Summer of Love - Cult Info
The cult is most commonly referred to as “Eruditio”, which is a Latin word which can be translated to mean learning, instruction, education, and knowledge. The common name “Eruditio” serves two main functions:
Leader | Ideological and spiritual leader. The leader was raised in the cult, and gained control through feeding members of the original 2 families to Xal’Atath. The leader is a figurehead used to attract the people and acts as the face of it. The leader owns the commune, and often spouts new age bullshit to fringe members or interested parties. |
Vessels | Members who are in direct contact with Xal’atath. Similar to Billy from Stranger Things. Vessels are used by Xal’atath to communicate. All vessels are affected by Xal’atath differently, and outside of direct possession/influence/use of Xal’atath, they completely retain their personalities. Vessels have a generally “off” or eerie demeanor. |
Inner Circle | A select group of higher-up members in the cult who help manage the cult and commune. All have different responsibilities.
Inner Circle members have duties, responsibilities, and authority, but may not be in direct contact with Xal’atath. Inner Circle members who are in contact with Xal’atath are considered Vessels as well. |
Enforcers (Bad Cops) | Mid-level members who enforce the rules with punishment–i.e., stripping away “privileges”. They monitor the cult and its members, and enforce the cult’s rules. Enforcers have certain privileges and higher rank to regular members. Punishments include: putting rule-breakers or other offenders in communal “dog kennels”, taking away food and water, removing even minor privileges until offenders “earn” them back.Enforcers can and do engage in petplay with offenders as a means to let them “earn” back “rewards”. Enforcers have contact with Xal’atath, as they are tasked with feeding members, low and high ranking, to Xal’atath. |
Fishers (Good Cops) | Based on a practice from the Children of God, where they utilized pretty and sexually appealing women to entice men into their cult. The woman would go “fishing,” for new peeps. Fishers main tasks are using pillow talk and soft tactics to indoctrinate new members into the cult. Fishers do not have contact with Xal’atath. Fishers are given access to luxuries like make-up, pretty clothes, cosmetic products, grooming tools, chemical toiletries instead of organic ones, etc. so they are better able to “fish”. |
“Ascended” | Members who have been fed to Xal’atath that are completely devoid of mind, soul and personality, leaving only husks that work off base instincts–essentially, lobotomized people.
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Members | Members are those in the cult who have graduated from being a fringe member after fulfilling a qualifier. Full members have their own ranking, but it’s simple: lower-rank members who haven’t earned any extra privileges, mid-rank members who have earned some privileges (i.e., monogamy rights, better housing, etc.), and high-rank members who aren’t inner circle but have earned most privileges. Some members are automatically considered a high-rank or mid-rank member based on their secondary status (i.e., Fishers, Enforcers, etc.). Most high-rank members are part of the Inner Circle, so there’s not a lot of higher rank members outside of the Inner Circle. |
Fringe Members | New members to the cult, typically who have been freshly recruited or have just found the cult. They are always assigned a spirit partner. A fringe member only qualifies to become a full member if they fulfill one of these qualifiers:
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The cult presents itself primarily as a utopian community of peace, love, and spiritual enlightenment. It rejects the “square society” and embraces free love, mysticism, and getting back to nature, and full members often encourage heavy focus on auras, chakras, astral projection, and tarot. New Age beliefs are common, and shared frequently by the Leader and other members.
The cult does not believe in discrimination based on gender, race, sexuality, etc., as they actively seek diversity and expansion of their members. Their god, Xal’atath, also does not discriminate, which encourages it amongst cult members. Discrimination is a punishable offense within the cult, as it actively goes against the cult’s goals and beliefs. However – this does not stop individuals within the cult from still having prejudices and discriminating against others. Fringe members in particular are prone to this, as they are new and still learning the cult’s beliefs and rules.
Underneath the cover presentation of a utopian community, the true belief of the cult is that Xal’atath will one day cleanse the world of filth and ascend the faithful. This is a belief that is fueled by both blind, devotional faith, and the physical proof of already ascended faithful, who are treated with respect and care by other members of the commune until their passing.
Common activities within the cult include:
Upon joining the cult, fringe members are placed in arranged marriages that allow the cult to gain control of the fringe member’s assets. These arranged marriages are disguised as “destined” matches to an assigned "spirit partner", and are told that these “spirit unions” will help the fringe members learn the ways of the cult.
These spirit unions function as both tutelage and an initiation ritual, and more often than not, a fringe member’s spirit partner will be a Fisher. Spirit unions are reserved for fringe members, as these new members usually struggle with one of several issues:
Spirit partners live together and perform most of their tasks together, even if their rank differs.
By default, members of the cult are not permitted to have any industrially manufactured goods or services. They live in teepees and tents, not homes or caravans. They cannot use technology, have no access to chemical toiletries, hand-make their clothes, etc.
