Item #: SCP-ES-142
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: Due to the properties of the object and its fragility, it is contained in situ within the Vatican City. A team of Foundation archaeologists should inspect it monthly, recording and notifying any alterations or signs of further deterioration.
The area where SCP-ES-142 is located has been restricted under the façade of remodeling and maintenance work. Security in the sector is provided by Foundation agents characterized as members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard in collaboration with members of the local security force. Civilians found in the sector will have to be arrested and interrogated before being handed over to the local authorities.
Unauthorized manipulation will result in disciplinary action against involved.
In case of a Mammon event the activation of the object will be authorized. The personnel present at the site should contact the liaison officer of the Confraternity of Saint George’s Knights or related personnel and wait for instructions and/or the arrival of a representative of the Confraternity. For more details see Document S142.
Description: SCP-ES-142 corresponds to a mechanical device built from silver and human bones with thaumaturgical properties, specifically related to the capacity to repel Class T3 intangible tartaric entities present in a specific area. To date, the technology under which the object was built and the principles associated with its operation are largely unknown.
Laboratory tests performed have determined that its metallic components were constructed from silver with a purity between 90% and 95.8%, of the type usually used in liturgical objects of Christianity, while the osseous components were dated according to Carbon-14 tests between the 5th and 14th centuries AD.
Thaumaturgical testing instruments haved determined that the object presents high levels of Akiva radiation, around 10 times the value corresponding to the baseline, and several times the level found in other objects of devotion of Christianity as well as of other religions. However, the object has levels of Hume radiation comparable to baseline levels, which would explain the limited effect on the environment around it.
In the inactive state, the device is able to maintain an area equivalent to 1 km2 free of Class T3 or related entities. Its effect on non-tartaric anomalous entities or tartaric Class T1 or higher is unknown.
The records of the Confraternity have concluded that, to date, the object has been activated 3 times; in addition to the incident of 1586, the device was activated once in 1629, during the Italian Plague, and again in 1942 in response to actions developed by rival groups to the Confraternity, showing important damages after the latest use that endangered its functionality.
This deterioration, together with the scarce understanding of the technology used during the 16th century for the construction of SCP-ES-142, led the Confraternity to establish contact with the Foundation, seeking help in repairing the device or in the construction of a device with similar characteristics. For this purpose, along with allowing them access to the object, a copy of the diary of Alonzo Mancini, the subject involved in obtaining the device in 1586, was delivered. (See Addendum)
To date, it has not been possible to achieve any of these objectives.
Addendum: Extract from the diary of Alonzo Mancini, secretary of Cardinal Enzo Lucca.
Today I met the Devil or at least one of his minions. He did not present himself with horns or other marks of hell, but rather under the appearance of banker Angelo Salvago. Of coppery skin, bald and without eyebrows, always with a mocking smile on his face, Salvago was not a pleasant person to see or try, but at the same time he was the only one who wanted to continue doing business with Cardinal Lucca when the others turned their backs on him.
As the Cardinal's secretary, I couldn't blame him for dealing with someone like Salvago- his debts had forced him. He had already given him one of his properties as payment, but the usurious interests did not allow him to pay off what was owed. As the days passed the tone of Salvago had changed from flatterer and flatterer to demanding and brutal, even demanding that the Cardinal steal pieces of the Papal treasure in order to pay his debts. For this reason, we had asked the Pontifical Guard to prohibit him from entering, while trying to get justice to intervene in favor of the Cardinal, without obtaining results because before his eyes it seemed a legitimate business.
For that reason the surprise was not greater when I found Salvago, dressed in luxurious lace and brocade, walking through the corridors of the Pontifical residence. At first, I thought he had bribed the guards to enter, I wanted to recriminate him and ask him to leave, but his gaze stopped me. I told him that the Cardinal was not there, that he was visiting the Lordship of Correggio, but at that moment his smile was erased and he limited himself to telling me, "Dog, go find your master. Let him not forget that to Caesar what is Caesar's."
To my shame I obeyed him. I don't know what kind of incantation he used, but my will was broken. I went to the Cardinal's room, where he was working, and announced the visit. Moments later Salvago arrived, who, in a tone of impatience, told the Cardinal that he would take all the gold and silver from the place and that we were going to help him transport it. Shamefully, the Cardinal took off his rings and crucifix and handed them to Salvago, who looked at them greedily. Moments later he handed him his silver reliquary, the object he loved most because he had inside a splinter of bone from St. Benedict the humble, whom he considered his source of inspiration.
When he took the reliquary, Salvago shouted as if he had been stabbed in the hand. The holy object crackled, and smoke came out of it, moments before the perverse released it. Before our stupor, Salvago cursed us, and fled the room.
Innocently we had thought it was all over, but the facts showed us how wrong we were. That night neither the Cardinal nor I were able to rest, tormented both by a stinking plague of sulfur and rotten flesh coming in from the outside and by the blows and scratches we heard on the outside windows. Dawn, instead of bringing us peace, brought us greater horror, since we discovered the horses dead in the stables, with open bellies and scattered guts, as if ferocious beasts had attacked them. Neither the stable boy, nor the men of the guard, nor the servants saw or heard anything. I thought they were lying, that they were hiding something, but they showed as much fear and disgust as we did when we found ourselves before this macabre spectacle.
