Silver for a Sea-man

Season of the Traveler

This page is an archive for a contest entry that was hosted at a special URL. The article has since been ported to the main site as RPC-331.


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h-radiation.png Radiation Hazard h-psychotronic.png Psychotronic Hazard h-infohazard.png Info-Hazard h-climatological.png Climatological Hazard h-geological.png Geological Hazard
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Fig 1.A. Only known photograph of the shoreline adjacent to the Port of Wythe.


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Registered Phenomena Code: RPC-331

Object Class: Alpha-Orange

Hazards: Radiation, Psychotronic, Info-Hazard, Geological, Climatological


Containment Protocols


Embedded agents are to liaise with international organizations to monitor, record, and censor sightings of RPC-331. Authority algorithms are to triangulate RPC-331's pattern of appearances between the archipelagos of Orkney and Shetland for dual purposes:

  • The prediction of an RPC-331 manifestation event.
  • The establishment of Perimeter-331, per a compilation of satellite images of last-known sightings.

Perimeter-331 is regulated by Authority seafaring vessels HSC Valiant and DSV Endeavor on a biweekly basis. Should RPC-331 manifest, Authority ships must redirect civilian and governmental ships via broadcast warnings of heavy weather conditions prevalent in the perimeter. Standard marine salvage protocols apply in the retrieval of radioactive derelicts that surface before RPC-331 manifestations; the recovery of RPC-331-1 cadavers is of utmost priority.

Phosphate ceramic containers are to be used to preserve RPC-331-1 cadavers, which stabilises the bodies' integrity and reduces radioactive degradation. Site-089's Radiological Examination Centre is charged with container storage.

Requests to read RPC-331-2's physical copy are not permitted, but access to RPC-331-2's digital archive can be allowed if an authentication token provided by Site-089's director is provided. The caveats to this are as follows: if the researcher is drug-resistant, scores low on the ACAQ,1 and is incompatible with info-hazardous content.

In preparation for reading RPC-331-2's digital archive, the researcher must inoculate themselves with a 50mcg dosage of Oniritryptin viderics.

To predict future RPC-331 manifestations, the researcher must compile their RPC-331-2 readings on provided laptops; however, numerous narrative modalities are to be expected, as cognition of RPC-331-2's text varies. Due to this and the dangers posed by the replication of ergodic literature after readings, researchers must be screened under the Thompkins-Galway memetic matrix, for upwards of several weeks.

Finally, the researcher must undergo a battery of amnestics.


Description


Steamer.jpg

Fig 1.B. Last photograph of the RV Majestic.

RPC-331 is an island that appears at various regions within the North Sea.

As of the writing of this document, RPC-331 remains non-existent for an indeterminable period of time before manifestation. When a manifestation event occurs, RPC-331 materializes within unoccupied sea space. Furthermore, the surrounding seascape exhibits inclement weather conditions, such as turbulent tides and dense fog. Estimates on the amount of time RPC-331 remains in situ is inconclusive. How this manifestation phenomenon occurs is unknown; by all indications, satellite imagery and scans have failed to disclose geographic changes to the seafloor after RPC-331 demanifestation.

While Authority archaeologists have debated on the earliest recorded date of RPC-331 in contemporary history, a version of the Saga of Lik-Lodin (compiled by the 12th-century writer Karl Bjoern) has been used as a referential footnote. Excerpt provided below:

"Hark! Through ice teeth coasts,
where storms conquer sky.
There, beyond the mists are roaring roasts
matched by midnight sun held high.
Dance all ye trav'lers, alive or dead
o'er the barren moor,
as Midsommar colours do wax and wane
Above the Green-land shore."

Archives indicate that RPC-331 was often confused with islands under the domain of Orkney or Shetland. Evidence of RPC-331's existence is sparse. Compendiums, anthologies, journals, and sagas that address trace RPC-331 attributes are further confused with characteristics shared with extant Scandanavian countries. References to RPC-331 often include themes of voyages, shipwrecks, drowning, seals, and storms.

Expeditions constitute the bulk of concise information in regards to RPC-331.

Building Structures:


Documentation on RPC-331's landscape collates the combined experiences of sailors aboard fishing trawlers, who have viewed RPC-331 from a great distance.

Homes found on the island vary as per transcription, all possessing anachronistic aesthetics when juxtaposed with one another. Examples ascribed include longhouses, blackhouses,2 crude ossuaries, and more modern architectures made from stucco and grey slate. RPC-331 possesses a port, though its exact location on the island shifts from northeast to southwest, always differing in eye-witness accounts.

