Banner of the Great Khanate of Champagne.
Item #: SCP-595-FR
Threat Level: Red ●
Object Class: Neutralized
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-595-FR was successfully neutralized during Operation Steppe-By-Steppe in 1871. The resulting damage was publicly ascribed to other, contemporaneous events: the Franco-Prussian war, the Paris Commune and the Campaign of the Interior carried out by the French Third Republic. All copies of the work The Tatar Woke: Spontaneous Resurgence of the Barbarian in Catholic Europe have been confiscated and are available in Aisle A65 of the Site-Kybian literary archives.
Although Operation Steppe-By-Steppe and Dr. Brissard's intervention eventually worked in the favor of the Foundation and its ally, the newly established French Third Republic, it should be reminded that a CK-Class scenario (restructuring of modern society) was considered plausible. Should the Foundation ever plan a similar procedure in future, it should be insured that absolute power is never entrusted to a single individual.
Description: SCP-595-FR is an unusual political entity that existed in France from 1870 to 1871 known as the Great Khanate of Champagne. At its peak, the entity's territory extended from the river Loire in the south and the Vosges mountains in the east, to the Armorican Massif in the west and the Ardennes Forest in the north. SCP-595-FR results from the anomalous merging of 19th-Century French rural culture with the nomadic lifestyle of the Turco-Mongol horsemen who had ruled much of Asia in Ancient and Medieval times. The ruler, known as the Great Khan, would lead an extremely mobile army of mounted archers who could rapidly patrol the lands and crush any opposition. There was no fixed capital: the ruler would travel along with the army as conquests went, camping in yurts (a type of large, circular tent used by nomads) and pillaging settlements along their path for supplies. Apart from the strict laws mentioned thereafter, state forces very rarely interacted with the populace (perceived as little more than a source of victuals) and focused on conquering new lands. This aggressive policy allowed SCP-595-FR to reach its territorial maximum in the span of a few months, despite being comprised of likely no more than twenty thousand horsemen.
The anachronistic syncretism and ruthlessness of SCP-595-FR are clearly visible in the strict laws imposed on the populace, as in the following excerpt:
- Adulterating wheat flour shall be punished by boiling in yak fat.1
- Labeling as "champagne" a sparkling wine produced outside of the region of Champagne shall be punished by flaying. Offenders outside of the Khanate's territory shall be retroactively punished once the area is annexed.
- All suspected leaders of a rebellion against the authority of the Khanate shall have their throats slit and their bodies thrown to the serpent eagles.2
- Pairing a red meat with a white wine, or a white meat with a red wine, shall be punished by decapitation and display of the head in a public space for seven days. In the case of a Rosé, it is up to the accusing horseman to assess the pairing and decapitate accordingly.
The clothing and equipment of the horsemen resemble those of Mongol soldiers under Genghis Khan, though the traditional war helm is noted to be absent and replaced with a beret. The armor features heavy padding appropriate for the cold of the steppes, but in theory far too warm for the French climate. Regardless, SCP-595-FR soldiers display no signs of heat exhaustion or discomfort while wearing the armor. They are equipped with reflex bows, a powerful weapon of nomad tradition, made of successive layers of wood and yak sinew. SCP-595-FR bows use sinew from SCP-009-FR however, which greatly increases their power: General Patrice de Mac Mahon claims to have witnessed an arrow being shot from the Bois de Vincennes reaching the Arc de Triomphe, more than ten kilometers away. Some witnesses have described charges being led by horsemen wielding baguettes, but this information is not verified.
Emergence and expansion: On 15th September 1870, a group of horse riders with an oriental physique is reported in Gourgançon, rural Champagne region. They were later identified as a cohort of Genghis Khan's generals who had reached the modern period using an unidentified time-altering device. Reports cease after 18th September, the inferred date of their departure to another era. Within this time, one of the subjects was in prolonged contact with Person of Interest Robert Boullard, who would later create SCP-595-FR. A detailed account of this event is present in the work The Tatar Woke: Spontaneous Resurgence of the Barbarian in Catholic Europe by historian André Borel d'Hauterive.
It was on a night of autumn during a violent storm when Robert Boullard, a petty peasant from Champagne, heard, knocking on his door, a warrior from a faraway land which I was unable to identify due to the rural cant of the former. The Barbarian named Aldsan, armed to the teeth and still quite soaked from the rain, would recount to the peasant around a bowl of soup the historic prowess of steppe nomads. The uniting of the Mongols by Temujin and his crowning as the universal ruler, the Genghis Khan; the conquest of the vast realm of Khwarazm in Central Asia in but two years; the back-crossing of the vast Asiatic grasslands in a few months so to reach the confines of Europe.
