SCP-278-DE

Item #: SCP-278-DE

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: As SCP-278-DE-1 itself does not pose a direct risk, containment procedures focus on both shielding the area from the public as well as securing and researching objects found on site.

The area around SCP-278-DE-1 is to be sealed off within a radius of 100 nautical miles1 and disguised as a marine reserve. The area is to be be controlled by mission vessels from Site-DE16 on a regular basis. Foundation-foreign ships approaching the restricted area closer than 50 nautical miles, are to be intercepted and returned to the nearest port with a reference to nature conservation. Diving in the area for research purposes is only permitted to research group AfMA "Tide Runners", with the support of MTF DE7-𝔏 „Wreck Diver“ to prevent or at least minimize larger damage to the area. Objects found or recovered in the area are to be securely transferred to Site-DE7 or Site-DE16, where they are examined for anomalous properties and cataloged.

The discovered journal by Stephan Crommenigge as well as all documents containing SCP-278-DE-1 are stored in Site-DE22. Access to the original documents is only allowed with approval by site lead, due to severe damages and its extremely sensitive material. Their copies can be issued for research purposes with the approval of the leading researcher.

Approaching SCP-278-DE-1-D is only carried out by submarine to not draw attention from the SCP-278-DE-3 instances residing there.

Due to the aggressiveness of the SCP-278-DE-3 instances living there, treading the island area is only possible in armored protective clothing and company of personnel trained in handling SCP-278-DE-3. It is recommended to reach the secure base on the island by the shortest route, in which protective clothing can be taken off. When leaving, protective clothing must be put back on.

Baits in form of 500-750 kg fish and meat waste can be dispensed via canons in the opposite direction the employees want to go to make departure more easy. Sonic weapons prove to be an effective additional defense measure to keep subjects who have not noticed it at distance.

Description: SCP-278-DE-1 designates an island in the North Sea with the coordinates ██°██'██" N ██°██'██" O that has been mostly submerged in the 18th century. The island has had a surface area of approximately 20 km², before it almost completely sunk, as a result of which only a 1 km² large rocky island protrudes from the water surface. It is being used as a breeding and home ground by several seagull colonies, consisting of herring gulls (Larus argentatus), black-headed gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundu), and common gull amongst others. These seagulls are designated SCP-278-DE-3.

SCP-278-DE-3 instances are localized and only leave the area in a 10 km radius around the island's coastline to search for food in the sea. Most of the subjects do not differ from non-anomalous seagulls. Some animals showed anomalous properties during closer examination, such as third eyes in the forehead area, four legs or additional wing pairs, raptor claws on the wings, antlers, long tongues with barbs, human eyes, jaws equipped with carnassial teeth in the chest area, pointy auricles, human-level intelligence, or the ability regurgitate boiling salt water, acid, or ice sprays instead of gastric acid like ordinary conspecifics. SCP-278-DE-3 instances are extremely aggressive towards intruders, and attack every human approaching the island in flocks, which frequently results in casualties. Feeding attempts showed have shown that they have an extreme appetite, with a swarm of around 50 animals being capable of consuming a whole cattle carcass in ten and a human in seven minutes down to the bone. Cannibalism is also a frequent occurrence amongst colonies, should an animal show signs of illness, weakness, or injury. Currently, it could not be clarified how colonies are able to survive such a long time without eradicating each other.

Scuba divers found a cave approximately 20 meters below sea level, the passage of which reaches around 30 meters into the island, with the latter holding an air chamber. Geological examinations of the cave walls revealed the cave to have been above the surface and accessible from land before the island's demise. Inside, the skeleton of a man around 30 years of age was found, who wore plain captain clothing from the 18th century, plus a book below his left arm and a blunderbuss gun in his right hand. Judging by his clothing and the book, which was revealed to be a journal, the skeleton can be assumed to be the mortal remains of Stephan Crommenigge. A deeper autopsy of the skeleton showed Crommenigge has been attacked by SCP-278-DE-3 instances to such a degree before his death that even his bones were damaged, prompting him to commit suicide inside th cave by direct head shot with the gun. The journal inhabits a relatively well condition, despite the potent humidity, low temperatures, and extremely saline air, revealing lots of information about both Crommenigge as well as his carrier as settlement board and pirate captain2 The journal stored in Site-DE22 at the current time, the skeleton as well as all objects found on site, such as weapons, jewelry, and clothing at Site-DE7.

