Lotus Eater's Efforts

Title 1

SCP-XXXX a week before it's containment.

Item #: SCP-XXXX

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is contatined in situ. The estate surrounding SCP-XXXX has been transformed into Site-XXX. ATF-Sigma-34 (Saturn's Children) is to regularly patrol Site-XXX to defend SCP-XXXX in the event of an incursion. Any civilians found on Site-XXX are to be detained, questioned, and administered Class B Amnestics.

SCP-XXXX is to remain under regular surveillance from the designated outside viewing stations for as long as SCP-XXXX-1 remains inside it. Entering SCP-XXXX while it is occupied by SCP-XXXX-1 requires direct authorization from the Site Director.

Description: SCP-XXXX is an eighteenth century two story villa on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain which is situated on a 9 kilometer estate. It is entirely comprised of two main rooms measuring 9 by 4.5 meters, one on each story.¹

The furniture decorating the bottom floor is mundane save for a wooden dining table, henceforth known as SCP-XXXX-A. Once left unobserved, any bowl placed on SCP-XXXX-A will fill with a brackish brown liquid²; any cup or other tall container placed on SCP-XXXX-A will fill with water. Among the mundane furniture decorating the top floor is a 1 by 1 meter wooden trunk, henceforth known as SCP-XXXX-B. Inside SCP XXXX-B is an assortment of 14 glass containers filled with oil paints of varying colors. Once a paint is removed and SCP XXXX-B is closed, an identical container of paint will appear in it's place.

While within SCP-XXXX, individuals report symptoms including but not limited to; audible ringing in the ears, dizziness, blurred vision, reduced motor function, paranoia, sense of dread, and antisocial behavior. These symptoms increase in severity the longer the individual remains within SCP-XXXX, but will quickly disappear if the individual exits within 24 to 36 hours of entering. Once an individual spends 24 to 36 hours within SCP-XXXX, a strong compulsion is developed to both remain within and paint the walls of SCP-XXXX. At this point the occupant is designated SCP-XXXX-1.

If an individual or group of individuals enters SCP-XXXX while inhabited, SCP-XXXX-1 will attack them. SCP-XXXX-1 has the physical capacities of a normal human (which may be diminished depending on how long it has inhabited SCP-XXXX) but it will not relent in it's aggression until the individual(s) leave SCP-XXXX or until SCP-XXXX-1 is subdued or terminated. Medical exams performed on different sedated SCP-XXXX-1s display neurodegeneration consistent with Alzheimer's Disease, the severity of which correlates with how long it remained in SCP-XXXX. Other commonly exhibited medical conditions include severe deafness, moderate vision impairment, and partial paralysis. When removed from SCP-XXXX, SCP-XXXX-1 will do everything in it's power to return. If it does not return to SCP-XXXX within 48 to 72 hours, SCP-XXXX-1 will die from intracerebral hemorrhage.

If left undisturbed, SCP-XXXX-1 will subsist off of sustenance retrieved from SCP-XXXX-A and spend most of it's time painting the walls with paints retrieved from SCP-XXXX-B. When it isn't eating or painting, SCP-XXXX-1 can be observed searching for and destroying cameras, microphones, and anything else that might aid in studying it- even if none are present in SCP-XXXX. In spite of SCP-XXXX-1's degenerative condition, it is preternaturally effective in this regard, managing to locate and destroy the Foundation's smallest cameras and recording devices. As a result, SCP-XXXX-1 has proven difficult to observe in action. The current solution is an array of cameras situated outside SCP-XXXX that are trained on it's windows. This offers sufficient coverage of the inside of SCP-XXXX while disturbing SCP-XXXX-1 as little as possible.

The paintings produced by SCP-XXXX-1 are believed to be non-anomalous. The subject matter of these paintings varies depending on the SCP-XXXX-1, but it appears that it's social, psychological, and political anxieties are reflected in the work it produces. Rarely, SCP-XXXX-1 produces paintings depicting anomalous objects and events it would not normally be aware of. The cause of this phenomenon is currently under investigation, but research is made difficult due to SCP-XXXX-1's disposition.

Standard array of paintings at the end of SCP-XXXX-1's occupancy.

