Karcist Halyna Ieva, or The Mother Who Demands One's Toes

Link to article: Karcist Halyna Ieva, or The Mother Who Demands One's Toes.

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__**Karcist Halyna Ieva**__
**Authors:** [[*user N_Aepic_Fael]] and [[*user TheMightyMcB]] 
**This article is for the 2019 Collaboration Contest**
Be sure to check out this GoI Format's accompanying Tale: [[[Another soul joins the halkost]]]
**More by these authors:**
* [http://www.scp-wiki.net/he-who-cannot-stop-stealing N_Aepic_Fael's Author Page]
* [http://www.scp-wiki.net/themightymcb-s-author-page TheMightyMcB's Author Page]
**Special thanks to our critters:**
* [[*user RockTeethMothEyes]]
* [[*user Uncle Nicolini]]
* [[*user DrChandra]]
* [[*user Nameless Mediocre]]
* [[*user Crashington]] 

Image source is here: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bell-crater_Scylla_Louvre_CA1341.jpg

OP has specified this is released into the public domain, as well as allowing usage of photo without any restrictions or conditions.

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[[size 150%]] **Karcist Halyna Ieva** [[/size]]
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**The Scourge of Iron, The Mother Who Demands One's Toes[[footnote]]Nevryn, is it really necessary to continue using this epithet? ~ G.[[/footnote]] [[footnote]]You know it, boss. ~ N.[[/footnote]], The Flesh That Ate[[footnote]]Heh, Jailor reference. ~ N.[[/footnote]], Subversion of Mekhanical Expectations, The Faithful Heretic**
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**Conspectus**
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Of all the sick playthings of the Archons, perhaps none can compare to the tragedy of Karcist Halyna Ieva, leader of Nälkä who conquered what is now modern-day Iran.  Oh  Great Jalakåra, how mighty her Halkost was![[footnote]]Out of respect for mine newfound allies, I will tolerate such blatant heresy, but I ask that thee refrain from showing it so openly. ~  A.[[/footnote]][[footnote]]Chill, dude. Spider-Beard is real. In other news, I should probably hide from [http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-3319 those lunar nuts] now that I called it that. ~ N.[[/footnote]] It was said that she herself commanded seventy score twisted creations of vile flesh, loyal only to Ieva and the Grand Karcist himself, as she tore across Asia Minor from Miletus to Troy during the Great War of Flesh and Bronze. 

Mentioning Ieva's name is taboo amongst the Devout, who fear she will haunt them afterwards [[footnote]]Oh thee of false faith, why dost thou condemn us with thy mentioning of the abominable one's designation? ~ A.[[/footnote]][[footnote]]A bit late for that buddy, we've already said her name several times. ~ N.[[/footnote]]. Oh Accursed One, why do you walk among us again?

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**Illustration**
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[[=image 600px-Bell-crater_Scylla_Louvre_CA1341.jpg style="outline: 1px dashed rgb(228, 180, 28); border: 10px solid rgb(178, 210, 180); width: 90%; box-shadow: 0em 0.063em 0.125em rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);"]]

//A Greek artifact depicting Halyna Ieva. It is believed that they worshipped and feared her as Scylla, one of the two mythical beasts that impeded Brother Odysseus' travels.//

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**Knowledge**
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**Traits:** Ieva herself resembles a human woman of Middle Eastern descent, with raven black hair and dark skin. From the waist down, though, Ieva no longer resembles anything human in nature. Where her legs would be instead lies a writhing mass of tumorous blackened tentacles. Like the arms of an octopus, such appendages are both prehensile and dextrous.[[footnote]]What is this, Dungeons and Dragons? ~ N.[[/footnote]]

As to be expected of a Karcist, Ieva is capable of powerful lihakut’ak, the art of Sarkic fleshcraft. Using it, she can cause rapid growth of any life she wishes. Her wounds close automatically, her gaze instigates tumorous growth in the flesh of others, her breath spreads infections, and, perhaps most importantly, her voice can control her halkost, an army of mindless fleshbeasts carved from the remains of her fallen enemies. Such a deadly combination of rapid infection and tumor growth in her enemies alongside her swarm of abominations makes survival slim for those who draw Ieva's ire.

