An Anthropological Approach to Sarkicism - Case Study 04: House Kurinuka

Link to article: An Anthropological Approach to Sarkicism - Case Study 04: House Kurinuka.
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[[size 85%]][http://www.scpwiki.com/anthropological-report-darkwater << Case Study 03: The Darkwater Lodge ] | **Case Study 04: House Kurinuka** | [[/size]]
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++ **An Anthropological Approach to Sarkicism**

Dr. Alexander Pasternak, Department of Anthropology
> **Forward:**
> Our understanding of Sarkicism has changed dramatically over the last few decades. What we have learned has revealed a diverse and shifting paradigm far different from the monolithic creed that was first hypothesized. We are now able to paint a broader, more detailed picture of the Nälkä religion, its various sects and cultural traditions.
> 
> Modern sects are the product of divergent interpretations, many bearing a mere superficial resemblance to their ancient progenitor cult. Most unexpected, especially among early scholars of Sarkicism such as myself, are the seemingly benevolent intentions of its founders. The road to hell, it is often said, is paved with good intentions - an aphorism the Foundation must always keep close in mind, for despite the aeons between us, we gaze into that very same abyss.
> 
> And like the ancient Adytites, we have found it full of monsters.
> 
> Dr. Pasternak has been a fixture at the SCP Department of History for many years, and his expertise has been beneficial throughout our investigations into Nälkä faith and culture. Here is presented his most recent report.
> 
> - Dr. Judith Low, Senior Adviser at the Department of History - Religious GoI Threat Analysis
+++ **CASE STUDY 04: House Kurinuka**

**Overview:**
House Kurinuka (くり抜かれた王朝, //kurinuka reta ōchō//) is a Neo-Sarkic cult of Japanese-Canadian origin, centralized in Vancouver, Canada. It is believed that the founders of House Kurinuka immigrated to Canada during the Issei [[footnote]]a term specifying Japanese-born immigrants to North and South America, contrasted with their descendants born in the destination country[[/footnote]] wave of immigration between 1877 and 1928, and that a second ongoing wave of immigration in the late 20th century has revitalized it and significantly swelled its membership. Despite the name, however, membership in House Kurinuka is not restricted to blood relatives, and many individuals of varying ethnicities have joined or married into the cult since its genesis. 

House Kurinuka is fully integrated into contemporary Canadian culture, counting many prominent businessmen and socialites as members. The current head is presumed to be Samuel K. Hisawa, a technology and business mogul based out of Metro Vancouver.

**History:**
General consensus states that immigration from Japan to Canada began in the late 19th century, with the first recorded immigrant being a sailor named Manzo Nagano, who arrived in 1877. Their populations had risen to 4,738 by 1901, and around 10,000 by 1911. Departing from farms or fishing villages in Japan—particularly the southern islands of Kyūshū and Honshū—these Issei were often impoverished but literate young people who settled in Vancouver and Victoria, the Fraser Valley, and other areas along the Pacific Coast. Common professions among them included those in the farming, fishing, canning, logging, sawmill, and railway industries, as well as the operation of lodging houses, grocery stores, and restaurants. While documented displays of anomalous abilities were not prevalent during this period, several records do reflect periodic conflict between European and Japanese fishermen over an "unusual quantity" of salmon caught along the Fraser River, even at times when their migratory patterns should not have led them into the area. 

Even prior to the Second World War, the Canadian government had implemented discriminatory policies against Asian immigrants, including those of Japanese descent. Denied the right to vote until 1948, they were also barred from certain professions. Violent strikes and a 1907 anti-Asian riot in Vancouver demonstrated that this treatment was not only //de jure//. In 1908, Canada began to restrict Japanese immigration, setting the quota at 400 males a year, and then only 150 in 1928. Concentrated in enclaves such as Vancouver’s Powell Street, they developed their own institutions, including schools, hospitals, and temples. It was through these institutions that the few individuals[[footnote]]Represented in large part by a family group known only by the surname Hisagae[[/footnote]] who had kept to the Proto-Sarkic tradition, believed to have originated from a single, small cult in rural Japan, may have begun to communicate their beliefs to a growing and increasingly burdened community. These would later become known as the founders of House Kurinuka. 

