Doctors Of The Church Hub

Link to article: Doctors Of The Church Hub.

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This canon is most succinctly described as a "post-apocalyptic pseudo-Medieval fantasy setting".
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[[include :scp-wiki:theme:holy-theme]]

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//It was said that in ancient times, as it is today, that there were a great many expunged that walked the world - not all creatures of flesh and blood, but machines, objects, places, even words and ideas, that knew not the laws of man nor God and caused great ruination and confusion wherever they roamed. To protect all men, believer and heathen alike, the Ancient Temple was founded, to secure, contain, and protect those terrors that threatened the safety of all.//

//But this, the saints say, was the sin of the Ancients; not that they did not fear what might come to pass if they were careless, but that they feared it too much. For they kept the secrets of the expunged to themselves, saying to themselves 'Man is a timid and superstitious animal; if he knows that these things exist, he will be consumed by terror and chaos will reign around the world. Let us do our work in secret, then, and let none learn of these things, that they may live unafraid.'//

//But no secret can be kept forever; and in time, many others learned that the expunged existed, and rather than being fearful, they became covetous of the Ancient Temple, and created their own heathen temples, seeking to make and take such things for themselves. And from this conflict arose the Great Breach; and when the masses of the expunged found themselves loosed at once upon the world, a world which knew not that such things could exist and stood against them like a leaf stands against the hurricane, then no stone was left atop another.//

//And when the flames had passed, those priests of the Ancient Temple who yet lived saw a world that would never again be as it had been before. And they said to themselves, 'What shall we do now? Mankind has no chance to regain what he has lost if the knowledge of how to combat the expunged dies with us. How can we few ever undo such a great calamity?'//

//And they saw the Lord ██████ approach them; and a great commotion arose through the crowd, for they thought Him dead. And the Lord spoke with a great voice, and He said;[[span style="color:red"]] **'Shut the fuck up for ten seconds and I'll tell you.**[[/span]]'//

//-Everett 1:1-9//

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[[=]]
Introduction by [[*user SMAPTI]]
[[/=]]

----
> [[=]]
> + What is this?
> [[/=]]
> **Doctors of the Church** is most succinctly described as a "post-apocalyptic pseudo-Medieval fantasy setting". But what does that mean?
> * **post-apocalyptic** - at some point in the late 20th or early 21st century, the world suffered an IK-Class "Collapse of Global Civilization" Scenario now remembered as "The Great Breach". Religious texts record that this event was precipitated by a large-scale conflict - potentially an Eighth Occult War - between the SCP Foundation and multiple Groups of Interest, which led to an escalating series of containment breaches, catastrophic magical disasters, and eventually the death of most of the human population. 700 years later, most modern technology and scientific knowledge is long-lost, few (if any) modern structures still stand, and much of pre-Breach history has been swallowed up by myth and legend. Remnants of Ancient technology still exist, buried in sheltered bunkers or exclusionary sites, but most of the world only has access to things invented before the Renaissance. People now account time in AB ("After Breach") and refer to pre-Breach civilizations as "The Ancients". 
> * **pseudo-Medieval** - in the wake of the Great Breach, remnants of the SCP Foundation reorganized as a religious institution in order to preserve knowledge of anomalous phenomena and containment procedures thereof. To give itself an air of legitimacy, appeal to cultural archetypes, and otherwise make this scheme more likely to succeed, the so-called Holy Foundation adopted terminology, aesthetics, and other elements reminiscent of the Catholic Church. Just as the Church was a stabilizing and nearly hegemonic force in the Middle Ages, so was the Holy Foundation for eight centuries after the Great Breach. For unclear reasons - a deliberate affectation, a compromise forced by the destruction of so much knowledge and technology, or a byproduct of some supernatural limitation - the rest of society has also acquired a bizarre resemblance to the Middle Ages. This is a world where mail-clad knights cross swords for their Lord, where artisans' guilds vie for power and wealth with traveling merchants and hereditary nobility, and where a good chunk of the population consists of serfs and peasants.
> * **fantasy** - however, many of the magics and monsters set loose by the Great Breach are still running around. The Veil of Secrecy has been replaced with a Veil of Superstition; though everyone knows that anomalies exist, they are viewed by the Foundation as demons, monsters, witches, or magical artifacts worthy of fear and awe. Heroes and adventurers bravely face the Expunged in combat, loot Ancient relics from the subterranean ruins of Foundation sites, and study the parasciences as schools of magic.
----

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[[=]]
++ Latest Articles
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[[module ListPages tags="doctors-of-the-church" limit="3" separate="no" order="created_at desc" category="_default art component theme adult"]]
[[span style="margin-left: 10%;"]]**%%index%%. %%title_linked%%** -- by [[*user %%created_by%%]][[/span]]
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----
[[=]]
> + Canon Articles
----
> +++ [[[A Canticle For Bright]]] by [[*user SMAPTI]]
> The cardinal raised his eyebrow. "Do you know what would happen if the Rite of Montauk were not performed as the Holy Containment Procedures instruct, aspirant?"
----
> +++ [[[By One Iota]]] by [[*user SMAPTI]]
> "There is no sin in any of the actions you have been asked to perform today - and though He may test you with His cries and protestations, remember that the Lord loves you and will forgive you."
----
> +++ [[[Quid Est Non Scitum]]] by [[*user JEKELED]]
> Decades ago, at the beginning of his study, he had chosen to focus on the writings of Saint Gears, a path he had never regretted. Because of this, he was the natural choice to carry out the Ceremony of the Clockworks.
----
> +++ [[[Though I Walk Through The Valley]]] by [[*user ANAXAGORAS]]
> I expected pain, the pleading gaze animals assume as death becomes a mercy. But it had a tenderness in its eyes like I have only ever seen in yours, Rachel.
----
> +++ [[[Placere Non Trinus]]] by [[*user REJEKYLL]]
> //"Er, Lord, what we know is mostly conjecture—bits and pieces from surviving encounters, which are rare enough in themselves—but they say the Yellow Book rewrites the past."//
----
> +++ [[[Deus Vult]]] by [[*user SMAPTI]]
> "Knights, nobles, peers of the realm, and peasants and serfs alike—hear us this night, for a threat has come to our lands that imperils not only our nation, but all of Christendom itself! Not since the time of the Exodus have our people known such an enemy as the heathens which now return to this land to resume their ancient debaucheries—the vile forces of the nation of man."
----
> +++ [[[Indwelling of Bright]]] by [[*user MRWRONG]]
> "Son, you know not of the Holy Foundation's ways. Our starvation is the Holy Foundation's love towards us, the D-Caste."
----
> +++ [[[The Lord Judge]]] by [[*user SMAPTI]]
> When you speak the Four Words, do so with the utmost confidence; for if you have no faith in yourself, he will have no faith in you.
----
> +++ The Arnven Chronicles by [[*user ECRONAK]]
> To Doctor Asser Clef,
> 
> I bring dire tidings.
> -----
> To my dear Sigurrós, wherever you are,
> 
> I bring good tidings.

[[collapsible show="-- SHOW ENTRIES --" hideLocation="both"]]

> +++++ [[[Dire Tidings]]]
> Though the Procedures that the Overwatch Cathedral has may not mention her, Sigurrós, the fell witch, if she is truly who I think she is, will stop at nothing to destroy the Foundation that we all want to protect.
 
> +++++ [[[Arnven Burns]]]
> There will be a battle soon, one that the Holy City might lose.

> +++++ [[[The Tutelage of a Brother]]]
> The witch is eager to learn, I shall give her that.

> +++++ [[[The Horn Blows Into the Morning]]]
> “I…” Jaelen said, gasping for air. “I have come for the Horn of the Dragon.”

> +++++ [[[The Siege Looms Heavy (Part One)]]]
> “We know of your hardships in the last year and a half, and have come to relieve all of you from the tyranny of the magical heretic known to you as Sigurrós.”

> +++++ [[[The Siege Looms Heavy (Part Two)]]]
> “You claim to serve the Lord ████ with all of your heart and mind, yet reject it with every part of your failing Expunged flesh. You are just one more Expunged to kill, one more abomination of the world to contain and imprison.”

