Church of the Second Hytoth

The Church of the Second Hytoth is a benevolent faction in the SCP Foundation mythos. The Church is an occult intergalactic organization that is made up of both humans and aliens who are adherents to the religion of Ortothanism, an alien religion which believes that the current universe is the second iteration of the original universe, or the "First Hytoth" which was eventually destroyed and aims to offer blood to their deity Rakmou-leusan, one of the seven survivors of the previous universe, in order to help him combat the destructive entities known as the Voruteut, the beings responsible for the destruction of the First Hytoth. The religion was founded by the Koru-teusa, seven alien guardians who ascended to godhood in order to combat the Voruteut, but through time Rakmou-leusan remains the only living one.
Unlike other notable cults existing in the universe of the SCP Foundation, the Church of the Second Hytoth is actually one of the more benevolent of the GoIs, admonishing against unneeded or evil violence, never attacking anyone and instead trying to make as many allies as possible in order to help their guardian deity in protecting the universe. The Church plays a major role in the "Ad Astra Per Aspera" canon and the "Glittering Horizon" series.
==History==
=== Origin ===
The Ortothan religion was founded by the Koru-teusa and their followers near the beginning of the second universe and began spreading it throughout the entire universe in order to strengthen the Ortothan gods which would allow them to protect the universe from outside threats. This led to various alien civilizations existing within the universe to adopt the Ortothan religion and form alliances between each other. One such alliance was the Terzan 2 Ortothan Coalition, a loose militaristic alliance of Ortothan civilizations formed within the star cluster known as Globular Cluster Terzan 2 as response to the Twelve Stars, an expansionist civilization led by the God King of Stars which warred with various civilizations in the past and for unknown reasons is actively attempting to completely eradicate the Ortothan religion from the cluster.
=== Presence on Earth ===
During the late Neoproterozoic Era, an alien species known as Species of Interest-002 who all adhered to the Ortothan religion attempted to colonize Earth around that time. However, they encountered several problems, one of which being that small groups aimed to use biological matter manipulation to supply an endless amount of blood to the Koru-teusa but because they were seen as followers of the Voruteut they were mostly destroyed by their brethren. At some point SoI-002 went almost completely extinct for unknown reasons, leaving behind various artifacts and structures.
At some point around 11000 BCE, an Ortothan being originally known as the "Star-Fallen Messenger", and later as the "First Messenger", arrived on Earth in Asia and began spreading the religion through humanity and helped in the creation the Earthen Ortothan Kingdom. At some point the Ortothans came across the powerful evil entity SCP-4290 which was imprisoned within the Qinghai Lake, and like most civilizations that encountered it they enacted some rituals in order to keep it sealed. 
After some centuries later, the Kingdom went to war with the evil Daevite civilization and despite their best attempts at defending the Kingdom they eventually collapsed to the Daevites' attacks. Surviving Ortothans attempted to rebuild the Kingdom several times in the ensuing years, but ultimately the Kingdom was completely destroyed during the Zeroth Occult War, a destructive war instigated by the Xia Dynasty and the predecessors of the Children of the Torch and culminated in a CK-class scenario which wiped countless civilizations of this time. Small Ortothan groups survived and kept continuing their traditions until the modern age. During the late 1800s a small Ortothan organization was formed in Canada named the Society of the Second Hytoth, but after its encounter with the Second Messenger, another Ortothan alien who evacuated from its star system and arrived on Earth for interstellar proselytization, in the 1900s the group was reorganized into the current Church of the Second Hytoth. However, the Church eventually attracted the attention of groups such as the SCP Foundation which began containing some of their related anomalies and studying their religion.
===Possible Endings===
====SCP-1548====
Eventually as time went on, the Ortothans failed to sustain Rakmou-leusan and they ultimately died. As a result the Voruteut were able to finally enter reality and cause destruction to the entire universe. In order to protect what was left of the universe, the Sun of the Sol system began using its Ortothan powers to protect the system from the Voruteut, while the entire universe was almost completely destroyed, leaving the Sun and two other stars the only existing objects in space. Meanwhile, the Church of the Second Hytoth went public and coupled with Sun's activity the Foundation was forced to let the Veil of secrecy break.
====Ad Astra Per Aspera====
Following the Broken Masquerade scenario in which the anomalous world became public knowledge, the Church grew in prominence, legitimacy and size as it began gathering more and more worshippers, while the aliens in charge of the Church were among the first aliens who became known to the public. This has helped humanity and Earth to strengthen their interstellar interactions and in the 22th century it became one of the largest religious organizations in the Solar System.
