The Enlightened, or the Wise Mothman's Enlightened, are a religious faction who do not live in Appalachia, but travel there seasonally to hold a summoning ceremony. The group was formed when some members of the pre-War Cult of the Mothman rejected the post-War developments of the religion, and fled the state together.[1][2] They have since come to exclusively revere the purple-eyed Wise Mothman, but do not worship him as a god.[3]
Background[]
Pre-War history[]
After an attempt by the Cult of the Mothman to summon their benefactor on October 22, 2077, it was proclaimed by an unknown preacher that the member known as Brother Charles had received a vision from the Mothman in the periphery of his senses,[4] which foretold of an impending flood, and advised the cult to seek high ground.[4] The Enlightened now believe Charles' revelations were the Whispers of the Wise Mothman, and recount the omen as a warning of "fire and flood."[2]
Heeding this omen, the Cult of the Mothman crossed the state to the cliffs overlooking Watoga, to take shelter in the depths of Lucky Hole Mine. No contemporary evidence exists of who suggested this specific destination or why, but in modern times, the Enlightened claim it was Brother Charles who guided his brethren to the safety of the mine.[2]
Dwellers of the Lucky Hole Mine[]
The Cult of the Mothman were not the first mysterious group to seek sanctuary here. No later than March of 2061,[5] an old woman (who seemed to be mentally unwell)[5] asked the under-staffed security team for a tour of the inactive mine, and was turned away. She returned with a group and was again denied entry. People were then seen lurking around the campus at night, and before long, the security team abandoned the site. They left an entry on their terminal explicitly surrendering the mine to this group out of fear.[6] The note His home seems to indicate that the post-War dwellers of the mine believe this event fulfilled a prophecy, which foretold that they would be denied entrance into their "new home" three times by the faithless, before "He would open the way."[7]
Some contingency of the Cult of the Mothman set out from Point Pleasant with Brother Charles in tow, and arrived at the Lucky Hole Mine before the bombs fell on October 23. Jeff Lane, a cult affiliate[8] who worked at the Mothman Museum, remained in Point Pleasant after the war. He arrived some time later,[9] raving about a being he called "the Interloper."[10]
The Mine features two major chambers of worship; a large church area, where a natural spring of drinking water has formed, and the hidden chamber where a large creature is worshipped. Both are marked by giant sculptures of faces which appear to have been excavated from deep beneath the earth. In modern times, standing near the creature produces an audible hum.
Schism due to worship of the Wood[]
While trapped here by the fallout, some of them "turned to darker worship,"[1][2] and communed with a being they called "Firstborn of the Wood" under the guidance of a woman known as the First Priestess of the Wood,[11][12] a development which disgusted others among the group.
During this time in the mine, according to the Enlightened, the entire cult began to hear whispers, which filled many of them with fear.[3] Conversely, Charles and some of the cultists continued to listen to his whispers, and became "Wise" in doing so. Complicating this narrative, a note at the mine celebrates the First Priestess for enabling them to hear "His voice."[11]
Some Mothman cultists considered the group's new practices to be an unbearable corruption of their religion, and fled the mine.[2]
Exodus[]
Many were not prepared to behold the post-apocalyptic world. As the Enlightened recount in Exodus, some among them despaired, and urged Charles to "reject the Truth" and return to the safety of the mine. However, Charles spoke of a far away place, which he envisioned as a "beacon of safety," and a "home for those that had heard the Truth and been Enlightened." After a long and dangerous journey, they reached their new home, where they founded their church and named it the Lantern, in hopes that it might serve as a shining beacon against "the ignorance of the world."[2]
They came to refer to those who remained at the Lucky Hole Mine as the "Dim Ones." That group eventually came to call themselves "the Followers of the Winged One,"[13] and would later be seen protecting the eggs of red-eyed mothmans[14] and accompanying mothman hatchlings in combat.[15]
Current history[]
The group remain headquartered at their church, the Lantern. Its location is a secret which has so far been successfully withheld from the people of Appalachia, though it is presumed to be somewhere outside of the state.
A group consisting of Wise Charles the Forewarned, Interpreter Clarence, and Observers Errol, Johanna, and Marlon, returned to Point Pleasant in 2104. This pilgrimage was taken to commune with the Wise Mothman during the Mothman Equinox, when he is most powerful.[16] They have since returned twice, celebrating the Equinox as a seasonal festival.