> +++++ [[[Our Last Goodbyes]]]
> //If this was meant to be my final day on Earth//, he thought, examining the blade, //then I will spend it in service of my city.//

[[/collapsible]]
----
> +++ [[[Body and Blood]]] by [[*user TROTSKYEET]]
> Crossing over to the altar, **The Doctor** brings down the Hammer upon the head of the **Host**. They are transubstantiated into The Substance, a spicy vegetable sauce.
----
> +++ [http://scp-int.wikidot.com/the-gospel-of-lightfeather-the-hymn-of-lord-bright The Hymn for Lord Bright] by [[*user ETINJAT]]; translated from Chinese by [[*user JOCHOI]] and [[*user ETINJAT]]
> **Poem Description:** Wanting to fool the peasants by creating gods, instead believing in their own lies in self-deception.
----
> +++ [[[horseback|Governed on Horseback]]] by [[*user TROTSKYEET]]
> "I could regale you endlessly with accounts of the death-defying feats of the travelling Wettelian harlequins or the horrors locked in the Foundation’s crumbling keeps or the fractal teachings of the Fifth Temple: you and your court have heard of them before. But, Angelo, you have never heard of the glories of Perth."
----
> +++ [[[time-machine-en|Time Machine]]] by [[*user RALLISTON]]
> Sorry. God stuff. Her twenty-fifth son just ate my sixteenth cousin. Need to send a two-generation plague onto her town. You know how that goes.
----
> +++ [[[What Does Not Rot]]] by [[*user JNCOLOSSUS]]
> “So no one deserves to die a victim of this world, as I find myself to have their blood on my many hands.”
----
> +++ The Lord of the ██████ by [[*user KOTHARDARASTRIX]]
> The book in your hands is the true personal account of one Princess Geva of Arnven, describing her travels from that fair city to the cursed island of Uk and back. Herein you will encounter daring feats of battle, wizardry, cleverness, and courage, tales of untold wealth and hideous monsters, and a historical blueprint for our present.

[[collapsible show="-- SHOW ENTRIES --" hideLocation="both"]]

> +++++ Book 1: [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/1 The Runaway]
> "I'm asking you to become legends," Nobody responded. "This will be the greatest deed ever done, and you will be the richest men alive. Of course such a thing is not without risk."

> +++++ Book 2: [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/2 The Witch]
> "We seek the sword Excalibur," Horatius replied, carefully pronouncing the Ancient name that Moritz had relayed to him, "with which to slay the three-headed dragon."

> +++++ Book 3: [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/3 The Princess]
> **Relic #:** SCP-001
[[/collapsible]]
----
> +++ [[[recountings-of-the-dragons-as-collected-by-wandermen-petyr |Recountings from the War of the Dragons as collected by Wandermen Petyr]]] by [[*user DIOGENE_S]]
> The world trembles when dragons go to war.
----
> +++ [[[SCP-7206]]] - Robin Chapel of Shercargo Forest by [[*user Jerden]]
> Prior to its containment by the Holy Foundation, SCP-7206 was known by the name "Robin Chapel", and formerly as D-1006448. Although raised by the Holy Foundation, D-1006448 refused the duties assigned to it as D-Caste, and fled into the Shercargo Forest at the age of twelve. Seven years later, SCP-7206 reemerged as the leader of the "Brigands of Shercargo Forest", a group of outlaws that committed crimes against both Man and Nature.
----
> +++ [[[The Death Of Callint Asheworth]]] by [[*user MerrieMariner]] and [[*user Ohnesorge001]]
> Born into the life of the Holy Foundation, Callint Asheworth was not a happy young man. He sat through services, supervised the initiates' dorm, and much more. But unlike others who found purpose in their service to the Holy Foundation, he did not. At night, in front of the altar of his ancestor, he only pretended to pray, for Callint Asheworth held a dark secret. He was not a true worshipper of the Veil.
----
> +++ [[[Book of the Daeva]]] by [[*user Ohnesorge001]] and [[*user NANulls]]
> //The gods of the Daeva, reunited in glory. The Scarlet King, God-King, the Great Conqueror. The Violet Queen, Tear Bringer, Goddess of Power. The Malorian Mastor, upholder of Malor, harbinger of Chaos.//
----
> +++ Untranslated Articles
> These were posted to one of the wiki's international branches and have not yet been translated to English; when/if that happens, they'll be moved to the appropriate spot above.
> [http://scp-jp.wikidot.com/holy-sushiblade Holy Sushiblade] (Japanese)
> [https://scp-wiki-cn.wikidot.com/adult:holy-ship Holy Ship] (Chinese)
> [https://scp-wiki-cn.wikidot.com/pizza-pizza Pizza Pizza] (Chinese)
----
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> [[=]]
> + Setting Summary
> [[/=]]
> This section is intended as a primer for the history, culture, and current (~800 AB) status of the major nations and organizations that have appeared in the setting so far. [[*user JERDEN]] created the flags, banners, and coats of arms - more images and information about the designs can be found on the [[[art:doctors-of-the-church-hub| Doctors of the Church Heraldry page]]].
> 
> You are welcome to expand on any of these regions or explore new ones in articles you write! Contact [[*user KOTHARDARASTRIX]] to have new developments added to the hub.
>
[[tabview]]

[[tab The SCP of the Holy Foundation]]

[[=]]
[[=image https://scp-wiki.wdfiles.com/local--files/art%3Adoctors-of-the-church-hub/Holy-Foundation.svg size="small"]]
[[/=]]

**Approximate Location:** Eastern United States, bounded by the Mississippi River to the west and the Canadian border to the north. The locations of the individual provinces are described on the [[[art:doctors-of-the-church-hub |Heraldry Page]]]

**System of Government:** Feudal theocracy led by the 13 Overwatch Cardinals of the Holy Foundation. Local government is predominantly secular, but all officials are expected to defer to Overwatch's authority. Though localities maintain their own militias, the Mobile Legions of professional soldiers that serve as the nation's primary military force answer directly to the Foundation, as do the various [[[placere-non-trinus |knightly orders]]] associated with certain Saints.

**Summarized History:** Supposedly founded by surviving Foundation personnel immediately after the Great Breach, though heavy mythologization of early history makes this claim difficult to verify. The current power structure was codified at the Synod of New Denver in 237 AB with the deposal of the Archministrator, a king-like position that would have served as the primary landholder of the Provinces and a secular equivalent to the Overwatch Cardinals, who now wield its powers in addition to their own. In 709 AB, the existing Overwatch Cardinals [[[deus-vult |were again overthrown]]] by a "Neutralizationist" faction that took a more extreme stance in favor of exterminating and destroying anomalies instead of merely containing them. The Provinces have waged war on all of their neighbors to varying degrees of success, and they are currently being invaded by the Thereven Khanate. The ongoing invasion, coupled with prior military and territorial losses and multiple [[[by-one-iota |internal schisms]]], has sent the Foundation into a period of decline.

[[collapsible show="spoilers for the Lord of the Redacted"]]

In the year 800, a mysterious figure called "Nobody" assassinated all thirteen Overwatch Cardinals, but not before they unanimously decreed the emancipation of all D-caste. This crisis of leadership, combined with a certain rapidly-spreading heresy, has fragmented the Holy Foundation into countless squabbling factions. This sudden disarray would have spelled doom at the hands of the Thereven Khanate, had Princess Geva of Arnven not brokered an uneasy peace between the Khanate, the Provinces, and the Free Cities. The ceasefire stands for now, but there remains much contention over the rightful ownership of conquered lands in the Middle West.

[[/collapsible]]

**Culture & Religion:** Most inhabitants of the Seven Continental Provinces practice a religion known as the Veil, over which the Holy Foundation is the most widely recognized authority.[[footnote]]Though sometimes used interchangeably, the terms "Seven Continental Provinces," "Holy Foundation," and "Veil" mean different things - SCP is the name of the country, the Foundation is the religious organization in charge of it, and the Veil is the religion that the Foundation preaches.[[/footnote]] Foundation doctrine maintains an extremely conservative but somewhat contradictory stance toward anomalous phenomena; Euclid- and Keter-class objects are typically referred to as "Expunged" and regarded as monsters or demons, while Safe-class objects are more often described as "Relics" and [[[quid-est-non-scitum |involved in religious rites]]]. The Foundation ruthlessly persecutes thaumaturgists, ontokinetics, and other anomalous humanoids as "witches" or the like. The social strata of the Provinces also includes "[[[indwelling-of-bright |D-caste]]]," a population of enslaved criminals and their descendants used as slave labor, conscripted soldiers, and containment apparatus by the Foundation, which claims that this is a fair and redemptive punishment for their sins against the state and therefore the church.

