SCP Foundation

Date | Time: 2019/09/08 | 19:00 GMT

Depicted: Sergeant Juma, Private Charles, Private Hamisi, Private Saudi, and Private Omary.

Foreword: The Tanzanian anti-poaching task group, Team-17, was tracking a known poaching gang that had entered SCP-5411-0 two-days prior to the unit's arrival.

[BEGIN LOG]

[Team-17 is driving through the savanna in an all-terrain personnel transport vehicle.]

Pvt. Charles: Sir, I have visual confirmation on the convoy, 200 meters north northwest.

Sgt. Juma: Omary, take us in.

Pvt. Omary: Understood.

Pvt. Hamisi: How many hostiles?

Pvt. Charles: Unknown. I have no visuals on the poachers.

Sgt. Juma: They could be out on the hunt. Omary, take us 50 meters south of their location, we'll approach on foot from there.

Pvt. Saudi: Sergeant, I got visuals on a… uh, some kind of weird animal? It's moving pretty fast; southeast, 100 meters out.

Sgt. Juma: Yeah, there's a lot of animals out here, Saudi, that's why the poachers are here.

Pvt. Saudi: But, something not rig–

Pvt. Omary: Approaching drop point, eyes open.

[The vehicle slows to a stop and Team-17 exits. A caravan of eight vehicles can be seen.]

Sgt. Juma: Saudi, stay with the transport. Charles and Hamisi, take point; Omary you're with me. Weapons hot, these guys are armed and dangerous.

[The four soldiers walk towards the convoy, night vision offer limited visibility.]

Pvt. Saudi: [Over radio], Sir, I got six, no, seven on approach. I don't, uh, I'm not sure they're animals. [Pause] They look like Abatwa⁵.

Sgt. Juma: What is wrong with you, there's no su–

Pvt. Hamisi: Sir, we've got bodies, futa, a lot of bodies.

[Sgt. Juma runs to where Pvt. Hamisi and Charles are standing. Several decapitated and disemboweled bodies can be seen in various state of discomposure.]

Pvt. Omary: Shit. Sir, behind you!

[Sgt. Juma turns around to see SCP-5411 standing one meter in front of him.]

SCP-5411: [Untranslatable]

[Pvt. Charles and Hamisi point their rifles towards SCP-5411.]

Pvt. Hamisi: Je, si hoja. (Don't move.)

[SCP-5411 lifts its hands palm-up towards Pvt. Charles and Hamisi. Flicking its wrist in a downward motion, both soldiers' weapons drop to the ground. Root tendrils grow rapidly from the dirt to envelop the weapons and pull them underground.]

Sgt. Juma: Take cover!

[Sgt. Juma fires several rounds in the direction of SCP-5411 and the bullets appear to pass through the entity without causing any noticeable damage. SCP-5411 disappears and reappears behind Pvt. Omary. While attempting to remove his sidearm, Omary is lifted from the ground by an unseen force. As Sgt. Juma attempts to reload, Pvt. Omary is thrown at the sergeant. Omary's head and neck twist violently at the moment of impact, killing him instantly as the collision knocks Sgt. Juma to the ground.]

SCP-5411: [Vocalizes a roar resembling that of a male lion (Panthera leo).]

Pvt. Hamisi: Sir, we have [Gunshots] more hostiles! They're not [A wet pop can be heard followed by gurgling.]

[Sgt. Juma lifts himself to his hands and knees just in time to see Pvt. Charles' head roll into the frame.]

Sgt. Juma: Saudi, retreat immedi–

Image of an SCP-5411-1 instance, taken second before the video feed terminated.

[END LOG]

Afterword:
Private Saudi managed to successfully escape the area, before contacting the TPDF for extraction. An unmanned drone reconnaissance was able to locate & confirm that all remaining members of Team-17 were deceased.

Date: 2019/09/22

Interviewer: Investigative Agent William Elliot

Interviewed: Ambokile Masanja

Foreword: The interview takes place within the home of Mr. Masanja, who cooperated fully during the process.

[BEGIN LOG]

Agent Elliot: Okay, Mr. Masanja, are you ready to begin?