However, the Terzan 2 Ortothan Coalition began greatly suffering from the destruction brought from the Twelve Stars attacks, leading to the Foundation to send an exploratory team to find out more about the conflict and help the Coalition in their war against the Twelve Stars.
====Doctors of the Church====
Following a IK-Class "Collapse of Global Civilization" Scenario, also known as the "Great Breach", which regressed all of human to a medieval state, the Church of the Second Hytoth was apparently completely eradicated as no adherents to the religion remain. Despite its destruction, the Ortothan language lived on and through it would come so widespread that it eventually replaced the English language as the lingua franca, becoming an international language spoken between civilizations.
==Belief and Culture==
===Overview===
The main goal of the Ortothans is aiding their guardian deity Rakmou-leusan by continually providing him blood through willing blood sacrifices. By giving Rakmou-leusan their blood the Ortothans help him in fighting the evil forces of the Voruteut and other beings who threaten the entire universe.
===Mythology===
The Ortothans believe that before the creation of the First Hytoth, the first multiverse, there was the Voru, a sea of nonexistence in the minds and matter would merge or be destroyed and it was the place where the Voruteut originated from. At some point in time an unknown mysterious deity referred to as the Nameless Creator created the First Hytoth and life in it, sheltering it from the Voru. Because the gods waged intergalactic wars in order to conquer new domains, minor deities attacking one another in response to the higher gods' actions, the civilizations living within the First Hytoth struggled to persist, causing the multiverse to be in perpetual turmoil and being regarded as a "prototype" existence. 
The First Hytoth proceeded to exist for billions of years until an unknown entity, only referred to as Aiv-Zon, completely consumed and destroyed the entire First Hytoth. During the attack a group of survivors lead by seven leaders, Zeru, Ursula, Eoghan, Rakhi, Nessa, Yorick and Myron, escaped the destruction by resting within the Voru, and following the demise of the First Hytoth the Nameless Creator proceeded to rebuild the multiverse into the new Second Hytoth.
Following the creation of the Second Hytoth, which was known as the Primordial Aeon, the survivors "drilled" into it, settling in the expanding spacetime, while their seven leaders vowed to keep this new universe safe and proceeded to ascend into godhood and the becoming the Koru-teusa, or the Holy Seven. The Koru-teusa was made up by Zeyu-leusan, Uron-leusan, Eov-leusan, Rakmou-leuan, Nesren-leusan, Yorun-leusan and Myran-leusan. During the Era of the Gods the Koru-teusa proceeded to spread their religion throughout the universe but because their ascension was imperfect they continually leaked blood, forcing their followers to perform bloodletting rituals in order to supply them with additional blood. However, as the numbers of their followers decreased, the Koru-teusa began to slowly die off. Zeyu-leusan, the first leader who had discovered the ritual which allowed the Koru-teusa to ascend was the first to die as he sacrificed himself to destroy the First Invasion of Voruteut. Uron-leusan, a master of combat, eventually grew envious of her fellow members and one day attacked Eov-leusan, the master of weaponry, and despite Rakmou-leusan's intervention both of them were killed during their battle. Nesren-leusan, a master in psionics, at some point came across "something" which caused her to be completely forgotten and most likely left for dead. Myran-leusan under mysterious circumstances completely disappeared without any trace or information except for the memories of their existence. Yorun-leusan, the Holy Mage, lasted alongside Rakmou-leusan after the demise of the other, but eventually lost his life during one of the largest Voruteut invasions in the year 2000 as Rakmou-leusan failed to help him. Rakmou-leusan, who took the position of leader following Zeyu-leusan's death, is currently the only living member of the Koru-teusa and the remaining Ortothans dedicated themselves to help them in their effort to protect the universe. He is often associated with the light and the stars throughout the cosmos, including the Sun from the Sol System. In a syncretism of the the Ortothan faith and ancient Greek pantheon that existed in ancient Greece combined Zeyu-leusan and Zeus.
