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Item#: 8723 Level2 Containment Class: euclid Secondary Class: none Disruption Class: vlam Risk Class: notice link to memo Special Containment Procedures: A plot of land of roughly one km2 has been fenced around SCP-8723, and automatic Akiva Radiation Counters and Tartarean Radiation Counters have been placed around the object to monitor any unusual fluctuations in the field. A reading of ambient EVE1 within the radius of SCP-8723 has to be performed every September equinox.
The entire town of Caldes de Vall is subject to a partially self-imposed BOCA- CERRADA2 protocol. STF-Delta-37 ("Goat-starers") agents have integrated themselves with the populace. Their task is to make sure that the inhabitants don't talk about the events of 10/05/1971, specifically with outsiders and suppress any information leaks that may result from a breach of the BOCA-CERRADA protocol. Violence when enforcing the protocol is to be kept to a minimum. STF-Delta-37 is also responsible for enacting any other necessary actions to enforce SCP-8723's containment. Due to the time investment that this represents admission into the task force is encouraged among retiring members of Site-137's staff.
The folklore figure analogous with SCP-8723 is already believed to be fictional, so no further actions are to be taken on this front.
Description: SCP-8723 refers to two objects found near the town of Caldes de Vall, in the Spanish Pyrenees. SCP-8723-1 is an exceptionally large skeleton of Capra Pyrenaica,3 measuring 10 meters long. SCP-8723-2 is a porcelain statue of a red cherub with four wings. It is believed to be the remnants of a destroyed paraweapon of unknown manufacture, absorbing 0.5 Akiva per minute. SCP-8723-2 is currently lodged into the neck of SCP-8723-1.
SCP-8723-1's main anomalous property (besides its size) is that cell reproduction, animal libido and effectiveness of thaumaturgical rituals are all reduced by 46% in a 156 meter radius around the object. Inside the carcass, these processes are inverted, with plant-growth in particular observed to be significantly increased (mostly due to inability to test the other effects). Researchers hypothesize that SCP-8723-1 absorbs the potential transition of energy around itself for hitherto unknown reasons.
It is believed that SCP-8723-1 corresponds with a figure that has appeared in folklore and occult ritual across northern Spain as evidenced by paintings and written records of witchcraft. Further inquiry to confirm or deny this hypothesis is pending.
Discovery: The first reports of the existence of SCP-8723 came to the Foundation after an incident in the surroundings of Caldes de Vall in 1971. Investigation into the event was halted by the intervention of GoI-134, "Special Security Commission",4 who detained all Foundation agents who approached the town.
In 1984, after the dissolution of GoI-134 and the reopening of multiple investigations that had been halted by them, then Site Director Romero of Site 137 sent a team to investigate and contain the then undesignated SCP-8723. The population of Caldes de Vall were found to have developed a taboo around SCP-8723 and the events that lead to its presence in the outskirts of the village. This was likely a consequence of GoI-134's former presence in Caldes de Vall. The BOCA-CERRADA protocol and the other Special Containment Procedures were established then, building on the already present taboo.
Containment of SCP-8723 has been optimal ever since.
Addendum-8723-1: On 06/04/2012, an internal investigation of Site-137 was launched by Site Director Bosch leading to the review of SCP-8723's documentation. It was found to have insufficient information on the nature and origins of SCP-8723, and thus, Dr.
Orbach was tasked with finding more information as to the circumstances that lead to SCP-8723's existence. To this end, he traveled to Caldes de Vall to attempt to interview the inhabitants with assistance of members of STF-Delta-37.
Most of these attempts were unsuccessful, as people born after 1971 seemed to not know about the object, and people born earlier refused to talk about it. The only excerpt of note is attached below: Maria Barrera (68): That thing? Yes, everyone from that age remembers what it is. It was the most traumatic event in the history of the town. But they didn't let us talk about it. The ones with the uniform didn't like things that made them seem weak, so they beat us until we forgot.
<Silence on recording.> Barrera: Everyone forgot about it. And it's better to not ask. Some people are pretty sensitive to the matter.
Shortly after this interview, this avenue for investigation was halted, and efforts were put into reviewing files left behind by GoI-134, The following file was flagged by the Archival Division during research: SPECIAL SECURITY COMMISSION Investigation committee By the sacred authority of "el Caudillo", it is our duty to rid our glorious country of all ill will and harm. It is following this duty that superintendent Raventós has reported impious and iconoclastic behaviors in the territory under his purview. He suspects that the heretic cults hailing from the land of Biterna in the Pyrenees have reemerged after the last (nominally successful) attempt to snuff them out by superintendent Espronceda in 1959.
