SCP-2317-K, or simply SCP-2317 to members of the O5 Council, is a primeval Devourer entity known historically as the ████, Devourer of Worlds or the Dread Devourer. According to the Erikesh Codex, the entity was imprisoned in the dimension designated SCP-2317-Prime in around 1894 BCE by the an army of ten thousand led by Keshpeth who bound the Dread Devourer within the pearl of the Father of Oysters and chained him to seven pillars with chain made from the bones of Jaspetar, the entity's seventh bride.
Access to SCP-2317-Prime eventually became possible through a doorway designated SCP-2317, which was created by the 19th century organisation known as the Society of the Golden Arrow. In 1922 the doorway fell into the care of the SCP Foundation, by which time four of the chains holding SCP-2317-K had been accidentally broken. Two more of the chains broke under the Foundation's watch, coinciding with events on earth that caused huge loss of human life. As the Foundation knew of no way to repair or replace the chains, a set of false containment procedures was created by the O5 Council in order to create the illusion that the Foundation was able to prevent the final chain from breaking and keep up staff morale.
Description[]
According to the at least partly falsified Level 4 clearance file maintained by the SCP Foundation on the Devourer entity designated SCP-2317-K, the Great Devourer is reported to have an obese humanlike shape with branch like horns sprouting from its head and no lower jaw. It is estimate to measure over 200 kilometers tall when stood fully erect and is entirely covered in overlapping plate-like scales.[1]
Seven hooks are currently embedded in its back to which are attached the seven chains that bind it to the seven pillars. When free of its current containment SCP-2317-K is estimated to be able to cause a XK-Class End of the World Scenario.[1]
History[]
Battle against Keshpeth[]
| “ | AND THEN KESHPETH LED HIS ARMY OF TEN THOUSAND INTO THE REALM BEYOND THE CLOUDS, AND THERE DID THEY DO BATTLE WITH THE DEVOURER, MAY HIS NAME REMAIN FOREVER UNREMEMBERED. | ” |
–Excerpt from the Erikesh Codex, A Door to Another World | ||
According to the Erikesh Codex, the individual known as Keshpeth led an army of ten thousand Erikeshans into the reality later designated SCP-2317-Prime to battle the Great Devourer in around the year 1894 BCE. After the battle, the Erikeshans supposedly crafted chains from the bones of Jaspetar, seventh bride of SCP-2317-K, and used them to bind the entity within the pearl of the Father of Oysters. The pearl was buried 200 meters beneath the surface of a large region of salt pan and the chains attached to seven pillars that extended from the pearl to the surface.[1]
Keshpeth ordered that the gates to SCP-2317-Prime be sealed forever to prevent SCP-2317-K from returning, and the events of the battle and imprisonment of the entity were recorded in the Erikesh Codex, which referred to SCP-2317-K only as the Great Devourer in the hopes that its true name would be forgotten.[1]
A doorway reopened[]
Through means and for reasons unknown to the SCP Foundation, the 19th century organisation known as the Society of the Golden Arrow managed to create a doorway into SCP-2317-Prime that took the form of a standard door as might be found in a 19th century Massachusetts brownstone building. The society discovered the existence of SCP-2317-K, but by the time of their dissolution four of the chains binding the entity had been accidentally broken and the society had gone bankrupt multiple times trying to repair them.[1]
After the dissolution of the society, the Founder of the Foundation came into possession of the door in 1922, at which time it was moved to Provisional Containment Area 17. The doorway was then subsequently moved to its current location in Containment Area 179 at Site 179 in 1982. Aware of SCP-2317-K's existence and the state of the chains binding it, the Foundation supposedly used seismic analysis, ground-penetrating radar and direct observation to infer the description of the entity given in its Level 4 clearance file, which was atleast partly falsified by the O5 Council. While in the Foundation's care, two of the remaining three chains broke, both coinciding with ██████████ events that resulted in huge numbers of human casualties, the second being far more severe and causing around 2 million deaths.[1]
Lies to hide an inevitable doom[]
As the society did before them, the Foundation is actively researching how the chains were forged and methods to repair the chains or replace them with an alternate means of containment; however, as the there are no other bones of Jaspetar in existence this is deemed unlikely to be successful and all attempts so far have failed. At the time of SCP-2317's file's writing, the seventh and final chain binding SCP-2317-K was estimate to break within the next century, with a median estimate of thirty years.[1]