The Ortothans believe in an afterlife referred as the Eitoth, a beautiful place larger than entire galaxies, created by the first Ortothans under the guidance of Zeyu-leusan in order to ensure that the minds of all Ortothans can experience eternity blissfully following their death. During a Voruteut attack in 1900 Yorun-leusan reinforced protection of the Eitoth with their presence as Rakmou-leusan battled the threat. This not the of the Ortothans' mission as once in the Eitoth they would fight the Voruteut alongside their gods. They also believe in existence of the Voreik, a gaping wound in the universe which the Voruteut attempt to use to pour into the universe and cause destruction, causing Rakmou-leusan to keep an eternal watch on the region. The Ortothans believe that their universe is at the center of the entire multiverse, connecting to the other universes and pocket dimensions, and if this universe were to be invaded by the Voruteut than the other realities would follow soon after with no escape.
There are other deities known to exist in Ortothan belief, but unlike the Koru-teusa they are not worshipped by the Ortothans and some are regarded as dangerous enemies. From the First Hytoth are: the VyzGods; Uravol, a lesser deity who attempted to use their psionic powers to take control of the higher gods but was ultimately left a broken mind with no physical body; Nohlos, an eel-like deity who fed on reality but was eventually killed by Uravol while leaving behind their spawn the Nohl-Av (SCP-2742); Vsi-Mind Erjo, a psychic powerful deity who fell under the control of Uravol and was killed alongside their followers during Uravol's failed attempt at taking over Nohlos. From the Second Hytoth are: Kornoct and Vernoct, guardians of the Eitoth who preserve peace within the afterlife and defend it at every cost; the God-King of the Stars, a tyrant who leads the Twelve Stars and rules over a great number of galaxies, has clashed against the Koru-teusa on several occasions and is currently based on Adidal from SCP-2998; the Ones of Light and Dark, primordial beings who embody the light and darkness and previously inhabited the First Hytoth before fleeing to the Second one; the Broken Creation, an unknown deity who is simply described as a god-shaped hole, possibly SCP-3230. From the Voru are: the Voruteut, destructive entities endlessly originating from the randomness of the Voru who destroy or feed on reality in order to stabilize themselves; Aiv-Zon, also known as The Devourer was a powerful being originating from the Voru who caused grave damage on the First Hytoth and was only witnessed by the survivors, and while not much information exist about the being it is presumed to be either SCP-2317-K, Apakht, Qlippoth or Sanna. As mentioned there is also the Nameless Creator who created both the First and Second Hytoth but the Ortothans are not sure if they are on their side or if they even exist.
However, because of the Ortothans lack a full understanding of reality, they consider their mythos to be incomplete and as a result don't hold a central canon. It is because of this that the Ortothans seek to gain additional knowledge on the universe and the entities residing in it or outside of it, and have even formed the "Branch of History" which employs scholars to seek this knowledge in order to complete their mythology much like the Serpent's Hand.
===Key Beliefs===
The four principal tenets of the Church associated with Rakmou-leusan:
*Strategy: During a combat, fight or battle an Ortothan should analyze the situation before acting in order to always win.
*Kindness: An Ortothan should alawus forbid violence against others and instead they should strive for peace as a real Ortothan is naturally peaceful.
*Curiosity: The Ortothans should be aware of the world around them as many threatening dangers maybe hiding.
*Strength: The Ortothans should always remain positive and never lose hope regardless of the situation they find themselves in.
===Practices===
Because of the mingling of both human and alien cultures, members of the Church adopted a unique cultural identity as humans are receptive to alien concepts which include the incomprehensible ones. Such concepts include the belief in latent non-dimensional "bridges" that link how beings familiar with each another perceive the world, greetings by briefly turning sideways and avoid facing one another directly as that would be a sign of aggression, using cybernetic LED implants to alter skin color to communicate with others, "tasting" colors beyond the EM spectrum, and forming hivemind-like systems between themselves to maximize efficiency and collective happiness although the last one is mostly used in small subsects.
There also holidays practiced within the Church, such as the "regrowth days" in which individuals would completely isolate themselves from the outside world and only consume food derived from how some aliens would enter "regrowth machines" to rejuvenate after a long period of work. However, these cultures are not present in the entire church despite its members being encouraged to give importance to the Church's practices.
As mentioned there are subsects whose beliefs and practices differ from those of the Church. These subgroups seek to aid in the Church's goal through the worship of other gods as they believe that everyone should unite in preventing the destruction of the universe from the Voruteut. There are also groups that while still adhering to the Church's tenets follow different moral practices which are viewed with disdain by the Church. Subgroups which don't follow the main tenets are excluded and ignored by the Church. If these groups began acting in ways which bring negativity or conflict with the religion's morals, such as ritual murder, then the Church would send warriors to stop them. Some Ortothan civilizations which exist throughout the universe, also indulge violent practices as methods for aiding Rakmou-leusan with blood or an equivalent vital substance.