As soon as a collection of 14 paintings is completed in specific locations throughout SCP-XXXX (see accompanying image for standard array), SCP-XXXX-1 dies of intracerebral hemorrhage. This process, from initial designation to completion of the paintings, normally takes 2 to 4 months. Please see test logs and recovered journals below for further information concerning SCP-XXXX-1's behavior and qualities.

Recovery: SCP-XXXX was discovered by the Foundation in 1912 after rumors in the Spanish anart world spread concerning it's existence. GOI-2014 (Marshall, Carter, and Dark LTD) had apparently purchased it from it's former owners, a group of heirs who had little interest in maintaining the property. Upon purchasing the estate, it is believed MC&D forged city documents to falsely indicate SCP-XXXX had been demolished. 9 months after MC&D's initial purchase, the estate containing SCP-XXXX was forcefully contained by the Foundation. MC&D has made efforts to reacquire SCP-XXXX since then, though they remain largely unsuccessful. Please see attachment_xx documentation recovered during the initial containment of SCP-XXXX.

Addendum: Tests involving SCP-XXXX-1 have been suspended pending review by the Ethics Committee.

Test Log XXXX-14

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Title 2

F9XH8/JA7CH/M284F
Status	In Reserve
Demand	High
Value	1000000~ GBP
Availability	Established Supply Chain
Identifier	New Black Paintings
Description	Paintings that appear to be authentic works by Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes. In the style of Goya's Black Paintings, the items are accurate enough to be deemed authentic by experts in the field. The items themselves are mundane, though their means of production is not.
Marshall, Carter and Dark, LLP

Initial Report
Author	Rudolf Winslow	Date	14th March, 1910
Interest	High	Identifier	New Black Paintings

The Deaf Man's Villa was set to be sold to and demolished by the city of Madrid- which would have been a staggering blow to the Western Canon in it's own right- until one of the heirs of the estate contacted noted associate and esteemed gentleman Francis L. Auden- may he bask in the Lord's mercy- to purchase the estate himself. Sir Auden- aesthete that he was- expressed interest in purchasing the estate on the condition that he be allowed to spend a weekend in the Villa himself. The heir obliged him, and Sir Auden left for his brief vacation the following week.

Two week later, Mary Auden- the very personification of pity- requested that I check on her missing husband. Francis should have returned days ago, and she had heard neither hide nor hair of him. The very cockles of my heart ached to see her in such a dreadful state, and so I immediately made the trip to Madrid. Navigating the overgrown estate was no easy task- nine kilometres all overgrown!- but I managed to find the Villa that once housed such terrible works by that old master. Upon stepping inside I felt an immediate chill, and then the smell. Oh God, the smell, like spoiled milk and belching fumes. Before I could get my bearings, a ghoul set upon me, emaciated and sunken.

Reflexively, I retrieved my knife and shoved it in the creature's stomach, it's eyes widening in savage shock and fear. It was then I realized I was staring down the visage of a quickly dying Sir Auden. As his essence spilled around the knife left in his gut, he charged again at me- not a note of recognition in those horrible eyes- and acting again on instinct and adrenaline I popped him in the nose and knocked him out. Only as he lay sprawled on the floor and bleeding did I see what was painted on the walls of the opposite side of the room- at first I thought it an original Black Painting, somehow forgotten- but I soon realized the subject of the portrait. An image of Mary- sweet Mary- twisted and grotesque, taking fork and knife to a Francis who looked exultant and repugnant all at once.

This horrid image combined with the eldritch energy of the house caused me to bring up my last meal next to the writhing form of Francis, and no longer able to bear it I stumbled out of the terrible Villa. Whilst gathering myself on the outside, listening to songbirds sing and Sir Auden moan, I came to a hypothesis. Auden was a lousy artist, always had been, but the work I witnessed in the Villa looked as if it had been painted by the Spaniard himself. Perhaps, in a controlled environment, this could be used to our advantage.

Footnotes

1. Records indicate that an additional wing was constructed under it's second owner, which was subsequently destroyed while under the control of GOI-2014.

2. Analysis has shown that the brown liquid is a soup reduced from the flesh of an as of yet unidentified creature.