**Nature:** During her infamous deathmarch across Asia Minor, Karcist Ieva proved herself to be a dauntless leader and fierce combatant, as she led her horde from the front lines. She often spared none, taking the soldiers of her conquest into her halkost, after which they must pay a price of flesh.  Such payments generally take the form of one's toes -- making humans her particular choice of prey.[[footnote]]O Wan, how depraved this madwoman is! Lord Bumaro, bless us with thy steel, and smite this accursed witch - for the sake of public morals, if anything. ~ A.[[/footnote]][[footnote]]Ayo, calm down, fool. You're not in high school, there's no such thing as public morals. ~ N.[[/footnote]]

**History & Associated Parties:** Writings and artifacts dating to the Late Bronze Age collapse have indicated that a Nälkä woman led an army of raving fiends, toppling the ancient cities of Miletus and Troy in what is now modern day Turkey. However, the army was stopped while attempting to cross the Dardanelles en route to Gallipoli. Devout followers of Wan ambushed her slow death march, hurling naptha and firing weapons of the gods. In her attempt to press forward, Ieva's halkost was utterly torn apart, her fleets of abominations sunken by war machines larger than the Rhodian Colossus,[[footnote]]I understand from your records that the local sepulcher in Tabriz houses an artifact of comparable power, as well as its former master. I wonder if His Holiness will allow us to repurpose it. ~ A.[[/footnote]] taking their Karcist with them. Ieva was declared lost, another casualty of the ongoing conflict. Witnesses report Ieva weaving a cocoon of flesh around herself, enveloping herself fully before she submerged into the waters. Attempts to prove she had died have proven unfruitful, namely due to the lack of anyone willing to go near her cocoon.[[footnote]]Shit, fam, would you want to go near someone who robbed your toes? ~ N.[[/footnote]]

Ieva's followers have had their feet or legs forcibly removed, typically by the Karcist herself, and were subsequently cursed by flesh magic with suitable replacements. Examples of replacement extremities have included: human hands, large abnormally-shaped  tumors, fluid sacks capable of creating pseudopods, club-like osseous protuberances, tentacles, a single large human foot with all toes removed, and long braids of black hair which twist themselves into the shape of a human limb.

**Approach:** Seeing that Lady Ieva is supremely hostile, conflict is inevitable. We urge any and all fellow beings to seek shelter. Currently Brother Ganymede is advocating for permission to use the Ways as a means to escape, but the current consensus is that it poses too great of a risk to the Library herself.

Understand that we state this with a heavy heart, perhaps hearts, for we hate to lose our fellow booklovers; however, Ieva has not been shown to be of rational thought, and an entity that can force His Holiness Bumaro into retreat cannot be allowed to tarnish these glorious halls. We therefore propose an alternative method of escape: carry with you a small satchel with an assortment of toes[[footnote]]You've got to be kidding me, Gany. //This// was your great escape plan for our friends? ~ N.[[/footnote]][[footnote]]You know, they tell you to punch a shark in the nose if attacked. Think that's stopping a great white from tearing your arm off? Didn't think so. Just makes us feel better about it. ~ G.[[/footnote]]. Due to Ieva's love for such appendages, it acts as a bait for her abominations to go after while you flee for safety. Out of the several hundred entities that have used this tactic, even the rather sluggish Dawn That Wants Citrus has managed to escape her Halkost.

