All lies are stories. Not all stories are lies.
Containment Procedures: SCP-2278 is currently held in a secure container at the Site-12 library. Access to SCP-2278 is currently restricted to Level 4 personnel and above, on account of the ongoing revision of SCP-2278 research protocols.
Photographed excerpt of SCP-2278. Thread and context unknown.
Description: SCP-2278 is the only extant copy of the Codex Magnavilla, a 16th century post-Columbian translation of a Maya codex, or a collection thereof, that allegedly details the geography, history, culture, and politics of a continent frequently referred to as "Mu". The author of the manuscript is identified within SCP-2278's cover as a Juan Magnavilla, a scholar allegedly affiliated with the Franciscan Order. No other surviving works or biographical evidence of Magnavilla's life has been discovered, and historiographical consensus leans towards this being a probable pseudonym for another established author or scholar who did not wish for their true name to be attached to this work. The writing style of certain excerpts from SCP-2278 also heavily suggests that Magnavilla was the author of at least one constituent Maya codex.
Any and all attempts to transcribe or present the contents of SCP-2278 to multiple observers invariably result in heavy distortion of the resulting output, including but not limited to: making digital scans, reproductions via typing or handwriting, reading the manuscript out loud, remote-sensing via proxy reader, and viewing SCP-2278 through a magnifier, projector, or mirror.1
Addendum I: Primary Interpretations
Due to SCP-2278's anomalous effects, the Department of Histories adopted a consensus-based approach to studying its contents, in which inferences would be made by evaluating a significant sample size of transcriptions and extracting trends from within. Consequently, there exists a subset of statistically significant interpretations of SCP-2278's contents within a much larger collection of irreconcilable 'loose thread' accounts2 that are incompatible with each other, and on occasion, self-contradictory.
It is currently unknown which of these interpretations, if any, are the true contents of SCP-2278, or if such a body of work even exists.
Addendum I-Α: Mu I
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The Sun Kingdom lies deep below the tides, lost to the darkness for the rest of time. And yet, in dreams, those dreams of a land below black stars and strange moons, there remains the last King of the Sun, his banners fluttering in absent winds, singing the song of his sleeping soul in his shrouded court.
One may dream thus, of seeing the Sun but once more. One must realize thus, these dreams are not theirs to have.
Specific Cumulative Probability: 13.23%
Unique Thread Count: 649
Location: Atlantic Ocean
Description: Mu I was unified under a technologically advanced civilization prior to the total destruction of the landmass in a cataclysmic event. SCP-2278 asserts that the survivors of this event successfully fled to the Yucatan Peninsula, where they founded the first Maya kingdoms. A secondary group of survivors is said to have fled the eastern coasts of Mu I, but no further mention of this group is made in the original text. Subsequent remarks by the author draw comparisons between this group and ancient Egyptian civilization via contrived and largely inaccurate commonalities in myths, architectural styles, and deities, with inaccuracies and misconceptions of ancient Egyptian religion being extremely commonplace in Mu I readings.
Excerpts:
It is known of many texts that the continent of Mu sank in a cataclysm of seven days and nights, and in the first day a tremor ripped through the Sun Kingdom, and in the third night the mountains of Mu had burned and cast fire unto the land, and in the fifth day the seas had swallowed the capital in the East, and in the seventh night, Mu was no longer.
And this calamity, so terrible and loud, swept across lands in waves until the names of the Kings of the Sun were lost in the mixing of tongues. In the Hellenes, where Mu-an olive trees took root once more, it is called Atlantis by old daydreamers in commemoration of its glory. In Armorica, where the steeds of the Sun Kingdom roam still, it is called Ys by troubadours in longing for its return. In the City of the Sun, where the memory of an apocalypse guided the brutal sacrifice of beating hearts, it is called Tlalocan by mourners in remembrance of the drowned dead.
Also it is known of Mu-an myths that the world rested on the shell of an Atlesian turtle, and would remain there forevermore, until the end of days when the turtle would no longer draw breath. And that one might imagine this turtle had centuries to consider, that he did not wish to wait until he no longer drew breath to release his burden.1
Nevertheless, the old ancient kingdom's works were survived by the children of Mu the Lost, who flew in chase of the Sun, which was known to rest its nights in a virgin land, and ripe to embrace them, and raise the works of their fathers and forefathers anew.
That also in this old ancient kingdom was its image in the Sun built, radiance unconquerable in glory, spoken only in praise and lamentation, that is to say, a Constantinople for the Mu-folk. In all the myths and archaic histories of man and his kingdoms, there are none equal to the heliophilia of Old Egypt in the age of the Pharaoh.
