UNSPEAKABLE # 1067
SECURITY: Level five security. Authorized for the eyes of Special Research personnel and Regional Security Directors only.
CLASS: Object; Safe, Occult.
HAZARDS: Physical Manipulation, Zoological; Mental Compulsion, Aura.
PROTOCOL: The following protocols are to be followed in the handling of Unspeakable #1067.
The permanent containment of #1067 is to be managed in a Standard Aureate Containment Cell, size Small (Alexandrian Standard, Grade 3).
The usage of #1067 for experimental purposes is to be conducted with full-body covering, including Aureate Dragonhide Gloves (Baghdad Standard, Grade 3), and Occlumentic Local Effect Nonsensicality System (International Standard, Grade 3).
The usage of #1067 for experimental purposes should be performed by researchers with International Occlumentic Certification of Rank 6 or higher.
The usage of #1067 for experimental purposes should be performed within Grade D or higher Unspeakable Testing Chambers.
DESCRIPTION
Unspeakable #1067 is a stone statue of an ouroboros (a circular symbol depicting a snake or dragon biting its own tail). #1067 has a diameter of five point four (5.4) to six point one (6.1) centimetres. It is made of what appears to be black stone, matte. It is weathered, placing the object at an age of at least several thousand years.
#1067 was discovered in ██████████████████, Great Britain on ██████, 19█. The discoverers were two British magicals, ███████ and ███████, at the time students of ████████████████████████. They were mostly unaffected by #1067 at the time of discovery due to their Occlumentic proficiency and readiness. They placed #1067 in an ornamental gold snuffbox, which replicated the effects of an Alexandrian Standard Aureate Containment Cell, Grade 4.
INTERVIEW
This interview took place on ██████, 19G. Unspeakable Operatives ████████BR-144 and ██████BR-162 interviewed subject ███████, SB-129. ███████ declined an interview.
BR-162: Good afternoon, ████. My name is ███ and this is my colleague ███. I'll be handling the interview today, and he'll be taking notes for the most part. You are free to decline to answer any questions, just say so and we'll move on. Otherwise, it would be very helpful if you could answer as many as you can.
SB-129: All right.
BR-162: In that case, let's begin. This is Unspeakables BR-162 and BR-144 with Subject SB-129. Today is the ██████, 19█. This interview is conducted in Interview Room 2, Department of Mysteries, Ministry of Magic, London. Please state your name and date of birth for the record.
SB-129: My name is ███████, and I was born on ██████, ███.
BR-162: Thank you. Then let's get right into it. When did you discover the object, Unspeakable #1067?
SB-129: I found it two days ago.
BR-162: And where did you find it?
SB-129: It was in an abandoned shack in a village called ████████.
BR-162: Could you describe the scene in which you found it?
SB-129: It was in a really old shack made of wood. It clearly hadn't been lived in for some time. A portion of the roof had caved in, and a tree was growing straight through one wall. What was left of the shack was rotting and was about to collapse. And outside…
BR-162: Yes?
SB-129: There were all these snakes. All native, non-magical species, I think. Thing is, they were all eating their own tails, like the statue. Despite the fact that there was a small mountain of the carcasses of small animals, like squirrels or rats or toads or small birds. They'd clearly dragged all this perfectly edible food and piled it up into a hill, and then starved themselves anyway. Some of the snakes were mummified, and others were a lot more recent.
BR-162: I see. And inside?
SB-129: Fairly normal, I guess. Things were ruined, but I think that's just a product of time. A few bedrooms and a kitchen. The kitchen had a clay oven, and that's where I found the statue.
BR-162: Did you feel anything when you first saw it?
SB-129: A feeling of… unease? Dread? Like something bad was going to happen, I guess.
BR-162: Did you react in any way to this feeling?
SB-129: Not really. I've been practicing Occlumency. I recognized that it was a foreign sensation, so I did my best to shut myself off. It worked somewhat, I think.
BR-162: Did your companion react in any way?
SB-129: Same thing. ███ told me to put it away immediately, said it wasn't normal — even for us wizards.
BR-162: Did you, at any point, touch the object with your bare skin?
SB-129: No, I used a pair of sticks like chopsticks. I never touched it myself, even with gloves.
BR-162: You say you placed this inside a gold box?
SB-129: Yeah, this ornamental thing. I think it's called a snuffbox? It was made of gold, and we knew that gold is the most magically resistant metal, so we made sure to carry plenty of it.
BR-162: Interesting. Did you know that #1067 was going to be there? Is that why you brought it?
SB-129: To the first question, no, I didn't know it would be there. I am going to decline answering the second question.
BR-144 notes that SB-129 appeared nervous when declining. He concludes that SB-129 had an ulterior motive, which may not be moral or legal.