The Cardinal didn't know what to do. He denounced Salvago before the Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, accusing him of heresy and sorcery, but his words fell on deaf ears, simply telling him that there was no proof and that he should pay what was owed.
After several nights of peace, the cacophony returned. Last night they not only disturbed but also vandalized the garden, dawning withered and corrupted plants as if the ground were poisoned. The servants abandoned us and only the guard remained, bound by his oath of service. This convinced the Cardinal to call Brother Donato, a holy man expert in combating the Devil's schemes, to help us.
That night we stayed awake. Our wait only lasted until midnight, at which time the cacophony and pestilence began. Brother Donato then resorted to the weapons the Lord had given him, praying and reciting an exorcism, while pouring holy water into the windows, all of which had little effect.
After several nights of fighting against the darkness, Brother Donato surrendered. He told us that he could not continue his work on the eve of Good Friday; that would be an unforgivable heresy regardless of its purpose. I think it was also because he lost faith in his abilities.
Before leaving us, he gave us a small light of hope, telling us that he would ask Confraternity of Saint George’s Knights to help us.
Although we have gone through various inns along Rome, always traveling in disguise and using false names, our tormentors did not lose sight of us. Night after night the pestilence and cacophony continued, tormenting both us and our roommates and threatening to destroy our sanity and our faith.
Today we meet with the Confraternity's envoy in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. That Donato Bagliani turned out to be a curious man because while we were waiting for a warrior or a pious man, we met a scholar. He listened attentively to our story as he took notes, without expressing a judgment or opinions, and found Salvago's reaction to the relic of St. Benedict especially interesting. Almost by force, the Cardinal handed the small silver container to Bagliani, who promised to return it in a few days.
Today a messenger arrived at our inn, being called to meet at the Church of Santa Maria on Minerva with the envoys of the Confraternity. There was Bagliani with two men we did not know. They explained to us the nature of what we were facing, and that the only thing capable of repelling it were the bones of the Saints, because inside it concentrated the purest and most powerful faith that could be found among men, being only inferior to the present one in the relics left by the Son and his Disciples. Each small fragment could repel our opponents in a limited way, but distributed in a special way could keep the entire Holy Seat free from those evil influences.
Accompanied by one of the Knights of the Confraternity and provided with a Papal Bull, we have begun to tour the kingdoms of the peninsula. We visit every little chapel we find on our way, even in the most humble villages, always looking for relics of the saints we could obtain. I do not deny that I feel bad about what we are doing, practically stealing their beloved relics, even when we leave them gold to compensate them in part for what they give, but all this is for the greater good. According to the letters we have received, our adversary, not being able to reach us, has increased his violence, raging with friends and acquaintances of the Cardinal, the last victim being Bishop Cenci, who was found a few days ago with a horribly lacerated back, near the Filarete Gate.
After two months of traveling through the peninsula, we have returned to Rome. Together with the knights of the Confraternity, we have gathered about thirty relics, most of which were no bigger than the bone of a finger. They told us to keep moving through Rome and that in a week they would have results to show us.
That afternoon we met Bagliani in the former office of the Cardinal, where he showed us one of the most curious artifacts I have ever seen. At first glance it looked like a clock or some mechanical device made of silver, having, however, in the section that was not visible and interspersed with its mechanisms, a series of bone pieces.
The night came in the middle of a tense wait, wondering if all those efforts would have any results. That night we gave free to the guard, in anticipation of an unfavorable scenario. At midnight the demonstration began, with more violence than ever. In the middle of the cacophony, the windows were broken, and the pestilence almost drowned us. Bagliani manipulated the strange artifact, which began to vibrate. I don't know if it was fear or my mind confused by the mephitic vapors that flooded the place, but it seemed to me that the interior of the artifact shone with a bluish light, as if the fire of San Telmo had reached it. We felt a strong pressure in our ears and the cacophony stopped, after which Bagliani manipulated the artifact again. That night we had peace.
Great was our surprise when we found out the morning following Angelo Salvago's disappearance. Moreover, as if the fevers had affected them, not even his neighbors seemed capable of remembering him or his bank. After asking half a dozen times, and fearing that we would be treated like insane, we decided to keep quiet. Sadly that night there were also several disappearances within the Holy City, the most notable being those of the secretaries of Cardinal Trivulzio and of the Bishop Madrusso.
That morning Bagliani examined carefully the artifact, showing disapproval of what he found. Although the silver components were intact, the bone fragments looked somewhat deteriorated, as if they had been thrown into a bonfire. The artifact was brought to the Confraternity for examination, promising to return within three days.
Without ceasing to feel that we were committing a heresy, that night we descended to the grottos near the Tomb of Saint Peter, where, after an improvised masonry work, we installed the artifact in a wall, surrounded by the remains of the saints patriarch of the church. This environment, according to Bagliani, should both amplify its influence and stabilize its components. After teaching me how to use it, he asks me to activate it again only in an exceptional case.
That night was the last time I saw Bagliani alive.