Following the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, effects on Japanese Canadians were immediate and severe. Under the War Measures Act, over 21,000 were forcibly removed from the West Coast and ordered to move 100 miles (160km) inland, causing them to lose their homes, farms, and businesses. Many were held in camps on the interior, and men were often separated from their families. Confiscated property was sold by the Custodian of Enemy Alien Property, and only a small amount paid for the allowances of prisoners at the internment camps. 

These losses seem to have provided the circumstances for House Kurinuka’s ascendance. When restrictions were lifted in 1949 and Japanese Canadians were granted full citizenship, they were free to return to the West Coast—but found little to return to. From Issei who had lost their lives’ work to internment, to the younger Nisei who had suffered an irreparable interruption to their education, every level of their society had been affected. Those who lived in Vancouver were no exception. Now elderly, the Issei founders of 1877-1928 had passed down their anomalous knowledge to their children and those close to them in the community. Increasingly, they used these skills to secure a foothold in wider society, becoming known for their financial success and business acumen. As these Nisei married and intermingled with other Japanese Canadians as well as outsiders, House Kurinuka grew in size and status. The third generation, or Sansei, grew up significantly more immersed in English-speaking culture, and continued to pair social discernment with the use of anomalous psychotropics to outmaneuver their business rivals.

In 1967, changes to immigration laws allowed for a renewal of Japanese immigration to Canada. Known as the shin Issei, these immigrants largely originated from Japan’s urban middle class. On the West Coast, many were drawn to the House as a means of securing connections and a support network—for themselves and their children—in a new country. This would bolster their ranks and continue to reinforce the cosmopolitan nature of the House.

**Culture, Tradition, and Misconceptions:**
While there is no evidence indicating the exact beliefs or practices the founders of the House arrived in North America with, it is quite clear - and members concur - that those beliefs underwent significant metamorphosis under the changing cultural landscape of the 20th century. As Canada itself secularized, so too did the House, discarding many features of their previous practice to create the streamlined doctrine present today.
 
Their philosophy is ultimately nihilistic and atheistic, rejecting both the existence of moral principles and the concept of deities as a discrete classification of entities. Power is rather viewed upon a spectrum, with Yaldabaoth and the Archons believed to have "greater capacity" but no difference in nature from humans or, indeed, any other organisms. Sarkites consider their carnomantic abilities to be ultimately derived from the Archons and/or Yaldabaoth; this relationship is perceived as commensalistic, with neither party of necessity being harmed. Yaldabaoth is frequently likened in metaphor to marine superpredators; one member I spoke with described the distinction between these entities and Sarkicism in practice as being analogous to the distinction between "the shark, and the parts of the shark the remoras know". 

Belief in the existence of Ion, the Klavigar, or any events in Sarkic mythology prior to the Sarkic diaspora c. 1100 BCE is considered to be a matter of personal opinion and rarely considered relevant in everyday life. Nonetheless, a common belief is that the cult's lineage traces back to approximately this time period, and that the Klavigar Saarn[[footnote]]One of the four "saints" of Sarkicism, associated with darkness, secrecy, poison, deception, and justice.[[/footnote]] was instrumental in its founding. I was presented with two legends as to the nature of this founding: the first claims that the Hisagae family (and therefore a large proportion of current cult membership) are direct blood descendants of the klavigar, while the other holds simply that the chain of succession of karcists ultimately leads back to her induction of three among the Jōmon population shortly before the Sarkic diaspora. Unusually among Sarkic groups, House Kurinuka has two acting karcists: Karcist Vasakur and Karcist Turuušo. The former seems to be the primary karcist and is most involved in cult proceedings; upon inquiring about the latter, I was told only that "he comes and goes“. Also unusually among Sarkic groups, the House does not keep a religious calendar, and community events take place stochastically, generally in response to significant events in the lives of its members (including rites of passage, marriages, and reproduction).