BR-162: That's okay. You're allowed to decline any question. So, after you recovered #1067, what happened?
SB-129: Well… we looked around for a bit and got out. ███ screamed then, all of a sudden, and she swore she'd seen something. I looked, but nothing was there, so I dragged her out. I looked back again, and I saw it this time. It was… what do you even call that? I'd call her a ghost, but it looked nothing like the █████ ghosts.
BR-162: And how did it look?
SB-129: It was wearing a white robe. Dark hair that covered their whole face, hanging down their front. They had badly injured hands, twisted and broken and bruised. They were bleeding from between their legs.
BR-162: What did you do then?
SB-129: We ran. We stopped outside only to look back. We saw her again in the doorway. Then we left.
Note: One of the last former residents of the building, █████████, supposedly died from childbirth.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCESS
Two experiments were conducted on #1067, to determine the level of zoological physical manipulation.
A variety of non-magical snakes were placed in glass habitats. The snake variety included:
Grass snake (Natrix natrix), male, adult
Grass snake (Natrix natrix), female, adult
Grass snake (Natrix natrix), male, juvenile
Grass snake (Natrix natrix), female, juvenile
Green anaconda (Eunectes murinus), male, adult. Largest snake species.
Barbados threadsnake (Tetracheilostoma carlae), male, adult. Smallest snake species.
King cobra (Ophiophagus hannah), male, adult. Largest venomous species.
The individuals were placed in a circle surrounding a pedestal with #1067. An assortment of prey species, including lesser mammals and amphibians, were allowed to roam in their artificial habitats. Using barriers, the individuals were unable to see, hear, or smell each other. They were also prevented from seeing or smelling #1067. They were left to their own devices, with researchers checking in every half-hour.
RESULTS: Every single individual, without fail, starved themselves to death, biting its own tail in a manner reminiscent of the #1067 itself as well as the account given by SB-129. In each case, prey species were killed but were not consumed. The individuals stacked the corpses of its prey along the side of their habitat facing #1067 and allowed them to decompose. Meanwhile, they starved to death over a period of between four days to six months, while biting their own tail. No unknown magical signatures were discovered. The cause is unknown.
A variety of magical snakes were placed in glass habitats. The snake variety included:
Ashwinder (Cinisas phoenicis), adult, male
Ashwinder (Cinisas phoenicis), adult, female
Ashwinder (Cinisas phoenicis), juvenile, male
Ashwinder (Cinisas phoenicis), juvenile, female
Common boomslang (Atheris virga), adult, female
Runespoor (Magicerastes cerberus), adult, male
Basilisk (Magicerastes rex), adult, female, blind
The individuals were contained in reinforced glass habitats in much the same situation as with non-magical snakes. The habitat included prey species and native flora.
RESULTS: All individuals killed any prey species they found and presented it in the direction of #1067. Afterwards, the ashwinder and boomslang individuals attempted to starve themselves, biting their own tails. The runespoor's three heads appeared to get into a fight, and the right head destroyed both the left and middle head, taking severe damage in the process; it died shortly after from its wounds. The basilisk appeared to be the only individual unaffected by the aura of starvation. It remained mostly immobile and curled up, as if sleeping.
On the third day however, the basilisk became mobile again and ████████████████, ████████████████████████, ████████████████████████. ████████, ██████████████████████████████.
No further research involving basilisks and Unspeakable #1067 in close proximity is to be conducted.
DISCUSSION:
Unspeakable #1067 is believed to be one of many artifacts created in worship of an ancient wyrm deity. This includes Unspeakables #120, #442, #489, #606, #721, and #903. The wyrm deity possesses many names depending on region, such as ██████ and █████████, and possesses the ELDER classification Unspeakable Entity #023. ELDER research indicates the presence of UE#023 is present on alternate Earths and non-human civilizations, making it an extremely far-reaching and dangerous power. Compiled accounts from worshippers or observers of the religion indicate that the UE#023 has existed before life on Earth and is, according to some, destined to bring about the destruction of the universe.
As the same with other Unspeakables in the series, #1067 demonstrates no real magical identity, which initially cast doubts on the existence of UE#023. However, it may have a similar hallucinatory effect as with other related Unspeakables when touched by skin. It is known that individuals with high magical or Legilimentic potential that touch #489 and #606 with bare skin experience a 'vision,' the contents of which are restricted at Level Seven Security access.
Furthermore, Unspeakable #1067 was found in the ████████, which according to both ELDER research and further interviewing of SB-129 indicate belonged to a clan of Parselmouths. This follows the wider trend, as notable Parselmouth individuals, clans, or dynasties have been reported near the locations of related objects. In conclusion, the discovery of #1067 reinforces ELDER's belief in the existence of UE#023 and their influence across Earth Yastur.
