The Enlightened Seekers of Valhalla

-=San Francisco=-

The Temple of the Mother of Vision is a former organization based loosely on Norse theology that has been unknowingly transformed into a pigment cult that is a front for the Missionary Works of the Holy Ghost.

The Temple's founder is Thomas Hornady, a man who considered himself prone to "mysical visions", while others saw him as prone to being a nutjob. During one of his experiments, she tried pigment and saw a world both terrifying and fascinating. Hornady was so amazed by his experience, he encouraged others to try the drug; soon, some of her detractors became followers. As they saw many of the same things, such as the ghosts of certain people or demons lurking in the shadows, many saw him as a pioneer. The group began attracting some small-time press.

Soon after, an God named Helnger appeared to Hornady, pigment miraculously appeared everywhere in her house, and she soon formally formed the Enlightened Seekers of Valhalla. None of these were miracles; Helnger was, of course, a Flatliner by the name of Jason Hein, and was responsible for the extra pigment and her strange visions.

The God worshipped by many in the cult (at least in the beginning, anyway), is primitive god who encourages others to seek the answers behind life and death so that their lives might be more richly fufilled. Pigment is a large part of the "vision blessing", although some cultists just enjoy the free pigment and could care less about the so-called God. Higher levels in the cult see a cataclysmic event in the future, and are training many of these initiates as guides in the afterlife.

The cult uses isolation as a way to find new members, and uses a variety of methods, such as pigment addiction, diet and environment, and even plain old intimidation, to keep them in line.

The Enlightened Seekers has ten levels of initiation; the highest is only attainable through death when a member "becomes one with Helngr". Most members never go past level three; anything above falls only to truly loyal cultists who are capable of controlling and manipulating the lower levels. The ninth degree includes only three people, one of whom is, of course, Thomas Hornady.

Like the other front cults of the Missionary Works, particularly gifted members and sensitives are "promoted" to a higher cause: the dirty hands of Uriah Bishop himself.