Members of the group are known to be efficient in occult practices and attempt theurgy with minor deities of the Ortothan pantheon. They also possess advanced alien technology and high offensive capabilities, but due to their tenets members rarely use them. It has been claimed that the Church possesses knowledge of a ritual that could summon an avatar of Rakmou-leusan which could lead to a possible Λ0 Eschatological Scenario.
===Language===
The Church of the Second Hytoth spoke a combination of native languages and the Ortothan Extraterrestrial Language. The language has been somehow anomalously preserved since an unknown point in time, and despite spoken extraterrestrial language varying heavily or not being present at all in among particular species, the logograms used to write the language has been consistent among all Ortothan groups regardless of the amount of separation. This has been interpreted by the Ortothans as a divine act done by the Koru-teusa to maintain unification between all Ortothan groups. Some logograms include:
*Aímact: Referring to blood or vital fluids in creatures lacking blood.
*Anigon: Referring to the mystical practice of forming origami that act as living avatars.
*Eitothan: Referring to things related to the Eitoth.
*Eiv-: A prefix denoting high standing and important figures.
*Hytoth: Referring to the multiverse.
*Hytothan: Referring to anything originating from the Hytoth and opposing the Voruteut.
*Koru: Meaning highest or holiest. Typically reserved for the Koru-teusa.
*-leusan: A suffix which translates to "divine warrior of the multiverse" and reserved only for the members of the Koru-teusa.
*Ontoth: Referring to a universe or pocket dimension.
Most Ortothan cultures have used the same octal number system, with the primary numbers named after the Koru-teusa being:
*Nen: Zero
*Zey: One
*Ur: Two
*Eo: Three
*Rak: Four
*Nes: Five
*Yor: Six
*My: Seven
There are other concepts in the Ortothan mathematics such as Forta which had been banished by the Koru-teusa for unknown crimes and Nen-Exten which translates to "zero-infinities", referring to sapient mathematical constructs which cannot be formed or processed by minds or computers and Ortothans are recommended to not summon them due to their lack of knowledge on 4+ dimensional arithmetic or aversion to math.
===Goal===
The central goal of all Ortothans is to protect the entire Second Hytoth and with it the rest of the multiverse from threats such as the Voruteut or similar dangers. The Ortothans mostly try to achieve this by continually giving their blood to Rakmou-leusan in order to grant him enough strength to protect the Second Hytoth and fight those who threat its existence. The Ortothans should not be discouraged by the deaths of the Koru-teusa and keep on fighting to protect reality.
==Relationships with other anomalous factions==
Despite the Church mostly acting underneath the Veil of Secrecy, the group has often come into minor conflicts with normalcy organizations such as the SCP Foundation and the Global Occult Coalition, and the Foundation advised its members to be cautious when encountering some of the Church's members. The Unusual Incidents Unit is also aware of the Church's existence, but it is currently unknown what type of relationship they have between each other.
Because of their pacifistic nature the Church have neutral relationships with most of other groups, and a small percentage of members are even connected to other anomalous religions.
During the rise of Fifthism on the alien planet Pech around 6,315 years ago, the Wandsmen notified both the Ortothans and alien Mekhanites about this, which led to the two forces eradicating the planet, but in turn became infected by the memetic infection associated with the religion. In prehistoric times, after a highly advanced collective of extraterrestrial Ortothans colonized the Orion Nebula they discovered a white hole in which they found the Fifth Dimension and bovine deities which included SCP-4475. This led to the aliens combing Fifthism with the Ortothan religion and formed the Fifth Church of Hytooth which sought to use the deities' milk, referred to as susse-euk to strengthen Rakmou-leusan and feed lesser species.
As mentioned, the ancient Daevite Empire had committed mass genocide on the Church's precursor, the Earthen Ortothan Kingdom, delivering heavy damage to the great kingdom which the Ortothans were unable to overcome. In an alternate universe in which the anomalous world became public knowledge allowing the Church of the Second Hytoth to expand, they are shown to be extremely hostile towards the religion of Sarkicism as the Church deemed the Sarkites as followers of the Voruteut. The Children of the Scarlet King appeared to be hostile to the Church, as one of their iterations, the Christian Ministries of America, demonized the figure of Rakmou-leusan in its own take of Christianity.
