SCP-3217
Dead Weight
Special Containment Procedures
SCP-3217 should be closely monitored by security cameras at all times for any anomalous activity. Civilians should be strongly discouraged from holding funeral services in SCP-3217, and use of force is permitted in cases of extreme resistance. Civilians who enter SCP-3217 and show signs of affectation are to be detained and questioned upon leaving the area.
Description
SCP-3217 is a cemetery in Truro, England, covering approximately 0.01 square kilometers of land. SCP-3217 consists of mostly flat terrain and contains 97 marked graves, as of the most recent count. All 97 headstones are blank, and have no engraving or indication of identity. Prior to Foundation intervention, SCP-3217 was a popular religious landmark in Cornwall, and served as "a divine example of God's almighty and everlasting presence".
SCP-3217 only shows anomalous effects on subjects who have come into contact with a vessel containing a corpse, such as a coffin or casket, while within its confines. The most common subjects affected are coffin-carriers who unwittingly enter SCP-3217 as part of funeral processions.
SCP-3217's effects begin to manifest when a subject's physical contact with the vessel is interrupted or ceased. As long as the subject is in the cemetery, the weight of carrying the coffin or casket will persist, despite no longer being in physical contact with it. This has been shown to severely inhibit movement, respiratory function, and skeletal integrity. When questioned, victims report an intense strain on shoulder muscles and noticeably slower movement, as a result of the invisible weight. Victims with a muscular body mass index of less than 20 report significant breathing difficulties and exhaustion. The fatigue's effect on the body depends on the position of the carrier; those who carried from their left suffer muscle strain on their right, and vice versa. Effects of SCP-3217 vary depending on the subject's physical strength and stamina.
As soon as the subject exits SCP-3217, the effects immediately cease. Interviewed coffin-carriers report that the experience is similar to "the hand of God lifting a great burden". However, if the subject enters SCP-3217 again, the effects instantly return. Victims of SCP-3217 have claimed that the weight was trying to "drag them into the very depths of Hell," and that it served as a "test of faith". Note that the effects do not present themselves if the coffin or casket is empty. The methods by which SCP-3217 produces its anomalous effects is unknown.
At least fourteen deaths have been caused by the fatigue. The recorded victims all died due to excessive muscle breakdown and eventual cardiac arrest, and all but two had been employed as coffin-carriers. However, this data was only collected from the past two decades. It is unknown exactly how many casualties have resulted from SCP-3217's effect, although locals claim its effects have existed since the twelfth century.
Seven other casualties have been associated with SCP-3217, although these were due to the introduction of SCP-895.
SCP-3217 has been shown to produce significantly more dangerous effects when SCP-895 is carried through it. When a person breaks physical contact with SCP-895 while within the confines of SCP-3217, he or she will experience an escalated variant of the anomaly, in which [REDACTED]. As of 04/13/██, tests involving SCP-895 and SCP-3217 are prohibited by the Foundation, following the events of Test A.