Exploration Log EX-3504-43

Date:25/9/15

Foreword: Dialogue put between double brackets were spoken in the language Immersion Researchers learned on the island.

[BEGIN LOG]

Dr. Ishvi Schrader stands in front of the mouth of the cave, fiddling with a mic attached to hand-sewn clothing.

Dr. Schrader: Uh, log start. We’re up? Ok, cool. So, um, Dr. Ishvi Schrader here, head researcher on -

Dr. Kulkarni (off-camera): Co-head.

Dr. Schrader: Co-head, yes, on SCP-3504. Sorry, Sunny. We’ve been talking, over the last few weeks, about the things we’ve been getting from the resin.

Dr. Schrader turns the camera to Dr. Sunitha Kulkarni as he speaks. She is wearing similar garb, and sits on a rock, her walking stick over her knees.

Dr. Kulkarni: Darker stuff. The impressions of a dying culture.

Kulkarni smiles slightly as Schrader hops back into frame, squatting beside her.

Dr. Schrader: Not just dying but being killed, actively. Brutal invaders sweeping the land, the oppression of their language and their folklore-

Dr. Kulkarni: They killed the Bear Slayer.

Dr. Schrader: Right! Or, a representation of the Bear Slayer at least. With the impressions we get about the function of the resin, I’m thinking -

Kulkarni rolls her eyes dramatically.

Dr. Kulkarni: Right, this.

Dr. Schrader: - I’m thinking it could be, like, an anomalous way to preserve tradition? We could be looking at shattered statues, temples, built to represent them not just aesthetically but narratively, memory constructs trapped in resin shapes-

Dr. Kulkarni: You’re going off track, Ishvi.

Dr. Schrader: Right. So, we’ve been seeing safety, warmth, protection, preservation, the impression of some sort of fortress or safe place, a secret place the invaders wouldn’t know.

Dr. Kulkarni: The island’s belly.

Dr. Schrader: Kuņsala, yeah. It’s - we think we might know where the mouth is.

Schrader hops up from his position beside Kulkarni and disconnects the camera from its tripod. He steps back with it to reveal the mouth of a cave, hidden behind a curtain of vines and moss, where Kulkarni is sitting.

Dr. Schrader: There’s - this is all intuition, but we agree on this fully.

Kulkarni nods quickly, serious.

Dr. Kulkarni: Fully. The hill, the markings, the way the sun flows into it in the mornings -

Dr. Schrader: The markings. The markings!

Schrader runs over to the cave mouth and carefully moves aside some brush obscuring the entrance to show faded markings in the stone.

Dr. Schrader: They’re faint, but there’s definite pictures here that relate back to not just the Bear Slayer, but the island itself, ((God’s Root)), song and dance, the ((word relating to cultural lifeblood/the core of a community)) of the people.

Dr. Kulkarni (off camera): Plus the teeth.

Dr. Schrader: Right, yeah, and the impression of teeth carved around the top here. A literal mouth, relating to how they viewed the island as a deity-

Dr. Kulkarni (off camera): Well, we don’t know that it’s not.

Schrader turns back to face Kulkarni. Her face is calm, but challenging.

Dr. Schrader: Well, ok, let’s not have that discussion right now. The point is that while much of their oral tradition could be interpreted simply as myth, looking into them as factual, useful records leads to-

Dr. Kulkarni: This cave.

Dr. Schrader: It’s very exciting.

Dr. Kulkarni: Should we head in?

Dr. Schrader: Definitely!

Schrader helps Kulkarni up, and they proceed into the cave, Schrader holding the camera and Kulkarni holding a powerful flashlight.

Dr. Schrader: For the record, we should probably talk about the Bear Killer, right?

Dr. Kulkarni: ((The Knights Who Angered the Sun and the Ground)) is most relevant, I feel.

Dr. Schrader: Yes, yes. So, the tale starts, as many do, with Lāčplēsis sharpening his sword on the beach.

Dr. Kulkarni: Classic Lāčplēsis.

Schrader laughs lightly.

Dr. Schrader: This is, as far as we can ascertain, well after the events of Pumpurs’ epic, after they found his body washed up on the shores and the island chose to bring him back. He’s the island guardian at this point, watching over them silently, blah blah. And as he stares out at the waves, the sun changes, turning red. The whole sky changes colour! As he looks at the setting sun, he sees dark shapes on the horizon, riding on its edge.

Dr. Kulkarni: The Bear Knights!

Dr. Schrader: Exactly! They’re back to get revenge on the island folks for chasing them out during the events of ((The Song of Small Sorrows)). Hopped right on their bear mounts and rode them across the ocean, full of rage and fire. No boats for these men!

Dr. Kulkarni: The impression you get of the knights in the tales, they’re these tall, dark shadows. Armour as black as night, faces unseen beneath their cowls. Barely even men.

Dr. Schrader: And their alliance with the bears only compounds that, obviously, since these aren’t just any bears.

Dr. Kulkarni: Huge things, with bright fur, enormous steel claws, eyes that ((burn into your heart))…

Dr. Schrader: Right. Which only makes Lāčplēsis’ achievements in the poem even more impressive, right? What great warrior could rip one of these monsters in half??