And for to have better understanding I say thus, it is made bare that the Mu-an exodus to the Orient, in possession of their greatest works and treasures, salvaged from the shining crumbling cities on the East of Mu, and arrived at the mouth of the Nile, and too raised the noble works of their kingdom of the Sun anew.
And so one may isolate the age of the destruction of Mu, by the marks of her children in lands afar from cataclysm, be though that their works differ greatly, and their gods so far and varied in name, and the memory of the old country passed away into their temples and tombs.
Addendum I-β: Mu II
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It is said thus: Beasts are of the Earth, who work but do not know. Gods are of the Sky, who know but do not work. Man is of both Earth and Sky, who both works and knows, but is thus imperfect, for he neither works nor knows as completely as Beast nor God.
What then, is of the Earth and Sky perfect?
Specific Cumulative Probability: 11.86%
Unique Thread Count: 573
Location: Varied
Description: Mu II is described as a floating island, of which its current location is uncertain. The inhabitants of Mu II are identified as god-like beings with the heads of various animals, capable of using magic to sustain an advanced civilization on the island, as well as keep it afloat. Despite these beings never being addressed as deities in the Maya pantheon, the author makes frequent commentary and comparisons to connect them to extant deities in not only the Mesoamerican pantheons, but also the Ancient Egyptian, Hindu, Mesopotamian, and Gallic pantheons.1
Excerpts:
From the lands further beyond the realm of Prester John, of which I have spoken before, it is known that an isle above the sea hangs from the clouds, and that isle is clept Mu. In this isle is a rich and plentiful kingdom, where gem and crystal are drawn from cloud and gold transmuted from water, and vast orchards and fields with rich crop and harvest, in which golems moved by spirits of light toiled in the sunlight.
And though idyllic Mu may be, it compares naught to the peculiarity of those that reside here, for they be not truly men. And they speak in many tongues, but yet may be understood by one who listens carefully, not for that it is the same as the languages of man, but as it is a work of magic. In this isle, there be not a single man with the head of one, but all bear the heads of a diverse and many beasts, though they think and speak all the same as normal man.
And of the many bird-headed Mu-ans, it is known that a few have been wont to speak of their exploits and feats in realms beyond Mu over drink and meal. They speak freely of their presence in the kingdoms of man in eras long past, and roar with laughter at the greed of man when given gifts of their Mu-an gold and gems, and of the ease at which they may claim themselves to be gods. And I have spoken to who the Ancient Egyptians would have revered as the pagan god Ra or Horus, who bears the head of a falcon, and who speaks of when they were made to be the chief of a small village by a great river before returning to Mu. When they had returned to the village after a time unknowable, Ra-Horus was shocked to learn that the small village had grown into a vast kingdom, and that they were revered in temples up and down that great river.
But it is the custom of the Mu-an not to lord over the kingdoms of man as pagan gods, rather that they partake in a rich culture of balls and galas and festivals, for which the bountiful and magical Mu more than provides their customs most decadent. And it is here, that I have come to find, where the best mead in Creation is brewed.
Addendum I-Γ: Mu III
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In those old days and older nights, myth given by word and song preserve poorly in the years where shadows grow long, and in every era this story is told in different names and particulars. In some lands, it is told in distorted myth that Mu is no realm, but a mythical being who could turn invading armies into stone, and slain at the behest of cruel gods.
If only this were but a tale.
Specific Cumulative Probability: 10.01%
Unique Thread Count: 444
Location: Pacific Ocean
Description: Mu III is universally recorded as the setting of a folk tale, in which a boat of lost fishermen, merchants, or explorers land on an uninhabited island. An exploration of the island follows, in which megalithic ruins are discovered within the interior of Mu III. Large stone carvings of faces feature prominently in Mu III threads, typically as statues or bas-reliefs. The group is then compelled to leave the island shortly thereafter, either by threat of natural disaster or internal strife, and successfully return to their village. Multiple variations of the ending exist; the current thread of highest recurrence is attached in the section below.
Excerpts:
To venture beyond the known world is the purpose of the naive, the mad, or the avaricious, and the gods had sought fit to punish the men for their hubris. So thoroughly battered by tide and rain, the sight of land of any kind brought relief for the fisherman and his company. To return home to their village, and their wives, and their sons and daughters, with the haul of unusual fish in tow, was an affair that would have to wait for fairer winds.