Society[]
The Enlightened think of themselves blessed by the Wise Mothman's Truth, which they deem to be a lesson, a warning, and the path to enlightenment, all at once.[1] They consider themselves students of wisdom.[17] Integral to each member's path to enlightenment is the ability to hear the Wise Mothman's whispers, and to listen, that they might transcend the limits of human understanding.[1][3] To a certain extent, the group also possesses knowledge of either astronomy or astrology,[16] which they have obtained from listening to the Wise Mothman.[18]
The group is welcoming to those ignorant of the Truth, as they consider ignorance to be the first step on the path to enlightenment.[3][19] The path to enlightenment involves several stages of learning, each of which is tied to a rank. Members of the first rank are dubbed Observers, signifying they have become aware of their ignorance, and are likened to the larva of a moth. The second rank, the Interpreters, are like the pupa, as they surround themselves in a cocoon of the Wise One's words, and cast form from them. Their highest title, Wise, is reserved for those few who break free from their cocoon like a moth, and become truly Enlightened.[20]
Religion[]
Beliefs and practices[]
The Enlightened exclusively recognize the transcendence of the magenta-eyed Wise Mothman, which they consider a single sacred, yet mortal, being.[21] They are known to call him "the Wise One" and, occasionally, "Papa." They believe Charles' vision on October 22, 2077 was granted by the Wise One, indicating that they believe he was somehow active before the War.
They summon the Wise One at a seasonal equinox, which involves the inhalation of hallucinogenic neurotoxic dust gathered somehow from Mothman.[22][23] They believe this grants the imbiber the opportunity to experience Truth first hand, by enabling them to "see the world through his eyes."[24][25][26][27] This is accompanied by one's sense of hearing becoming distorted, and the ability to clearly hear Interpreter Clarence's voice over great distance during the ceremony.
The Enlightened appear to respect the voices which wrack the mind of Observer Marlon.[28][29] According to these voices, inhaling the neurotoxic dust for a prolonged period of time may prove to be harmful.[29] The cultists also deeply admire Wise Charles for his condition; though blind and non-responsive, his cranium has visibly swollen to accommodate his expanding mind, and his eyes have begun to glow.
The Enlightened widely attempt to engage in the psychic practice of remote viewing, and record the results in a series of texts simply titled Observations, in a practice comparable to keeping a community dream journal.
Errol expresses confusion that the Wise Mothman always departs when his sacrificial victims begin to scream. He entertains the theories that his own unworthiness or the unworthiness of his victims is what offends the Wise One.[30]
Relationship to the larger Cult of the Mothman[]
Looking back on the pre-War Cult of the Mothman, the Enlighten consider them misguided followers of the red-eyed pretender, despite Charles' presence among them.[2] However, they believe Charles' precognition (and by extension the survival of the cult) was granted by the Wise Mothman.[2] Additionally, Observer Errol refers to the Mothman Museum as the Wise One's Museum, which suggests they reclaim the cultural legacy of the Museum as pertinent to the Wise Mothman, despite their denouncement of the cult headquartered there at the time of the War.[31]
The preacher who proclaimed Charles' omen on the eve of the War testified that the Mothman warned only of "flood," but as the Enlightened recount the event in Exodus, the Wise Mothman warned Charles of "fire and flood."[2] In the first passage of Sayings of Interpreter Alicia, Interpreter James proclaims that the Wise Mothman is, was, and will be, "Before the Flood, before the Fire, [and] before the Dim Ones." Conspicuously, Flood and Fire are capitalized. Elsewhere in this text, the terms Truth, Doom, "the Ignorant" (collective), "a God," Vision, Listen, Hear, Observe, Interpret/Interpretation, and Enlightenment are also capitalized, signifying that these concepts all somehow qualify as proper nouns to them.
The Enlightened refer to their former brethren as "The Dim Ones,"[32][33] and completely reject red-eyed Mothman (known as the "Holy Mothman" to its worshippers) as animalistic harbingers of a malicious non-human entity.[21][34] They consider all mothmen except for the Wise One to be interchangeable feral creatures. However, they also personify this red-eyed mothman icon as a "pretender"[2] and, formally, "the Deceiver."[2][34]
At the Equinox festival, perfect mothman eggs are deposited in a shrine called the Cradle of the Pretenders, indicating "Pretenders" is a term which can refer to red-eyed mothmen in multiplicity. The deployment of the phrase "The Deceiver Mothman and his Progeny" in False Gods of Appalachia may indicate that they consider these creatures to be the offspring of a specific "fire-eyed" mothman.