The principal figures of worship under the Veil of Superstition are sanctified versions of the modern Foundation's [[[personnel-and-character-dossier |senior staff]]].[[footnote]]Saints [[[arnven-burns |Clef, Gears, Rights,]]] [[[quid-est-non-scitum |Break, Erdrich,]]] [[[placere-non-trinus |Kondraki]]], [[[body-and-blood |Asheworth]]], [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/1 Talloran, Everwood, Sinclair, House, McMartyrdom, and Thorley] have all been mentioned, but this is far from an exhaustive list - after all, the Catholic church has //thousands// of saints.[[/footnote]] Adherents of the Veil believe that their saints have formed a perfect Foundation in the land of [[[three-moons-initiative-hub |Corbenic]]], located on the dark side of the Moon, where the faithful will join them in a utopic and orderly existence after death.

In orthodox Veil beliefs, the saints are portrayed as subordinates to an even greater figure, Lord ██████. As the immortal creator of the Holy Foundation and its last living connection to the pre-Breach world, Lord ██████ eventually came to be seen as a literal living god.

[[collapsible show="spoilers for the Lord of the Redacted"]]

Worship of Lord █████ continued in the Provinces until the early 800s, when Princess Geva of Arnven finally snuffed out his legacy (and his unholy half-life) for good, by recovering and destroying the lost Holy Amulet. Though there was no physical proof of her eyewitness testimony, her great power and popularity inevitably overwhelmed █████'s fading traditions and the Foundation's shattered influence. By the year 850, █████-worship is only practiced by backward old-timers and ignorant fanatics with little social or political influence.

[[/collapsible]]

**Relevant Anomalies:**
* **Poison Words** and **Warding Patterns** - esoteric artistic techniques practiced by the Foundation's knightly orders, derived from verbal and visual memetics, respectively. Knights who employed them were often held in fear and suspicion, an attitude that eventually led to the near-abandonment of the practice.
* **Holy Water** - a liquid that can "cleanse the mind of consecrated information," though it's anybody's guess whether this is a genuine amnestic (which would be quite impressive, since the Holy Foundation no longer has access to modern pharmacology or [[[SCP-3000]]]) or just regular water administered as part of a religious ritual that induces placebic amnesia.
* **Scrantonum** - a dark red, glowing metal that inhibits "sorcery" - the Holy Foundation's term for reality bending - and possibly also thaumaturgy. Allegedly, the Holy Foundation depleted its last stores of the material [[[the-siege-looms-heavy-part-one |in combat with the Witch of Arnven]]].

[[/tab]]

[[tab Free Cities League]]

[[=]]
[[=image https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/local--files/art:doctors-of-the-church-hub/Free-Cities.svg size="small"]]
[[/=]]

**Approximate Location:** Five enclaves within the Holy Foundation; Arnven, Fenrys, and Utgard are in the approximate locations of Memphis (TN), Detroit (MI), and Portland (ME), respectively; Necramundas and Eridar have yet to be written about in detail, but they are tentatively located in the sunken ruins of New Orleans and somewhere on the southern east coast, respectively.

**System of Government:** Each Free City is an independent city-state that seceded from the Seven Continental Provinces, allied loosely with the other four as a matter of mutual military and economic protection. Arnven is governed by a council of elected representatives from four social classes (merchants, soldiers, clergy, and nobility), but the other cities might follow different models.

**Summarized History:** Arnven gained independence from the Provinces in 710 AB, when the Witch of Arnven, after distinguishing herself as a hero in [[[the-horn-blows-into-the-morning |a war against the sentient animals of Romania Nova]]], led the city in [[[the-siege-looms-heavy-part-one |rebellion]]] against a Foundation army sent to contain her. The other cities, inspired by Arnven's example and their own grievances with the Holy Foundation, [[[our-last-goodbyes |followed suit]]] over the next two decades, facing varying degrees of resistance from the Foundation. Utgard is an exception; it originally seceded from the Foundation during the Chaos Insurrection and refused to reintegrate after the civil war's conclusion. Independence from the Holy Foundation has somewhat protected the Free Cities from its difficulties, but the Thereven Khanate makes no distinction; it has already conquered Fenrys, and an attack on Arnven is impending.

[[collapsible show="spoilers for the Lord of the Redacted"]]

By ~850 AB, the Free Cities League has become the Free Portlands. By appending "-Portland," to their names, each of the Free Cities managed to connect with the ruins of Three Portlands, which has since become a vital trade network between the geographically distant cities. The Free Portlands have offered sanctuary to the emancipated D-caste still facing persecution in the Provinces, many of whom have moved to one of the Free Cities or the rapidly-repopulating pocket dimension that ties them. Princess Geva of Arnven brokered a ceasefire between the Provinces, the Khanate, and the Portlands by bloodlessly and single-handedly defeating an entire barbarian army, but relations remain tense. Though the Therevens begrudgingly returned Fenrys to the governance of the Free Portlands, they strictly limit travel between the city and the barbarian-controlled land that surrounds it on three sides.

[[/collapsible]]

**Culture & Religion:** The Free Cities' independence from the Provinces and the Foundation has made them havens for exiles, outcasts, witches, and other enemies of the Foundation, as well as hotspots for crime, gambling, and - most importantly - heresy. In the mid-750s, Arnven became the birthplace of a new religious movement that, though it still venerates the Saints of the Veil, rejects the authority of the Holy Foundation and the worship of its Lord ██████, whom it (correctly) believes to have been a mad tyrant cloaked in centuries of false and propagandistic mythology, and whose name it accordingly Redacted from all its scriptures. Even the ██████shome in Arnven, once the greatest temple of Lord ██████ besides Overwatch Cathedral itself, was renamed the Witch House, in honor of Arnven's legendary savior. 

By the year 800, most citizens of the Free Cities are followers of this new movement. Though the Holy Foundation's inquisitorial Mobile Legions have done their best to suppress the heresy in the Seven Continental Provinces, it is slowly gaining ground there as well.

**Significant Anomalies:**
* **The Witch of Arnven** - [[[SCP-239]]], who possessed an extremely elderly appearance and seemingly no recollection of her Ancient past, until both youth and memory were restored by her apparent mentor [[[SCP-138]]]. The Witch is Arnven's most significant folk hero, and legends claim that she will return to aid the city in its time of greatest need.
* **The Great Dragon** - a legendary monster resembling a monstrous, nearly-invincible alligator or serpentine whale, quite possibly [[[SCP-682]]]. It was supposedly slain during the Great Breach by Saint Clef with the assistance of a mysterious "[[[SCP-527 |Sir Fish]]]," though the only remaining evidence of this supposed great deed is an immense severed horn now housed in one of Arnven's temples. The Horn of the Dragon was instrumental in Arnven's victory over the animals of Romania Nova, in whom its awful roar instilled an instinctive and violent response.
* **Eridar School of Wizardry** - in 769 AB, the Serpent's Hand founded an organized school of thaumaturgy near Eridar. Over the next seven years, the school attracted hundreds of students from the Free Cities, Foundation, and Kannada. However, it was forced to close in 876 when an unknown magical disaster claimed the lives of what would have been its first graduating class. The {{[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/system:page-tags/tag/class-of-76#pages lake]}}side castle that once housed the school now stands abandoned and supposedly haunted by ghostly music and apparitions of "faceless children".

[[/tab]]

[[tab Thereven Khanate]]

[[=]]
[[=image https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/local--files/art:doctors-of-the-church-hub/Thereven-Khanate.svg size="small"]]
[[/=]]

**Approximate Location:** American Midwest, bounded by the Canadian border and the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Western and southern extent unknown. Land between the Great Lakes and the Ohio River was recently taken from the Holy Foundation.

