In the 18th century, the Oannes Society was formed by a splinter group of dissidents of the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra when two separate groups argued over the origins of the god Atum on which the other side that formed the Society steadfastly believed that Atum was "born from the sea." Since then the Oannes Society became a rival to the H.B.R. and maintains that life and all knowledge having come from the sea. But, the Society fares little members in comparison to the Brotherhood. Among their members was Langdon Everett Caul, whose underwater sea-exploring caused his transformation into Abe Sapien. Right after Sapien's transformation, the Society believed him to be the embodiment of Oannes and kept him in a preservation tank. Apparently the society was somehow connected to President Abrah