Our informants in the province talk about unholy witchcraft. There are reports of kidnapped children, communions with devils, destruction of private property, and engagement in other various forms of blasphemy (see Dossier: Pn-9234 for detailed information). It is the opinion of the Secretary Inquisitor that a regiment of our best soldiers be sent to the region to stomp the weeds of witchcraft and communism. They are to be issued with sufficient armored trucks and one advanced weapon5.
Any practitioners of the occult found in this operation are to be brought back to headquarters in Toledo where they are to be examined in an Auto de Fé.6 Any other demons, spirits and spies are to be dealt with according to protocol.
For God and nation, we will cleanse these sacrilegious influences.
Signed: Commissioner Alfredo Garcia Cross-examination between the sources relating to this expedition and the surviving records of the employees of the Special Security Commission revealed that there was only one remaining member of the team sent to the Pyrenees still living and coherent enough for an interview. This man, Francisco Cosidó Reyes, was found living alone in Alicante. He was brought to a Foundation-owned property in the city for an interview.
<Recording starts.>7 <The camera is set up in the living room of the house. Mr. Cosidó is sitting while massaging his temples. He has a cup of coffee in front of him. Then, Dr. Orbach enter and sits in front of him.> Dr. Orbach: Hello, Mr. Cosidó.
Mr. Cosidó: Hello, young man.
Dr. Orbach: I was hoping you'd be able to answer some questions I have about what you did in Caldes de Vall in 1971. Would you be able to do that?
<Mr. Cosidó stares off into the distance for a moment, as if trying to remember something.> Mr. Cosidó: I don't know what that is.
Dr. Orbach: It's a small town in the Pyrenees. Very picturesque. Slanted slate roofs, not a lot of inhabitants… Mr. Cosidó: Oh, yes… Caldas del Valle. <Mr. Cosidó thinks for a second.> I don't think I can. A couple of my partners from that time had a very loose tongue and let out a couple of secrets about the work we did, and I never saw them again. The yanks must have gotten them.
Dr. Orbach: The yanks?
Mr. Cosidó: <He looks at the cup of coffee.> Can't say anything else.
<Orbach reads through a file for a couple of seconds.> Dr. Orbach: Well, yes, it seems that during out investigation, we have determined that you and most of your comrades… <Mr. Cosidó seems to flinch after this word is used.> …were subject to a treatment that forbade you to speak about certain things, including those events. This is what we, in the business, call 'a memetic geas'. In this case, if you trigger it, your brain rots at an astonishing rate.8 Mr. Cosidó: As if it isn't already rotting! <Cosidó laughs.> I remember they might have said something about this when I left my last job for the government.
Dr. Orbach: That's good. Thankfully, those images we showed you earlier nullified that treatment.
Mr. Cosidó: So… I can talk about it. Without becoming an [EXPLETIVE REMOVED].
Dr. Orbach: <Winces, then takes a breath.> Yes. Now, you may speak freely about the events I asked about.
Mr. Cosidó: Oh. Thank God. What do you want to know?
Dr. Orbach: The current focus of our investigation is the skeletal remains of a giant goat.
What can you tell me about that?
<Mr. Cosidó's seems shocked for a moment, then regains focus and takes a sip of coffee.> Mr. Cosidó: Hm. Yes. That was the devil itself, called by a coven of filthy witches to attack both us and that town you mentioned earlier. We had to defend ourselves and we managed to kill it heroically, banishing it back to hell.
Dr. Orbach: That's certainly a colorful story.
Mr. Cosidó: There were many like it. Examples of what we did to keep our nation safe.
Dr. Orbach: But you weren't stationed in the town, originally, were you?
Mr. Cosidó: I don't understand what you mean.
<Dr. Orbach looks through some of the files in front of him.
Dr. Orbach: According to our sources, you weren't permanently garrisoned on Caldes de Vall, you were sent there to hunt something which you perceived to be witches.
Mr. Cosidó: Oh yes, of course.
Dr. Orbach: Tell me, then. Could you give me more details about what you were sent there to do, and what events transpired?
<Short silence in recording.> Mr. Cosidó: So, I guess that this pointless charade you made me do with the black vans and the tests and means that you lot are either the la Comisión, or whatever has taken its place nowadays.
Dr. Orbach: You can think of it that way.
Mr. Cosidó: So I don't have to explain how we were the last line of defense between the good Christian people of this country and the deviants — the horrors of the masons, the devil and its worshippers, the Soviets and the perverted folk. How we kept our great nation safe.