**System of Government:** Hereditary, tribute-based monarchy currently ruled by [[[horseback |Great Khan Angelo Thereven]]], though his wife Sarah [[[church-of-the-broken-god-hub |Bumaro]]] and representatives from several allied or conquered peoples ("Dagonite reptile-riders," "the subjugated [[[sarkicism-hub |Ion cult]]]," "[[[the-s-c-plastics-hub |Wisconsin]]] tribes," and "the Sublime City of Gary") serve the Khan as advisors and lieutenants.

**Summarized History:** The Khanate seems to have originated in the Dakotas with the Iron Cavalry, a nearly-unstoppable force that quickly subjugated or eradicated most groups it came into contact with. The expanding Khanate made contact with the Holy Foundation in the late 790s AB, when it began to invade and conquer the Midwest. The invasion has been stalled for over a year by the Iron Cavalry's inability to cross the Mississippi River (now known as the Heilas) or Appalachian Mountains. Most of the ongoing fighting is in western (Penn)Sylvania, where the horde is attempting to break through Foundation defenses and sack the large cities in the eastern half of the state.

[[collapsible show="spoilers for the Lord of the Redacted"]]

After the humiliating defeat of one of its largest armies by Princess Geva of Arnven, the Khanate reluctantly made peace with the Provinces and the Portlands. One of this peace's most important terms is the inclusion of five eunuch advisors - one from each Free Portland - in the Great Khan's royal court. This measure ensures that the Khan and the Cities Council always have each other's ears but pose a minimal threat to each other in the political playing field. The Khanate's peace with the Foundation is far weaker, and many scholars predict that it will not outlive Princess Geva, especially if the Provinces continue to claim rightful ownership of the Middle Western territories that the Khanate conquered fair and square. However, those close to the Khan instead whisper that a being called [[[goldbaker-reinz-hub |Goldbaker]]] has turned the Great Khan's eyes westward, beyond the divided city of the Bay, across the Shining Sea, and to the distant, golden lands of Australia.

[[/collapsible]]

**Culture & Religion:** Though individual component groups such as the "subjugated Ion cult" presumably practice other religions, the dominant practice is a semi-animistic shamanic tradition that includes veneration for ancestral spirits, several of which (such as Dagon) appear to have been pre-Breach Foundation personnel. The most revered among these ancestors is [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/system:page-tags/tag/doctor-thereven#pages Cole Thereven], supposed founder of the Khanate.

**Related Anomalies:**
* **Iron Oxen** - a breed of [[[SCP-6854]]] specialized for warfare. Their high speed, omnivorous diet, and naturally-occurring firearms make iron oxen ideal mounts for long, swift, and brutally effective military campaigns. However, their wheeled feet and susceptibility to rusting have thus far prevented the Iron Cavalry from crossing major rivers or mountain ranges. The Iron Cavalry is said to feed the bodies of its fallen enemies to their mounts, for the dual purposes of instilling a "thirst for blood" and harvesting the animals' coal excrement to burn for warmth or steel-smithing.
* **Horned Horrors** - one or more species of ceratopsian dinosaur (presumably brought to the present by [[[SCP-5745]]] or one of many similar anomalies) used by the Dagonite reptile-riders as living siege engines. Equipped with howdahs, armor, and sharpened horn covers, these mighty beasts can trample whole units of soldiers, ram down gates and fortifications, and provide a sturdy platform for archers and commanders. They are less feared than the Iron Cavalry only because they are fewer in number and more difficult to deploy, due to their immense and highly specific nutritional requirements.
* **The Wandering City of Indeen** - the capital city of the Khanate, Indeen consists entirely of [[[SCP-3168]]] - a mishmash of buildings of every size, function, and architectural style, all borne on colossal chicken legs that carry the city wherever its Khan commands. 

[[/tab]]

[[tab Kannada]]

[[=]]
[[=image https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/local--files/art:doctors-of-the-church-hub/Kannada.svg size="small"]]
[[/=]]

**Approximate Location:** southeastern Canada

**System of Government:** Unclear; possibly a loose alliance of tribal nations. The September Shamans wield great religious but little political authority, as does the immortal [[[SCP-5616 |Saint Reynders]]]

**Summarized History:** Though the Holy Foundation tried to establish theocratic control of Canada just as it did the eastern US, the importance of [[[secure-facility-dossier-site-43 |Site-43]]] to Foundation operations in that region and that site's unusual approach to containment produced a very different result. When the Holy Foundation was formally established in 237 AB, Kannada refused to acknowledge the authority of the Overwatch Cardinals and instead appointed its own council of fifteen at Site-43. It has remained mostly independent ever since.

**Culture & Religion:** Over the centuries, Kannada's development has been strongly influenced by the entities of Nx-94, with which its people are strongly allied, and by the associated First Nations cultures. These entities, which now range widely across much of the Great Lakes region, have thus far thwarted all large-scale invasions of Kannada, allowing it to remain neutral in the Thereven-Foundation conflict. The local, highly-syncretized version of the Veil primarily reveres the members of MTF Sampi-Pi ("See You in September"), known simply as "The Seven".

**Relevant Anomalies:**
* **The Lesser Breach** - Though all members of MTF Sampi-Pi are presumably long-dead, containment of [[[SCP-5243]]] is nonetheless maintained by shamans who train rigorously to fill their roles during the annual breach. Kannada also possesses markedly more advanced technology than the other American nations, due to limited reverse-engineering of modern objects from the perpetually-preserved Facility AAF-D.
* **Tiamat, Five-Headed Dragon-Goddess of the Salt Sea** - in tandem with the immortal Saint Corbin Dragonrider, [[[SCP-5866]]] acts as a fickle but fearsome protector goddess of Kannada. She made Newfoundland her domain in the 500s after eradicating the Valravn colony there, and has since populated the island and its surrounding waters with monstrous draconic offspring. These creatures have rendered the Labrador Sea nearly impassable.
* **Mishipeshu** - The Great Lakes still host a substantial population of [[[SCP-5494]]], with whom the people of Kannada are closely allied. Although they briefly tolerated the Valravn Rus', the water panthers swiftly eradicated the marauders after their interactions with Kannada became violent. Mishipeshu have likewise prevented any large-scale hostilities towards Kannada by the Foundation in or around the Great Lakes.

[[/tab]]

[[tab Valravn Rus']]

[[=]]
[[=image https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/local--files/art:doctors-of-the-church-hub/Valravn-Rus.svg size="small"]]
[[/=]]

**Approximate Location:** Newfoundland, Great Lakes region (formerly)

**System of Government:** Alliance of clans paying tribute to a mysterious High Table

**Summarized History:** For the first 500 years after the Great Breach, there was no contact between North America and Europe. The technology and navigational techniques necessary for reliable oceanic crossings had apparently been lost, and the Atlantic had become so populated with marine anomalies that no attempted crossings ever returned. However, in 501 AB, several groups of colonists from the "[[[valravn-corporation-hub |Valravn Clans]]]" arrived on the eastern coast of Kannada, having made their way there from Greenland. The colonists were initially friendly and enjoyed good relations with the people of Kannada, with whom they traded exotic goods from Europe. More Valravns repeated the journey each year, until Newfoundland came to sport a sizable colony and a chain of trading posts that stretched up the St. Lawrence River and across the Great Lakes region, where they also engaged in trade with the Holy Foundation and the predecessors of the Thereven Khanate. Relations soured within the century as the Valravns, bolstered by their increasing numbers and magical weaponry manufactured in Europe, took up raiding along the east coast and the shores of the Great Lakes. This violent period ended when, after a failed attack on Site-43 itself, the September Shamans called upon Tiamat to destroy the Newfoundland Colony. Most Valravn presence in the Great Lakes was subsequently wiped out by vengeful mishipeshu, but survivors of these attacks went on to establish the cities of Fenrys and Utgard around trading posts in Foundation territory.

**Culture & Religion:** Valravn religious practices seem to have been derived from Norse paganism, but they placed a significantly greater emphasis on warfare, death, and conquest, even incorporating relevant deities from other historical pantheons (Mars, Ishtar, The Morrigan, etc.) in some cases.