The Enlightened consider themselves critical of superstitious and worshipful practices, and hold the Dim Ones' belief system to be outrageously superstitious[1] and heretical.[34]
Charles is the only character known to have been among the original group who left the Lucky Hole Mine. All other characters may plausibly have been within the mine or joined later. Wise Hilary the Scourge and Wise Pearl the Augur make claims in their tomes related to events within the mine, but do not specify whether they witnessed these things firsthand.
Notable members[]
Wise[]
- Wise Charles the Forewarned
- Wise Hillary the Scourge
[1] - Wise Martin the Bearded [33]
- Wise Nathaniel the Shadowed [34]
- Wise Pearl the Augur [2]
Interpreters[]
- Interpreter Alicia [3]
- Interpreter Clarence
- Interpreter Jill [1]
- Interpreter Michaela [2]
- Interpreter Walsh [17]
Observers[]
- Observer Dave [17]
- Observer Errol
- Observer James [3]
- Observer Johanna
- Observer Marlon
Other[]
- Jelle
[35]
Appearances[]
The Enlightened appear in Fallout 76, introduced in the Night of the Moth update.
Behind the scenes[]
- For some time, every Mothman Equinox festival was held during a real-life solstice. Night of the Moth was delayed from its original planned release according to the 2021 community calendar.
- Judging by Interpreter Clarence's voicetype filename, E07_NPCM_BeholderClarence, the title of "Beholder" was considered as a rank for the faction, and ultimately cut. This was probably early in development, as Clarence refers to himself as "Interpreter Clarence" and "an interpreter" in two voice lines.[20][36]
- Exodus begins with the phrase "It came to pass[...]" which is deployed many times in the Book of Mormon, appearing in 21% of all verses. The phrase was famously criticized by Mark Twain as the tic of an author affecting scriptural prose, attempting to imitate the voice of the King James Version of the Bible.
- There is no "Enlightened" or "Lantern" faction for NPCs in the game files. All five Enlightened characters in the game have their faction ID set to 0003E0C8, "CaptiveFaction."
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Catechism of Hilary
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 Exodus
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Sayings of Alicia
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sermon: Impending doom
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 After the old woman's first visit, a guard called Allegheny Asylum to ask about escaped patients. According to Herald editorial on Allegheny Asylum, the institution was closed in 2061.
- ↑ Lucky Hole Mine terminal entries
- ↑ His home
- ↑ Wilson Bros garage seems to indicate that Jeff was trusted with a key to the hidden church under the Mothman Museum.
- ↑ Interloper
- ↑ The Chosen
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 His Priestess
- ↑ His birth
- ↑ Steven: "I must say, it's reassuring to meet a fellow Follower of the Winged One."
(Steven Scarberry's dialogue) - ↑ Seen at Ingram Mansion
- ↑ Mothman hatchling enemies can be seen at the Mothman Equinox and when facing cultists in Daily Ops.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Vault Dweller: "What's going on here?"
Interpreter Clarence: "We have congregated in celebration of the Mothman Equinox. Here we will perform a ritual in order to summon the Wise Mothman back to his home. The Equinox is a time when the stars and planets align in a manner that grants the Wise One power beyond his normal greatness."
(Interpreter Clarence's dialogue) - ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Observations, vol. XXVII
- ↑ Vault Dweller: "[Intelligence 10+] The alignment of the planet and stars? How could you possibly know that?"
Interpreter Clarence: "He has told us. We do not ask, we listen. Join us when the Equinox begins and you too will hear it."
(Interpreter Clarence's dialogue) - ↑ Vault Dweller: "[Intelligence 1-] Mothman? He's a member of the Unstoppables, right? Is this a Comic Book convention?"
Interpreter Clarence: "(Sigh) We do not begrudge ignorance, for it is the first step to enlightenment... Child, I would recommend you join us for the next Equinox. There is much for you to learn."
(Interpreter Clarence's dialogue) - ↑ 20.0 20.1 Vault Dweller: "Observers? Is that some kind of rank?"
