
though they have never yet attempted to enter 
the Library14, many Hand safe houses are 
connected to Ways and would be at special risk. 


If the Second Child permanently escapes Jailor 
custody, which may be inevitable, it is highly 
recommended that Hand members cooperate to 
capture and cage it ourselves. Escape could 
mean the deaths of countless thousands. Efforts 
to communicate with it and to pacify it are also 
presently being researched. 


Observations & Stories 


The Second Child appears referenced in many 
major magical and historical texts, accessible in 
the Wanderer's Library. 


Information on the Second Child received from 
the Archivists can be found in the Lost 
Wanderers volumes (still undergoing 
transcription; the initial volume, The 


who initially display diminished visual ability recover within 24 hours. 
Approximately 1% of subjects who experienced diminished visual 
ability after 24 hours did not recover. 


SCP-712-1 is a light-emitting apparatus that was removed from the 
laboratory of Dr. at University. 


The apparatus is mounted on a vibration damping base. 
Components are labeled with stamped metal plates, and a plate at 
the front of the apparatus is stamped "/£9907mm." A cord with four 
wires protrudes from the power supply, which is labeled in 
permanent marker "220v." 


The major components of SCP-712-1 are the following: 

— A power supply that connects to a standard US 220 V three- 
phase outlet 

— A diode-pumped laser emitter that produces light at nm 

— An oscillator-controlled ring electromagnet that surrounds the 
laser module connected to power by a two-position switch with 
positions labeled "a" and "b" 

— Aseries of beam splitters that divide the beam into 8 optical 
fibers of varying lengths and arranged in various geometric patterns 
— A set of 8 fluorite lenses that focus the output of the optical fibers 
onto the emitting lens; each lens is mounted on a unique keyed 
base and fits into one of two slots labeled "a" or "b" 
—A10cmlens made from a dense material with a refractive index 
of [REDACTED]; this element can be rotated around its optical axis 
by a metal peg attached to its edge that locks into two positions 
labeled "a" and "b." This is the emitting lens of SCP-712-1 


Do not make any adjustments to SCP-712-1 unless you have 
verified that power is disconnected. If you feel that basic safety rules 
do not apply to you, | will be more than happy to reassign you to a 
position in which your risk of injury will be limited to papercuts and 
writer's cramp. - Dr. 


The main switch, keyed lens bases, and emitting lens are connected 
to a safety interlock that disconnects power to the laser emitter 
unless all components are set to either "a" or "b." 


Common Effects of SCP-712: 


Wandering Boy and Other Captives, is 
currently being transcribed). 


The Codex Ratigan claims that Second Child 
victims are not killed, but taken to a special 
afterlife of eternal shadow, said to be the same 
as the plane of love, and variously claimed to be 
a sort of paradise. 


Elizabeth Dufree has been seeking out 
eyewitness stories of the Second Child; please 
contact her or the article maintainer if you have a 
story. 


Doubt 


There has been much argument regarding what 
occurs to the victims of the Second Child. The 
Codex Ratigan story above is the oldest account 
we have currently accessed, but it specifically 
mentions that it is contradicting even older 
sources. Given the dubious nature of the Codex 
Ratigan, finding these sources could be very 
helpful. 


As mentioned before, the Umbra Cult believes 
that the Second Child wishes to be freed and will 
lead them to paradise. This is contradicted by 
almost every existing authority upon the subject, 
even the Codex Ratigan, which portrays the 
Second Child as unwilling to bestow its favor 
upon anyone, and claims that the afterlife in 
question is due to the kind intervention of an 
unknown parental-god-figure. 


| also object to calling Hand members who are 
part of the Umbra Cult "unstable". This is 
unnecessarily insulting and generally 


meaningless anyway. We should reach out to 
the Umbra Cult to discover where they believe 
they obtained their ideas from. Are we really so 
sure they are incorrect? —Jon S. 


It's not meaningless if it accurately describes 
their strange worship of death, not to mention all 
the shenanigans they've got up to that got their 
Library Cards revoked. Best to distance 
ourselves from that nonsense as much as 
possible, especially if we want to keep on the 
Library's good side. And, even if they're correct, 
do you really want to take that risk, considering 
how deadly the Second Child is? | mean, really. 
—Ria |. 


1. Often referred to as the Second Child for simplicity's 
sake, though this is a title shared with at least one other 
significant entity, possibly up three. 

2. Though there are a few exceptions, notably the Cult of 
New Umbra; see "Associated Parties". 

3. Sometimes, the Second Child is also associated with 
loneliness, but the Archivists claim that this is incorrect, 
without explanation. 

4. Probably how specially dangerous it is, if the buildup is 
to be believed. That tends to grow special taboos right 
quick. 

5. Unfortunately not cataloged in locations where the 
current Archivists are able to easily search. Contact 
Elizabeth Dufree for more information on current Hand 
efforts to recover some of these tomes — though, 
please, only if you have a Library Card in good standing. 
6. It is possible that the Second Child has become further 
and further consumed by its own shadow as it has 
advanced in age, though this is only speculation. 

7. "The Children of Dust" being perhaps the most popular 
traditional term for "Humans," unless you're talking in 
context of the Ancient Ones (the Old Yeren or more 
disrespectfully, the Mad Yeren), in which case the term is 


"The Children of the Sun" or, less commonly, "Children of 
the Flowers". 

8. Another old turn of phrase, which can mean anything 
from "sharing the same god-oriented fate for the sake of 
a fable or story" to simply "because they just happened to 
get along this time but don't expect that to repeat itself." 
A rather intolerant viewpoint, really. 

9. "More nuanced" according to some, mostly those who 
share that point of view. More tolerant is not 
automatically more truthful. —RR 

10. Initially imprisoned by a few higher-ups with particular 
occult ritual said to be so terrible in consequence that 
they removed mention of it from nearly all their records 
and never made use of it again. 

11. Given the nature of the White Heretic, there is an 
irresistible irony here, but sadly in this case it seems 
likely due to mere coincidence. 

12. A small group, with only a few of the less stable of 
our members within its ranks. 

13. This may be a joke on the part of a particular 
Archivist, because she told members of the Cult this but 
refused to give them more information, and there are at 
least thirty-three major distinct works called the Book of 
Shadows known in the Library's public stacks. The 
Archivists seem to despise most cults with possible 
suicidal ideology, a category in which the Cult of Umbra 
certainly falls. 

14. Of note is that the Library Archivists are the only 
parties not to express fear of the Second Child, though 
this may not mean much. 


Summer's Exile 


Summer's Exile 


Gaoler's Hubris, the Last Dragon’, Reptilia 
supernus2, Levon tarasque, Exile of the Flesh, The 
Recalcitrant Prodigal Son, Death's Mother, SCP-682 


Conspectus 


Summer's Exile is a singular monstrous, 
animalistic person capable of extreme, adaptive 
shapeshifting. They are thought impossible to 
kill. They are generally thought to be exiled from 
their home, a place ill-understood, and re- 


created or altered by the SCP Foundation. They 
are known to be imprisoned on Earth and unable 
to permanently leave. They express extreme 
horror at humanoid life, and will attempt to kill 
most humanoid people on sight. 


Knowledge 


Traits: Summer's Exile is an adaptive 
shapeshifter, changing form to respond to 
outside stimuli. They gain power in direct 
proportion to the power exerted upon thems. 
Once sufficient time has passed, most of their 
adaptations are lost, but their body never ceases 


changing. 


In appearance they usually seem reptilian, 
though features are inconsistent.