Set (VTM)


 * Not to be confused with Seth, the fourth mortal.

Set, also known as Sutekh, is a Typhonist and worshiper of Apep the Serpent. He was Embraced by one of Caine's childer, believed to be about two millennia prior to the first pharaonic dynasty, which began around 3000 BC. He is an Antediluvian who became the Typhon of an ancient cult, originally known as the Snake Clan. They are the Followers of Set who are trained in the Discipline of Serpentis. This cult's main enemy are the Children of Osiris, whom they've battled for millennia. After Set's last battle with Osiris, in 33 BCE, he disappeared, perhaps in torpor somewhere under the desert sands of Egypt.

Origins
Set was once a mortal man, born on the river Nile of Egypt, almost 7,000 years ago. He was a great hunter and warrior who always rivaled was his elder brother Osiris. They were the grandchildren of Ra, a mighty chieftain who conquered the people of the Nile uniting Upper and Lower Egypt.

The deaths of Set's parents, Geb and Nut, was ordered by Ra who felt that they had betrayed him for having additional offspring. Ra felt threatened by having royal bloodlines and commanded that they must not bear children. Set was anguished by the order of his parent's death, and his voice in the matter subjected him to banishment. Osiris, on the other hand, possibly out of fear, expressed loyalty to Ra and became heir to throne. After the death of Ra, Osiris took control over the kingdom, declared his grandfather as divine and promoted worship of him as a god. Set returned to his brother Osiris, in hopes of reconciling. However, his reigning brother continued the order of banishment. Therefore, Set took on the name "Sutekh" and travelled north to Assyria. During his journey, he encountered his sire, who is thought to be Zillah.

According to the Malkavians, Set was a "brother", more likely a Kindred brother, to Malkav and Saulot. Set was presumably in Enoch at some point and then took residence in the Second City after the Great Deluge. The Ventrue say that he was banished from the Second City, by Malkav, for eating the heart of his twin sister, Arikel.

As the legend continues, Set returns to Egypt to strike down King Osiris and his son Horus. Taking Egypt as his own, Set ruled in power - and perhaps (or perhaps not) sought to free mankind from the bonds of law imposed by Ra. Whatever the truth may be, Horus came back from death as a Mummy and sought vengeance for his father's destruction, ejecting Set from the throne of Egypt and beginning a crusade that would consume millennia.

Set the God
There are some Setites who reject the notion that their "Founder" was ever mortal, or even embraced. Instead, there is the belief that Set, Osiris, Isis and Horus were all truly gods. After his nephew's triumph, Set was cast down to Duat, the Egyptian land of the dead, to rule as the God of Storms. There, he bested Apep, the great serpent of the Underworld, and took the creature's power as his own. He learned that Ra, Osiris and Horus all hid the truth from mortals: that human souls were not fundamentally different from those of the gods, and that only ignorance of what was possible prevented them from attaining great power.

Determined to get revenge, and to liberate the souls of humanity, Set snuck out of Duat using his new powers. As a creature of darkness, castrated by Horus, he was no longer able to walk in Ra's light or sire children, but by night he recruited twelve talented Disciples. He taught them the truth, and together they swore an oath to bring down Ra and the other false gods and become gods themselves. Set mingled his blood with that of his Disciples and when they drank of it, he gave up the greater share of his power, granting all thirteen almost equal might (though as a true god, he remained the most powerful).

Their meeting did not go unnoticed, however; the Moon, whom Set thought he could trust, betrayed him to the other gods. Seeing their blood oath, Ra interrupted the meeting and cursed them all to feed only on the blood of others, and shared Set's curses of darkness and impotence upon his Disciples as well. The Disciples, fearful for their lives, betrayed Set and his teachings and begged forgiveness, and so Set swore to destroy them all.

Final Nights
After a brief awakening shortly after the Crucifixion in 33 AD, Set disappeared from view and has not been seen in the modern era. In the Final Nights, however, many signs and portents seem to indicate the impending rebirth of Set and/or his most powerful childer. The opening fiction of revolves around one such event, and Set himself is involved in most of the Gehenna scenarios in varying degrees.