Now, merely a week after they were brought in our care, many Lunarists show very clear signs of progress and recovery. Lunarisse came by and talked to them, confronting their beliefs that she is a prophet with reality. It is so much easier to deprogram cultists if the cult "leader" works along!
While the recovered now deal mostly with shame, there are some hardliners that do not accept what Lunarisse says, and prefer to believe they are being tricked by some evil entity. I found effigies of the "True Luna" in their quarters.
The True Luna has blonde hair, commands the Sefrim, has a decapitated Nauplius corpse at her feet, and will still come to deliver them and bring them back to the gas planet. She is called Aspenstar, not Phonaga. She is clad in gold and light emanates from her (the statuette has an opening for a small candle). She has helpers called Arias, who carry burlap bags and mallets to knock down unbelievers and drag them away.
Of course the True Luna is distinct from the Deceiver Luna, who wears a disguise to look and sound like the true one. They are convinced Phonaga is a word play on "Phony". Also, the Deceiver's helpers (that would be me and dr. Tekitsuno) are not Arias, we are false SFRIM.
I think they hang on to their belief with increasing despair because the alternative is maybe too humiliating or too painful to consider. I continue with the strategy of having the recovered cultists talk to them, but often the discussions become heated and have to be aborted. It seems the hard-core believers will need a lot more time to adjust back, and maybe even another approach altogether.