**Other Detail:** As of recently, Ieva has returned, bringing pestilence and disgust with every step.[[footnote]]Hey Alabaster, think you messed up here. Don't you mean "pestilence and despair" or "pestilence and other disgusting things?" ~ N.[[/footnote]][[footnote]]I know fully well what I have written, child. That abominable flesh-sack is impossible to look at without inciting a feeling of disgust. ~ A.[[/footnote]] Currently, [http://www.scp-wiki.net/another-soul-joins-the-halkost Hand and the Devout are working together] to halt, or at least impede, her progress. Representing His Holiness Bumaro, leader of the Broken Church, is Alabaster Stahlsbeird, a thaumaturgist specializing in manipulating metal.[[footnote]]With all due respect, sirs, I believe that "manipulating metal" is a bit of an understatement of my abilities. ~ A.[[/footnote]][[footnote]]Noted, will edit in next edition. ~ G[[/footnote]] Representing the Hand and all her branches is Ganymede, a lich who teaches magic to developing mages. With luck, we hope that we can convince the Jailors and even the Bookburners to set aside their feuds with us to counter this indomitable foe, but only time will tell.
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**Observations & Stories**
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//Oh Mekhane, when thee smited the Sarkics and halted their progress, how we hoped their conquests would end! Instead, this madwoman remained, aided by the despotic Archons even the Sarkics condemned. A heretic to her kind, and a plague upon us all, why could we not be done with her yet? I pray that thee in thy broken state will bless us, giving us the conviction to hold her off - and willpower to not vomit immediately.// ~ Alabaster Stahlsbeird[[footnote]]Christ, you make her sound like the living embodiment of vertigo. ~ N.[[/footnote]]
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//... and thus the abominable one descends on our neighbor Troy, civilians and soldiers alike running as fortress walls collapse, fleshbeasts howling as naptha is desperately hurled. Scores of abominations trample screaming children, clouds of malaise waft among survivors. Oh Wan, is this the end?// ~ Excerpt from a Mekhanite soldier's journal, dated to the First War of the Flesh
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//Oh, how we hate her! The accursed Faithful Heretic, she that embraced those cruel Archons, she that let power blind her vision! Lord Ion himself could not contain her, she who let depravity define her actions, she who brought shame to the Nälkä name! We are honorable warriors, aiming to purge the world of the injustices we suffered under the damnable Daevites, yet she herself enslaves others! How can we justify our glorious empire when such despotic inquisitors as her exist?// ~ a Nälkä priestess, during an interview with Sister Io
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//One  of the first things that children learn is equivalence.  If a girl dares hurt someone? She gets punished. If a boy dares insult someone? Punishment. Toes, I believe, are the ultimate insult - something so infuriatingly useless, yet so priceless. After all, we are only born with a set amount of them. We revile those who lack toes as we do who lack limbs, for the infirm are incapable of performing work at an ideal pace. Why, then, can I not exact my vengeance on those who have what I cannot? Ye who mock the toeless, understand that I will come and harvest thy appendages to exact equivalence. You cannot discriminate if no one is different.// ~ Ieva[[footnote]]See kids? This is why you don't bully others - you get raving lunatics like this seeking to harvest toes. ~ N.[[/footnote]]
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**Doubt**
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The question remains: where does the [[[http://www.scp-wiki.net/tifu-by-getting-a-book-from-the-library/comments/show|truth end]]] and the [[[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scylla-and-charybdis|legend begin]]]? It is impossible to determine whether her deathmarch was so frightening due to her tactical genius and combative prowess or through sheer luck. She always appeared to strike when the opponents were most lax, causing some to suspect her combat abilities to have been artificially inflated by her Greek foes who were embarrassed by their losses.[[footnote]]Are we seriously going to be chauvinistic here? Al, bro, I know you want to raise the morale of your soldiers, but don't talk shit about our enemies. This is like the third Karcist we've had to face off against with each other, and the only one you've downplayed. Come on. ~ N[[/footnote]]

Furthermore, her current halkost is nowhere the size of the one described in legend, which means that she may not be as difficult to manage as the epics indicate. With that said, fighting her is sure to be a suicide mission and as such we still advocate seeking safety until our joint forces can halt her progress.

Finally, Ieva claims that her actions are led on from childhood abuse, but there are no records that show Ieva having ever been severely mistreated in this manner, save the typical slave treatment she endured under the Daeva. Whether this acts as a means to justify her conquest, or was covered up in a Devout smear campaign remains to be seen.[[footnote]]Dare you accuse us of making her appear as anything but an abomination? She is a Sarkic abomination! ~ A.[[/footnote]][[footnote]]This is merely our standard format. Additionally, please avoid using such derogatory terms to describe our subject - you may hate her, but she and you are one and the same: sapient creatures that demand respect. ~ G.[[/footnote]]

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|author=N_Aepic_Fael and TheMightyMcB]]
=====
> **Filename:** 600px-Bell-crater_Scylla_Louvre_CA1341.jpg
> **Name:** 
> **Author:** Marie-Lan Nguyen
> **License:** Public Domain
> **Source Link:** https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bell-crater_Scylla_Louvre_CA1341.jpg
> **Derivative of:** 
> **Additional Notes:** This piece is currently on display in the Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities in the Louvre, Sully, first floor, room 44.

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Karcist Halyna Ieva, or The Mother Who Demands One's Toes

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