 File Overview The Foundation is not the only group with an interest and investment in the paranormal and metaphysical. There are many other groups in existence who possess, use, or attempt to create SCP objects either for their own personal gain or for the protection of mankind. Some are rival organizations, some are splinter groups of the Foundation, and some are trusted associates of the Foundation. In any case, it has been deemed necessary to create and distribute a brief on what agencies the Foundation knows about, and our stance towards them. Sarcacals Overview Sarcacism is a religious philosophical system that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs, and spiritual practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Grand Carcist Ion. It's deified founder, adherents practice ritual cannibalism, human sacrifice, corporeal augmentation, psalmaturgy, and dimensional manipulation. Highly secretive, the general public appears to have no direct knowledge of their existence, the one exception being the COTBG, who views them in apocalyptic terms. Organic manipulation has allowed certain sarcocytes to achieve anomalous states of being, transcending the physical limitations of baseline humans. Disease is viewed with reverence, and sarcastic shrines have been discovered with offerings of swollen lymph nodes and tumours growths. Sarcacals treat contagions as consecration, a means to cull the weak and purify the masses, and thus actively seek to ensure their spread. The Foundation divides known sarcacals into two distinct strands, protosarctic and neosarctic. Protosarctic cults can be found in into the communities throughout Eurasia's most isolated regions, its followers generally poor if self-reliant, and hostile towards outsiders. These groups eschew modernity, display acute technophobia, and are bound by superstition and taboo. In contrast, neosarctic cults are cosmopolitan, publicly embracing modernity, and showing no apparent qualms with technology. Their public lives differing little from others of their culture and social status. Adherents are primarily affluent families, rich in history and scandal. Ultimately, it is believed that the Foundation only knows a fraction of what sarcasm is and what its followers intend. Based on the available information, the speculated goals of sarcacals represent an SK-class dominant shift, including the possibility of an SK-class end-of-the-world scenario. The Serpent's Hand Overview The Serpent's Hand is a small but formidable organization responsible for several security breaches. At least three individuals have been encountered, all of whom use possible or confirmed anomalous items for infiltration purposes, including SCP-268, which was stolen from the Foundation, who had in turn recovered it during a raid of a chaos-insurgency facility. The total number of members belonging to this organization is unknown, as is their level of technology, number of possible SCPs held, or total level of threat. However, it is clear they are highly coordinated, and possibly dangerous. One of the leaders is thought to be a figure known as LS, who was considered to be personally responsible for two security breaches in Foundation sites. The Foundation currently has very little information about the Serpent's Hand, and almost all known information about the Serpent's Hand has been leaked from the DOC Intelligence. The group seems to embrace the use and existence of paranormal items, and in particular, seems to embrace humanoid and sentient SCPs. The Serpent's Hand has been highly vocal in criticizing the containment and destruction of these SCPs, especially those which are fully human, and are not particularly destructive. The group seems to have unfriendly relations with the Chaos Insurgency, and the Aurea, and an extremely hostile relationship with the DOC. The only recorded cases of unprovoked violence by Serpent's Hand members have been against DOC agents. The Serpent's Hand seems primarily based in an anomalous location known as the Wanderer's Library, a building accessed through portals found in many different parts of the world. Direct assaults on the library have so far proven unfeasible, even when entrance could be found. However, Initial Intelligence seems to suggest the Hand has little understanding or control over the place. Attempts to infiltrate the Wanderer's Library are ongoing. Shark Punching Center Overview The Shark Punching Center, also known as the Salation Punching Center, the Shark Punching Center, Sela Kiosk Pungizkombin, among others, is an organization located in one or more parallel universes, apparently acting as an alternate universe counterpart to the Foundation. While the Foundation has known of the Center for several decades, the structure, documentation, and general tone taken by the Shark Punching Center varies wildly, suggesting one or more universes are in a state of flux. Documents pertaining to the Shark Punching Center have been recovered, and indicate a much more militaristic and unstable tone than a Foundation document. As the name would suggest, the SPC is mostly focused on furthering hand-to-hand combat, as it means to neutralize salation entities, though some documentation fails to differentiate between salation and aquatic. It is unclear if the Shark Punching Center has any knowledge or concern of or with Foundation activities. To learn more about the SCP Foundation, subscribe to SCP Orientation Today and turn the notification bell on so you don't miss any of our videos.