People/Culture:


Documentation on RPC-331's people derives solely from secondhand reports made by researchers aboard a naval vessel, who had photographed RPC-331 on their way to the Faroe Islands.

Inhabitants of RPC-331 appear to live in an agrarian society. The community subsists on fishing, vegetation, and domesticated livestock. Records indicate the inhabitants do not possess modern technologies.


Precursor Killings


A ubiquitous pattern of murders occurs before each RPC-331 manifestation. The human remains were typically uncovered near or in seaports.

Notably, law enforcement before the 20th century lacked contemporary knowledge of criminal forensics, such as fingerprint analysis. This greatly impeded attempts to discover perpetrators and resolve investigations, failing to curtail loss of life optimally. Due to the notoriety of the Whitechapel Murders, ritualistic organ harvests were recontextualised as mutilations and were profiled incorrectly by contemporary journalists of the time. Numerous anomalous killings were left unsolved by Authority agents.3

Despite complications, the Society for British Anthropological Inquiry4 had become aware of peculiarities that affected the citizens of Invergordon, Scotland. Between the years of 1887 to 1888, constables had uncovered mutilated cadavers that seemingly imposed physical ailments upon individuals around the Port of Cromarty Firth.5 Symptoms included:

  • fatigue,
  • nausea and vomiting,
  • severe dehydration,
  • peeled off layers of dermis and musculature,
  • hair loss,
  • organ failures

Reports indicated a high mortality rate among local morticians and gravediggers.6

Furthermore, newspapers circulated uncorroborated details in regards to Invergordon. Citizens reported "sonorous gale winds", which occurred prior to physical assaults that led to abnormal death and mutilation. Cadavers discovered after these altercations were found floating beside the docks, surrounded by dimly bright fungal spores or "Foxfire."7 Perpetrators were never found.

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Fig 1.C. News-clippings covering autopsies performed on RPC-331-1 cadavers.

As a result of these unusual circumstances, inhabitants became irrational and blamed the victims for their "hubris." Though the exact transgression varied, this culminated in a more punitive and distrustful population. Newspapers cited that locals reinstated pagan rituals to combat the unknown. Indeed, the inhabitants wrapped votive offerings of lamb, eel, and silver coins in baskets and flung them into the seaside. A series of editorials written by salacious journalists posited that local mobs would abduct tourists only to burn them alive at the stake, as a form of appeasing some unknown force. Though no proof surfaced to corroborate these claims, the Church of England publicly denounced the town and their customs. This had complicated any attempt made by outside law enforcement to profile or detain suspects.

How the town's folkloric explanations became the zeitgeist is unknown. It is unclear if these rituals were a direct result of Celtic-Norse traditions or a consequence of RPC-331's influence.

The Society of British Anthropological Inquiry, in collaboration with St Bartholomew's Hospital, dispatched an envoy of researchers and field clinicians to the region. Upon arrival, clinicians liaised with the locals and gained their trust as medical practitioners. This rapport helped Authority researchers gain access to the town's morgues, which allowed them to match the exact methodology by which these mutilations occurred with archaeological archives. Of note, the removal of tongues, fingers, and other identifying features from corpses paralleled ritualistic sacrifices archived in Bronze-Age European cairns. Small tryptic symbols were carved into the chests of both RPC-331-1 cadavers and mummified remains. Furthermore, these cairns appeared to possess tapestries with signage and iconography that represented the "Midsommar Island" (or RPC-331). Due to this, researchers designated the cadavers under the label of RPC-331-1.

Promptly after, RPC-331-1 cadavers were buried in deep ditches and the openings were covered in cement, which proved to contain their anomalous properties.8

The following table was compiled from over 52 coroner reports. These were selected for clarity and due to details/circumstances which warranted further inquiry:

Preserved RPC-331-1 Cadavers
Date Name Description Removed Contents
1887-07-21 Johnathan Oakden Strangulation as indicated by the ligature around the neck. By all indications, it appeared as a suicide. Originally, the cadaver was to be entombed in a mausoleum; however, after several months, the cadaver had been moved surreptitiously to various beaches. Fingers, tongue, legs
1887-09-10 Margaret Sullivan Exsanguination due to lacerations made to wrists. Contents found within the fob pocket of the cadaver's dress included: one unused ferry ticket from the Royal Victoria Dock to an unlisted destination named "Eynhallow", three seashells, two blank photographs, and one crumpled page that read "we were never really here." Fingers, tongue, kidney, teeth
1888-10-09 Jeremy Thorebourne Severe blunt force trauma to the head. However, the initial shock is theorised to have only paralysed the victim, as a large slash wound, from neck to abdominal midriff, was present. Mistletoe, barley, and sea-salt found in stomach contents. Fingers, tongue, eyes, large portions of viscera
1888-10-12 Gregory Thorebourne Mistletoe poisoning. Discovered inside of a holding compartment within a fishing trawler owned by the Thorebourne family. N/A

