History

Archeological evidence indicated the Los Illuminatos cult, Plaga worship in Valelobos village for thousands of years.  Archeologists even found cave drawings indicating human sacrifice suggesting these theories.  There's even been a discovery of an ancient city found beneath Salazar Castle, suggesting a connection.

Fall Into Exile

Evidence indicates that the Los Illuminatos was worshipped by many in Valelobos village until the government sanctioned were carried out by Gregorio Salazar, the first count in Valelobos to restore Catholicism in the region.  Some believe that the Los Illuminatos existed in the region before the time of Reconquista and suffered persecution in the 1500s. Some others believe the cult was placed in the post-Reconquista time being destroyed in the 18th century.  By 1554, the cult emerged as a Christian sect as dated by the Prophet Adam Saddler, the original founder of Los Illuminatos and was destroyed in 1741 by the then Prophet Hester Saddler.  The castle dwellers, the Salazar family, was self-committed to prevent a re-emergence while the Los Illuminatos Adam Saddler descendants vowed to keep going. 

Revival

The Los Illuminatos cult was revived by Lord Osmund Saddler in the 1990s.  Believers believed that Osmund Saddler's background varied.  One possibility is he was an outsider who revived the cult for his own purposes and another possible background lays him to be heir to Adam Saddler, who truly believed in Los Illuminatos beliefs.  Regardless, Saddler changed the religious practice of the cult to seeking technology to use as proselytism.  Posing as a healer, Saddler arrived in Valelobos with the means of treating the infirm Ramon Salazar.  In return, Ramon Salazar grew up to idolize Saddler, thus converting himself to Los Illuminatos.  Salazar ordered the caverns beneath the family castle be reopened to Saddler could use the underground ancient ruined city to gain access to Plaga remains, which the remains could be used for a cloning project.

When Salazar released the seal to the underground ruins, he found out the Plagas have been dead for a long time ago.  However, their remains spores still remain alive and active today.  Evidence confirms that the miners that located the ruined city had gotten sick after the excavation began and were in condition of regenerating new complete bodies.  Utilizing the Plaga, Saddler perfected the organisms to take implementing Las Plagas into a living host.

Cult followers were injected with the Plagas along with the locals who became cult worshippers. Saddler implanted himself with a dominate species of the Plaga, which gave direct control over others, using lieutenants with augmented Plaga to control and monitor the Ganado in the area.

The villagers returned to their lives to live as close to a former normal life as they could.  They farmed, attended church services, acting as guards at the Salazar castle, or working in the mines while the cult zealots would perform dark rituals and human sacrifices in the name of their leader Lord Saddler, by kidnapping people who passed by the area and killing them for religious beliefs.  The farm animals in the area became weaker as the villagers decreased in intelligence and hygiene causing them to not care for them as well.

Saddler's Plan

Before the fall season of 2004, American agent Jack Krauser, while working secretly for Albert Wesker, arrived at the village in search of the parasite.  He was later hired by Saddler to kidnap the US president's daughter Ashley Graham as part of a plan to use her to infect her with the Las Plagas and return her to the president infected starting the task to take over the world.  Saddler kept a mental note that in order to take over the United States, the Las Plagas parasites would need to spread towards those that surround the president's decision makers: Congress, the Department Of Justice, military government agencies and large companies.

If that plan had failed, Plan B would be to use Saddler's paramilitary armed forces to infiltrate the United States and cause discord from within, converting those to the Los Illuminatos cult.  Ada Wong, who now works for an unknown organization, and subordinate to Wesker, destabilized Plan B by sinking the militia's worship located at the island base.  Following the death of Saddler, by Leon S. Kennedy, the infected Ganado started to slowly die from the parasites within them because of Saddler's master Plaga was killed, killed the Ganado when the island base was destroyed.

Alliance With Glen Arias

What remained of Los Illuminatos after the 2004 raid still remained active in the region of Spain.  They were however hindered greatly due to the death of Saddler and condemnation of the world.  The Spanish government went in and enacted heavy sanctions on the village region, sending troops to the village and exterminate anyone who carried the Plagas parasites and imposed quarantine for the Los Illuminatos due to the posing threat of wild Plaga which still was infecting people who returned to their homes.

While most of the Los Illuminatos lived peacefully in the village while under lockdown, being self-reliant disturbed the outsiders a small devout sect that vowed revenge against Leon Kennedy and the American government.  Patricio, lived in the United States as a mole for American intelligence organizations was contacted by The Family in 2014. Being given heavy scrutiny by Leon Kennedy in the fallout of the 2013 bioterrorist attacks, The Family provided Patricio and the Los Illuminatos cult with enough information to start a bioterrorist attack on Washington D.C. during the investigation of U.S. Senator Steven Air, of Maryland.  This lead to the eradication of an entire metropolitan S.W.A.T. team and three government employees in a car bombing. 

Shortly later, the Los Illuminatos aligned themselves with an arms dealer named Glen Arias, assisting him in providing specimens of the Plaga for the usage of creating the A-Virus, which he planned to use in a bioterrorist attack in the heart of New York City.  With great fears and concerns for the safety of his family Patricio located Leon in a Colorado hotel to try to ask for his help.  Patricio was shot while Leon and Chris Redfield questioned him by one of Arias' mutated agents, Diego Gomez, and died before he could give vital information to Leon. Arias' attack on New York City was temporarily successful until Chris Redfield and Leon infiltrated his building, fighting him and Diego off, killing them both, then with the added help from Rebecca Chambers, sprayed the vaccine gas, curing the infected citizens.   

Cultural Practices

The worshippers of the Los Illuminatos cult regularly congregated in places of worship, such as the church in the village for example.  The ringing of the bells signaled the villagers to arrive for worship.  A cave on the other side of the stone quarry was used for human sacrifices. 

The cult also operated in the Salazar family castle.  Monks, called cultists, wore robes either black, purple or red depending on ranks.  Some of them wore metal masks, or goat skulls used as a mask.  Among these cultists, ritual tattooing was common practice, though their heads were concealed.  All the monks were known to be hairless and very pale skinned but that could be because of the parasite infections, but that's unsure of.  Some of these monks performed their own rituals, worshipping a blood-soaked knife with the cult's insignia on the blade.

Militant Organization

The Los Illuminatos controlled a paramilitary group, dubbed the combatants.  These Ganados were stationed on the island base, and served as a strong guardsmen to protect the cultist's bioweapon research.  The Los Illuminatos combatants group was badly beaten by the efforts of Leon Kennedy and Ada Wong after they arrived at the island after the Salazar Castle. 

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