Dr. Kulkarni: Only the Bear Slayer, of course.

Schrader laughs.

Dr. Schrader: Right there in the name, I guess. But the proof is in the action, and rise to that action he did! The bears were fast, faster than any thing should be, fueled by the knight’s fiery anger, and they would be there in minutes. Lāčplēsis ran as fast as he could to the house of his good friend the ((weaver)), and he told her to tell all the village that they were once again in danger. The ((weaver)) knocked on every door of every house and told them ((“The Bear Knights are come! Lāčplēsis once again risks his life for our safety!”)). As she did this, he ran back to the beach. The first of the bear knights has already landed, and they’ve taken his sword and shield and broken them all in five.

Dr. Kulkarni: Five pieces, we think, being generally indicative of great and irreversible destruction.

Dr. Schrader: Tying back to the broken pot and how Staburadze lost her child in other island myths. It definitely held significance. You can feel the power of that statement when you eat the resin for these tales, this is something terrible and foreboding. But Lāčplēsis isn’t one to give up for any reason, so he ((runs to the first bear, takes its throat in his hands, and rips straight down)).

Dr. Kulkarni: Does that kill it?

Dr. Schrader: No! Lāčplēsis thinks it will, as it always has, but when he turns his back to face its rider, ((the bear gashes its great iron claws across his back, cracking his golden skin!)). Lāčplēsis falls, and the first knight tries to strike him with his greatsword, but Lāčplēsis strikes out and buckles his armour with a single punch. He rips the man’s head off, then turns and grabs the bear, tackling it to the ground and swinging the knight’s greatsword at his head!

Schrader is at this point very animated, acting out the scene with his free hand in front of the camera as they continue down the cave. He alternates between walking forward and walking sideways to face Kulkarni.

Dr. Schrader: The great bear still does not go down, and now the other bears are also landing on the beach.

Kulkarni smiles affectionately.

Dr. Kulkarni: You really get excited at this point, don’t you?

Dr. Schrader: Come on, it’s an exciting part! Lāčplēsis, back against the wall, no weapons, and who comes to save him? It’s the ((weaver))! She rushes to his aid, picking up the hilt of his shattered sword, and charges at the army! Despite her stature, she’s not going to be one to let Lāčplēsis and her people fall to the invaders!

Dr. Kulkarni: But even in the end, the ((weaver)) falls.

Dr. Schrader: But Lāčplēsis has one last trick up his sleeve, something he can do for the ((weaver)) even in death. He summons the power of the Old Gods themselves, and fuses the ((weaver))’s spirit with the island! The island’s sands rise and swell, the trees and grass morphing, and the island becomes this monolithic golem! It swallows up everything; the ((weaver)), Lāčplēsis, the invaders, even the villagers. And once everyone is taken, the island returns to its resting state. Now, with the ((weaver))’s soul in the island and Lāčplēsis and her people safe, she can lay to rest, her oath to Lāčplēsis honoured and the villagers safe in the chresins of her heart.

Dr. Kulkarni: So, they win? The Bear Knights can’t get them?

Dr. Schrader: That’s where the story gets somewhat unclear. There’s something missing, maybe in resin we haven’t consumed yet. It could be that-

Schrader stops talking as they round a corner to enter a small chresin. It is dimly lit by glowing pools of resin in small wells embedded in the walls, and in the centre stands a lifesize resin figure on a pedestal.

Dr. Kulkarni: Oh, my.

Dr. Schrader: Is… is that him?

Dr. Kulkarni: Check for the missing ears.

Schrader is heard fumbling around in a bag before taking out a small flashlight and shining it on the figure’s head, revealing a lack of ears.

Dr. Schrader: I can’t see any!

Dr. Kulkarni: Whoever made this sculpture must have put in months of effort into making it as detailed as it is…

Kulkarni is seen approaching the statue, placing a hand on one of its arms, before pulling back.

Dr. Schrader: Something wrong, Sunny?

Dr. Kulkarni: It’s still wet, the resin is fresh.

Dr. Schrader: It- what?

Schrader turns downwards to see a small pool of resin being formed at the statue’s feet.

Dr. Kulkarni: That means that this was made recently! Or at the very least repaired recently. In either case, that means we’re close!

Schrader bends down and cups some of the liquid resin in his hand and brings it to his mouth.

Dr. Kulkarni: Ishvi, I don’t feel like we should be consuming outside of the confines of testing hours. We’re already stretching the rules enough as-is. Ishvi?

Schrader has gone quiet, lost in thought. Though the footage is unclear, he may be rapidly mouthing words under his breath, a common behaviour when processing input from other sources of resin on the island. Though visibly concerned, Kulkarni waits for him to come back to his senses.

Dr. Schrader: Sunny, this is… you’re not going to fucking believe this.

Dr. Kulkarni: Tell me.

Dr. Schrader: I can’t, I can’t, just lemme…

Schrader dashes back toward the statue, stumbling on a rock in haste. He clasps his hands together and bows his head briefly. Schrader stands between the camera and the statue, blocking the view.

Dr. Schrader: ((Hello, Lāčplēsis.))

There is a pause.

Dr. Schrader: ((Oh, I’m so sorry.))

Schrader turns and switches off the camera.

[END LOG]