SCP-9333

█████████ Castle ruins, one place of SCP-9333 manifestation held in Foundation safekeeping.

Item #: SCP-9333

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: The privately owned “Society for the Preservation of Castles” Foundation front has been established to ensure guardianship of locations associated with SCP-9333 manifestation. A dedicated fund has been allocated to the SCP-9333 project for tasks such as grounds upkeep and misinformation campaigns. As of currently, the Foundation has been entrusted with information pertaining to two sites confirmed to be consistently used for the ritual. The current agreement with local anomalous communities is that access will be granted to further locations depending on the success of current responsibilities.

Foundation personnel assigned to SCP-9333 are to maintain close communication with regional associates of the Serpent’s Hand Group of Interest. During leap years, a roster of past and present flitch claimant couples, as well as the outcome of their trials, is to be maintained and updated on a monthly basis. Any further documentation or update of such regarding SCP-9333, including this file, must be reviewed and approved by Serpent’s Hand associates before it may be added to official records of the anomaly.

Description: SCP-9333 is an anomalous variant of the “flitch of bacon custom”, which originated in 13th century Little Dunmow, a village in rural Essex, England. The non-anomalous tradition, practiced in Britain and once in the United States of America, involves a wedded couple convincing a ceremonial jury that they have not regretted their marriage for a year; successful claimants swear a specific “flitch oath” and are awarded a flitch of bacon (hence the name “flitch trials”). Modern variants involve more public spectacle, including a procession, traditional outfits, and successful petitioners being carried on a chair around the village.

The ritual to invoke SCP-9333 differs from the Dunmow custom in the following ways:

• Rather than taking place in a human settlement, SCP-9333 only manifests in forested areas in close proximity to castles or castle-like structures that have stood¹ for at least seven centuries.
• SCP-9333 trials can be invoked at any time during a leap year, so long as both partners in the couple and three non-jury witnesses are present in a location suitable for the ritual.
• The jury that judges claimants is composed of seven members, all of whom are members of high standing in the local anomalous community.
• SCP-9333 is begun with both wedded members swearing a portion² of the traditional flitch oath, rather than concluding the event with the oath.
• Successful claimants do not receive a portion of bacon, but rather a large slab of wood upon which assorted high-value edible fungi³ are actively growing.

Addendum SCP-9333-1: Following Foundation intervention to preserve historical sites where SCP-9333 instances have previously been held, Serpent’s Hand ambassadors permitted researchers assigned to SCP-9333 to conduct an informal interview involving three interviewees from the anomalous community. This quick session was held in the interest of helping SCP-9333 custodians to better understand the background of the custom.

All interviewees were confirmed to have undergone the SCP-9333 trial at least once, and all had only agreed to provide testimony if their responses were transcribed from memory at the conclusion of the interview, not recorded live in any manner. Due to this condition, a different interviewer was assigned to ask each question in the interview, and all interviewee responses have been recorded by hand from the respective interviewer’s recollection.

Interviewer 1: Have you ever successfully claimed a flitch from the trial?

Respondent SCP-9333-A: Three times as we were growing, then we stopped the going. Let the younger generations have a turn at celebrations.
Respondent SCP-9333-B: No.
Respondent SCP-9333-C: Just the one. We’ve been hoping to go again. Now that you’ve become involved, we might be able to make that happen, eh?

Interviewer 2: Are you still married to the partner you stood with for the first flitch trial?

Respondent SCP-9333-A: Married yes, happy yes, at least most days that is my guess.
Respondent SCP-9333-B: No.
Respondent SCP-9333-C: [laughs] Thankfully, I am!

Interviewer 3: Do you think you learned anything from undergoing the trial?

Respondent SCP-9333-A: A juror told us something nice, soon as we had gone there thrice. We were prepared for lifetime shared, they made it true with numbers paired. Mortal born, spirit begot, the differences now matter not. Our years and days now perfect matched, until the day death is dispatched.
Respondent SCP-9333-B: Clean the clutter, abundance will flow in. I need a partner who respects my space, if any partner at all.
Respondent SCP-9333-C: My extended family used to call it “rich witch flitch trials”. Ha! Turns out most of the participants these days aren’t witches at all, or even rich! Still a lot of powerfully talented mums and nans out there, though. Can’t tell you how relieved my wife was to get the flitch. Some couples immediately call it quits if the jury turns ’em down, see? And the more failures, the more the whispers that love is fading, the magic’s fading.