With no known means to prevent the eventual containment failure of SCP-2317-K, the O5 Council determined that loss of moral amongst staff based on their impending doom was the primary addressable concern arising from SCP-2317-K, and so a fake daily ritual dubbed Procedure 220-Calabasas was created to provide the illusion that the Foundation was able to actively prevent the final chain from breaking. To make it more believable, the ritual contains elements of common ritualistic magic and pagan rituals, practices used by Groups of Interest known to the Foundation, elements from other Foundation containment procedures including specifically the use of thermonuclear warheads to suppress extremely powerful entities, and references to other, unrelated, occult entities like the Scarlet King. Parts of the ritual also require increasingly high levels of security clearance to access, further increasing the appearance of authenticity.[1]
This falsehood is presented as the truth to all staff outside of the council, even the most senior Level 4 clearance research staff assigned to SCP-2317. These Level 4 clearance staff are only given access to the true SCP-2317 file if authorised under CODE NIGHTMARE REGENT RED. Staff assigned to SCP-2317 by the Foundation included assistant researcher Doctor Jackson Choi, senior researcher Doctor Victoria Fellini and senior supervising researcher Doctor Kain Pathos Crow.[1]
Death[]
Eventually, the SCP Foundation was successful in killing SCP-2317-K by throwing a couple of Howitzer rounds to the cranium before it could wake up.[3]
Containment Procedures[]
| “ | Seven Seals, Seven Rings, Seven Thrones for the Scarlet King. | ” |
–A statement that must be issued by the "celebrant" during Procedure 220-Calabasas, A Door to Another World | ||
Although the Foundation had no true method to contain SCP-2317-K, a false procedure created by the O5 Council is believed to be a successful method of keeping the entity contained by all other members of the Foundation aware of its existence. Increasing levels of details as to the nature of what lies beyond SCP-2317 and the steps to completing Procedure 220-Calabasas are given depending on the security clearance of staff accessing SCP-2317's file in SCiPNET, with only the O5 Council being able to access the file given accurate details on SCP-2317-K.[1]
The procedure itself is set to be carried out each day at noon, and requires four members of Foundation staff, an obsidian edge-knife, a preferably caged chicken of the species Gallus domesticus and silver aspergillum and aspersorium, filled with at least 500 ccs of holy water blessed by a priest of Abrahamaic faith. A one kiloton nuclear warhead is also required to be present, supposedly in case of catastrophic containment failure.[1]
The four members of staff required are two security personnel of Level 3 clearance or higher, a Level 4 clearance member of staff to act as the "celebrant" and a second Level 4 clearance member of staff to act as the "assistant". The member of staff performing the role of the assistant must be disguised as a D Class personnel member and presented as such to all other individuals of Level 3 clearance or lower other than the two guards, who must be aware so they do not terminate the assistant in any event arises which would normally require the termination of D Class personnel.[1]
The ritual itself consists of the four staff members opening SCP-2317 and then proceeding inside with the assistant first and the celebrant last. Once inside, the celebrant must walk at a steady and measured pace in a counter-clockwise route circumambulating all seven of the pillars to which SCP-2317 is bound, starting with the pillar designated SCP-2317-A. With every other step the celebrant takes, they must scatter the holy water toward the centre of the circle of pillars using the aspergillum and aspersorium.[1]
Once the circle is complete the celebrant must state the phrase "Seven Seals, Seven Rings, Seven Thrones for the Scarlet King" and then move a safe distance away from the assistant, who must then use the obsidian knife to sacrifice the chicken. Blood from the chicken must be drained into the aspersorium and mixed with the holy water within. The assistant must then complete a clockwise circle of the seven pillars, scattering the mixture of blood and water at every other step.
Upon completion of the circle, the assistant must pour the remaining mixture into the discoloured patch of ground at the centre of the circle and state "Blood for the Old Gods, Water for the New King." With the ritual complete, the four staff members then must collect all material they brought in with them and return through the door, closing it behind them. Staff are led to believe that should anything go wrong during the procedure then a XK-Class End of the World Scenario may occur. In the event of something going wrong, all staff evacuate through the door and close it behind them, with . The O5 Council is informed of the incident and a Level Two Emergency is declared, with staff awaiting further orders as according to Emergency Order Zachariah.[1]
Aside from the ritual, containment procedures included all staff assigned to Site 119 having to pass heavy psychological testing with a score of 72 points on the Milgram Obedience Examination, be unmarried, have no offspring, and express nothing less than total loyalty to the Foundation. All staff on site have to wear identity-concealing helmets and use voice-changers at all times while in the presence of other staff and are required to rotate out for a month of psychological testing after every two months stationed there. All off-duty hours staff have on site are to be spent alone in personal quarters.[1]