**Relevant Anomalies:**
* **Runes** - though the Valravn magical tradition was a bastardized hodgepodge of many others, it remained mostly Norse in terms of appearance. As such, the primary form of thaumaturgy practiced by Valravns was the engraving of runes that enhanced weapons and armor or imbued them with additional properties. Berserkers (see below) are said to have borne runic tattoos that rendered them invulnerable in combat.
* **Berserkers** - surviving records attest that Valravn war parties often included warriors styled after Norse berserkers, fighting clad only in animal hides and minimal armor with a fury that granted them supernatural strength and durability. As with historical Norse berserkers, the exact mechanism by which this was achieved (if indeed it was) is unknown.
* **Thunder Horses** - an anomalous breed of light horse with six legs and two wings, capable of magic-assisted flight. Though their small size and hollow bones made them unsuited for combat, they were still used often by messengers, performers, and especially brave jockeys. Many thunder horses were purchased by wealthy Americans in the days of the 'Rus, and others escaped into the wild and became feral. Few purebreds remain after 300 years, but some wild and domesticated hybrid lineages still display unusual numbers of legs or wings and/or limited capacity for flight.

[[/tab]]

[[tab Chaos Insurrection]]

[[=]]
[[=image https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/local--files/art:doctors-of-the-church-hub/Chaos-Insurrection.svg size="small"]]
[[/=]]

**Approximate Location:** New England (formerly), Florida (formerly)

**System of Government:** [[[chaos-insurgency-hub |disorganized confederacy of multiple revolutionary groups]]]

**Summarized History:** In the late 600s AB, various religious and secular grievances with the Holy Foundation sparked a widespread rebellion that eventually led to the secession of its northernmost territories. These provinces (save the city of Utgard, which instead joined the Free Cities League) were forcibly reassimilated after a grueling thirty-year civil war that left the region devastated. Anti-Foundation sympathies remain widespread in New England, especially among the enslaved D-caste, who were briefly emancipated during Insurrectionist rule. 

A small number of refugees fled the collapsing confederacy by sea and established a government-in-exile in Florida, though they were unable to spark a second large-scale rebellion among its devout populace. Heavy Foundation retaliation eventually drove these short-lived remnants into the inhospitable, disease-ridden Neverglade, where the native [[[scp-2761 |catoblepones]]] and other monsters likely finished them off.

**Culture & Religion:** The Insurrection was of insufficient duration and homogeneity to develop a unified culture beyond mere opposition to the Holy Foundation. That said, the original group of revolutionaries was a cult that worshipped "The Engine," an Ancient artifact that supposedly spoke to them through an enigmatic Messiah figure known only as "The Engineer". This individual was not captured when Foundation forces retook the territory, and they or their successor are widely believed to still reside in Utgard, secretly directing ongoing Insurrection activities.

**Relevant Anomalies:**
* **The Engine** - an evil artifact that can supposedly predict the future. Eyewitness reports have been hopelessly intermingled with lies, tall tales, and propaganda, leaving the Engine's true nature, function, and whereabouts unknown to all but the Engineer themself.
* **The Bell of Entropy** - a siege engine used by the Insurrection to demolish fortifications via sonically-induced structural collapse. Destroyed at the disastrous battle of Trollsford when it was struck by a Foundation-fired trebuchet stone, which shattered the Bell and caused it to release a destructive wave that slew the majority of both armies involved. Though a Pyrrhic victory for the Foundation, this battle is generally seen as the turning point of the civil war.
* **The Staff of Hermes** - an artifact with transmutative properties, primarily used by the Insurrection to provide medical treatment to rebel armies and resupply besieged fortifications. Captured by the Foundation after the Siege of Idona (the final battle of the civil war) and placed in containment, to the outrage of the North's subsequently plagued and famine-stricken populace.

[[/tab]]

[[tab The Kingdom of Romania Nova]]

[[=]]
[[=image https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/local--files/art:doctors-of-the-church-hub/Romania-Nova.svg size="small"]]
[[/=]]

**Approximate Location:** Kentucky (formerly)

**System of Government:** feudal monarchy

**Summarized History:** Romania Nova ("New Rome") was a civilization of sentient, Catholic animals descended from [[[SCP-1845]]], which also included small groups of allied humans. Though their civilization had presumably existed since the Great Breach, it was not noticed by the Foundation until the early 500s AB, when human settlers in the Appalachian region unintentionally murdered several of its citizens while hunting. This incident sparked the first of many Crusades by the animals against the surrounding "heathens," which occurred sporadically throughout the following two centuries. Though the animals' general lack of hands limited their technological advancement, their greater mobility, self-sufficiency, familiarity with the terrain, and ability to disguise themselves as non-anomalous fauna made them exceedingly difficult for the Foundation to combat. In 609 AB, the Foundation finally defeated the animals by deploying "[[[deus vult |The Ancient Fire]]]," a pre-Breach weapon of the Foundation that may have been a surviving nuclear warhead. Though most of the larger instances were subsequently killed or captured, many birds and small mammals are assumed to have escaped the slaughter. Such animals are consequently held in great suspicion in the former Kingdom and surrounding areas, though eradication campaigns have not been successful.

**Culture & Religion:** The culture of SCP-1845 seems to have been preserved in Romania Nova. Though Christianity had apparently been forgotten by the majority of North America's human population, the animals reintroduced the religion to humans that they subjugated or peacefully interacted with. The Foundation has done its best to once more eradicate the faith, but it is still practiced in secret by certain groups.

**Relevant Anomalies:** 
* **The Metamorphic Venus** - After the destruction of its leadership by the Ancient Fire and the defeat of its army in Arnven, Romania Nova was conquered by the Foundation. Captured animals were given a choice between execution and "conversion" - forcible anthropomorphization by [[[SCP-1575]]]. The few survivors of this process were then pressed into D-caste slavery, though some have reportedly escaped to the Free Cities. Persistent rumors suggest that some untransformed animals also escaped the purge and are slowly rebuilding an army among their non-sentient kin.
* **The Tower of Mockeries** - [[[SCP-962]]], which the animals regard as a false prophet that intends to once again subjugate them to humanity. The object is also known to the Foundation, which classifies it as one of the Expunged and the valley in which it is located as a "blighted" region unfit for human habitation. Though the tower currently resides in the ██████ Mountains in baseline, its location in this timeline is less clear. A mysterious [[[though-i-walk-through-the-valley |journal fragment]]] found in the Foundation's archives seems to imply a location somewhere in the Rocky Mountains by its mention of pikas, but neither Romania Nova nor the Foundation is known to have any access to that region, and the journal displays clear signs of tampering by the Tower itself or someone under its control. It is possible that, without the Foundation shooting down its balloons, SCP-962 has spread dubious accounts of itself (such as the aforementioned journal) across much of the continent. It is also possible that the object has, over the eight centuries since the Great Breach, become mobile.
* **[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/system:page-tags/tag/black-rabbit-company#pages Et Numerus Nigrum Lepus]** - a famous band of swashbuckling scoundrels consisting of five "converted" mountain lions and a human hedge wizard in an iron mask, who escaped from D-caste slavery and now seek vengeance against the Holy Foundation and similar oppressive institutions. Their various daring heists, dramatic duels, improbable getaways, and scandalous love affairs are a common subject of songs and tall tales in the Seven Continental Provinces, despite (or perhaps because of) their outlaw status.