As they rested in the shelter of the islands trees, one of the younger fishermen ventured off to search for bearings, perhaps another village, and returned in a frenzy of excitement and fear. For this boy had found not a village, but a city, with roads wracked in weeds and ferns and roots, and with towering stelae and temples hewn from ancient rock, and though none had ever ventured to the capital of their kingdom, they knew what they had seen was nothing short of the seat of power of another kingdom entirely, lost to the conquest of the jungle and time. Only in the scriptures in stone might the men try to know this strange place, but sadly, none could read in the archaic tongue that presented itself in these monuments, save for a single word: Mu.
And yet, there were no kings in this city, and the visages sculpted into stone were none of nobility nor gods, as the men soon discovered. One by one, each man could name the faces gazing down at them in mineral countenance; a friend, a mother, a wife, a son. And they thought this impossible, for an ancient city to yet bear within its forgotten statuary the likeness of a babe born naught but a year before.
The fishermen found themselves troubled by this fact, but with the Sun in the sky once more and the clouds on a distant horizon growing dark for a storm-to-come, they left without answers.
Upon returning to their village, the fishermen were anxious to share their story of the mysterious island in the storm, and of the strange city of the nameless kingdom that laid within, that they had come to know simply, as Mu. But to their horror, every man, woman, and child in the village had vanished, standing in their places each a statue in the likeness of their physique and cloth, and the fishermen wailed and cried out, because that nary of these statues had a face at all.
And in desperation and hunger for answers, the fishermen sought to seek audience with the king of the realm, for that the king was an agent of the divine, and that salvation may be sought therein to achieve the restoration of their beloveds.
The king of the land met many countrymen that sunny day, giving gifts and tribute for the kingly blood he offered to the gods for protection, and though almost every manner of craft had been entertained in his court, he met no fisherman that day. But, to the pleasant perplexity of the king, a group of merchants had brought before him a set of strangely lifelike statues, each carrying a fish he had never seen before in their stone arms.
When the king questioned the merchants as to why they had created these sculptures to be with a smooth rocky plane where a man's face would lie, they sheepishly admitted that no artisan responsible could be located, for they had found these strange statues unattended on the road to the capital.
Addendum I-Δ: Mu IV
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Its name had been forgotten, erased in the destruction of Mu, and yet it whispers still, tirelessly, in the ears of kings, princes, ministers, and merchants, so it is said.
The Serpent had an eighth head.
Specific Cumulative Probability: 9.42%
Unique Thread Count: 386
Location: Indian Ocean
Description: Mu IV is frequently alluded to or outright named as the original homeland of humanity and/or the Garden of Eden, which supported several cities with a substantial population. SCP-2278 readings typically begin with the appearance of the Biblical serpent, the devil, or some other antagonist in Mu IV, which begins to corrupt the inhabitants of the island. Ultimately, God decides that the majority of humanity is beyond redemption, and destroys Mu IV via some cataclysmic event, which is almost always the Biblical flood.
Excerpts:
And the Serpent bore seven heads, with each forked tongue dripping a poison of infernal design, each carefully tempered to instil sin within the heart and mind of man, and their names shall be know to ye as Irae, Luxuriae, Pigritiae, Gulae, Morositatis, Superbiae, and Invidiae. And man in the Garden fell under the whispering spells of the Serpent, who had promised him pleasures beyond that which God in Heaven, so unjustly it said, strictly forbade.
And in the land of Mu, where stood the Garden of Eden and the Pillars of Ram, man had indulged in sin for the first time. It was here that Cain slew Abel in the orchards of apple trees, where Isaac was cut open by Abraham atop an altar, where Sodom and Gomorrah grew rotten from within, where man found himself prideful enough to built a tower clawing to Heaven, where he had raised icons and idols and monuments to revere the Serpent.
And man had thus become unclean in the eyes of the Lord.
In the beginning, there was nothing.
And then God cast down sulphur and salt unto Sodom and Gomorrah, for He knew they could not be redeemed. And then God cast down fire unto the pagans in worship of the Serpent, for He knew the fires of Hell would not bring them harm. And then God cast down a deluge of water, for He knew that man had not been lost in totality.
And this deluge wrought such force, in the will of the Lord, that the Garden in Mu was cut down into the sea, and driven into the earth below. And the salt of the two cities of sinners thus became the briny water of the sea, unfit for man to drink of it raw. And the wicked who were not rendered into oblivion by the very hand of God within the waves, would drown by the tails of the Serpent wrapped around each of their legs, unwilling to surrender its worshippers in the face of Judgement.
