psourpuss

Item Number: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Thaumiel Hiemal¹
Special Containment Procedures:
All sites are to house no less than three instances of SCP-XXXX-1 at any given time. When performing an XXXX-α event, the instances are not to be interrupted, unless the lives of further foundation assets is at stake. When SCP-XXXX-1 instances need to enter a containment or testing chamber, they are to be debriefed on potential hazards inside.
All Mobile Task Force operations departing from a designated site are to await the company of at least one SCP-XXXX-1 instance for every five personnel departing.
In the event that an SCP-XXXX-2 instance manifests, the site is to declare a containment breach, all available researchers and Mobile Task Force members are to seek safety in order to allow SCP-XXXX-1 instances to begin an XXXX-β event attempt to aid the SCP-XXXX-1 instances to avoid an XXXX-Ω event.
When not performing XXXX-α or -β events, SCP-XXXX-1 instances are permitted to roam the site they're attending and to be given clearance equivalent to that of a Level-2 Researcher. This clearance barrier is waived during the manifestation of SCP-XXXX-2 instances. As SCP-XXXX-1 instances are capable of providing their own sustenance and housing, no additional resources are to be expended upon them, unless approved by the Site Director.
On the last Saturday of each month, all testing involving potential risk to life is to be put on hold unless absolutely necessary. During these dates, personnel are permitted to attend the proceedings, but under no circumstances are to participate in them.

Description:
SCP-XXXX is the collective designation for a system of two types of entities, SCP-XXXX-1, and SCP-XXXX-2. SCP-XXXX-1 is allied with the foundation, and commonly expresses interest in death, thaumaturgy, and aiding the Foundation (See Addendum XXXX-2).
Members of SCP-XXXX-1 possess a wide variety of physical traits, but all bear the following consistencies:

• Humanoid appearance,
• Ability to manifest and de-manifest weaponry,
• High knowledge of thaumaturgy, linguistics, and the group's practices,

and

• A wide range of anomalous abilities (see Addendum XXXX-1).

SCP-XXXX-2 instances are incredibly hostile towards living entities, and manifest after the death of an entity possessing sentience. The time between death and manifestation has been observed to vary between 13 seconds and 18 hours. Instances of XXXX-2 always bear the face of the individual they originated from, but no other consistencies have been found, aside from their noted weakness to the weapons used by XXXX-1 instances.
SCP-XXXX-1 instances are aware of when a sapient creature dies within their vicinity, and perform actions that prevent the manifestation of SCP-XXXX-2 instances. This set of actions and their completion constitute what is known as an XXXX-α event. The means by which this process occurs is unknown, but typically involves the instance swinging their weapon through open air, and speaking heavily varied phrases in Latin.
SCP-XXXX-1 instances will attempt to neutralize all XXXX-2 instances whenever one manifests, and the process of doing so is referred to as an XXXX-β event. These events are performed by SCP-XXXX-1 instances attacking the manifested XXXX-2 instance with their personal weapons until the XXXX-2 manifestation is destroyed. Upon destruction, SCP-XXXX-2 instances emit a flash of blue-tinted light and promptly demanifest, appearing to vaporize. At times, SCP-XXXX-1 and SCP-XXXX-2 instances will, instead of engaging in combat, will communicate in an as-of-yet unknown language, resulting in [REDACTED, see Addendum XXXX-4]. This constitutes an XXXX-Ω event.

+ Access Addendum XXXX-1

Addendum XXXX-1: Abridged List of Known Abilities held by instances of XXXX-1

Ability	Details	Rarity
Weapon manifestation	Allows for the manifestation and demanifestation of anomalous bladed weaponry, used in combatting XXXX-2 instances.	Present in all instances.
"Death-Sense"2	Instances can tell when nearby sapient life dies, or is close to death.	Present in all instances.
Advanced Cellular Regeneration	Wounds and other damaged cell structures regenerate at high speeds.	Present in all instances.
Enhanced strength, senses, and reflexes	Physical strength, reaction times, and perception scores recorded to be at least triple that of non-anomalous humans.	Present in all instances.
"Gate Creation"	Allows for the creation of gates to what is presumably an alternate reality. Appears as a 2-meter tall black ovoid, completely flat. Only instances of SCP-XXXX-1 have proven capable of entering these "gates."	Present in all instances.
Pyromancy	Allows for the manifestation and manipulation of fire, typically with anomalous coloration and temperature.	Present in 62.5% of instances.
"Life Magic"	Conjures anomalous green mist that enhances cellular regeneration up to triple what has been observed in instances of XXXX-1. Also notably works on humans.	Present in 29.2% of instances.
Transformative Properties	[DATA EXPUNGED]	Present in 0.4% of instances

+ Access Addendum XXXX-2

Addendum XXXX-2: Discovery Log
SCP-XXXX was brought to foundation following a letter sent to all sites shortly after foundation operations began in 1███. The methods by which these letters were delivered is still unknown, but were believed to be spontaneously summoned by a high-ranking member of SCP-XXXX-1. The contents of the letter are transcribed below.³

Greetings, staff of Site ██⁴
It has come to our attention that recently, a high risk to mortal life was posed by the continued function of your works. In order to prevent catastrophe, a parley is being requested on behalf of the Ordinance of the Reapers. This summit may take place whenever your brightest minds are available, though we ask, for your sake and ours, that you momentarily pause testing and procedures that may endanger the Soulbound- in your case, humans, and other sentient creatures. Consult whatever councils are needed to assert your decision, and we will eagerly await your response.
Best,
Maragh Vaal, Ambassador to the Ordinance of the Reapers.