[[/tab]]

[[tab Other Groups]]

In addition to the current and former states identified above, several other groups are known to exist.
* **[[[are-we-cool-yet-hub |Are We Cool Yet?]]]** - [[[the-lord-judge |a dangerous cult]]], illegal in Foundation lands, that creates works of anomalous art at the expense of human life and sanity. Despite this, many of the Foundation's wealthier citizens are suspected to consort with them for the purposes of commissioning or buying rare art.
* **The Divided City of the Bay** - a [[[horseback |trade city]]] on the shore of the Shining Sea (probably what was once San Francisco). Its people enjoy a higher technology level and standard of living than most of the continent, but they are also fanatical followers of the Triad - [[[marshall-carter-and-dark-hub |Marshall, Carter, and Dark]]], remembered as gods of the yen, euro, and dollar, respectively. All citizens must follow one - and only one - of the three, and mingling their currencies invites death.
* **[[[serpent-s-hand-hub |The Serpent's Hand]]]** - the Great Breach led to the detachment of the Wanderer's Library from this timeline, stranding many members of the Hand within it. Under the leadership of at least one Black Queen, the Hand reorganized as a secretive order of wizards that opposes the Foundation's efforts to suppress anomalous phenomena and seeks to recover and preserve the lost knowledge of the Ancients.
* **[[[chicago-spirit|The Spirit of Shercargo]]]** - Robin Chapel, a legendary outlaw briefly contained by the Holy Foundation as [[[SCP-7206]]], claimed to have been guided by a spirit she made contact with, while hiding deep within the Shercargo Forest. In the decades that followed, many imitators claimed to have encountered the same spirit. While some described it as a shrouded figure, "[[[Black as Night]]]", most describe the spirit as simply a voice whispering in their ear, skillfully directing their criminal endeavors in exchange for a cut of the loot.
* **[[[scp-1000 |Orcs]]]** - large, hairy, nocturnal humanoids with an affinity for "nature magic". Small tribes of such inhabit the sparsely-populated Appalachian region, where they frequently come into violent contact with human settlers. The Foundation has mounted several organized but disastrously unsuccessful campaigns to eradicate them.
* **[[[factory-hub |The Forge]]]** - a mindless, ravenous god of iron, worshiped by the foolish Ancients who destroyed their world for profit and fearfully propitiated by miners and metalsmiths today. The Forge is the back-breaking weight of iron ore, the choking smoke of coals, the metallic taste of blood, and the ruthless rust and rot that inevitably consumes all. Its vast, industrial temples still fester in the wilderness, like nails driven through infected wounds. No plants grow in the sooty soil that surrounds a Forge, and no animal is so foolish as to set foot inside its metallic maw - no animal but Man. The few who return alive from the clanking bowels of a Forge recount horrors of slithering chains, metallic monsters, and hungry machinery. Some have unearthed "treasures" from those industrial dungeons, but the PROPERTY OF THE FORGE is invariably evil in both form and function. Like all things best left alone, it seldom is.
* **[[[scp-6426 |The Blood Fleet]]]** - a fleet of undead pirates (whose ships, reportedly, are also undead), led by the cruel but beautiful [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/interview-with-a-vampire-boat Sea Bitch] and her [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-ship-of-screams Ship of Screams]. When the two Expunged were liberated from a Foundation Abbey by the Insurrection, they began to prey on Foundation shipping, eventually creating a small fleet that continues to menace the southern coasts by night. Their base of operations is believed to be somewhere in the Caribbean.

[[/tab]]

[[tab Europe]]

At the end of the Lord of the Redacted, several European countries were mentioned in passing. These have not been detailed nearly as extensively as the polities of North America, but each one also seems to be the successor of a particular Group of Interest. Though Europeans and Americans are aware of each other's existence (and the spherical shape of the planet), there has been almost no contact between the two continents since the Great Breach.
* **[[[goc-hub-page |German Occidental Confederation]]]** - an alliance of 108 squabbling principalities (Ur'tec, Gormogon, Bavaria, etc.) that all recognize a shared Secretary-Empress (currently Fortepiano III). Occupies much of Western and Central Europe. Military forces consist of various magical practitioners from a wide variety of traditions, as well as the stalwart White Infantry and dreaded Orange Cavalry, professional soldiers equipped with magical armor and weapons.
* **[[[horizon-initiative-hub |Horizon Imperium]]]** - a caliphate encompassing Iberia, North Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Southwest Asia. Though predominantly Islamic, the Imperium contains substantial minorities of Christians, Jews, and other People of the Book, as well as a large sect that follows a syncretized "New Path". Christians are most prevalent in the self-governing Iberian province, from which the disastrous Italagaddan Crusades originate. The Imperium clashes violently with the Daevite Empire to the east and has an uneasy truce with the City-States of the Broken God.
* **[[[church-of-the-broken-god-hub |City-States of the Broken God]]]** - a mercantile thalassocracy that controls Greece, Turkey, and the islands of the Mediterranean. Their dominance of maritime trade is as ironclad as their coal-fired warships and the monolithic sea-gates of Suez, Gibraltar, and Bosporous. In an uneasy truce with the Horizon Imperium, but at war with the Sarkic States and Daevite Empire.
* **[[[sarkicism-hub |Sarkic States]]]** - a war-torn shatter belt between the City-States of the Broken God, Wild Lands, and Daevite Empire, consisting of many small and squabbling states that predominantly practice various forms of Nalka. The region is plagued by [[[scp-3288 |ghouls]]], [[[scp-2408 |werebeasts]]], [[[scp-2191 |vampires]]], and worse, but its peoples are a stalwart bunch that still stand strong in the face of war and monstrosity.
* **[[[daevite-hub |Daevite Empire]]]** - a //massive// empire that, according to the few Wandermen that have traveled through it, stretches from the Black Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and from the Arctic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. Fearsome conquerors with a well-earned reputation for slavery, human sacrifice, [[[book-of-the-daeva|monstrous deities]]], blood magic, and botanical warfare, the Daevites are nonetheless the most developed and diverse empire on the map, and the "//pax Daeva//" in their land facilitates extensive cross-continental commerce and cultural exchange. At war with the Sarkic States, Horizon Imperium, and the City-States of the Broken God, but peaceful with the Valravn Clans, their primary trading partners in the Baltic Sea. [[[the-death-of-callint-asheworth|They are possible aligned with a tribe of]]] [[[scp-7629|Droganians]]].
* **[[[valravn-corporation-hub |Valravn Clans]]]** - a culture of warriors, raiders, merchants, and explorers who live primarily in Scandinavia but range widely across the European coastline and North Atlantic. Governed by a High Table of clan patriarchs, which enforces strict cultural values of wealth and warfare. Though Valravns are widely feared and hated for the brutal raids and their detestable participation in the Daevite slave trade, they are nonetheless tolerated in some places for the exotic Daevite goods they sell and their unmatched value as mercenaries.
* **Uk** - formerly known as Great Britain, this cursed and blighted island has not been permanently inhabited by humans since [[[marshall-carter-and-dark-hub |Marscar the Dark, Lord of Terror and Destruction]]], took up residence there. According to legend, this colossal three-headed dragon was once the three wealthiest men (or sometimes two men and a woman) of the Ancient world, who hid themselves away from the Great Breach in [[[scp-1678 |an underground city]]] with all of their wealth, rather than using their resources to help other survivors. It is said that, as punishment for such greed and selfishness, they were cursed with transformation into their current monstrous form. Explorers and sailors sometimes create temporary settlements along Uk's forbidding coast or embark on perilous inland expeditions, but only the truly foolhardy risk provoking the dragon's wrath by setting foot near its UnLondon lair.
* **Brasil** - once called Ireland, this island was reclaimed by its [[[nx-03 |original elf inhabitants]]] after the Great Breach drove mankind from its shores. Their long and tragic history has made the elves violently isolationist and deeply distrustful of outsiders, an attitude that is only worsened by frequent raids from Valravns seeking exotic slaves and unique magical items.
* **The Wild Lands** - a [[[scp-6789 |supernaturally dark and dense forest]]] encompassing Poland and much of the surrounding region. Orcs are abundant in the shade of the colossal trees, as are many other creatures of bygone eras. Though both the German Occidental Coalition and Daevite Empire have attempted to settle the region, the sheer impenetrability of the forest and the active hostility of its flora and fauna toward human civilization have prevented such efforts from gaining much ground. The sole exception is a relatively tame area at the forest's center, where a small village has sprung up around the ruins of [[[secure-facility-dossier-site-120 |Site-120]]]. The inhabitants of this community worship the immortal sorcerer Jacob Rivera-Cornwell as a god, as what is probably the last European vestige of the SCP Foundation's religious restructuring. Despite the village's isolation and hostile surroundings, Rivera-Conwell uses his magical power to protect his subjects from the beasts of the forest and stay abreast of happenings outside the Wild Lands.
* **Italagadda** - during the Great Breach, an unknown magical disaster caused Italy to be subsumed by the hellish realm of [[[scp-2264 |Alagadda]]]. Now the peninsula is haunted by [[[scp-6624 |toxic mist, mind-melting music, tentacular demons, and mad revelers]]] who camper and cavort endlessly through the twisted streets of ruined cities, unwilling or unable to rest or die. Knights of the Horizon Imperium have mounted many Crusades to reclaim the ruins of Rome and the holy Christian relics lost therein, but such efforts seem always doomed to failure.
* **[[[dr-wondertainment-hub |Wotantainmentland]]]** - a legendary island said to lie somewhere northwest of Brasil. Supposedly, its blasted landscape of glaciers and volcanoes conceals a hidden world of wonder and whimsy, where King Wotantainment rules a subterranean population of master craftsmen. Every winter solstice, King Wotantainment dispatches his army of flying wolves (all named "Olaf") to deliver toys to well-behaved children. But woe betide any who set foot on Wotantainmentland with selfish intent...
* **[[[wandsmen-hub |Wandermen]]]** - a tradition of traveling storytellers, musicians, poets, and cartographers who roam the lands of Europe and beyond, compiling the past, reporting on the present, and predicting the future. Wandermen come from all cultures and walks of life, though in so doing they also forsake those roots, covering their faces with elaborate avian masks and replacing their names with fanciful titles and descriptions. Wandermen are equally at home at roadside campfires, seedy taverns, boisterous mead-halls, and the courts of kings. Anywhere there's a story to be told, there's a Wanderman - or there will be shortly.
* **[[[spc-hub |Sworn Protectors of the Coast]]]** - a monastic order of seafaring martial artists fanatically dedicated to the destruction of pirates, maritime raiders, slave traders, sea monsters, and all others who would taint the waves with innocent blood. Their unique fighting style focuses on unarmed, unarmored, and/or underwater combat. Along the coasts of Europe, the Protectors maintain an extensive network of lighthouses that usually double as monasteries. Ship captains often visit these monasteries when hiring crew members, as few sailors are more loyal, skilled, or fearsome than a Sworn Protector. Some seafarers even regard them as living good luck charms and refuse to set sail without one aboard.

