Church of Heph

"One day, we will all face Heph. But facing does not equate to understanding what is, or even that it is that you are facing. The unprepared will stare right at Heph, and still not know what to look for."

The Church of Heph [pronounced "hef"] is a highly secretive religious organization. Very little is known about this belief system by the public at large, but it is documented to be well-established in some of Fortune City's wealthiest social circles. Several celebrities, both entertainers and businesspeople, have publically praised and endorsed the Church; very few of them have given any real insight into what the religion is about. The religion has often been accused of being a cult.

Heph - What we know

The Church's purpose, belief system, goals and structure are famously all extremely obscure subjects, but certain facts about the religion are (more or less) confirmed. The Church is believed to have been founded somewhere in the 2060s. CSD have stated that the organization today "most definitely" has less than 200 members. Several properties throughout Fortune City - office spaces, a few apartments and at least one warehouse in the North Industry Massive - are owned by the organization or known members of it. The exact purpose of any of these is largely unknown, since they are highly protected by private security and visitors are usually not appreciated.
The Church has no (human) leader known to the public: when asked, members have several times responded that Heph is "the only worth listening to" [sic]. This exact grammatical error being repeated several times by different people has made it clear that the avoiding of pronouns is deliberate, and that Heph is not referred to as an entity or even an object. (See the quote at the top of the article for further examples.) This has further fueled public speculation on what the concept of Heph actually is.
Other than "Heph" itself, other cryptic terms are commonly used by the religion to describe what seem like core beliefs. The Church talks about an "Arrival", presumably of Heph, and great emphasis is put on the importance of "Preparedness" for the arrival. Iruka N'kemdilim Uchi, professor of theology at Cinderton University, said this about the religion:

"While hidden in layers of mystery and unusual grammar, we can clearly see the basic structure of a typical 'doomsday cult' [in the Church of Heph]. Without running into wild accusations, let me say this: we have seen similar religions pop up in the past, catering to a similarly wealthy crowd. We do not know if the organization is wealthy in itself, but several things point to it - both its known members and the ownership of expensive real estate. If the Church of Heph is a doomsday cult, or preach anything with similar psychological impact as impending doom, there is a high risk of it being - simply put - an elaborate scam. Becoming one of the 'Prepared' may involve giving large sums of money to the church, for example. There are people who make a living off of selling 'apocalypse insurance', and the Church of Heph raises many red flags for me that could point in that direction."

The mythical, equally mysterious psychedelic drug Quadra has been linked to the religion on at least one occasion.

Perspective is Everything - Prepare Arrival - Heph Aeternum

Type

Secret, Religious sect

Demonym

AP (reportedly short for "arrival-prepared", though this has not been confirmed)