Set

Zorlax's picture

- a forgotten realms/planescape approach. Updated for new site layout.

SET

The Lord of Evil, Defiler of the Dead, Outcast of the Gods, Lord of Carrion, Father of Jackals, Brother of Serpents, King of Malice

Intermediate/Greater Power
Holy Symbol: Coiled Cobra
Home Plane/Realm: Baator-Stygia/Ankhwugat-The Black Pyramid
Alignment: Lawful evil
Aliases: Sseth (and all his aspects like Merrshaulk, Ssharstrune; see Serpent Kingdoms)
Portfolio: desert, destruction, drought , storms, night, rot, jackals, snakes, poison, hate, betrayal, ambition, murder, evil magic

Dogma: The ends justify the means, and life is a struggle to be won by the powerful and the ruthless. Loyalty to one's comrades is admirable as long as it advances the cause of Set. And in the end, when Set accedes to his rightful throne, those that have served him well will be justly rewarded. Destroy the clergies of Horus-Re and Osiris, thus accelerating Set's establishment at his rightful place as god-king of Mulhorand, and spread the cult of Set throughout the world. Sacrifice both wealth and sentients to Set. (copyright WotC)

Appearance: Set most often appears as a donkey-headed humanoid with a forked reptile tail, but also assumes the forms of his servitor creatures. Since he imprisoned the yuan-ti Sseth, he more often appears more snake-like.
Character: Set's actions are motivated by jealousy and greed. He revels his dark and destructive ways, but is highly intelligent and calculating. He takes good care of his followers, but is always ready to exploit their loyality if need be. Set never laughs except when relishing in the pain of others.
Manifestations: rattlesnake rattles, jackal skulls, hissing noises in the wind, tracks of serpents in sand or dust, serpent shadows, appearances of mummies, the Set hieroglyph appearing in sand formations.
Signs of Favor: rattlesnake rattles, jackal skulls, the Set hieroglyph appearing in sand formations
Worshipers: Evil and ambitious assassins, rogues, thieves, tomb robbers, and wizards; humans, yuan-ti
Servitor Creatures: bezekira, flame snakes (lesser, ordinary, and greater), hell hounds, jackal lords, jackalweres, minions of Set, nightmares, venomous serpents (all types, particularly fiendish), yuan-ti (and sarrukh), undead (especially mummified creatures)
Known Proxies: Nekrotheptis Skorpios (LE male minion of set fighter/rogue; recently killed by Orcus as Tenebrous); Omikrostis (LE male greater mummy cleric); Irisiri (NE female human wizard or sorcerer)

Clerics
The church of Set is ordered into a strict hierarchy headed by the god himself. Set's clerics spend their days scheming and manipulating others, also followers of different deities or various criminal organisation towards overthrowing the present order in Mulhorand. The church is sponsored by brigands and tomb robbers, and also heads or influences thief guilds and orders of assassins.
Alignments: LN, LE, NE (Clerics worshiping the Sseth choose from CN, NE, and CE)
Appropiate Domains: Darkness, Destruction, Evil, Hatred, Law, Magic, Sand ( Sandstorm ), Scalykind, Suffering, Trickery, Weather (Complete Divine)
Favored Weapon: „The Spear of Darkness“ (any spear)
Prayer Time: Night
Holy Days: Test of Venom (initiation rite), Reconsecrations (de-consecrations of graves)

Prime Material Influence
Set is anathema to the Faerûnian Mulhorandi pantheon, he is the patron of most evil creatures and characters in the desert kingdom, and also tries to expand his influence to Unther.
During the Times of Troubles, Set imprisoned the yuan-ti god Sseth in magical slumber and now masquerades as the deity and its aspects. (See Serpent Kingdoms for more information on the role of the Sarrukh creator race in this.)
He also manifests on many other primes where the 'Pantheon of Heliopolis' is worshiped, and his views and appearances may differ from those portrayed here.

Divine Relations
Part of Mulhorandi (Egyptian) Pantheon. Son of Geb and Nut, Ex-husband and brother of Nephthys, also brother to Isis and Osiris.
Allies: Apophis (influenced), Sebek (son), Sseth (imprisoned), Tiamat
Foes: Anhur, Asmodeus (possibly), Azuth, Bane, Cyric, Geb, Hathor, Horus-Re, Isis, Levistus, Mask, Mystra, Nephthys, Orcus, Osiris, Sharess (Bast), Shekinester, Talos, Thoth

Planar Politics
Although Set is enemy to all other Mulhorandi gods (with the exception of Sebek), he is also very protective of the pantheon as a whole. He stands guard on Horus-Re's solar barge on his nightly journeys through the underworld, protecting him against Apophis, the Serpent of the Underworld; and loathes all Faerûnian gods who try to expand into Mulhorand or want his power.
Set keeps Apophis in check and can direct the stupid Serpent's actions. Adding the imprisoned yuan-ti god Sseth's chaotic powers, Set can manipulate abyssal hosts into his service. Some powerful mariliths and old-school Sarrukh do not like to see Set in control their masters, and try to free them from the Brother of Serpent's influence.
The Baatezu aren't happy either about Set's connection to the abyssal planes, and rumors of Set wishing to have all of Stygia as his own or trying to form a new outer plane altogether does not add to Set's already strained relations with the ice-entombed archdevil Levistus sharing the Fifth Hell with him.
Shekinester feels contested by Set's dominion over snakekind and is busy keeping her children, the naga, from his influence; Osiris's ally Anubis and the halfling god Urogalan despise Set for undermining jackals in their role as guardians of the dead. As Set is trying to expand into Unther with Mulhorand's conquering army, he will come into conflict with Tiamat the Dragon Queen and her 'reptilian' servants.

Planescape, Dungeons & Dragons, their logos, Wizards of the Coast, and the Wizards of the Coast logo are ©2008, Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro Inc. and used with permission.