Explicitly, House Kurinuka functions according to a strict hierarchy based upon age and prominence within the organization. Children are expected to be obedient to their older relatives (including siblings, cousins, parents, and aunts/uncles) until the deaths of the latter, while individuals of the same age are expected to defer according to rank[[footnote]]Neo-Sarkic cults reckon three to four ranks of power within each organization.[[/footnote]] or to amount of time spent as a full member of the group. Inter-familial relationships are significantly more complex, and the rules for obedience are based on factors including but not limited to time since immigration, time as a regional resident, apparent economic success, recent monetary transactions, and social/political capital both within and outside of the cult.

However, this hierarchy falls down somewhat in practice; individuals place a high priority on maintaining the appearance of obedience while fulfilling their personal ambitions, even if this entails subverting the wishes of their superiors. The principle that one is permitted to do whatever one cannot be prevented from doing holds particularly true here; several members have happily admitted to having manipulated, stolen from, or extorted other members for economic or social gain, apparently secure in the knowledge that I either would not report these deeds or they would be considered trivial. 

[[collapsible show="Interview with Andrea Lamare" hide="- Hide Interview Log"]]
> **Interview Subject:** Andrea Lamare
> 
> **Interviewer:** Dr. Alexander Pasternak
> 
> **Foreward:** In review, House Kurinuka seems relatively removed from its original religious underpinnings - thoroughly modernized, and nearly agnosticized in the process. However, the summary and the lived experience may be quite different, and for that reason I have procured some interviews with mainly the younger cult members in order to better ascertain how Sarkicism integrates into their seemingly-secular everyday lives.
> 
> **<Begin Log>**
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** Hello, Miss Lamare. I want to begin by thanking you for taking the time to meet with me today.
> 
> **Andrea Lamare:** Oh, no, no problem at all! Happy to be a study subject. I wonder if this counts as high school credits? [laughs]
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** I'm afraid that would be up to your instructors. Shall we start with the questions?
> 
> **Andrea Lamare:** Sure.
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** Were you born into Nälkä?
> 
> **Andrea Lamare:** Well, I mean - [shrugs] - I don’t exactly remember my own birth, so. But my mother says she’s been a member since her own birth, so I'd guess that the same goes for me.
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** And would you consider it to be very important, moderately important, or unimportant when it comes to your everyday life?
> 
> **Andrea Lamare:** I would say moderate. I mean, most days are just regular days. I go to school, go out with my friends. But I'm still aware that mom and dad and everyone are always watching, to make sure that I only behave properly. 
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** How do you feel about their monitoring of your activities?
> 
> **Andrea Lamare:** It's just... how we do things. I mean, sure, it can get a little annoying. But if I had any younger siblings, I'd have to do the same for them. And it's for our own good, y'know? No success without obedience - or at least, knowing how to get away without it. [winks]
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** I see. Are any of your friends outside of the House aware that this group exists, or that you are a member?
> 
> **Andrea Lamare:** Not really? We don't talk about it much. Most of them might think it's a little weird, you know, even if it's cultural, to be a practicing member. Like I should be more "advanced" than that. And of course they'd all want to get a worm too, and know all these other things that they don't deserve to know or access.
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** Have you experienced any similar pressures to reveal or share your faith with anyone you know?
> 
> **Andrea Lamare:** No, but I want to be proactive about that, you know? Because, I mean, there's obviously going to be questions about things that happen in my life. Which of course everyone in the House knows about, and it would be sort of nice to only interact with other members, but, well. [shrugs] Oh! But and speaking of things that happen in my life - Sandra - my sister - had her Nel'lka only this spring! That's probably the most exciting thing for us this year. I -
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** Pardon my interruption - what is a Nel'lka in this case?
> 
> **Andrea Lamare:** It's - [gestures vaguely] - the ceremony where she gets her akuloth. Where she was made a full member. Now she can participate in more of the rituals and stuff.
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** I see. What does this ceremony entail?
> 
> **Andrea Lamare:** Wait! Wait wait wait. [subject digs into her bag and retrieves her cellular phone] She asked me to video it. She said she didn’t want to forget, no matter how old we got. [subject laughs] So I can send you that, that’ll probably be more helpful than just my description of it -
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** Are you sure your sister would be all right with you sharing this?
> 
> **Andrea Lamare:** Oh, sure. [chuckles] And, well - if she didn't want me to disseminate stuff about her, she should have said something before now.
> 
> **<End Log>**
[[/collapsible]]

The video in question was received by e-mail a few days later.

