LHall492

Seeking Greenlight: Yes

Page Type: SCP Article

Genre: Horror, History, Religion, Scientifically Accurate

Elevator Pitch: The SCP will be a mimic of St. Elmo, the patron saint of sailors and abdominal pain. The Foundation describes the SCP as cognito-hazardous bilge water that, through various means, convinces sailors to drink it. Once someone consumes the water, the effect initializes and the sailors will drink consciously against their will as their body deteriorates. Those near this water are afflicted with hallucinations which prey upon their blind faith and desperation to save their ship, coercing them to imbibe the toxins. A mirage which resembles St. Elmo’s fire “trademarks” the anomaly’s presence, and potentially explains how it transfers from ship to ship. Hallucinations begin after the mimicked St. Elmo’s fire is present. This anomalous phenomena can only occur during sea storms of ferocious scale.

Central Narrative: The SCP Foundation hopes to understand these encounters at sea and shed light on its connection to spirituality. They investigate the journal of Father Alves, a Jesuit preacher aboard the São Gabriel in 1536. During his journey to Asia, the ship is caught in a storm. As the mimic phenomenon appears, he documents its effect on the sailors as they succumb to the belief that their obedience to the Mimic will save their ship and their souls. As Father Alves ministers to the blighted crew and witnesses their symptoms, he begins to doubt his own faith and eventually falls under the same trance.
In their struggle to develop sufficient containment procedures, the SCP Foundation conducts testing with D-Class to replicate the events aboard the São Gabriel to discover the true nature of the Mimic of St. Elmo. The Foundation’s probing reveals the nature of faith as a tool that amoral and predatory forces take advantage of.

Hook/Attention-Grabber:

  • Combines historical fact, Christian mysticism, nautical procedure, and scientific accuracy to deliver a tense and terrifying tale of the conflicting revelations made through religious and experimental perspective.
  • Has adaptable qualities due to anthropogenic activity; changing its frequency and magnitude.
  • The Foundation, through numerous trials, builds upon pre-existing technologies and D-Class experimentation to develop innovations towards collecting the bilge water samples and keeping containment. This will include usage of other Safe/Thaumiel SCPs.

Additional Notes: I have only found 2 SCPs that mention St. Elmo’s fire at all. SCP-938 and SCP-ES-105 both include the natural, non-anomalous versions of the phenomena, so I made sure that the phenomena in this SCP is a hallucination and does not take place in reality.