According to the journal, the island served the „Stephan Crommonigge Pirates“, a pirate crew under the command of Captain Stephan Crommenigge, as starting point and hiding place before its demise. Before the takeover by the pirates, Crommenigge was settlement manager of a small colony present at the island. The colony originally consisted of 14 residents, who focused on fishing, sheep husbandry, simple agriculture, and occasional trade with the East Frisian main land, but suffered famine shortly before the pirate takeover, which was caused by an anomalous phenomenon still unexplained to this day.

Following the takeover by Crommenigge and his crew, the island was used as hideout, residence, and research site, from where they went on raid along the coasts of the West Frisian islands via Denmark to the Bay of Pomerania. Shortly before their eradication through SCP-278-DE-1's fall, the crew counted 53 pirates, partially with anomalous properties, and three ships: The „Stääkerhäid“, the „Indoome“ and the „Beschööle“.

Unlike other pirate crews with a focus on commercial goods and slaves, the sole goal of Stephan Crommenigge's pirate crew was the retrieval and safeguarding of anomalous objects, both from the search area's nature as well as those transported across the sea via ships of other nations or stored in coastal settlements. Valuable goods such as food products, jewelry, pelts, fabrics, alcohol, or commodities only served the coverage of incidental costs, supply and maintenance of the island and colony, and moral boosting of the crew, albeit of underlining relevance. The pirates had the prevention of the trade with magical and anomalous objects between nations as their prioritized goal, which, according to historic recordings, prospered in the North and Baltic Sea at the time, especially at the coasts of Great Britain, Denmark, East Frisian, Prussia, Sweden, Poland, and the Russian Empire. According to historic recordings, these items were brought back to the island of origin, where they were stored, examined, and destroyed, if necessary. Due to the skeletons found at the cliffs of SCP-278-DE-1, anomalous beings and humanoids plus some prisoners or rule breakers were taken to the cliffs, where they were attacked and devoured by the SCP-278-DE-3 instances. How the pirates managed to not be attacked themselves is currently unknown. Researchers presume that the genetic modifications of the SCP-278-DE-3 mutants could derive from the diet of anomalous flesh or the proximity to objects, but further research relating thereto is still pending.

According to the journal, the island was shrouded in a dense, opaque mist that only let those carrying certain ritualistic runes ashore. Those sailing through the mist without runes reappeared at the other side of the fog without hitting the island. Whether this effect is of memetic, anti-memetic, magical, reality-bending or other nature could not be precisely ascertained by researchers.

Since its rediscovery, several objects were discovered on the seabed and at the rocks of SCP-278-DE-1 in a 100 km perimeter around the island, which either once had or partially still have anomalous effects and/or properties. They are summarized under the designation SCP-278-DE-2. 241 were counted at the current time. Some objects are still pending in their stand-alone SCP designation. The type and shape, the condition and effects of the objects are different and represent everyday objects of that time, boat parts, weapons, jewelry, clothing, and even a skeleton in one case, amongst other things. The objects can be assumed to have been loot of the pirates or were used by them as supply for the crew or weaponization. According to journal entries, some less-meaningful and harmless objects were resold or exchanged for other goods, mostly to black marketeers or private individuals with a good connection to Crommenigge. Research presume there had been even more objects, but those were either completely destroyed through environmental influences, carried away by the currents, or sunk into deeper parts of the ocean. Additional search operations by AfMa "Tide Runners" and MTF DE7-𝔏 „Wreck Diver“ are currently in preparation to recover new potential objects. A listing of noteworthy SCP-278-DE-2 objects is attached to this document in form of an addendum.

