Cult of the Mothman

The Cult of the Mothman, or simply Mothman Cult, is a pre-War religious faction in Appalachia that worships the Mothman.

Background
The Cult of the Mothman had been worshiping the supposed divine being known as the Mothman in secret since long before the Great War, viewing him as a way to tell of the future and frequently attempted to summon him to do as such. They also sought out the creature in order to obtain blessings, as well as immortality and divinity.

On October 22, 2077, only a day before nuclear armageddon was unleashed across the world, the cult conducted a ritual to summon the Mothman. One member identified as Brother Charles claimed that the ritual succeeded and the Mothman had warned him of a terrible flood that would occur the next day that could only be survived by reaching high ground. The cult took this warning seriously and informed its other members. Ultimately, the cult members would settle in the abandoned Lucky Hole mine. The group actually purchased the abandoned Lucky Hole mine after a Brother Charles allegedly met the Mothman and was instructed a "great flood" would occur on the same day as the Great War.

The group took it to heart and sought shelter in the Lucky Hole mine, despite the fact they initially were instructed by the Priestess to go on the roofs. The only corpses found on the roofs are that of the Responders that took over the town after them. After the entrance into the mine, the group constructed numerous shanty housings and shrines throughout. It is obvious that the group deviated from the original deity of the Mothman, as evident from the numerous holotapes of Jeff Lane that can be found in Point Pleasant and Lucky Hole mine. He describes the Mothman as a "creature" but expresses desires to seek out the hidden horrors of his mind; a very clear tie to many plot points in the real-life Lovecraft series. This came to fruition with "the Interloper," who contacted Jeff Lane and others in the Lucky Hole mine through some sort of psychosis, luring them deeper into the mine to find him. At this time, Jeff Lane expressed himself as a "vessel" for the Interloper. It is unclear exactly if Jeff Lane is dead or not, but it is highly implied by the bodies found around the Interloper that one of them might be him.

By 2103 The group returned en masse and thrived in Appalachia, their self-proclaimed holy ground, driving out or otherwise destroying those that would oppose them or their beliefs. Settling around the region, including Point Pleasant and Kanawha County Cemetery, the Cult of the Mothman grew once more. One cultist mentioned that a portion of their return was in order to find a famous deceased entomologist by the name of Dr. Wallace, who had written a thesis paper on the studies of moths in the region.

Organization
The group was led by an unnamed High Priestess (later known as the First Priestess of the Wood) that led the group's religious prayers and to the short-lived sanctuary in the Lucky Hole mine. It is unknown what happened to her, though it is highly likely she is one of the skeletons in the mine, either the one in the coffin where the note is found (possibly a human sacrifice or cannibalized) or one of the ones in front of the Interloper.

The cult has a small underground meeting area in one of the buildings in Point Pleasant, and they also have several unmarked shrine locations throughout Appalachia such as:
 * Sunken church near Raleigh Clay's bunker.
 * Inside the church in Helvetia.
 * Shrine east of Bleeding Kate's Grindhouse.
 * Shrine at Kanawha County Cemetery.

Technology
The Cult of the Mothman is very primitive in nature, using a combination of wood, bones, wire, leather, vines, and cloth to construct their armor and shrines. For weaponry, the cultists stuck to melee, using scraps of metal and black titanium to construct blades and crudely fasten them to different parts of a deer bone and horn as handles. .

Interactions with the player character
Sites of the cult's influence can be found across Appalachia, especially in regions such as the Forest and the Mire. The sites themselves can be as small as unmarked thickets with ritual totems and corpses, to as large as the labyrinthine depths of the Lucky Hole mine.

The ritual bindings and ritual mask are clothing items of the cult's make, and can commonly be found in areas of their influence. The cultist dagger and cultist blade are weapons of similar origin.

The cult makes a return in the Wastelanders add-on. The cult can be found in Point Pleasant but also wandering around Appalachia and will attack the player character on sight. There is no known way to join the cult.

Notable members

 * Brother Moncrief
 * Bronx

Appearances
The Cult of the Mothman appears in Fallout 76 and its add-on Wastelanders.