The only men to be spared the wrath of God were Noah and his family, nay because they did not sin, but for that they did not fully trust the lies of the Serpent, and persisted in prayer to God, for which he was guided to build a great Ark. And in this Ark did Noah and his dynasty leave Mu, landing in what would one day become the Holy Land. But it is only by that which is written in holy text that we may know of Noah's flood to begin with. For God was not so completely shunned, and it is known that six other Arks were made, and sent out across the seven seas to lands unrecorded, and such is the way of the peopling of the world.
And it is known, sadly, that the root of sin had been planted in the hearts of all men, and so God gave mankind a test, to see if he was capable of defeating this evil within him, and to join Him in the Kingdom of Heaven should one prove worthy. God had hoped this baptism would have pushed man away from the lies of the Serpent, but as it is known, that man soon fell back to his ways of war and lies and murder and rape, and so God would see it fit to present a different approach, which became known to all in the thousands of years to follow the flood, as the Son.
Addendum I-Ε: Mu V
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So it is said, no explorer after Westergren the Younger ever set foot on Mu Ultima again.
So it is said, no explorer has ever tried as hard to look for it again.
Specific Cumulative Probability: 9.19%
Unique Thread Count: 357
Location: Pacific Ocean
Description: Mu V consistently refers to modern Oceania, inclusive of Australia and New Zealand, and is described as a collection of islands rather than a single continent. Despite European explorers only discovering Australia decades after SCP-2278 was compiled, Mu V threads are noted to describe the societies, cultures, and polities of Oceania between the 10th to 14th centuries with great detail and accuracy, albeit with the Eurocentric biases of the author. Notably, a significant portion of accounts do not correspond to any known islands or civilizations.
Excerpts:
And there is a country that lies beyond, in going by sea by way of the isles of Java Minor, where spice and wine and silver wane dim, and the fish and sandalwood are bountiful in trade. And in this country are a great many people, who have taken with them the plenty and multitude of the sea in fish and worm, and delight themselves in their consumption from traps made of baskets and weirs in the water. And they have none houses, but camps, that they uproot when their winds make change of their seasons, of which I am told there are six, and of one such strange tradition the men of the camp set alight the seas of grass, to make show of mastery in this vast arid land.
And stranger yet in this vast land of which I have been told is named many names, Iolgu, Larakea, Ti-Wi, is its stock of wild beast and plants; permit my elaboration, for that I have seen what seemed to me a large gerbua, leaping across vast bounds with forelegs so short it were impossible to have been of use, save perhaps for keeping its babes tucked away in a pouch on its belly. And in this land, for it is surely untamed, that beasts we may find in Europe, even the humble chickens and ducks, have grown to unholy proportions herein, nearly taller than a full grown man, with a savagery unseen anywhere but in the most wicked of predators, perhaps in the jungles of Ind or the grasslands of Furthest Aethiopia.
Perhaps even stranger, is to speak of the peoples of this feral land, who I have seen to bring these beasts to the ground with tools in the name of the hunt, and some with bare fists in the name of glory. And these victories are celebrated vigorously, as the men here take nary a single woman into their household, but as many as one may count on their hands. And I find that I must confess, that the giant gerbua and the infernal goose from the underworld are, in truth, most delicious.
And in the vast great Ocean, men may yet find ever more isles, some in emptiness, but others in the grasp of savages and cannibals, and for whosoever finds safe passage in ships without perishing to tide or wild man, in the furthest east of Ind lay a great and powerful kingdom, to speak comparatively of the state of this maritime existence.
Indeed, commerce and trade are universal tongues, and dwelleth across a vast group of isles lay the Venice or Genoa of Mu, wares sold on man-made isles and canals, exchanging textiles and flowers and shells and pearls and the teeth of leviathans. It is here, I am told, in the kingdom of Too-i Tongar, of their crusade of the world, but narrow is the scope of what they think to be Creation, and so it is said their image of the world is built in the shadow of another kingdom, once far greater and richer, that truly reached to the furthest ends of the world.
And I spake of isles of cannibals, but I must warn of lands in Mu where even God in heaven dared not look, perhaps in part as it is truly Hell on Earth.
There is an isle of evil, I am told, borne not of the hand of God but of the fall of a beast worshipped as a pagan deity, neither dead nor alive, neither man nor beast, such that it is a cause for confusion in St Peter and the Devil alike. And the men who dwell in the isle, that which is named Adi-Tum, if I may even be permitted to address them as such, have forms perverted in nature, and provenance, and appearance. And I have seen with mine eyes, their primitive form of agriculture, for which they sow no crop, but feed their waste to beasts of the likes of which I have never seen, and of which I pray I never will again, but as I must convey here, were no doubt swine with the face of a man, that spoke and cried a babe's tongue in every breath.