<The words hang in the air for some seconds.> Dr. Orbach: I'm a historian, I've read everything that can be read about who your former employers were and what they set out to do. But there are still many gaps in our knowledge, like how the incident in Caldes de Vall ended up happening. I would be grateful if you could explain how it went down.
Mr. Cosidó: Give me a second to remember. This headache is killing me. <Mr. Cosidó drinks another sip from the coffee cup.> We arrived to the town in the middle of the day.
It was spring… either at the tail end of April or the beginning of May.
Dr. Orbach: We've found a document that states it was around the tenth of May.
Mr. Cosidó: Yes, that might be it. <Mr. Cosidó clears his throat.> The inhabitants were scared. Can you imagine? They were deep under control of the witches; the whole town looked abandoned. There were no children playing on the streets, no elderly men reading newspapers on their balconies, no wives cleaning the laundry. We found a group of villagers in the town square, seemingly expecting us. I think it might have been the mayor and his lackeys. But they had no information about the witches. We started going through every house, trying to find them. None of them wanted to talk. I remember thinking that the witches might have stolen their tongues. It was a common enough occurrence.
Dr. Orbach: But you eventually got that information.
Mr. Cosidó: Yes. In the third home, we found a lone woman, and Captain Núñez asked her nicely to guide us to the sorcerers. She didn't want to understand us, so he slapped her and threatened her with his gun. Afterwards, she told us the witches lived in a house near the forest, and begged us not to hurt them. Alberto thought that they didn't want to incur their wrath. I didn't want to listen to any of those people, especially because they refused to talk to us in our language, and kept using their regional dialect.
Dr. Orbach: Please just say what happened. Whatever your personal opinions are, they aren't important for the record.
Mr. Cosidó: Understood. Next, we went into the church, which was very ancient. The priest denied any knowledge about witches and their demons. But he did say that we should leave. That nobody in the town should get hurt. We were disappointed in how far the corruption had taken root, so we left.
Dr. Orbach: Where did you go next?
Mr. Cosidó: To the woods, where our intel said the witches would be sleeping. It was midday, and we spent the entire afternoon searching for them. We didn't find anything of note, except a couple of townspeople who tried to argue with us passing through their land. One of them claimed that we were attacking them and that we weren't welcome there. I think they were under the witches' spell. Or most likely they weren't true patriots.
We tried to calm them down, but they were not themselves after all, so they sent their dogs to attack us and we had to put them down. In self defense, of course.
Dr. Orbach: Of course.
Mr. Cosidó: I don't remember when exactly, when we finally found those harpies they had prepared an ambush. There was one, a haggard old crone that appeared before us in the midst of a puff of black smoke. She was a frightful sight, speaking in tongues, her eyes rolled into her head and her muscles convulsing wildly. We ducked into cover and prepared to engage… <He trails off.> Dr. Orbach: How did the fight go?
Mr. Cosidó: I've been in the front lines of many battles against the forces of Evil. When you're old like me, you learn to see which of these aberrations against nature are going to put up a fight, and I, honestly, thought this was going to be the end of me at first. This type of beings sing their incantations and write on their accursed language in thin air, calling upon heretical powers to destroy us. I saw her do that. Her arms were bleeding and she killed Sergeant Flores immediately, snapping his neck with a gust of wind and sending him flying into the thicket. When we found his corpse the following day, it had been completely hollowed out. It was gnarly.
<Mr. Cosidó pauses for a moment and finishes his coffee.> Mr. Cosidó: We scrambled to go around her and put a bullet on her nape, but she somehow threw words at the fellow that was in front of me. I don't remember his name, but he got turned into a tree. Or at least part of it.
Dr. Orbach: So, she was a great adversary.
Mr. Cosidó: You'd think so, but no. After that, she seemed to deflate. And it was easy for Núñez and me to to approach her and shoot her right between her malformed and disgusting eyes. Sometimes I still dream of the face she made in that last moment. She was pathetic. She cried and screamed and spit at me. I always wake up happy because that old bitch is dead and rotting in hell where she and her perverted kind deserve to be.
And I'm still kicking!
<Mr. Cosidó lets out a laugh.> The woods around SCP-8723 Dr. Orbach: And? What happens next?
Mr. Cosidó: The woods turned dark. A deep bellow that still haunts my nightmares came from deep within the woods. And the black beast followed suit. A huge black ram emerged from the forest and started to breathe fire. It tried to eat us and the townsfolk.
Privates Hernández and Calvo fled into one of the houses and it pursued them, destroying and killing everything it saw. They died valiantly.