[[collapsible show="Video Log: Nel’lka Ceremony of Sandra Lamare" hide="- Hide Video Log"]]
> **Video Log: Nel’lka Ceremony of Sandra Lamare**
> 
> **Foreward**: Upon opening the file, it was discovered that Miss Lamare had annotated (if inexpertly) the video to clarify individuals' identities and roles. These annotations are included in this log for completeness.
> 
> **<Begin Log>**
> 
> Video begins with a view of a carpeted floor, and rapidly turns upwards to reveal a large foyer crowded with people. Most are wearing semi-formal to formal Western attire, with a few dressed in tunic-like or robe-like garments. The camera focusses on a group of three young women, giggling and speaking with each other. Miss Lamare’s annotations name them as Junko, Sandra, and Naomi. 
> 
> Sandra grins and waves at the camera, which turns around to focus on a group of conversing adults, composed of two women and a man. They peer down at it with slight smiles, raising their eyebrows. One of the women, annotated as “Mom,” reaches a hand towards the camera.
> 
> **"Mom"**: Andrea, honey! Put the phone away for a second and come meet Mr. and Mrs. Suzuki.
> 
>  Andrea seems to hesitate, and the view swings towards the floor again. Indistinct pleasantries can be heard. When the camera turns upward once more, it is moving out and away towards the other guests. Most appear unfazed at being filmed by Andrea and ignore her in favour of existing conversations, although she receives a few polite greetings.
> 
> With no apparent signal, all conversation abruptly ceases. At a leisurely pace, the camera follows the crowd as they begin to file out of the foyer and make their way deeper into the building. After several turns, they come to a wide doorway, beyond which is located a staircase leading down. The crowd begins to descend the staircase, slowing in order to file through the narrower passageway.
> 
> The staircase opens out into a cavernous basement. While unusually large, with proportions resembling those of an auditorium, its design is modern and minimalist in accordance with the rest of the house. The only light source appears to be a green glow emanating from beyond the camera’s purview. When it swings around, the source is revealed: an unidentified species of bioluminescent fungus[[footnote]]Similar in morphology to //Hericium//.[[/footnote]], sprouting in clusters where the walls meet the ceiling. Mats of mycelium indicate that the fruiting bodies are anchored into and derive sustenance from the interior wall space.
> 
> Rows of seats fill the chamber, facing a pedestal with a curtain draped behind it, stretching from floor to ceiling. While the curtain is of unknown material, the pedestal appears to be made of polished travertine limestone[[footnote]]Identifiable by its greasy luster and concentric appearance.[[/footnote]].
> 
> After all of the crowd has entered the basement, they stand before their seats, seemingly waiting for something. From a row in front of the rest, the camera pans out to show the other occupants of this row: they include the woman earlier identified as "Mom," a man annotated as "Dad," several elderly members of the crowd, and a number of those dressed in robe- and tunic-like garments. Among them, the older couple from before ("Mr. and Mrs. Suzuki") can be seen. They take their seats. The camera rotates. Behind them, the rest can be seen to follow suit.
> 
> The camera faces forward once more. The woman previously established to be Sandra and Andrea’s mother, later identified as Ema Lamare, rises from her seat. Turning to address the audience, she welcomes them to their home and thanks the gathered crowd for attending Sandra’s Nel'lka ceremony. 
> 
> Sandra herself, who has been out of view for some time, now emerges from behind the curtain. The camera zooms in on her face. Her pupils appear significantly dilated, and her movements show reduced coordination relative to earlier time points. She is dressed in a garment that resembles a white yukata, which she removes.
> 
> A humanoid figure with a veiled face (identified by Miss Lamare as “That’s Turuušo, he was around more then“) enters the frame. It halts facing Sandra Lamare and her sponsors.
> 
> **Figure:** What is your name?
> 
> **Sandra Lamare:** Sandra Erika Lamare.
> 
> **Figure:** And they that present you?
> 
> **Sandra Lamare:** Ema Lamare and Claude Suzuki.
> 
> **Figure:** And so saying, do you consent to bind yourself to this House, from now until whensoever your life may end? To hold no other allegiance, and wield no other power?
> 
> **Sandra Lamare:** As the remora latches itself to the shark, so I swear this to be true.
> 
> **Figure:** And do you vow this of your own will, in the knowledge that you shall yet have the freedom to act as you will?
> 
> **Sandra Lamare:** As the eel chooses its own hollow, so I do.
> 
> Claude Suzuki turns and exits the frame, returning with the transected upper torso of a woman[[footnote]]Later identified through police and medical records as a transient who had recently been released from local hospitalization for an undetermined psychotic disorder[[/footnote]]. Much of the skin is overgrown with cyst- and polyp-like structures. The body is placed upon the pedestal, and Sandra Lamare guided to approach it. Standing at sufficient distance to reach out and touch it, she speaks several words in an unidentified language[[footnote]]Cross-referencing with existing records indicates the language may be a modified variant of Adytite, with loanwords from various Japonic languages and the Ainu language of Hokkaido.[[/footnote]]. She removes a large fatty organ[[footnote]]Later examination of the video indicates that the organ is most likely a hyperplastic thymus gland.[[/footnote]] and one of the anterior ribs from the thorax, then ingests the former. Using one hand and the removed rib, she paints the area between her cheekbones and collarbones with blood from the body, then rises again.
> 
> The veiled figure produces a white, vermiform organism, identified as an instance of SK-BIO Type 006, from the folds of its robes. Lifting it with both hands, he drops to a kneeling position. Sandra takes it in her own hands, lifts her head until her face is inclined upward, and ingests it. She stands perfectly rigid for several seconds, before lowering her head once more. 
> 
> Her posture seems to relax. The veiled figure moves out of the frame. The ritual appears to be concluded; movement and conversation resumes among the crowd. 
> 
> Sandra is given a large bowl of water and a towel with which to wipe off the blood. After she does, she clothes herself once more and, amidst the sound of congratulations, heads out into the crowd to rejoin her friends. Behind her, rhizomorph-like structures emerge from the stage, growing through and over the abandoned corpse. As they begin to digest it, the fungal bodies lining the walls gradually increase in luminosity.
[[/collapsible]]