Though Aldsan remained with Robert Boullard for a mere evening, that was enough to wring all Civilisation from the said man. Enticed by these tales of grandeur, he would tighten a bow, saddle his horse and head to the village, where he would deliver an eloquent speech on the need to escape the yoke of sedentary French governments and promise wealth and glory to whosoever would follow. An initial force of volunteers would emerge whom, after some ethnic dressing up, would become the insatiable nomad state of Champagne, ruled by him who now only accepts the title of Great Khan Bébert; misfortune befalls those who should forget it, or, God forbid, should smile upon hearing it.3
The army formed in Gourgançon quickly pacifies the surrounding villages and recruits new archers from the inhabitants. An invasion of the east of France by North-German forces, in the context of the Franco-Prussian war, is ongoing at that time: SCP-595-FR uses the resulting chaos to its advantage. The first encounter with Prussian forces takes place at Troyes on 27th September, opposing the horde of a few hundred horsemen to an infantry unit with superior numbers and technology. The nomads win the battle with a rapid charge, catching the Prussians, confused by their anachronistic clothing, by surprise. This victory grants the Khanate access to the city of Troyes where a large number of soldiers is recruited and many resources are pillaged. The horsemen then begin pacifying the rest of the region of Champagne.
Prussian authorities are slow to react, as the officers do not initially believe the accounts of their subordinates. According to a report from the French Imperial army, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck himself traveled to Champagne and allegedly exclaimed "Sehen Sie? Niemand ist hier."4 right before his Pickelhaube was pierced by an arrow. The Khanate's forces confront the Prussian army in six more battles (in Châlons-en-Champagne, Saint-Dizier, Reims, Provins, Soissons and Laon) and are victorious each time. With the Prussians handled, the unfledged French republican army is easily defeated. The nomads reach Amiens on 29th November, Nancy on 7th December, Langres on the 13th and Rouen on the 22nd. Their enemies are heavily affected by demoralization and desertion, and cities on their path spontaneously surrender, their ruthless reputation having preceded them.
A last unified assault on the Khanate is attempted by the French and Prussian armies, having formed a truce for the occasion, on 25th February in the vicinity of Paris. The battle concludes with the complete and disorderly dispersal of the Franco-Prussian contingent due to the unpredictability of the nomads' charges and the range of their naildeer reflex bows. The soldiers captured by the Khanate must choose between joining the nomad army and being executed. The bones of the condemned are carved into escargot forks.5 A detailed report of the event, dubbed the "phantom battle," is kept by the Estate Noire, available upon request.
After the battle, the nomads enter Paris, where a large number of Paris Commune participants join their ranks. With a solid power base in Northern France and no immediate enemies, Great Khan Bébert begins to plan an invasion of the rest of Europe. He divides his army into eight semi-independent regiments ("hordes"):
The Orleans Horde
The Deauville Horde
The Paris Horde
The Munster Horde
The Esplergy Horde
The Chantilly Horde
The Dijon Horde
The [REDACTED] Horde
The regiments are sent to pillage the lands for one month to amass victuals for the upcoming campaigns, before converging back to Gourgançon (renamed "Khaniac") to launch a new wave of conquests. However, tensions begin to form between the regiments, threatening the progress of the operation. The historian André Borel d'Hauterive, present at the Khan's court, includes in his work a transcript of a state council meeting which reflects this period of internal conflicts.
On 13th April, Great Khan Bébert dies of undetermined causes.6 Aide-de-camp Eustache proclaims himself Khan with the support of all attending nomads and decrees that the invasion of Germany will resume. However, Strategist Marcel insists on staying in Gourgançon and continuing to purge the troupes. The dispute worsens and Marcel flees to Paris, where he proclaims himself Khan with the support of the Deauville, Esplergy and Chantilly Hordes. The Paris Horde, outraged by this turn of events, flees to Alsace where their general, Barnabé, in turn proclaims himself Khan. The Dijon Horde suffers a split: one half joins Barnabé and the other Marcel. Orleans switches sides, Chantilly is captured by Esplergy but rescued by Deauville, before being both annexed by Munster but released on order of general François, also proclaimed Khan. After two weeks, Bébert's original territory is fractured into a number of tribes in constant warfare, each with its own Khan, still undefeated by sedentary forces.
Addendum 1: Operation Steppe-By-Steppe
OPERATION STEPPE-BY-STEPPE
Signatories: the French and Prussian governments, the National Gendastrerie, the SCP Foundation, the Imperial German Anomalous Matters Examination Agency
Aim of the operation: The complete elimination of anachronistic nomadic states established in Northern France and the partition of recovered territories between local sedentary powers.
Date: May 1871 - July 1871
Protocol: A member of the Foundation will infiltrate the nomads and gradually unify the scattered tribes in order to centralize them under their authority and proclaim themselves Khan. Once all of the archers have been gathered under their control, they are to be led into an ambush and captured by the signatories of the operation. The infiltrated member will need to make use of social engineering and the most advanced manipulation techniques all while maintaining their cover so as to not be found out, which would certainly lead to a swift execution. Their progress will be monitored by undercover agents in villages conquered by the nomads. The chosen personnel member is Doctor Didier Brissard.
Progress: Finished.
Result: Success
Detailed report:
Followup: The SCP Foundation and the IGAMEA will work together in the upcoming years to disinform the population about SCP-595-FR. The Prussian government accepts to publicly take the blame for the resulting destruction in Northern France, and receives the Alsace-Moselle area in counterpart. The rest of the nomads' territory goes to the newly formed French Third Republic. The Franco-Prussian truce is to be left out of all non-classified official documents.
Addendum 2: