Set



SET The Serpent God “Grim and horrific it brooded there, like the shadow cast by one of the apish gods that squat on the shadowy altars in the dark land of Stygia.” - The Phoenix on the Sword

Pantheon

 * Stygia - For further reading, see the Stygian Pantheon of Set

Names & Titles

 * Set, Father Set, Seth, Sutekh, Apep, the Old Serpent, the Great Serpent, the First Serpent, the Ancient Serpent, the World Serpent, the Chaos Serpent, the Serpent God, Serpent Emperor of the Waters, Damballah (Black Coast)

Regions of Worship
Stygia and regions with strong Stygian influence, such as Kush and certain degenerate cults of Shem, and in secret by dark sorcerers everywhere. Set’s cult is outlawed by the Hyborians, who regard Set as the arch-enemy of Mitra. Setites are feared and are killed when discovered. Stygia is synonymous with the worship of Set.

Divine Relationships

 * Derketo/a (Consort)
 * Mitra (Enemy)
 * Ibis (Enemy)
 * Morath-Aminee (Enemy)
 * Ishiti (daughter)

Representation
A gargantuan, dark serpent with a single head or seven heads. Set’s is often depicted as a scaled serpent, coiled, with its tail in its mouth.

Gender representation: Male, Paternal figure at times.

Symbolism

 * Serpent
 * The Ankh
 * The Knife
 * The Obelisk
 * The Regalia of the King (shepherd’s staff, flail, the crown with the Cobra of Set)
 * The Scarab (a solar symbol and rebirth)
 * The Sesheset (a tambourine-like instrument, also used by Hathor)

Spheres of Power

 * Chaos
 * Magic
 * Knowledge
 * Serpents
 * Darkness
 * Life
 * Resurrection
 * Creation
 * Transformation

Rituals & Beliefs
Set is worshipped in great festivals of sacrifice and also by more subtle means, such as by allowing a great serpent to wander the streets and declaring any who are eaten by it to be suitable offerings to the god. He may be willing to grant victory to one force on a battlefield if 500 or more virgin sacrifices are made to him the night before the battle. The specific rituals used to worship Set are a guarded mystery, but these are known to be gruesome, comprised of unspeakable rites and human sacrifices in grisly quantities. Human sacrifices innumerable are given to amorphous monsters from the Abyss held in deep pits and giant, drugged iridescent serpents coil in their temples.

The cult of Set and his grim pantheon is a sacramental and mystical religion. It is sacramental to commoners and becomes mystical to the priests when they are initiated into the Inner Mysteries. Worship is usually done by raising one's arms. This outstretching of the arms is done before all images of the gods. Religion in Stygia is about maintaining and justifying the culture. The Stygian religion is harsh, pervasive and oppressive but it certainly is not stupid and not given to acting stupidly or out of religious fanaticism. Set’s cult, unlike Mitra’s, does not bother teaching it is the only true church and that all the others are fundamentally flawed. Set’s cult simply does not care. Just that their gods are weaker, much like the minor Stygian gods in comparison to Set.

The mysterious Stygian religion is more about preserving a certain culture than it is about smiting other religions. Stygian priests are not evangelists nor missionaries. They do not try to win converts or spread their religion. Rather, the Stygian religion explains how things in the world work and how people should behave with the gods as supervisor of their lives and the hereafter. Their gods supervise aspects of their lives, that is all.

The basic tenets of Set’s religion include the following:
 * Correct Behavior
 * Religious Intolerance to Achieve Secular Power
 * Set Is Not 'Right,' Just Strong
 * Spiritual Truths, Not Worldly Truths
 * Veneration of Sacred Animals
 * Veneration of Statues (gods)
 * Veneration of the Dead

Mysteries: What it means to be an active follower of the Cult of Set is to learn its mysteries. Ancient records hints of more Mysteries long lost to history between nine and twelve. There are seven known Mysteries in the Cult of Set. Mysteries is a more defined version of knowledge for the highly symbolic faith. While most commoners believe in the outward myths and rituals, those initiates who delve into the mysteries learn that things are not as literal as they once believed, with deeper spiritual truths.

For the cult of Set this knowledge about these mysteries eventually leads to its adherents loosing both their humanity and their morals as they learn that life is a minor thing. Instead they achieve understanding of life and its origins and undergo horrible initiation rites to test the willpower of those desiring to understand everything behind the cult. Those who survive the deadly initiations eventually understand the true nature of power and can manipulate the universe around them to their own ends. As a polytheistic pantheon adherents may learn mysteries from multiple gods. For example the mysteries of Bast, Sobek, Set etc.

The Priesthood
The priests of Stygia, largely composed of priests of Set, hold the reins of power, both in government and in temple hierarchies. A stygian priest does not necessarily mean a religious leader. Priests often specialize in some function or other, such as sacrifices or sorcery. Some priests function as diplomats and foreign dignitaries, other priests function as doctors.

Anyone serving a function for a temple or the government is called a priest. The most able in society are found and invited to join the priesthood, allowed to move up in society and allowed to supervise others once the training is complete. Priests also hand their positions down from father to son. There are five main divisions to the various temples of Stygia: the House of the Black Circle, the Harem of the God, The Laborers, The Craftsmen, The Administrators. Other than the priests of the House of the Black Circle, the various divisions do not really outrank each other. An acolyte priest of potters has the same standing as an acolyte priest of astrology.

An important consideration for the priests is purity. Priests are held to a higher standard than the general population. Priests wash several times per day in ritual pools and remove all body hair to ensure purity to approach their god. Priests must be circumcised. Priests may not eat fish, which is believed to be an impure, peasant food. Another duty in regards to purity lies in their clothing choices. Priests do not wear leather sandals or wool clothing, which Set has deemed to be unclean. However, Sem priests are permitted to wear a leopard skin. Priests wear a mantle to indicate their rank and status in the temple. Priests may wear papyrus sandals.

The priests of Set are largely all sorcerers, and they terrify their subjects as well as their enemies. Many are corrupt, mad, or both – and even the relatively sane ones are usually quite willing to sacrifice their own followers. The most powerful of these priests are members of the Black Ring. These priests gather in sacred spots to perform their rituals, such as the colossal pyramids that dot the Stygian landscape, ancient ruins that bring magic and mystery to the priests and horror to all others. The priests of Set form the entire government of Stygia, creating in them a vested interest in the continuation of the religion.

Implementation IC & In-Game
Vanilla Set religion. Set plays a huge role in Conan Exiles lore and the main plot is related to an artifact that holds his power.

More Information

 * Faith and Fervour (Conan RPG Book)
 * Stygia - The Serpent of the South (Conan RPG Book)
 * Return to the Road of Kings (Conan RPG Book)