Following the destruction of the Earthen Ortothan Kingdom, its inhabitants hid themselves within the cult of the Children of the Torch during the Xia Dynasty period, while some Ortothan villages stole technology pertaining to the dynasty.
During World War II, or the "Seventh Occult War", the Obskurakorps stole several artifacts pertaining to the Earthen Ortothan Kingdom in hopes of using those to win the war.
The Horizon Initiative is seemingly an enemy of the Church because of the latter being an anomalous cult which contradicts the Initiative's Abrahamic beliefs. It has been mentioned by the Serpent's Hand that the Church is also one of the many targets of the hostile atheistic organization SAPPHIRE.
According to SCP-5775, the Ortothan forces are at war with the interstellar Empire of the Big Foot.
While preparing the Carroll #011: Old Family Recipe, a member of the Chicago Spirit once hired a priest of the Church to give them some blessed water which was used for the anomalous recipe.
Temou-Ge-Hwadha of SoI-002-Δ had arrived to the pocket dimension of Amatànnaq inhabited by various human and nonhuman species where he attempted to spread the Ortothan religion. Unfortunately for him, he was ridiculed by most of the inhabitants, but nevertheless an Ortothan altar was formed within the Tanoqaamat.
An ancient syncretism of the Ortothan and Christian religions that predated Albigensian Crusades appeared to be an ally of the goddess Sanna and her children and worshipers.
==Notable SCPs associated with the Church==
==Gallery==
===Images===
PatriciaStark2417.jpg|SCP-2417.
2651-A pictogram alt2 v2.png|Species of Interest-002.
Digsite1.jpg|A dig site located near Bikudo, Jammu and Kashmir in which the ancient Ortothans fought against the Daevites and SCP-3140.
Hypersphere.png|A 3-sphere used by the Church to represent both the First and Second Hytoths.
Artwork hytoth.jpg|Artwork created by an Ortothan depicting some extraterrestrial creature.
Trajectories hytoth.jpg|Yorun-leusean attacking a Voruteut.
3417-xray.jpg|SCP-3417 X-ray emissions originating from the Terzan 2 Ortothan Coalition.
Scp goi church of the second hytoth.jpg
Site3408 04.jpg|Some human Ortothans preparing a blood-letting ritual in the Foundation's Site-3408.
Scp six of swords.jpg|The Koru-teusa as the tarot card "Six of Swords".
Ortothans.jpg
Second hytothan.jpg|A member of the Church.
===Videos===
Exploring the SCP Foundation- The Church of the Second Hytoth
==Trivia==
*The concept of the Church originated as a subversion of the usual blood cult trope.
*The Ortothan religion seems to be based of the ancient Aztec religion, the UFO religion and the Faith of the Seven from A Song of Fire and Ice.
**SCP-7548 was inspired by the 's episode "Music of the Spheres", and Henri Mulet's Carillon-Sortie.
**SCP-8419 was partially based on the internet hoax .
*Only 8% of the alien cultures observed by the Foundation are known to adhere to the Ortothan religion.
*In SCP-3417 it appears that SCP-1281 had some connections with the Church of the Second Hytoth.
*Foundation astronaut Hyeon described the Terzan 2 Ortothan Coalition in "Let the Winds Send You Onwards…" as weirder than the settings in Gateway.
*In SCP-5432 the Church of the Second Hytoth among other religions was described as non-existent.
*SCP-2417, SCP-3417 and SCP-5417 share the number 417 which refers to Rakmou-leusan the Holy Fourth being the only survivor of the seven members of the Koru-teusa.
*In the Wanderer's Library's "Interstellar Radio Channel 5" the religion of the Church is referred to as "Ortothanism", while in "Esterberg (City) - Wikipedia" it was referred as "Second Hytothism".
*In "NIGHTFALL: Qui Lactis", the Third Hytoth is mentioned a few times along with the Koru-teusa, now referred as the seven dead gods, who were married to the Scarlet King's brides. This could mean that the Church failed to preserve their universe, and after it was destroyed reality was recreated into the world of NIGHTFALL.
*According to the "List of Common Anomalous Misconceptions", although there never was a Church of the First Hytoth there is a Church of the Third Hytoth.
*It's possible that SCP-2131, a man who claims to be Avignon Pope Benedict XIII that opposes the Daevites and emits gamma energy when his blood rituals fail, is in actuality a member of the Church. A document of SCP-2305-A, which described a termination attempt of SCP-2123, appears to hint at this connection being true.
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