An unknown humanoid figure was also described in the journal, which calls itself „the caretaker“. Said subject is designated SCP-278-DE-4. According to available descriptions, he is a young man of indeterminable age with a skinny physique, black noble clothing with golden buttons, a tricorne on his head, and white curly hair3. Later explanations depicted him with additional equipment, such as a walking stick, a bag, or ritualistic tools. The subject is said to have been a wise researcher sent by an unknown source to eradicate an anomalous disease the island has been infested by. In the subsequent course of events, he instigated Crommenigge to form a „pirate crew for collecting, hunting and/or extermination of anomalous and magical objects and creatures“. SCP-278-DE-4 seemed to have possessed an extreme intelligence and skills in different professions, including thaumaturgy, ritual lore, nature studies, medicine, weapon science, naval science, and history. Furthermore, the subject seemed to have had greater financial and magical resources as well as contacts and supply sources to those. According to depictions, the subject either had a low pain tolerance or swift regenerative properties. Another conspicuousness is said to be the blood, which is described to be blue instead of red.

What the subject was exactly, who he was, or if it existed in the first place, why it supported Crommenigge, and what became of him after the island's demise has not been described in the journal and can currently only be speculated about. Further research relating to this matter is sitll pending.

Discovery: Dr. Emanuel Carpore, a historic researcher from Site-DE7, who published articles for Foundation-internal research magazines amongst other things, has been participating in a project for researching anomalies in the North Sea since 1997, while especially focusing on those of which only historic but never found texts exist. During his years of research for the Foundation, he noticed reports about historic pirate attacks, which were independent of each other and showed parallels. Such as descriptions of sloops sailing on land, ships vanishing in dense fog and were never heard of again, the usage of luminous blue cannonballs or anomalously deformed pirates depicted as devilish creatures, especially a „seal ship's boy“. Dr. Carpore spent the next years comparing the reports to determine a geographical junction the search can be narrowed down to.

In 2007, a document from the year 1768 could be found in the historic archive of ██████████████, Schleswig-Holstein, describing an island that is no longer historically documented. It is assumed the administration at that time attempted to eradicate all indications of the island after the the demise of SCP-278-DE-1. The The file found was the last historic document of the island, before it fell into pirate hands. According to it, there was only one island with a colony of 17 residents, which lived from fishery, sheep husbandry simple agriculture, and trade with the mainland. However, it was assumed that the colony would soon be almost completely eradicated by a plague spreading there and no help could be sent to prevent spread of the „god cures“ to mainland. The file file was confiscated by the Foundation and all indications and digital copies removed from the archive's register. Currently, the file is stored in Site-DE22.

Dr. Carpore could determine the rough area the island in demand could be assumed in through finding the file. Following O4 approval, the researcher was granted a task force consisting of 20 members by MTF DE7-𝔑 „Neptune's Trident“, 5 by MTF DE7-𝔏 „Wreck Divers“, 12 additional researchers, a research vessel, and two Jago submarine for searching the submerged island.

The rocky island not recorded on any island yet4 was found and as late as 29/09/2014, and later classified SCP-278-DE-1. When the vessel approached the island, the crew was ambushed by swarms of SCP-278-DE-3 instances onboard, which led to three casualties and 11 partly seriously injured members; Dr. Carpore amongst others, who suffered severe head injuries and loss of his left arm through the attack. The boat thereupon turned back and sent a request of backup in containing the area to Site-DE7. The carcasses of the 32 SCP-278-DE-3 instances terminated through weapon deployment on the ship were examined and some of the anomalous properties discovered. Simultaneously, injured individuals were medically cared for and recovered little by little.

Backup arrived at the 06/10/2014 and enabled the construction crew through meat baits as distraction and usage of sound cannons to unopposedly set up a dome base for research purposes, which was gradually enlarged via extensions to make enough room.

Dr. Carpone was honored for his mission and promoted to the leading researcher into SCP-278-DE.

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