Dr. Orbach: <While hiding his face behind a file.> I'm sure they did.
Mr. Cosidó: Luckily, we had our own weapon against such perversions of nature. We are… were protected by the light of God and our glorious leader, who rests in peace, and so, we guided the beast towards a machine that we had procured that was able to deal with demons. I wasn't privy to details, but I think it was one of the lord's angels that we had made a deal with to destroy our enemies in combat.
Dr. Orbach: I see.
Mr. Cosidó: I was blinded by the fire and the smoke, but we heard the beast bellowing.
It was evident that our radiant weapon had taken down the demon. I saw it stumbling away back towards the mountain, where it went to die.
Dr. Orbach: What did you do next?
Mr. Cosidó: We separated into three groups. One went to look for the last witches, deep into the thicket. That team lost three of its members. The last survivor came back explaining that the woods twisted against them, and ate alive the other ones. Another group stayed in the town to calm down the villagers. Sergeant Cuevas, three others and I followed the trail that the Devil had left behind. After half an hour of walking, we found it, deep in the slopes of the mountain, already dead. None of us wanted to approach it to dislodge the angel that had saved us from the neck of the beast. So we went back to see the captain, but on the way, we found two of the witches, wailing and crying. I wanted to put them down then and there, but the sergeant argued that the orders were to have them go through an Auto de Fé, so we shackled them and brought them back with us.
Dr. Orbach: Did anything else of note happen that day?
Mr. Cosidó: Yes, we went back into the woods and found the poor fellow that had turned into a tree. We extircated him out of there but he didn't stop crying and calling for his mom. It was a pathetic sight, but you still felt pity for the guy. The medic we had brought with us said that he was weak and didn't even deserve to be brought back, that once you've been hit by a curse like that one you're marked by the foulness of hell and there was no point on bringing him back down the mountain. Truth be told, I don't even remember what we did with him.
Dr. Orbach: Is what the medic said true?
Mr. Cosidó: Of course. Those touched by a witch are poised to go to hell with her.
Everybody knows that.
<Dr. Orbach seems to recollect his thoughts for a minute, while looking at the notes he has taken during the interview.> Dr. Orbach: That actually very thoroughly answers some of our questions about the nature of the anomaly in Caldes, thank you. Did you have anything to do with what happened afterwards?
Mr. Cosidó: I don't know what happened afterwards. We stayed in town for a couple of days, and we had to beat some of the townsfolk up because they were rowdy. The first witch we had killed disappeared, probably using its dark magics. Then we called reinforcements to clean up any evidence, as was the protocol. Half of us left the town to bring the prisoners to justice, but I know that some stayed for over a month in town, stopping any of the poor brainwashed villagers from running away.
Dr. Orbach: I suppose you got rid of your prisoners.
Mr. Cosidó: Of course! I was a witness in their judgement. As is tradition, we garroted them and burnt them afterwards. The world is a safer place without monsters like them running around and disturbing the peace. You need a strong iron grip to weed them out and… Dr. Orbach: That will be quite enough, thank you.
<Recording ends.> After this interview, Dr. Orbach posited that the witch coven described by Mr. Cosidó bore resemblance to GoI-723 (Aquelarre de la Cimera). The only known surviving member of this Group of Interest was Eulalia Barraquer, provisionally designated PoI-8723. She was placed on a non-prioritary list for suspects to capture. A cursory search spearheaded by Foundation archaeologists found a pit of skeletons in Zaragoza, Spain. It was full of individuals terminated by GoI-134. The two alleged witches executed by the commision after the events outlined in the previous interview were identified in the pit's highest level by the word "bruja" engraved in their skulls.9 They were brought to Site-137 and contained within safe-class anomalous item storage silos.
Addendum-8723-2: On 26/02/2013, during operation Isabella, POI-8723 was detained by agent Edurne Zugarramurdi. She was brought to Site-137 and on 01/03/2013 questioned by Dr. Orbach, with agent Zugarramurdi's assistance,10 about SCP-8723 as part of his investigation of the object.
<Recording starts.>11 <Dr. Orbach and Agt. Zugarramurdi enter the interrogation room. Ms. Barraquer is chained to the table with thaumosuppressant cuffs.> Barraquer: Do you mind if I smoke here?
Agt. Zugarramurdi: Yes. I'm trying to leave it.
Barraquer: Huh. Sorry about that.
<Dr. Orbach pulls a chair to sit on it. Agt. Zugarramurdi stays on the back, surveilling the situation.
Dr. Orbach: How would you smoke if you're chained to the table?