Clean drinking water is distributed communally through a well (which is actually technologically operated).
Clothes are washed in the rivers. The cult has a beekeeping and chandling culture for lighting, but for the most part due to flammable housing the cult members are encouraged to commune by campfires at night if they wish to stay awake. It’s also during this night-time campfire communing that a lot of rituals and such take place.
Higher-ranking members are privy to more privileges for their loyalty than lower-ranking members, and the privileges allowed can differ due to secondary rankings.
The commune was established in rural Vermont. It was originally a 200-acre property, set in an extremely remote area, with only one town several hours away. The commune was owned primarily by two families in the 1930s, before the establishment of the cult. However in the early-mid 1930s, Xal’atath arrived with a meteorite that crashed on the commune. It didn’t take long for the families to commune with the eldritch being, and soon, it began to become part of the lives of the two families. Their children were raised being led to believe in Xal’atath, and it didn’t take long for other families and those looking to escape their old lives began to find the commune and build the beginning of the cult.
After the initial growth of the commune, it soon “went viral” due to the rise of the hippy movement and UFO chasers, leading to several booms in growth from the early-mid 1930s to the current period of time, the 1970s. As a result, in the 1970s, the 200-acre property now has a sprawling farmhouse, and is filled with cabins, tents, and teepees for members. Buildings are painted in cheerful colors, and many structures are draped in beads and esoteric symbols. The commune is well-stocked with locally grown food, drugs, and hand-crafted goods.
Secret, complex tunnels stretch beneath the property for unknown ritualistic purposes. Occasionally, strange chants and screams echo from below, and it is rumored that the tunnels are where the “Ascended” are laid to rest after their passing.
The only other civilization near the cult. An extremely small, close-knit town which isn’t associated with the cult publicly or officially – however, when fringe members run away, the townsfolk more often than not help Enforcers bring them back.
The town is close enough to the commune that it’s reachable on foot after several hours of steady walking. The town itself is small, and movement in and out of the town is often heavily scrutinized. Some townsfolk are cult members who have been assigned to stay within the town in order to watch for any townsfolk who may be less helpful to the cult and its goals.
Xal’atath is an ancient eldritch being that is part of a race that is incredibly long lived and has no natural predators. Essentially immortal, members of Xal’atath’s race occupy other plants and seek to propagate with the beings that live there. These beings do NOT coexist well with each other, and more than one will not be found on a single planet.
Xal’atath’s real form is not known to many of the cult members, and even amongst the Inner Circle, only a few have ever seen it. However, Xal’atath is capable of taking a human form that helps appeal more to its mating partners. However, Xal’atath cannot leave the tunnels under the commune in its human form.
Xal’atath’s diet consists primarily of the minds of its followers, which allows it to consume that follower’s knowledge. Xal’atath will also occasionally eat the bodies of its followers, which allows it to consume traits to pass on to offspring.
Xal’atath sense of self is not influenced by what they consume. As such, Xal’atath is chaotic neutral. Xal’atath is neither benevolent or malevolent, because it doesn’t seek to help or hurt humanity for any specific reasons. It just seeks to expand its knowledge base, which in turn, helps grow its powers.
One of the main goals for Xal’atath’s race is to propagate and spread more of its kind across the vast universe. However, as highly advanced and powerful species, they struggle to reproduce. Because of this, Xal’atath will mate frequently to increase the chances of viable offspring. Xal’atath prefers consensual partners, which is one of the main reasons for the cult’s existence and indoctrination tactics.
Xal’atath’s primary form of reproduction is oviposition. Xal’atath possesses tentacles which are capable of inserting “eggs” into its mating partners. These “eggs” carry a mix of traits from Xal’atath and whoever he’s “consumed”. Because of this, the cult believes that any child born from Xal’atath’s oviposition are gifts from the eldritch being. Children born from oviposition don’t particularly resemble any singular cult member, which makes them stand out from children born from monogamous couples. Children born from oviposition also have a chance of becoming the same kind of eldritch being as Xal’atath after a period of grooming.
Xal’atath has a range of powers. Its general powers include enhanced strength, telepathy/telepathic communication, and mind control/mind manipulation.
The most important ability Xal’atath has though is the amassing of knowledge from those they consume, and the ability to link themselves to its vessels like a hive mind and share knowledge/experience/skills. However, vessels vary in their ability to handle the knowledge and connections to Xal’atath, and that can cause them to “break” mentally.
Xal’atath’s primary goals are propagation, satiation of its curiosity, and the growth of its knowledge. Because of this, Xal’atath stays with the cult willingly, as they provide him an easy source of sex, knowledge, and food. Instinctively, Xal’atath seeks the domination of the world on which it landed, but it's not the driving force of Xal’atath’s actions.