[[/tab]]

[[/tabview]]
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> + Miscellaneous Musings
> [[/=]]
[[tabview]]

[[tab Thoughts on Themes]]

Rebranding the Foundation as a religion is not as far-fetched as it might seem. In 1981, a similar idea was proposed in the real world. From Wikipedia:

> The linguist Thomas Sebeok was a member of the Bechtel working group. Building on earlier suggestions made by Alvin Weinberg and Arsen Darnay he proposed the creation of an atomic priesthood, a panel of experts where members would be replaced through nominations by a council. Similar to the Catholic church – which has preserved and authorized its message for almost 2,000 years – the atomic priesthood would have to preserve the knowledge about locations and dangers of radioactive waste by creating rituals and myths. The priesthood would indicate off-limits areas and the consequences of disobedience.
> 
> Tradeoffs with this approach include:
> 
> 1. An atomic priesthood would gain political influence based on the contingencies that it would oversee.
> 2. This system of information favors the creation of hierarchies.
> 3. The message could be split into independent parts.
> 4. Information about waste sites would grant power to a privileged class. People from outside this group might attempt to seize this information by force.

And, in Doctors of the Church, every single one of those trade-offs has come to pass. The Holy Foundation is a dysfunctional and oppressive theocracy held together by blind obedience, empty rituals, and fanatical ignorance. It inherited all of the modern Foundation's authoritarian qualities and none of its enlightenment, leaving those under its rule as vulnerable, superstitious peasants who depend on lies and idolatry to keep them safe and sane.

As a result, most of the works in this canon address, in one way or another, the dangers of clinging too tightly to the past. This theme can be applied to many topics, such as
* oppressive religious institutions
* political conservatism
* hero-worship
* fear of change
* grief
* overuse of tired tropes in fantasy literature
* fixation on Series I and high-profile Author Avatars
* and more!
This does not mean that anything you write in this canon has to be overtly political or allegorical - after all, the Lord of the Redacted is an adventure first and a statement second - but it may help to keep these ideas in mind when conceptualizing the setting.

[[/tab]]

[[tab Notes on "Historical Accuracy"]]

While Doctors of the Church is pseudo-Medieval, remember that it does not //actually// take place in the Middle Ages. This is a magical post-apocalyptic charade created by a dysfunctional theocracy, and therefore neither consistent nor logical. For that reason, you needn't sweat apparent "anachronisms" as much as you might have to in a more typical fantasy setting, and certainly not as much as in historical fiction. I do recommend at least a little research to make sure that nothing downright nonsensical happens (studded leather armor isn't really a thing, for example), but the enjoyment of the writers and readers is more important than "accuracy".

[[/tab]]

[[tab Continuity and Unreliable Narration]]

Throughout this canon, there are many mythological accounts of what happened during and after the Great Breach - for example, Dr. Clef supposedly killed SCP-682, and its severed horn is now a holy relic hanging in a temple in Arnven. However, the Foundation is also shown throughout the canon to be **a bunch of dirty rotten liars**. The truth has been actively and intentionally buried under centuries of propagandized mythology, so we can't be any more sure that the Horn of the Great Dragon actually came from 682 (or that, even if it did, 682 is actually dead) than we are that any given chunk of old wood in a fancy box is actually a piece of the True Cross. That doesn't mean the Horn //can't// have come from 682, but it does mean that it doesn't //have// to be. It could be quite interesting, and quite in-line with the canon's themes, to prove some part of the Foundation's mythology wrong.

[[/tab]]

[[tab Cross-Canonicity]]

Doctors of the Church has only the loosest of relationships with other canons and series on the wiki, which are summarized here:
* [[[from-120-s-archives-hub |From 120's Archives]]] - the only canon to directly cross over with DotC, via the series Chronicles of the Irreal. Time Machine takes place in an isolated community built around Site-120's ruins in Poland, and so is geographically very far from the rest of the canon.
* [[[on-guard-43-hub |On Guard 43]]] - several elements of OG43 are central to the history and politics of Kannada. See the world guide above for details.
* [[[bellerverse |The Bellerverse]]] - [[[Insurance]]], a tale set in the Bellerverse, links back to Governed on Horseback, which makes mention of Perth, a place across the western ocean where the god "Kalef" is worshipped. Both tales star a version of Goldbaker, from [[[goldbaker-reinz-hub |Goldbaker-Reinz]]]. Though there are slight inconsistencies between the two canons - the eponymous Beller doesn't seem to have encountered a Daevite Empire when he traveled to Asia, and SCP-963 (unfortunately) appears in [[[The List of Wonders]]] despite having been destroyed in the Lord of the Redacted - both are post-apocalyptic fantasy settings where the Foundation has become a religion. Perhaps [[[SCP-140]]]'s retrocausal shenanigans are responsible for the disconnect, or something even stranger is afoot.
* [[[the-adventures-of-siggy-and-robomonkey-hub |The Adventures of Siggy and Robomonkey]]] - this series by Ecronak is a distant prequel to his Arnven Chronicles, as evinced by the recurring character of Seth and the reappearance of the Scrantonum Sword.

However, as stated previously, the history of DotC's world is just as mysterious to its inhabitants as it is to you, the reader and prospective writer. Use this ambiguity to your advantage, and don't worry about the specifics of the Deep Lore^^TM^^ if you don't want to. Don't assume that something from OG43 or the Bellerverse or whatever exists unless its existence would serve the needs of your story.

[[/tab]]

[[tab Language and Terminology]]

After 800 years of linguistic drift, the people of Doctors of the Church do not usually speak anything that modern people could decipher - especially since, due to its anomalous resistance to linguistic drift, Ortothan has naturally emerged as a lingua franca. Anything we read of their world is, therefore, a translation, and consequently may not use the exact same terminology as other translations by different authors.

All this goes to say, don't sweat it too much when two different tales seemingly call the same thing by different names, and don't feel obligated to use a preexisting name if you've come up with one that sounds cooler. None of us are J.R.R. Tolkien. Unless, of course, one of you //is//, in which case you're welcome to make a Foundation High Speech conlang or whatever.