<Silence on recording.> Barraquer: What do you want from me today?
Dr. Orbach: What can you tell me about Caldes de Vall?
<Barraquer looks at him and closes her eyes.> Barraquer: I should have guessed that your ilk would try to get me for that. Surprised it took that long. <She lets out a long sigh.> I can weave a pretty tale about all my time there, but you seem like a busy little ant. So, what do you want to know?
Dr. Orbach: We'd like to know everything that happened on the tenth of May, 1971.
Barraquer: What an eventful day you've chosen! Just a fair warning, once I start telling my story, there is no way to stop me.
Dr. Orbach: I know. I've read the transcripts of your other interviews.
Barraquer: You're one of those good boys, then. Diligent. Here, you've earnt a piece of candy!
<At this point, Barraquer produced a Haribo brand piece of caramel. Later analysis shows that she conjured it even through her thaumosupressant cuffs.> Dr. Orbach: I would prefer it if you stopped stalling and talked about how you took over Caldes de Vall and how you got evicted from it instead.
<Silence on recording.> Barraquer: Alright, you win. Let me paint a full picture. This is 1971. I can tell that you weren't alive back then, unlike your friend <She points at Zugarramurdi and smiles.> who was. The francoists were already losing it. Especially around these parts. There was that business in Montserrat,12 the students were protesting in the capital and the authorities watched as their cake slowly crumbled and revealed its rotten insides. And not just the authorities, of course. Everyone could see that the times were changing, that the stasis that had been in place for thirty years was coming to an end. And those at the top were getting uncomfortable in their chairs made of the bones of the innocent.
Agt. Zugarramurdi: What does that have to do with what happened in Caldes de Vall?
Barraquer: Everything, my dear child. See, I had lived there for 30 years, give or take, at that point. Well, me and the rest of my coven. We were liked by the locals. We helped them with things and they turned a blind eye to the customs they might have deemed "less acceptable". Most of the problems came from the civil guards who lived down in the city, who didn't like our presence on the woods and had tried to detain us a couple of times.
Dr. Orbach: How about any other authorities in the town? The mayor? The priest?
Barraquer: Father Gutierrez was one of those "red priests". That means that he was one of ours more than one of them. He taught the kids how to not depend on the authorities. He didn't mind if some of them were a bit more hairy than the rest. He also helped a couple of times with some exorcisms. All around, he was a good man. I don't think the mayor even knew who we were. He didn't care about anything else other than filling his pockets.
Agt. Zugarramurdi: How many people were in the coven at that time?
Barraquer: Six, although "la Sargantana"13 lived more in Tremp than in Caldes at that time. So, close to five. Do you need me to explain their life stories and all that?
Dr. Orbach: I don't think that pertains to the anomaly we are investigating.
Agt. Zugarramurdi: <Speaking in a hushed tone and to Dr. Orbach, specifically.> It would be helpful in know the history of this particular group.
Dr. Orbach: <To Zugarramurdi.> I guess you're right. I guess it's also good for threat assessment.
Barraquer: May I start?
Dr. Orbach: Yes. Be brief.
Barraquer: The eldest was Moradenca,14 who acted as a leader of sorts. <She seems to be deep in thought.> She may have been a hundred and fifty at that time. She was our teacher, our surrogate aunt, the oldest turtle in the garden. We liked her, the town liked her, the forest liked her, the mountians liked her and bent to her will. Then, there was Na Narda, the youngest.15 She had mild blood, and was always out of it, the poor thing. Loved animals too much for her own good. Had a very casual relationship with time, too, which had its uses, as you two will see later. Who else? <The prisoner thinks for a moment, eyeing Dr. Orbach. He raises a hand to stop her from talking but Agt.
Zugarramurdi halts him by placing a hand on his shoulder.> Montserrada,16 was what all of you would call a "battlemage". She exsanguinated fascists at a distance, back during the civil war. It must have been a sight to behold. She didn't do any of that anymore. She just listened to music and danced under the full moon. Lastly, we had Pirishka,17 but everyone called her "la Húngara". Came here at some point in the early 1900s and stayed. She was the best at healing things. Is that enough?
Dr. Orbach: More than enough. Please get to the event alre… Barraquer: <Cutting off the doctor.> Great, because one does not get to be this old by talking alone. "Don't talk too much", that's what my mother used to say. "Don't talk too much or the devil will steal your tongue". Look where that got me. <She laughs, revealing that she has no teeth.> Anyways, we were the greatest coven in the land.
Even those tepid "New" Albegisians from Carcassone couldn't rival us.