Mr. Masanja: I am, but you may call me Ambokile, [chuckles] I am not so formal in my own home.

Agent Elliot: Yes, of course. Mr. Ambokile, I'd like you to tell me about the place you refer to as "The Cradle".

Mr. Masanja: Ah, yes, a wonderful place, dangerous, yet wonderful nonetheless. Animals of every creed gather in its safety– that is why it is The Cradle.

Agent Elliot: And the entity that protects the area?

Mr. Masanja: The Alaaniwe, He Who is Cursed

Agent Elliot: Yes, and what do you know of him?

Mr. Masanja: I remember when he first came. I was but a boy, but he much like you, came from America in search of things he did not understand. A great hunter, as wicked as he was skilled, he came in search of exotic prey, and that is what he found.

Agent Elliot: He was a normal person when he came?

Mr. Masanja: Yes, [laughs] through at the time he did not seem so normal to me. He was the first white man I'd seen to have visited our village.

Agent Elliot: So he was interested in hunting the animals in th–

Mr. Masanja: No, no, not animals, Animal. He was searching for the Tembo Mzuka, the Ghost Elephant. A spirit of the land with the appearance of a cloud, known to wander the Cradle.

Agent Elliot: So, a white elephant?

Mr. Masanja: [Boisterous laugh] Where is your sense of spirit, Mr. Elliot? Yes, to you it may simply be a white elephant, that was all it was to the man as well. But as he learned it was much more than a mere elephant. It was the protector of The Cradle, it had been for generations.

Agent Elliot: Very well, please continue.

Mr. Masanja: The man tracked the Tembo Mzuka for weeks, always appearing one-step behind the spirit. But eventually, he found his target. A few of the village boys would follow the man, curious as they were, they kept their distance. Two were present during his transformation.

Agent Elliot: Were you one of the boys following this man?

Mr. Masanja: No, not me, I'm afraid I was too faint of heart for something such as that.

Agent Elliot: So this account is second hand?

Mr. Masanja: It is. But it is the truth nonetheless. If you have seen him, then you know this too.

Agent Elliot: I see.

Mr. Masanja: Yes, well, the day had come, the man had finally found his target. Using a rifle much larger than any I had ever seen he slew the Tembo Mzuka. But slaying a land spirit does not come without its costs. The man, he burst into flame on the spot. A bright white fire cleansed him to his very bone, reducing him to ash. From the ground where he stood rose the Alaaniwe. Born anew, he was bound to the land, much as the Tembo Mzuka had been. But unlike the Tembo Mzuka, the evil in his heart gave shape to the horrid form he now inhabits.

Agent Elliot: This sounds a bit apocryphal, Ambokile.

Mr. Masanja: [Chuckles] I imagine so, Mr. Elliot. But have you not seen him, he is clearly of this world, but also of the next. He has protected The Cradle for 70 years now, he needs no rest, nor sustenance. As his predecessor was, now he is bound to the land until he is slain. He is the land, and the land is he.

Agent Elliot: What of the creatures it controls?

Mr. Masanja: His disciples are much the same, the Mashetani Kidogo as we call them. Much like their master, the would be poachers have shed their human forms, becoming one with the land.

Agent Elliot: So the people he kills become the, uh, "little devils" as you say?

Mr. Mananja: Yes, such is the way of Alaaniwe, an unending cycle of death and rebirth.

Agent Elliot: I understand.

Mr. Masanja: If you truly understand, Mr. Elliot, then you will leave them be. It would be like removing a mountain from its valleys, a lake from its river, as he once learned– it is futile to fight nature's spirit. He harms not those who seek peaceful passage, he seeks not the glory of conquest, he is but a shepherd atoning for his sins.

Agent Elliot: Thank you for your time, information, and hospitality, Ambokile. I think that will be all.

[END LOG]

Afterword: The testimony of Mr. Masanja was subsequently corroborated by several other village elders. Due to the remote nature of the village and the fact that they have had knowledge of SCP-5411 for approximately 70 years, concealment protocols were deemed unnecessary.