It seems apparent that House Kurinuka endeavours to keep their anomalous activities out of the public eye, despite their professed indifference to intrinsic behavioural standards. No employees of companies owned by Hisawa or other House members have any connection to any of the Lower Mainland's anomalous communities - a statistic that may reveal a vested interest on House Kurinuka's part to maintain their ignorance.

Employee blogs and online communications do reveal a prevalent psychotropic culture at Hisawa's two largest companies[[footnote]]Although drug and alcohol use is considered a growing problem in the nonanomalous technology sector as well.[[/footnote]], with psychotropics of choice including alcohol, //Cannabis sativa//, prescription amphetamines and analgesics, and a drug known only by the trade name Casurun. This drug is reportedly available only through Rutilus Compounding Pharmacy, a small naturopathic pharmacy chain based only in the Lower Mainland. Upon further investigation, Rutilus was discovered to be owned by another high-ranking House member. 

A sample of Casurun was procured from Rutilus for spectrometric analysis. Although the majority of the capsule weight was accounted for by binders (including mannitol starch and microcrystalline cellulose) and fillers (including corn starch and saccharin sodium), two bioactive ingredients were identified. 14.1% by weight was accounted for by the theoretical but unattested compound dihydroxynicergoline. This compound acts as a competitive agonist to the ADRA1A dendritic receptor, inducing cerebral vasodilation and metabolic elevation. 3.7% by weight was accounted for by a mixture of muscarine allosteric antagonists. These compound act as nonselective antagonists for the GABA,,A,, ionotropic receptor. 

Trace amounts of protein were also found, mostly in fragmentary form. Preliminary BLASTP place the isolated peptides as having high structural similarities to vertebrate galactosylceramidase enzymes, and are presumably involved //in vivo// in the digestion of cell membranes and/or myelin.

