Akhu

Akhu (often called Setite Sorcery by outsiders) is the ancient magical tradition of the Followers of Set. In Egypt's heyday, before its conversion to Christianity at the hands of the Roman Empire, magic was commonplace, practised by mortal and vampire alike. Egyptians had several words for magic; the Setites used Heka (literally "magic") to refer to mortal magic, and Ahku ("spells") for their blood sorcery.

Practitioners of Akhu are known as lector-priests, and they believe their magical power is drawn from Set himself. Their practices are near-identical to those of mortal Egyptian sorcerers, involving images, effigies, stories, names and words. Their most important tool, however, is the blasphemy-shrine, a ritual chamber in which the lector-priest defiles the bodies and belongings of the dead in an emulation of Set's blasphemous dismemberment of his murdered brother Osiris. This perversion of traditional Egyptian burial customs unleashes power which fuels the lector-priest's spells, allowing them to perform sorcery without the expenditure of Vitae. The magic need not be performed at the shrine, but it must be maintained for the magic to work.

The sacred book of Set's lore, The Book of Going Forth by Night, contains only a few key instructions for performing Akhu. Most importantly, it details how to construct a blasphemy-shrine, and some of the rituals that can be performed on the dead and their grave goods there. It also contains rituals for creating consecrated copies of itself, for brewing sacramental blood beer, and to "open the gate", or draw directly on the power of the dead to grant energy to the lector-priest, rather than power spells. All other knowledge of Akhu is drawn from the magical lore of Egypt, preserved by the Setites.

The knowledge required to make use of Akhu is vast: not only must a lector-priest understand the Egyptian lore of death, but also know the names of hundreds of gods, seek out the proper knowledge of the ancient Egyptian language, and must honour Set at least once a month in their properly constructed blasphemy-shrine.

Paths
The following paths are unique to Akhu:


 * The Snake Inside - a path which creates and manipulates addiction in others. (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy, p. 116; also errata in Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion, p. 14)
 * Path of the Dry Nile - a path which corrupts and counters positive aspects of life, including trust, love, beauty and hope. (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy, p. 116)
 * Divine Hand - a powerful form of sympathetic magic, able to affect targets at any distance through the use of models. (Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion, p. 24)
 * Path of Duat - inflicts various psychological curses on a victim, all aspects of the dark Egyptian land of the dead, Duat. (Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion, p. 26)
 * Ushabti - the creation of servants from figurines meant to represent those who will serve after death. (Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion, p. 27)

In addition to the above, lector-priests know many paths also used by Thaumaturgy, though they are known by different names and practised in the Akhu style. The paths have nothing in common but their effects, and in most cases the Setite path is actually older than the Tremere one. Where names differ, the Thaumaturgical name is listed along with the reference.


 * Alchemy (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy, p. 68)
 * Path of Ptah (The Path of Conjuring; Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition, p. 181)
 * The False Heart (The Path of Corruption; Guide to the Camarilla, p. 102)
 * Sebau's Touch (Path of Curses; Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy, p. 78)
 * Path of Thoth (The Focused Mind; Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy, p. 71)
 * Valour of Sutekh (Path of Mars; Guide to the Sabbat, p. 116)
 * Vengeance of Khnum (Mastery of the Mortal Shell; Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy, p. 73)
 * Path of Anubis (Spirit Manipulation; Guide to the Camarilla, p. 106)
 * The Breath of Set (Weather Control; Guide to the Camarilla p. 108)