The Enlightened

The Enlightened are a henotheistic religious sect in the Architect Verse. They are known to worship all of The Fears, whom they believe to be Gods who have lost some of their power after the much more powerful "God" was imprisoned in The Gate. In most stories, they are a terrorist organization, believing that their world will crumble in the near future when The Architect is released into Kryesor by the Marked.

Background
The Enlightened's origins come from a speaker named Andonsar. A great mind of his time, Andonsar envisioned a brighter future, governed by a cult of "supreme enlightenment". Much influence for The Enlightened's creation comes from the infamous Illuminati. The Enlightened may have, at one time, been a branch of the Illuminati in the Architect Verse timeline. Historical evidence and documents suggest The Enlightened's existence dating back to almost 1200 AD.

Most of their intentions are unknown, but they are often known to stalk and prey on people that have been "Marked", Runners who have had at least one encounter with the Fears and found a marking on their hand shortly afterwards. The Enlightened believe that the Marked are the direct descendants of Andonsar, holding a fraction of his DNA, and with it the ability to access The Gate.

The Enlightened can be found in almost every Architect Verse, albeit differing slightly in each one. The cause of the Enlightened retaining their basic beliefs despite being in another universe is unknown, even to the Architect himself. The amount of people in the Enlightened varies in each Architect Verse, but in each one they hold strong connections to the Sentience, an anarchist religious group that worships the Slender Man. It is highly speculated that their connection comes from the Architect and Pawns being mentioned in the Sentience's holy texts, as well as a shared hatred of the Timberwolves.

Many former Pawns have left The Brotherhood of Exiles to become members of The Enlightened. This may be caused by them partially retaining a psychic link to The Architect, and may explain the reasoning of why former Pawns, such as Capper, have done so.

Although they are extremely secretive to the public and the media, The Enlightened have many hidden churches throughout many different Architect Verses. Each of these churches has been blessed by a "High Priest", influential members of the order who are believed to be a prophets sent by The Architect to help "spread Enlightenment" throughout the world. Many of these High Priests are in fact Spoken, who have been sent to regulate and monitor The Enlightened's actions, often manipulating them into doing The Architect's bidding.

Trivia

 * The Enlightened are known for their liking of cryptology, generally speaking in letter to number words during communication over Twitter, Youtube or other forms of social media.