Overall, Casurun has nootropic effects, which may explain its popularity among local tech employees. With few reported side effects, this drug increases human reaction time and attention, presumably advantageous to individuals in a competitive business environment. The desire for intelligence and capability would drive many, it seems, to seek exogenous sources.

[[include component:image-block name=fungus.jpg
|caption=An immature specimen of //A. lowii// growing on a //P. menziesii// log.]]

The source of both active ingredients is a fungus known colloquially as //kajitsu-no-sara// or "wine-bowl" (presumptively named //Ascocoryne lowii// pending full description and publication), which is cultivated on a small scale under the oversight of another House member, Mr. James Toda. This species is essentially saprotrophic and is cultivated outdoors on mulch and sections of softwoods. Aware that commercial fungus farming is nowadays most frequently done indoors with sterilized and standardized substrate, I inquired about Toda's choice of natural cultivation methods. Although the response was highly technical, the general gist was that //A. lowii// has very specific nutrient requirements that cannot be met with commercial substrates, and this method of cultivation allows him to customize their nutrient input.

Mr. Toda seemed equally keen to point out that //A. lowii// is uncontrolled under federal or provincial law. No solid answers were provided when I inquired whether Mr. Toda or any of his compatriots were considering expanding their monopoly; however, given Rutilus's popularity, I would not be surprised to see Casurun eventually hit a wider market.

**Addendum:** While walking back to my lodging following an evening meeting with a colleague, I was approached by an unknown individual. The individual's shabby, concealing garments, along with the scarf used to cover the head and neck, stymied any potential identification. The following is a transcript of our interaction.

[[collapsible show="Interview Log: Unidentified House member" hide="Close Transcript"]]