But that is not the only food the men of Adi-Tum partake of, for their many sharp teeth may open wounds in the bare rock of the isle, in places where the ground heaves up and down, where the isle itself appears to draw breath, and sup of the crimson ichor that bleeds without. And it is known, of how the ichor may change a man, into a devil that has never seen the fires of hell. The women of this isle, queens and priestesses and chiefesses, may take by force from the nearest isles beyond, their young men to be made husbands, at their cruel leisure. I have seen such unholy marital rites, where the groom is forced to take within this ichor, only for his eyes to bleed over into red, for his arms to crack and split into two or five, for his head to sprout the horns of Satan, before he is taken to consummate his union in the temples of the capital of this isle. In those cities, wherein commerce is undertaken but by the currency of blood and flesh, and the buildings hewn from the black bones of the isle itself, where ungodly prophets and deities are venerated.
And I will speak of an isle, nay, a land greater than any encountered in Mu thus far, matched only by the size of the beasts here, which far dwarf the large gerbua and infernal geese. It is here, where the temperament of titanic beasts is far amicable, as I have encountered a giant beast in the shape of a bear, but with the cadence and face of the sloth, which had given me from a tall tree a soft green buttery fruit.
It is here, where dwelleth men all across this vast domain, in kingdoms of the sea, of the land, on the mountains, and in the sand, and of many an appearance have met with I; only here may one find kingdoms of dwarven men, of towering muscular goliaths, of men with white hair and black eyes, of men with green skin, of men with fingers on their feet, of men with bulbous heads.
It is here, in this land of Ultima Mu, where there is no war waged amongst men, for all kingdoms herein are at eternal conflict with the monsters roaming the realm; for they are too far removed from the wilderness of beasts to possibly be called such. And it is commonplace for hunting parties of many kingdoms to unite in pursuit of monsters, of which I have seen only the skeletons in decorations for the cities of Mu, of which there are only a little more than the ruins of failed hunts and fallen kingdoms along the shores.
It is here, I am told, where be dragons true.
Addendum I-Ω: Uncategorized Self-Contained "Loose" Threads
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It is in the nature of Man to tell stories, of that of their forefathers, or if they be of a certain fibre, their very own inventions.
All lies are stories. Not all stories are lies.
Mu refers to the New World landmasses, obstructing an otherwise straightforward route to Asia. All mentions of cultures and civilizations non-existent in baseline reality are identified by the reader as simply satire or parodies of contemporary Mesoamerican polities.
Mu is identified as the original birthplace of King Arthur of the Britons, with SCP-2278's author making numerous contrived connections between the mythology of Mu and the Arthurian cycle. This interpretation declares Mu to be somewhere off the coast of Cornwall.
Mu is, or is host to the fifth Fae kingdom. SCP-2278 details the exploits of the Maya mythological hero twins in the so-called Flower Court, and culminates in the "leaving" of the landmass to become a heavenly (possibly celestial) body.
Mu was destroyed by a Large Scale Aggressor in "the unknowable past". SCP-2278 goes on to catalogue numerous artifacts believed to have survived the destruction of Mu. Notably, some descriptions are consistent with anomalous objects within Foundation containment, though it is highly unlikely for the history of these items to be as SCP-2278 claims.1
Further I-Ω documentation available upon request.
Addendum II: Suspension of Research
Shortly after current research protocols for SCP-2278 were implemented, it was found that reading it in its entirety causes the reader to gain a comprehensive awareness of a geographical location and cultural history of the continent of Mu, but also confers a sincere belief that what has been read in SCP-2278 is at odds with the 'correct' information regarding Mu, likely through memetic influences.
This has resulted in the majority of SCP-2278 researchers insisting that the continent of Mu not only exists, but that the historical veracity of SCP-2278 is both inaccurate in its content and was possibly authored with the intent to obfuscate further any actual information regarding the landmass.
Consequently, research on SCP-2278 has been suspended until further notice, pending the revision of research protocols. Psychological counselling and amnestic therapy have been made available for SCP-2278 researchers who now believe themselves to be of Muan descent, or a citizen of a Muan polity.
It is the official position of the Foundation that Mu does not exist.
Got them good, didn't I?
What, did you think I was decorative?