Dr. Orbach: So what did this coven do?
Barraquer: We lived together. Each liked their own things. I like reading. Had my own nook with my little collection of smuggled books in our shared house, and learnt lots of things that were censored by the government. Some of them still are, thanks to your gang of pig-faced crooks. <She points at agent Zugarramurdi, who rolls her eyes.> We lived and loved each other as friends and sometimes as something more. We created our own unguents, helped the plants grow, shooed away some bad spirits.
Dr. Orbach: That contradicts other witnesses we've had. <He checks a paper.> Our sources tell us that you were dangerous. The "Aquelarre de la Cimera" Group of Interest is linked to various dangerous and unapproved thaumaturgy displays and disappearances of children in the region.
Barraquer: I can't say anything about the dog shit you've been fed, but I traded away the ability to lie forty years ago. You can believe whoever you like. <She laughs again.> Men and papers tell pretty lies and I have to be the one to dispel them. I was there and the only children we ever touched were those whose mothers couldn't take care of for the day. We did do magic, thank you very much. We talked with the spirits of the mountains and their hairy heralds. We cooked stews that could make you a woman for a day. We sometimes flew over the mountains like birds to see the beauty of it all. We never hurt anybody.
Dr. Orbach: So, why did the… Barraquer: Do you not have anything in that big head of yours? We were different and the francoists didn't like us. And if you have a big man with a grey uniform telling you to spit the truth or you'll be sent to the slammer for the rest of your days, you too would sell your own mother! They wanted to hear that we ate children. And lo and behold, their informers told them that we ate children. This is the truth of the matter. Take it or leave it.
Dr. Orbach: There's no need to get so… Agt. Zugarramurdi: Thank you for your sincerity. May we carry on with the questioning?
Barraquer: Go ahead, it's not like I have much of an option here.
Agt. Zugarramurdi: Good, you've already talked about your coven, now it would be time to address the actual events that transpired in 1971.
Barraquer: Yes. Ok, so the Civil Guard had tried to evict us from the old house at the end of the Aragó road at least six times. And they had tried to detain us at least ten other times. They probably didn't believe the rumors that undoubtedly existed about our condition as "witches". To them we were probably nothing more than weird ladies that in their old age had decided to do a bit of shit-stirring and not pay our taxes. Every time they got close to catching one of us with some smuggling or something, we used our abilities to escape. Eventually all of this, paired with some of the rumors, slander the delicate situation on a national scale, caused the secret arm of the regime to come for us. That poor excuse for an inquisition sent their hounds. <She coughs. Agt.
Zugarramurdi hands her a glass of water.> For that was what they were, you see?
Hounds. Maybe not even. You can bribe a hound with a bloody sausage, but these beasts preferred biting your hand off.
Dr. Orbach: I take it that you didn't even try giving them a sausage.
Barraquer: We had given them plenty of sausages in our time, and to many other more bothersome dogs. We also cut a couple of their sausages off, when they stopped accepting our gifts. Maybe that's what set them off. Who knows? I can guarantee that I'm not a butcher.
Dr. Orbach: So you set up a different type of meal on the table.
Barraquer: Yes. I've always preferred kids to pork.
<Short silence on recording.> Barraquer: Where was I? Oh, yes. We knew they were coming because na Narda, who was our best divinator, saw their arrival in the movement of the birds, on the tea stains in her mug and in the guts of the carved up frogs.
Agt. Zugarramurdi: I know how divination works.
Barraquer: And I know you know. The point is, when those savages pulled up in town, half of the townsfolk were already aware of their arrival. It isn't easy to hide four armored trucks from the old war covered in crucifixes and torches coming up from the river road.
In broad daylight too! That rat bastard of Matapena, the mayor, was ecstatic at their arrival. He went out with his retinue of lickspitters to welcome them. He sang praises about Paquita,18 the King, and the lord. We saw it all through Narda's eyes, from atop the mountain.
Dr. Orbach: Is that where you did the… Barraquer: All in due time. The reds in town had a different kind of welcome prepared, I don't know exactly how that went. We did hear gunshots so I presume it went badly. At first, our greatest hope was Montserrada. As I said, she was the best at fighting. In the best of days she could crush a man's skull with just a couple of well spoken words.
<Short silence on recording.> Barraquer: But she was unwell. Her best days were long gone. The gunshots and the soldiers that approached set her off. I've never seen someone tremble that much since.
<Short silence on recording.> Barraquer: After all, she had come to the mountains to escape her PTDS. And had managed to outrun it… Dr. Orbach: It's PTSD.