Following a unanimous vote from the O-5 Council, the Foundation met with the Ordinance of Reapers, now referred to as SCP-XXXX-1, and the current containment procedures and policies were put in place. Full logs of the meeting are available to researchers with Level 5 Clearance and above, with permission from their Site Director.

+ Access Addendum XXXX-3

Interview Log
Foreword: This interview was conducted shortly after the successful vote of indoctrinating the practices of SCP-XXXX-1 instances into foundation doctrine. The interview was conducted in a highly informal manner, and transcribed by a nearby researcher.
Interviewed: An SCP-XXXX-1 instance by the given name of Maragh.⁵
Interviewer: Agent N. Chiari

---

[Extraneous conversation redacted.]
Chiari: So, enough on catching up with what all the Foundation does. Tell me more about you, about the Reapers.
Maragh: What more is there to say? We simply stop souls from lingering too long.
Chiari: Oh, come now, there's certainly more to tell than that, no? How did it all start? How do you operate? What's the deal with the scythes, the rituals, the [expletive redacted] creatures that show up post-mortem?
Maragh: [Stifling a laugh] Aye, fine now, s'pose you deserve some explanation yourself. First off- your first question, how we started. We've existed since time immemorial, all of us born of nothing since Adam and Eve first walked the planet. We weren't exactly certain of our purpose until we felt it- the death-sense. We held our duty, but as the population grew we knew we needed to organize.
Chiari: I think I follow. You built those castles you told me about-
Maragh: Yes, yes, the Citadels. Each in their own region of the nothingness, corresponding to a point on the globe to reduce our, erm, travel times- in a manner of speaking. To lift the veil of the void and slip under the curtain requires one to move quickly, you know.
Chiari: [Agent Chiari laughs] N-no, no, I really don't. But continue, please.
Maragh: Of course, dear friend. I believe you next asked about our blades, yes?
[Chiari nods and says something unintelligible.]
Maragh: The blades are, well, bound to one's existence. If I summoned my glaive right now and placed it in your hands, it'd phase right through. Us Reapers are born with them tied to us. As for the composition- you there! Scribe! Write this down!
[Maragh turns to and points to the researcher logging the interview.
Maragh: The weapons we swing are imbued with the light of the moon, swirled together with the essence of the void. Lunaria Steel, we call it. These weapons, I'm sure at least one person has noticed, are all built to slash. The slashing is the action of severing a soul from this plane, passing it to the next stage of being.
Chiari: And that state of being is?
Maragh: That is something I cannot say- none of us know for certain. We do believe it may be something to the tune of reincarnation. I suppose it's more accurate to call it 'Soul Recycling.'
Chiari: And what about the monsters that show up? What can you tell us about them?
Maragh: If I had to boil it down to a single sentence, they are the souls that refuse to die. Some come back faster than others- those with the will to stay anchored to the Earth. They fight because there's naught more they can do. Imagine if everything were wrenched away from you, save for your will to keep moving forward. You'd try to kill everyone around you too!
[Maragh makes a forced laugh and remains quiet for several seconds.]
Maragh: They're not all bad, mind you.
Chiari: Wait, what do you mean by that exactly? These things have killed off at least [Redacted] personnel so far! How could they-
Maragh: My apologies, but I've said too much. I must be leaving now, friend.
Chiari: Wait! You can't go yet!
[Maragh, at this time, created a 'gate' and exited the scene.]⁶

+ Access Addendum XXXX-4, Level 4 Clearance Required

Footnotes

1. See Incident Log XXXX.1

2. Abilities listed in quotes are the names given by instances of SCP-XXXX-1.

3. The original letter was printed in English, Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, Japanese, Russian, Latin, Tagalog, Greek, Egyptian, and Afrikaans. For brevity, only the English transcription is listed here.

4. This number was replaced with the number of the site the copy of the letter was delivered to.

5. Instance bore the appearance of a skeletal humanoid with a large, modified goat skull as a head. Horns were larger than standard goat skulls, and fangs were present, as well as anomalous light sources in the eye sockets, representing pupils of sorts. Instance also was wearing a full-body cloak, composed of non-anomalous silk, and green pigment.

6. The instance was only seen once more, shortly after the death of Agent Chiari and performed an XXXX-α event, before demanifesting once more.