[[/tab]]

[[tab Concerning Bright]]

In 2022, [[*user ADMINBRIGHT]] was [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/bright-list-deletion-message banned from the wiki in keeping with its anti-harassment policy]. The majority of their work is now recognized as subpar, but it was formerly quite popular and very influential on many of the wiki's older articles. This canon, unfortunately, is one of the most egregious examples.

When Doctors of the Church was created for the 2013 [[[New Years Contest]]], its creators made Jack Bright - [[*user ADMINBRIGHT]]'s retrospectively problematic self-insert character - the false god of the Holy Foundation. I can only assume that this decision was based on Jack Bright's immortality, which made him the only member of Foundation personnel that would still be around 700 years after the end of the world and therefore the natural choice among them to build a religion on.

Since Bright's (TheDuckMan) disgraced departure from the wiki, most active SCP authors have generally agreed to stop using the character in new articles entirely, and (where possible) to replace preexisting mentions of his name with "Dr. Elias Shaw". Unfortunately, most of this canon’s founding authors are long-gone, meaning that even a change as simple as finding-and-replacing "Bright" with "Shaw" is likely impossible, and we are seemingly stuck with a number of tales where Bright appears as a character or significant element of the setting.

More recent works have dealt with this issue by simply ignoring "Lord Bright," instead focusing on the Foundation's many saints or a different culture entirely. The final book of the Lord of the Redacted instead addresses the problem in-universe, painting its title character as a mad tyrant undeserving of worship, ending said worship in most places, and promptly destroying him for good. I ([[*user KOTHARDARASTRIX]]) did not write that as a clumsy attempt to address the real-world actions of [[*user ADMINBRIGHT]] - something that you should not attempt unless you are a very skilled, very careful, and very brave author indeed - but to purge this canon (as much as possible) of their influence.

[[/tab]]

[[/tabview]]
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> [[=]]
> + Spoiler Warning
> [[/=]]
> 
> For the sake of convenience and continuity, I have compiled below a list of all characters, groups, and objects that've appeared in this canon, and in which works those appearances happened. Those detailed in the World Guide section above are not repeated here.
> 
> [[collapsible]]
> 
> ||~ Object ||~ Status ||~ References ||
> || [[[SCP-087]]] || still remembered by the Foundation, but its location is unknown || [[[A Canticle For Bright]]] ||
> || [[[SCP-231]]] || known as "The Mother of Demons"; the original was slain by Saint Clef during the Great Breach; however, the Foundation created a new SCP-231 to continue performing the Rite of Montauk upon her || [[[A Canticle For Bright]]] ||
> || [[[SCP-354]]] || "The Temple of the Red-Pool" is mentioned but not elaborated upon. Presumably, it lies somewhere in Kannada. || [[[Quid Est Non Scitum]]] ||
> || [[[SCP-914]]] || seemingly broken, but still used in religious rites by adherents of Saint Gears || [[[Quid Est Non Scitum]]] ||
> || [[[SCP-140]]] || known as "The Yellow Book"; lost by the Foundation; eventually fully activated, bringing the Daevite Empire to the present || [[[Placere Non Trinus]]] ||
> || [[[SCP-173]]] || destroyed, supposedly by Lord Redacted in his anger after the Great Breach; D-caste children play a variation of tag based on the object; a recreation of it was made by Are We Cool Yet? || [[[Indwelling of Bright]]], [[[The Lord Judge]]] ||
> || [[[SCP-1057]]] || living in a lake near an AWCY? compound || [[[The Lord Judge]]] ||
> || [[[SCP-138]]] || restored some of SCP-239's memories and led Romania Nova's army against Arnven; betrayed and killed by SCP-239 || [[[Dire Tidings]]], [[[The Horn Blows Into the Morning]]] ||
> || [[[SCP-3794]]] || "The Hammer of Saint Asheworth"; used in religious rites at the Monastery of the Divine Light in the Middle West; later, wielded by one of the Nine || [[[Body and Blood]]], [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/3 The Lord of the Redacted Book 3] ||
> || [[[goldbaker-reinz-hub |Goldbaker]]], as in Reinz || A traveling sponsor of developing civilizations, similar to their portrayal in [[[Insurance |Insurance]]]. || [[[Horseback]]] ||
> || [[[fifthist-hub |Fifthism]]] || "the fractal teachings of the Fifth Temple" || [[[Horseback]]] ||
> || [[[SCP-6172]]] || still stands in Site-120, but is not operational; briefly reactivated by Robert Madden so that he, Anne Barlowe, and Ra.aic could escape this timeline || [[[time-machine-en|Time Machine]]] ||
> || [[[SCP-262]]] || worn by the Administrator || [[[What Does Not Rot]]], [[[The Lord of the Redacted]]] ||
> || [[[second-hytoth-hub |Ortothan]]]|| a //lingua franca// in North America and Europe || [[[The Lord of the Redacted]]] ||
> || [[[dado-hub |dado]]] || shifty purveyor of sketchy potions, whose apothecary shop is rarely in the same place twice || [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/1 The Lord of the Redacted Book 1] ||
> || [[[nobody-hub |Nobody]]] || still active; in 800 AB, the mantle of Nobody was briefly assumed by the Administrator || [[[The Lord of the Redacted]]] ||
> || [[[SCP-2307]]] || stolen from the Foundation by "fairies" and returned to the Lady of the Lake in Dozmary Pool; loaned by her to Sir Horatius, the last Knight of Saint Talloran; taken up by Arcos the Hammer after Horatius's death || [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/2 The Lord of the Redacted Book 2], [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/3 The Lord of the Redacted Book 3] ||
> || [[[SCP-6149]]] || known as "The Blue Bus"; used as transportation by the Nine, then by the Administrator || [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/2 The Lord of the Redacted Book 2], [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/3 The Lord of the Redacted Book 3] ||
> || [[[SCP-1678]]] || severely deteriorated; now the lair of Marscar the Dark || [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/2 The Lord of the Redacted Book 2], [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/3 The Lord of the Redacted Book 3] ||
> || [[[SCP-4514]]] || given to Princess Geva of Arnven by the Administrator; used by her to destroy SCP-963 || [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/3 The Lord of the Redacted Book 3] ||
> || [[[SCP-2814]]] || wielded by one of the Nine || [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/3 The Lord of the Redacted Book 3] ||
> || [[[everchase |Samh Armh]]]'s irrilite katana || wielded by one of the Nine, then by Mortiz of the Serpent's Hand || [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/3 The Lord of the Redacted Book 3] ||
> || [[[SCP-127]]] || wielded by one of the Nine || [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/3 The Lord of the Redacted Book 3] ||
> || [[[SCP-5175]]] || wielded by one of the Nine || [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/3 The Lord of the Redacted Book 3] ||
> || [[[SCP-3457]]]-B6 || found in the hoard of Marscar the Dark; used by Princess Geva to turn back a barbarian army; hidden by the Administrator || [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-lord-of-the-redacted/offset/3 The Lord of the Redacted Book 3] ||
> ||[[[scp-8700 |SCP-8700]]]|| awakes around at the tail end of the 600s after the Breach, kickstarting the War of the Dragons ||[[[recountings-of-the-dragons-as-collected-by-wandermen-petyr |Recountings from the War of the Dragons]]] ||
> || [[[scp-3844 |SCP-3844]]]|| contacted by the German Occidental Confederation to assist in the war of the dragons|| [[[recountings-of-the-dragons-as-collected-by-wandermen-petyr |Recountings from the War of the Dragons]]]||
> || [[[saphir-centre |SAPPHIRE]]] || turned into a vassal of the GOC that serves as a buffer state between it and the Horizon Imperium || [[[recountings-of-the-dragons-as-collected-by-wandermen-petyr |Recountings from the War of the Dragons]]] ||
> || [http://scp-int.wikidot.com/centre-de-primordial Primordial] || mercenary hunters of dangerous beasts || [[[recountings-of-the-dragons-as-collected-by-wandermen-petyr |Recountings from the War of the Dragons]]] ||
> || [[[SCP-7629]]] || Separated tribes around the world, some aligned with the Daevite Empire || [[[The Death Of Callint Asheworth]]] ||
> 
> = **//Please add any characters, GoIs, or SCPs you use in your Doctors of the Church tales to this list with their appropriate crosslinks.//**
[[/collapsible]]
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