Sarkicism

Sarkicism is a widespread religious/philosophical cult that worships flesh and disease. The cult serves as one of the major antagonists in the SCP-universe, often being seen by the Foundation as an apocalyptic threat.

The group was originally founded by Grand Karcist Ion thousands of years ago, but has since then been fractured into several groups worldwide.

Members of the cult are called Sarkites.

Origin
Sarkicism was founded by Ion, a slave born into the Daeva-civilization. He lived in the City-state of Adytum, where he eventually led a slave revolt against their Daevite-masters. During this revolt Ion showed great powers like the ability to manipulate organic flesh (both his own and that of others) and telekinesis. He was also able to give that power to his followers. The origin of these powers are linked to the primordial being Yaldabaoth (the creator of the universe in the beliefs of the Sarkites). Ion was also aided by four disciples called the Klavigar, who would later become saints.

After the defeat of the Daevites, Ion and his followers terraformed many of the occupied cities, including Adytum (the new capital city of the Sarkites), into more organic structures. With this started the golden age of the Sarkic civilization (now called the Sarkic Empire), and the Ion’s belief started to spread over Eurasia, usually through conquest.

Occult War
When the Sarkic Empire arrived in the Mediterranean to establish colonies, where they would meet resistance by the Mekhanites (ancestor of the Church of the Broken God) and several other ancient civilizations. This led to a massive war between the two factions in which the Sarkites summoned massive abominations made of flesh to fight the anomalous machines of their enemies.

The war killed 20 to 30 million people, and there were no real victors. The Sarkic empire fell and Grandkarcist Ion disappeared, while the Mekhanite-survivors would beomce the Church of the Broken God.

The surviving Sarkites went into hiding to practice their faith, which led to creation of both the Proto-Sarkites and Neo-Sarkites.

Overview
The goal of becoming a god-like figure is key in the Sarkic faith, and the followers of the religion often engage in practice in acts such as ritual cannibalism, human sacrifice, corporeal augmentation, thaumaturgy, dimensional manipulation, sexual rites, death & rebirth and dealings with cosmic entities (such as Yaldabaoth and the Scarlet King). Despite these similarities, there are two main factions in the faith:

Proto-Sarkites
They often live in rural villages, away from civilization. Known Proto-Sarkite colonies exist in Russia, Finland and Romania. They are often poor, isolationist, technophobic and often hostile to hostile to outsiders, though they remain usually in their own territories.

Proto-Sarkites generally value in humility and self-sacrifice for the good of the many. This leads to many willingly sacrifice themselves and be reborn and suffer for their faith. They usually see Grandkarcist Ion as a benevolent messiah who will one day return and grand humanity eternal life. They view Yaldabaoth as the creator of life, but also as a hostile force that needs to be stopped.

In some cases Proto-Sarkites have communicated with Foundation staff in a civilized manner. An example is the Vaśńa community located in northern Finland, where members of the community did conduct in willing interviews with Dr. Matthieu Desmarais.

Neo-Sarkites
Neo-Sarkites are among society, unlike the Proto-Sarkites, often being in the world’s elite. They aren’t technophobic and have usually access to immense resources, due to their high status.

While the Proto-Sarkites belief in sacrificing oneself for the good of the many, the Neo-Sarkites belief in sacrificing many for the good of the one. They revere Grandkarcist Ion, but belief that one day they must surpass him in power.

A famous Neo-Sarkite is Cornelius P. Bodfel III, a wealthy millionaire industrialist who lived in Massachusetts. Bodfel led an organization called "Adytum's Wake", a collection of Neo-Sarkites that were members of affluent families, respected politicians, leaders of industry, and religious authority. Adytum would often gather at Bodfel-manor and engage in host orgies that included rape, pedophilia, ritual human sacrifice, and cannibalism.

The Proto-Sarkites view the Neo-Sarkites in a negative light. Neo-Sarkites are often called “Gluttonous” and pretenders, and in their eyes they disrespect Grandkarcist Ion with their murder and rape.

Leaders

 * Grand Karcist Ion
 * Klavigar Nadox
 * Klavigar Lovataar
 * Klavigar Orok
 * Klavigar Saarn

Followers

 * Cornelius P. Bodfel III (Karcist Sulkisk)
 * Simon Oswalt (Karcist Karvas)
 * Võlutaar Jaská
 * Dávgon the Younger
 * Draga Negrescu
 * The Mother/SCP-2191-3
 * The Blood Empress

Tirivia

 * The word "Sarkic" derives from Greek and means "Flesh"