Barraquer: Whatever fancy word you want to call it! The point is, she tried to do some of ther tricks, but she was nervous. Went off at the wrong time. Lost a lot of blood in the process, and sent all those "greys" after her. It wasn't a nice scene, let me tell ye. Na Narda seemed rightfully terrified and went down the mountain after her. I think that's when they killed her.
<Silence on recording.> Barraquer: Bunch of sons of bitches. That's what they were.
<Short silence on recording.> Dr. Orbach: So… Barraquer: For the record, that's also what you are. I want y'all to know it. Anyways, the four of us on the top of the mountain slaughtered a blinded lamb and called upon the Boc.
Dr. Orbach: And the Boc is?
Barraquer: El Boc de Biterna. Some sort of old mountain god. Protected the valley in various ways, like stomping wolves that ate too many sheep, causing some fires to renew the soil while putting down the bigger ones. The usual.
Dr. Orbach: <While looking up at Agt. Zugarramurdi> So, this seems like standard Genius Loci business, doesn't it? <Agt. Zugarramurdi nods but doesn't take her eyes from the prisoner.> Barraquer: Call it however you want. Shepherds used to summon it to help them with their jobs. But it got looped in with demons and other beings of that ilk by the church at some point in the middle ages. As with every single thing they didn't understand, they said it was the Devil himself. But trust me, it wasn't. Still, way back when, it became the de facto patron of many witches in the province.
Dr. Orbach: So, it was your patron, then? The protector of your coven?
Barraquer: Well, in a way. We had an understanding with it. It was a lonely beast and we fed it. Mostly we gave it cabbages and carrots whenever it came to visit. We also communed with it once in a while, to dance and sing in the woods. Its bellowing voice accompanied surprisingly well the sounds of my mangled guitar. It liked us because there wasn't anyone left who would call upon it.
Dr. Orbach: Can you elaborate on that? Earlier you said that <He looks down to his notes> "you were the greatest witch coven on the land". I thought that meant that there were more covens.
<Barraquer lets out a dry laugh.> Barraquer: We were the greatest because there was nobody else. Those tricorn- wearing poor excuses for vandals made sure of it. And that's why the old goat answered our call.
Dr. Orbach: So, I assume that this "Boc" is the skeleton that now rests on the outskirts of Caldes.
Barraquer: I would be surprised if it was. I didn't stick around to watch it fight against the greys. La Moradenca decided on a whim that it was dangerous for us to stick together and disbanded our coven then and there. Our last act together was banishing Montserrada's corpse and soul to the Place Beyond the Wastes were no harm could befall her. Then I gathered my things and ran. I've never seen my friends, my sisters again. I can see your hungry eyes. You won't get any answers from me about their whereabouts.
<Dr. Orbach and Agt. Zugarramurdi look at each other and then back at Eulalia Barraquer.> Dr. Orbach: <Lets out a deep sigh.> I am immensely sorry to inform you about this, but it's possible that we may have found the remains of two of your comrades.
Agt. Zugarramurdi: And there is a giant goat carcass on the slopes around Caldes, with a paraweapon lodged on its neck.
<Silence on recording.> Barraquer: That can't be possible. <She looks down to her hands, then at her reflection on the one way mirror on the interrogation room and lastly to the two interviewers.> You're lying. You have to be.
<Silence on recording.> Barraquer: <Whispering.> You're actually telling the truth. <She looks at them, her eyes watering.> Get out. Dr. Orbach slowly rises from his seat. I said GET OUT!
<Agt. Zugarramurdi and Dr. Orbach left the room immediately afterwards, terminating the interrogation. They observed the Person of Interest through the one way mirror for another two hours until she calmed down, at which point, three guards accompanied her to her containment cell.> PoI-8723 was placed under permanent containment, pending a full reclassification as an SCP object. As per her own request and due to approval from her supervising agent, she was permitted to carry out a séance using the two skeletons as points of focus. The ritual was carried under heavy surveillance by Agent Zugarramurdi, the other three thaumaturges currently amongst Site-137 staff and ten security guards. The séance determined that the bones belonged to Na Narda and "La Húngara" (PoIs 8724 and 8725 respectively, in Foundation documentation). The bones were then returned to Safe Item Storage.
Addendum 8723-3: Agents stationed in the vicinity of SCP-8723 have noted various phenomena that can't be reliably linked back to the object itself. The non-Foundation aligned population of the town of Caldes de Valls has been in a steady decline ever since the Foundation started monitoring it. Information on the demographic evolution of the town prior to the containment of SCP-8723 is sparse and unreliable, but it shows that the downward trend may have started in the early 1970s.