Interpreter Clarence: "Those of us who endeavor to find the Truth in the Wise One's words go through several stages of learning. The Observer is the larva. One who knows their place, and knows there is much more to come. For the knowledge of ignorance, of our place, is an essential first step. A bug must first know it's a bug. I, as an Interpreter, am a pupa, surrounding myself in a cocoon of his words; absorbing... Casting form from them. The venerable Wise Charles, who graces us with his company, has broken from his cocoon. He, and very few like him, may flutter and dance in the light of his infinite wisdom for the remainder of his bright but fleeting existence."
(Interpreter Clarence's dialogue) - ↑ 21.0 21.1 Vault Dweller: "Wise Mothman? Holy Mothman? What's the difference?"
Interpreter Clarence: "The Wise Mothman is a single entity. Though immeasurable in power, with knowledge beyond the age of man, he is but mortal, nonetheless. The red-eyed pretenders are wild animals, seeking nothing but the same violence that their Dim followers crave. The Dim Ones believe the red-eyed animals are harbingers of the 'holy' Mothman... Some kind of otherworldly god. A false idol. They fear their mortality. They fear their insignificance. We embrace it, as the Wise One has shown us."
(Interpreter Clarence's dialogue) - ↑ Interpreter Clarence: "The ritual sites have been prepared. The summoning shall commence once each of the pyres has been lit. Go, ignite the flames as I release the dust of our Wise One into the air!"
(Interpreter Clarence's dialogue) - ↑ Observer Johanna: "Mm! The dust! How I missed the dust! Enter into my lungs, pretty dust!"
(Observer Johanna's dialogue) - ↑ Interpreter Clarence: "See the world now through his eyes, children. Let the dust and flames and fumes fill you; let it soak into your throats. Let it show you the Truth! But prepare yourselves, for the heretic Dim Ones will be enraged by this vision. The reality of our Wise One will send them into a frenzy. You must protect our sacred lights, the pyres, from those wretched fiends. Without the fire's glow, our guest may refuse our invitation. The Dim Ones approach the church! Slay them, children, offer no quarter!"
(Interpreter Clarence's dialogue) - ↑ Vault Dweller: "[Chem Addict] This is some good shit, man. Can I get some to go?"
Interpreter Clarence: "No. We do this not for the earthly pleasure... It is simply a welcome side effect..."
(Interpreter Clarence's dialogue) - ↑ Vault Dweller: "What's happening to me? Why is the sky... like that?"
Interpreter Clarence: "Tis but your mind acclimating to his dust. In order to allow the Wise One to absorb the planetary energy of the Equinox, the environment must be made more hospitable. What you are experiencing is a temporary relief of the burden that comes with a simpler mind... What you see now is the Truth."
(Interpreter Clarence's dialogue) - ↑ Vault Dweller: "But when will I be normal again?"
Interpreter Clarence: "Do you fear the Truth? It can be painful to witness. Simply leave this sacred land and the foggy lens of normal sight shall return to you."
(Interpreter Clarence's dialogue) - ↑ Observer Errol: "Those voices he hears... What do they tell him? How can I hear them too? What prey can they reveal to me? They are wasted on him. He bickers and cowers. He holds a gift, and he wastes it."
(Observer Errol's dialogue) - ↑ 29.0 29.1 Observer Johanna: "They say the dust may harm us if we breathe it too long. Who said so? Observer Marlon. Well, THEY told him. They told him, he told me."
(Observer Johanna's dialogue) - ↑ Errol: "The Wise One always leaves when they begin to scream. Why? Does he not find them worthy? Or me? Surely not." (Errol's dialogue)
- ↑ Observer Errol: "The Interpreter needs you. Speak with him on the roof of the Wise One's Museum."
(Observer Errol's dialogue) - ↑ Vault Dweller: "I've been attacked by Mothman Cultists before. Why are you different?"
Interpreter Clarence: "Do not mistake us for the Dim Ones. Followers of the red-eyed pretender. Fools, who flee from his wisdom, and cling to a false god -- a flawed, vision-less 'holy' Mothman. They seek violence because facing a 'worthy' death is far less frightening than facing the Truth."
(Interpreter Clarence's dialogue) - ↑ 33.0 33.1 On the Thesis of Wallace
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 False Gods of Appalachia
- ↑ Observer Johanna: "My brother Jelle, he tried to clone him, you know? So foolish. His wisdom was not his at birth. The little ones, they eat poor Jelle."
(Observer Johanna's dialogue) - ↑ Interpreter Clarence: "I am Interpreter Clarence, of the Wise Mothman's Enlightened. How may I be of service to you, child?" (Clarence's dialogue)
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