Lore
Set is a Deity of storms and the desert, an elemental presence that reads like weather itself. Smell: the dry, sharp scent of sun‑baked sand laced with ozone and a faint metallic tang. Sound: a low, intermittent rumble—distant thunder and the dry hiss of wind through brittle reeds—broken by sudden, bone‑sharp cracks. Temperature: an arid, concentrated heat that can flare into a chilling gust, as if the air remembers lightning. Field note: where the shadow of the Set‑animal appears—long muzzle, square ears—the light grows harsher and dust gathers against the wind.
Origin: Ancient Egyptian • Upper Egypt / Desert Borderlands
Classification: Deity
Field Notes
Observations
- A sudden desert gust carrying the metallic tang of ozone and the fleeting silhouette of the Set‑animal in shadow.
Encounter Advice
- taboo: Do not mock or profane his image, never break oaths sworn in his name, and avoid desecrating desert cairns or standards dedicated to him; such slights are said to invite storms and ill favor.
- reverence: Mark boundaries with a sign or offering before crossing wild or desert spaces. During tempests or drought, present incense (cedar or myrrh) and libations, speak his name with formal respect, and acknowledge his dual role as a fierce force and guardian of the sun's passage.
- offering: Smoke of myrrh or cedar, libations (beer or wine), and red jasper or native salt left at a threshold or cairn.
Abilities
- Dismember and ScatterRends a rival and scatters their body and name across the land, severing their claim to kingship and preventing resurrection until collected.
- Desert MaelstromConjures a supernatural sandstorm that erases landmarks, blinds armies and strips wards of their order-bound power.
- Seth-Animal GuiseAssumes the form of the enigmatic 'Seth-animal', gaining predatory senses and unnatural speed while sowing fear in beasts and men.
- Kingship SubversionWhispers chaos into courts and rites, undermining a ruler's legitimacy so that oaths, coronations and dynastic seals begin to fail.
Weaknesses
- Isis's RestorationRituals of Isis that recover and reassemble a scattered body can undo Set's dismemberments and restore the victim's claim.
- Ma'at's BalancePurifying rites invoking Ma'at rebalance disorder and blunt Set's chaotic storms and legitimacy-sapping influence.
- Horus's RetributionThe avenging force and rituals of Horus wound Set directly and can force him to retreat from contested thrones.
Lore Check: SetQuestion 1/15