Interviewer 4: Do you think the flitch trials should be preserved?

Respondent SCP-9333-A: Like to keep it as is, but not a thing I’d miss. Convincing me depends on whether we someday get something better.
Respondent SCP-9333-B: Is it our duty to prove to other people we are capable of a year’s love? Used to be a high courts only practice. Still hard for commonfolk to sit a flitch jury. There’s more meaningful ways to honor a bond.
Respondent SCP-9333-C: Why shouldn’t we try to keep alive a tradition that rejoices in a love that lasts?

Interviewer 5: Why did you and your partner decide to participate in the trials?

Respondent SCP-9333-A: For the feelings, for the fun, just to say that it was done. Sometimes the timing’s right, sometimes the timing’s shite. Love is, love was, love does.
Respondent SCP-9333-B: It’s what Mother wanted.
Respondent SCP-9333-C: Why not give it a go? Not just for those getting the flitch, but those giving as well. The world’s changed much and it’s more and more a question of will you love at all, rather than will you lose your love. Flitches are still handed out, even if it’s just at one tree, the one castle. Someone somewhere out there, thousands of years in, still waits and lives in hope they may be on the jury more time and hear just one more love story.

Addendum SCP-9333-2: While the SCP-9333 trial has traditionally been undertaken by individuals of high standing, significant wealth, and/or notable accomplishment in the anomalous community, more recent accounts indicate a growing number of couples successfully claiming the fungal flitch despite one or both partners having no familial relation to such persons. As such, in the interest of preserving the SCP-9333 ritual, the Foundation has petitioned the Serpent’s Hand for consideration of allowing research employees to participate in the flitch trials.

Permission was eventually granted for three Foundation-designated couples and their witnesses to participate at known SCP-9333 protected sites per trial year. However, it was brought to attention that of the partners and witnesses selected, the majority of the personnel present were unable to physically see⁴ the jurors judging them. In these cases, even when a flitch was awarded, the monetary value of the fungus granted was noted to be significantly less⁵ than those given to couples who were able to perceive all members of the SCP-9333 jury.

The SCP-9333 research team will continue to revise the questionnaires for determining trial eligibility, in the interest of maintaining the invitation to send attendees to SCP-9333 invocations.

Addendum SCP-9333-3: It has not yet been officially determined whether the fungus flitch granted to successful couples should be fully allocated to the claimants, or surrendered to the research team for analysis. Up to this point, the SCP-9333 team has been handling the matter on a case-by-case basis.

Footnotes

1. It is believed that castle ruins will still suffice for this condition. Communication from the Serpent’s Hand indicates that “so long as there’s a jury willing, and somewhere for the jury to sit”, the trial can be initiated, including in countries that are outside the European and North American continents.

2. “In a twelve month and a day / Repented not in thought in any way.”

3. Primarily truffles, in addition to mushrooms such as matsutake and morels. As it is highly unusual for such species to grow together, it is believed the flitch of wood is anomalous.

4. Serpent’s Hand associates note that this is not the first time such an occurrence happened, given that even prominent magic practitioners have married outside of the anomalous community before. However, this is the first time such an instance was related to an increase in trial participation, not a decrease.

5. In rare cases, a lower-quality flitch provided through SCP-9333 included the fungus growing on clearly defined halves of the wooden slab, rather than a continuous mass more difficult to portion out between two separate individuals.

‡ Licensing / Citation

Cite this page as:

"SCP-9333" by Zyn, from the SCP Wiki. Source: https://scpwiki.com/scp-9333. Licensed under CC BY-SA.

For information on how to use this component, see the License Box component. To read about licensing policy, see the Licensing Guide.

Filename: Castle.jpg
Name: Ruins at Benington Lordship
Author: Jeff Tomlinson
License: CC BY-SA 2.0
Source Link: Geograph