Addendum 8723-4: On 13/03/2013 a containment breach occured on Site-137's humanoid containment block and safe-class anomalous item storage. Six security guards were incapacitated and all recordings from that night were found to be unreadable. As a consequence of this event, PoI-8723 escaped and two skeletons (corresponding with those from the members of GoI-723 "Aquelarre de la Cimera") disappeared from their places in the safe class anomalous item storage. Thaumic residue corresponding with temporary Ways were found in a broom closet in the humanoid containment block and the botany section of the safe-class anomalous item storage. Inside aid from a member of Site-137 staff is suspected.
As a result of these events, PoI-8723 was placed on the high-priority target list. Security measures were increased around SCP-8723 and surrounding town of Caldes de la Vall and Mr. Francisco Cosidó Reyes was granted permanent Class-E status and moved to a Foundation owned safehouse. This didn't stop his sudden death on 09/06/2013. The autopsy revealed that the likely cause was a Class-Ibis curse placed on his identity ten days prior. The only agent on duty in the property reported that they heard screaming and wailing at the hour of Mr. Cosidó's expiration.
Addendum 8723-5: On 28/08/2013 two unmarked graves were discovered in Caldes de la Vall's local cemetery. Any attempt to disturb them has been stopped by order of Dr.
Orbach.
Image of the unmarked graves.
‡ Licensing / Citation Cite this page as: "SCP-8723" by Diogene_s, from the SCP Wiki. Source: https://scpwiki.com/ scp-8723. Licensed under CC-BY-SA.
For information on how to use this component, see the License Box component. To read about licensing policy, see the Licensing Guide.
Filename: Burial_site%2C_Cairnpapple_Hill_-_geograph.org.uk_- _1978951.jpg Author: Tim Kraynor License: CC-BY-SA 2.0 Source Link: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Burial_site,_Cairnpapple_Hill_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1978951.jpg Filename: comi-bigger.png Name: Author: License: CC-3.0-SA Source Link: https://lafundacionscp.wdfiles.com/local--files/theme:comi/ comi-bigger.png Filename: theforest.JPG Author: Diogene_s License: Public Domain Source Link: Additional Notes: I made this photo myself Filename: El_Aquelarre.jpg Author: Francisco de Goya License: Public Domain Source Link: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:El_Aquelarre.jpg Footnotes 1. Elan Vital Energy, one of the main components needed for performing thaumaturgy.
2. A BOCA-CERRADA protocol is a procedure for forcing censorship upon a population, forbidding any talk of an anomalous event. It's used for anomalous occurrences which can't be reliably erased from memory through amnestic usage.
3. Iberian wild goat.
4. The foremost normalcy enforcing organization during the Francoist regime in Spain and former member of the GOC's Council of 108. It was active from 1938 until its official dissolution in 1978. Many objects and documentation were transferred to the Foundation and the Ministry of Supernatural Objects and Events.
5. Currently believed to be SCP-8723-2 6. Type of trial used by the Spanish, Portuguese and Mexican inquisitions to judge people accused of witchcraft. This practice was reinstated secretly during the Francoist dictatorship. Six such trials are registered to have been performed by the Commission between 1940 and 1972.
7. Interview was originally recorded in Spanish and translated afterwards.
8. The procedures described here were lined up with a large coverup operation by the Global Occult Coalition in 1979. Investigation is still in progress.
9. "Bruja" means "witch" in Spanish. The archaeological team also pointed out that the positions of their bodies denoted a demeaning or insulting attitude towards the bodies.
10. Ag. Zugarramurdi's own thaumaturgic prowess would serve as a deterrent against the PoI's suspected violent tendencies.
11. Interview was originally recorded in Catalan and translated afterwards.
12. "La tancada d'intel·lectuals de Montserrat" an event in which 300 people considered to be "Intellectuals" occupied a monastery for 3 days in December 1970.
13. PoI-7145. Her name means "Lizard" in Catalan. Thaumaturge of unknown capabilities. Disappeared in 1998.
14. PoI-8971, no other information is known at this time. Her name means "purple" in catalan.
15. PoI-8724, type 3 divinator, deceased in 1971. Her corpse is contained in safe-class anomalous item storage in Site-137.
16. Tentatively named PoI-8726, no more information is available about her.
17. PoI-8725, possessing multiple skeletal modifications of suspected sarkic origin, deceased in 1971. Her corpse is contained in safe-class anomalous item storage in Site-137.
18. Mock name for Francisco Franco, the Spanish dictator.
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