> **Interviewer**: Dr. Alexander Pasternak
> 
> **Interviewee**: Unidentified House member
> 
> **Date**: 11/08/2021
> 
> <//Begin Log//>
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** Can I help you?
> 
> [There are a few minutes of silence.]
> 
> **Figure:** Perhaps you can, Dr. Pasternak.
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** Do I - do I know you?
> 
> **Figure:** Not in person, not yet. But come, doctor - you have been asking after me for days now. Surely it cannot come as a surprise that I too may be curious? May wish, perhaps, to meet with you?
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** You are Turuušo.
> 
> **Karcist Turuušo:** Yes.
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** If I may - your followers claim to have seen very little of you, recently, and none were able to provide me with… to be honest, any information at all. I was half-convinced you were an urban legend, or a trick to gauge my credibility. And if your duty is to guide them spiritually, why make yourself so scarce?
> 
> **Karcist Turuušo:** Ah. Yes. [subject rearranges its clothing until only its eyes are visible] And now we come to my reason for seeking you out.
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** Which is?
> 
> [Subject is again silent for a few minutes]
> 
> **Karcist Turuušo:** The world is rupturing. The song - it has festered now, longer than my memory, since before the histories were written. But no abscess remains forever. If not lanced, they tear open of their own accord. And now - the skin of reality thins. Stretches taut. Rhythm and melody, even the words... 
> 
> Even with ears closed, they reverberate through the bones. Everything is all warped awry, the apprehension of - [shakes head] There are not even the right words to speak of it, but something terrible is coming, and it sends sickness before it into the tissues of everything that is.
> 
> **Karcist Turuušo:** It is - what is your word? - necrosis. The soul concretized has a form that may succumb, may begin to... die, when intrusion can no longer be borne. [laughs] Too late, now, now that we have opened up our passageways to smell and swallow and let it in. An eft that poisons itself with its own toxins. Always bleed it dry before you devour it, even if you are starving otherwise. Like metal that won't go away, won't come out, even though I must - [subject claws at its neck, causing bleeding. The movement also reveals that what I had taken for a wide garment sleeve is in fact an infolded and highly vascularized mucous membrane, pitted with ulcers] - too deep, too deep by centuries. I cannot - [subject stills, hunching over and covering its eyes with one hand. Its claws are notably cracked and damaged, potentially indicating poor health.]
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** I do not mean any offense, but - are you all right?
> 
> **Karcist Turuušo:** [harshly] Doctor. [long pause] Forgive me. I shall endeavour to be clearer. I no longer involve myself with our followers because I cannot. Their touch... burns. Here a little less, there a little more - but the essence is the same. One poison. Would you press furuncle to carbuncle, to cure the latter? 
> 
> There is too much to be considered, and I too distracted to consider it. I know that Nälkä as it exists grows untenable. I also know this may not be true.
> 
> So no. We are none of us well, but I - fear I may be irremediable. They called the gods' touch maddening, in the old scripture...
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** And so you believe that you have been driven insane?
> 
> **Karcist Turuušo:** Look, doctor. Would you profess differently?
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** I am not qualified to make such judgments. Is there nothing that your followers are capable of doing to help you?
> 
> **Karcist Turuušo:** [laughs] In Nälkä such things are true. Because it is painful, and so the truth usually is. And our skill is in lihakut'ak, the shepherding of the flesh. The mind must already be strong... no. No, no help from my people. And the physicians for this city's commons would ask inconvenient questions.
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** That, I think, would be likely.
> 
> **Karcist Turuušo:** But your Foundation… the commons do not know the truth of all the lives paraxial to their own because you do not will it. You make them forget. You remember the things that cannot be remembered. 
> 
> Make no mistake, Doctor; I know my people have given you all and more of the information you have requested of them. Because they know it will not harm them any; you cannot break your materialistic play-acting on the orders of your superiors, so you can reveal nothing of them to their enemies. They believe you powerless. 
> 
> But power has no single axis; tear out a handful of this soil and you hold more lives than your entire race has ever lived. One clod of earth, and you are a god.
> 
> You may try to be polite, but your people are not subtle, doctor. They resent anything outside of your carefully-crafted ignorance. You would love to wall every one of us away from all those masses you deem normal, because behind your locks or fences or bolt-cages there would be no possible means for us to harm them. Because any of us placed there would be controlled. Would be safe. Is this not so?
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** There are... definitely some personnel within the Foundation who feel that way. But clearly, as you said, you do not think I would be capable of bringing you in even were I to decide it necessary.
> 
> **Karcist Turuušo:** [closes eyes] All creatures desire safety.
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** If I may be so blunt - what, exactly, are you trying to get at here?
> 
> **Karcist Turuušo:** Doctor, terrible as it may be to admit, I am begging your help. You have control over thought - let me use it for my own, as well.
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** And what of the rest of the House? I presume they would disapprove of such an arrangement.
> 
> **Karcist Turuušo:** Oh, surely. It would be the vilest of betrayals. The natural order, upturned. Worthy of being left to rot, without even the respect of being eaten. [subject grins, revealing a row of needle-like teeth and a large mass of spongiform tissue connected to the palate of the mouth; how such a structure does not inhibit breathing or speech is unclear] But let them stop us, then, if they will. I benefit, and it would seem you would too; what they feel is immaterial.
> 
> **Dr. Pasternak:** I… will have to discuss your request with my supervisors before I can give you anything else, I'm afraid. But just to make sure that you understand what you are asking: the Foundation does not release anomalies from containment. Even were you to be completely recovered, we could not ever permit you to return to your current position. 
> 
> **Karcist Turuušo:** Yet neither do you kill them. No, at present I believe this my wisest choice. And yours too, Doctor. Ask them. [subject pauses] Please.
> 
> **Afterword:** I brought the content of this conversation to the department, expressing the karcist's seeming willingness to enter containment in order to acquire reliable medical care. As I had been, the Foundation was at first suspicious of such an arrangement; however, the opportunity for a stable and seemingly-willing source of information on the structure and activities of House Kurinuka was deemed too valuable to abandon. Permission was therefore obtained to reconnect with and bring in the karcist.
> 
> However, weeks of investigation turned up no further signs of it, and no further attempts at contact were made from its side. When questioned, all members of the House refused to provide any comment or speculation as to the karcist's whereabouts.
[[/collapsible]]
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> **Filename:** //fungus.jpg//
> **Name:** File:Ascocoryne sp. 59503.jpg
> **Author:** Dan Molter
> **License:** CC by-sa 3.0
> **Source Link:** [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ascocoryne_sp._59503.jpg]
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An Anthropological Approach to Sarkicism - Case Study 04: House Kurinuka

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