Expedition: On 1890-11-01, Authority-owned naval vessels, with the aid of second-hand accounts provided by sailors, ascertained the exact location of RPC-331 had manifested. Nautical charts were issued to all branches of the Authority via telegraph. Authority Central Command readied an expeditionary force, assembled from elements of separate divisions, to travel to RPC-331 with the goal of establishing an outpost on it for future containment procedures.

Due to the dangers posed by heavy ice pervading the North Sea, operators selected the RV Majestic for the voyage. The ship possessed a robust hull, steam turbines, and a rounded shape - the latter was capable of penetrating packed ice.

On 1891-01-21, the RV Majestic departed from London on its maiden voyage to RPC-331. Wireless telegraphs relayed the ship's position and stability to nearby steamships; however, after several weeks, no further developments were ascertained. The RV Majestic did not return on its scheduled date on 1891-06-29. Thereafter, for several months a series of messages had been sent to numerous civilian and military ships, which sailed through the North, Baltic, and Norwegian seas. Though theorised to have originated from the missing crew, the prefixed names of senders, typical of telegram templates, were not included. Initially, messages included "SOS" and "CDQ" with randomised letters and symbols, matching those carved in RPC-331-1 cadavers.

Secondary rescue ships sent to RPC-331's last-known whereabouts could not find a landmass, nor any wreckage that matched the RV Majestic's design or make.


Discovery of RPC-331-2


After a decade, a derelict mass materialised by the shores of Kirkwall, Shetland. It consisted of 31 tonnes of wood, metal, reeds, and seal and whale carcass. Silver coins were festooned to the exterior sides of the gestalt. As for recovery operations, the local council, under Authority purview, salvaged the item and hauled it to the British Museum for storage. A severely damaged compendium (hereby designated RPC-331-2) belonging to Chief Anthropologist George Bellinghausen was discovered, packed under layers of despoiled flesh.

RPC-331-2's anomalous properties became apparent after researchers opened and read from its contents. When researchers attempted to compile the text, contradictory elements of Dr. Bellinghausen's accounts surfaced by the middle and end of the compendium. Peer-review revealed each individual attempt at transcribing the text led to more idiosyncrasies. Attempts to read and compile these iterations led to further derivations - namely, changes in language, names, and locations. Researchers experienced a wide-range of deleterious effects from long-term exposure, described by some as a form of "whip-lash." Others experienced difficulties maintaining a left-to-right writing style or pronouncing words sequentially.

Because of these complications, predictions of RPC-331-2's manifestations have been significantly difficult. No concrete evidence on the whereabouts of RV Majestic and its crew exists.


Brief Compilation of RPC-331-2's Changes Over Time

PREV. USER-ID ACTIVE? PROPERTIES LOG
331-FsUQn02 NEG INFECTED TORE 15 PAGES FROM RPC-331-2-PRINCIPLE. LOST AT SEA.
331-FsUQn04 NEG INFECTED TORE/BURNT 61 PAGES FROM RPC-331-2-PRINCIPLE. LOST AT SEA.
331-FsUQn10 NEG INFECTED/RADIATED CONSUMED THE REMAINING PAGES FROM RPC-331-2-PRINCIPLE. BODY RETURNED/DESIGNATED RPC-331-1.
331-FsUQn11 NEG SEEKER CREATED RPC-331-2-DG FROM RELEVANT PAGES IN RPC-331-2-ITER. CONTAINED FOR RPC-331 TRACKING.
331-FsUQn17 NEG INFECTED/RADIATED ADDED TO RPC-331-2-DG FROM RELEVANT PAGES IN RPC-331-2-ITER. BODY RETURNED/DESIGNATED RPC-331-1.

THIS PROMPT IS ONLY VISIBLE FOR THOSE WHO ARE PROPERLY INOCULATED.
The following transcriptions describe RPC-331-2 contents in its entirety, and exists as the only record of RPC-331's inland areas.

Unauthorised access is forbidden.
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