SCP-2823
Fen Tigers
First photographic record of an SCP-2823 event.
Special Containment Procedures
Due to the unpredictable location, wide range, and spontaneity of SCP-2823 events, physical containment of SCP-2823 is currently impractical. Foundation personnel in the Environment Agency are to monitor flood defences throughout the East of England for potential SCP-2823 events, and surveillance cameras have been fitted at all pumping stations deemed at risk from SCP-2823.
Use of amnestics up to Class-B is authorised for civilian participants in SCP-2823 events. Anomalous regional temperature shifts caused by SCP-2823 are well within normal climatic bounds; media coverage thereof is thus not considered to be a threat to containment. Damage caused by SCP-2823 events is to be attributed to poor maintenance and/or soil composition of land in the East of England. Affected sites are to be cleaned of graffiti.
Research, Response and Engagement protocols related to SCP-2823 are to be handled by Site-██'s MTF-Kappa-17 (Yellow Anorak).
Description
SCP-2823 is an event affecting an area of former wetland within the counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom. This area, referred to traditionally as the Fens or Fenland, was mostly converted into arable land from the 17th century onwards via a system of ditches and pumping stations.
Estimates for how long SCP-2823 has been extant are imprecise at best, due to its overlap with contemporaneous rural protest movements. SCP-2823 was first officially catalogued in 1863, under the auspices of Her Majesty's Foundation for the Secure Containment of the Paranormal (HMFSCP), passing into modern containment after [REDACTED].
SCP-2823 begins with the sabotage of pumping stations, ditches and flood defences used to maintain drainage of the arable fenland. As fen-drainage has caused gradual shrinkage of land below sea level, failure of the overall drainage network causes significant flooding and consequent property damage.
Machinery affected by SCP-2823 appears to have been forcibly broken by implements tentatively identified as shovels or hammers, though surveillance of affected sites reveals no evidence of break-in. Blockage and disruption of piping and plumbing systems previously caused enormous damage to windmill, coal and diesel pumping setups; the introduction of closed system electric pumps after the Second World War has largely prevented blockages from SCP-2823.
SCP-2823 is accompanied by the appearance of graffiti on affected buildings and machinery, most commonly depicting stylised Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) rendered in red and blue paint. Graffiti appearing within Cambridgeshire and Norfolk has also rarely depicted a triple golden-crown on a blue field, the traditional coat of arms of East Anglia.
Not only are SCP-2823 events getting progressively less powerful, they also seem to be moving further apart. ███ and I plotted them out and it looks like they've been gradually slowing since first observation, just not dramatically enough for us to pay attention until we started to get empty years.
Not sure if it's slowing down because it's causing less damage, or if it's just correlated. It also seems like it's striking easier targets, pumping stations with older machinery. I've recommended to ██████ that he press for improvements at those sites.
- Agent M██████
Fields flooded as a result of SCP-2823 undergo a rapid temperature drop which freezes floodwaters to heights of up to a few metres.1 Once floodwaters have frozen, humanoid entities designated SCP-2823-1 gather in number upon the ice. The number of SCP-2823-1 instances fluctuates between events, but has steadily decreased over time to its current low.
SCP-2823-1 instances are clothed in an anachronistic mix of 16th-19th century rural English working-class clothing, and speak in the distinct historical dialect of the fenland. Original HMFSCP research records on SCP-2823 were significantly compromised following [REDACTED], with only the summary document and older photographic documentation remaining.
Photographed SCP-2823-1 instances recur inconsistently between SCP-2823 events, with the exception of several always-recurring figures identifying themselves by the names of prominent fen-skaters of the 'Golden Age'.2 Many of these historical fen-skaters were alive or indeed born after the first official record of SCP-2823, but the lack of surviving HMFSCP research makes it impossible to determine whether these recurring figures were identified within SCP-2823 before or during their lifetimes.
SCP-2823-1 instances are welcoming and friendly and will actively invite in passers-by and families from nearby villages.3 Attempts to distract SCP-2823-1 from their activities, including with interview, are met with irritation and are generally ignored. Attempts to disrupt SCP-2823 or detain instances for interview are responded to with verbal protest and eventually violence.
Update 19/09/1975: Recurring SCP-2823 instances clearly remember previous attendees and have shown familiarity and willingness to engage with Foundation agents previously assigned to SCP-2823. Given this, and the length of time required to train agents to effectively communicate with SCP-2823, continuity of personnel assigned to SCP-2823 is considered a priority.
Attempts to question SCP-2823 instances about SCP-2823 events have largely met with failure, with instances secretive and unwilling to discuss the subject. Our current working hypothesis is that the instances fear being incriminated themselves. We believe that with time and further engagement, instances may trust our current agents enough to help shed light on the initial damage caused by SCP-2823 events.
Upon assembling, SCP-2823-1 will engage in drinking, celebration and conversation among themselves, largely jovial with the exception of frequent and ongoing complaints about the Levels.4 In particular, SCP-2823-1 regularly engage in recitations of the traditional protest song 'Powte's5 Complaint'. (See Addendum 1). An indeterminate time after assembling, SCP-2823-1 instances use gathered supplies to set up a fen-skating course, including (during darker periods) permanent iron-wrought gas-burning lampposts.
Once the course has been constructed, SCP-2823-1 engage in a traditional fen-skating tournament, conducted in Welsh Main format with up to 32 competitors.6 Once a winner is determined, the £10 prize purse is distributed to competitors and the fen-skating course is meticulously cleared. SCP-2823-1 instances disperse, appearing to vanish as they cross the threshold of SCP-2823's influence. The ice then melts and floodwaters recede.