Set

From PathfinderWiki
Set
Set
(Deity)

Titles
Lord of the Dark Desert
Alignment
Areas of Concern
Darkness
Deserts
Murder
Storms
Edicts
Bring chaos to society, murder those who stand in your way, defeat your foes with personal strength and cunning, kill fiends
Anathema
Permit the spread of the desert to fertile lands, refuse to fight your own battles, aid Apep or other omnicidal gods
Follower Alignments (1E)
Domains (1E)
Darkness, Death, Evil, Madness, Weather
Subdomains (1E)
Daemon, Loss, Murder, Nightmare, Storms, Undead
Follower Alignments (2E)
Sanctification (2E)
Can choose holy or unholy
Domains (2E)
Darkness, death, dust, lightning
Alternate: Destruction
Favored Weapon
Symbol
Sha head
Sacred Animal
Sha
Sacred Colors
Red, yellow
Source: Empty Graves, pg(s). 74 (1E)
Divine Mysteries Web Supplement, pg(s). 6 (2E)
The religious symbol, sacred animal, and sacred color for this deity are listed exclusively in the Divine Mysteries Web Supplement. Alignment details sourced from Empty Graves and Book of the Dead 133. In Book of the Dead, Seet lacked the destruction alternate domain and his edicts and anathema were different; see Talk:Set/Conflicts.

Set is a member of the Osirian pantheon1 whose portfolio involves darkness, deserts, murder, and storms. Set personifies evil and is the pantheon's most reviled member.2

Appearance

Set appears as a lean Osirian man with the head of a sha.2

Relationships

A family tree of the Osirian pantheon.

Set is the brother of Isis, Osiris, and Nephthys. According to Osirian folklore, Set was responsible for the Age of Darkness by murdering Osiris, scattering his corpse, and trying to usurp him.3

As a result, both Osiris and his son Horus are Set's enemies. While Isis is also Set's sister, she also considers Set to be a sworn enemy. Although Nephthys is nominally his wife, she has no children with him—Osiris fathered her son Anubis—and she usually supports Osiris and Isis over him.3

Set also fights with Anubis over the souls of the dead. Anubis wants to deliver them to the Boneyard, while Set wants to steal them or turn them into undead. Due to his destructive nature, he is also opposed to Bes, Khepri, Ptah, and Maat.3

Set has a son with Neith called Sobek, who sometimes supports his father. Neith has occasionally worked as a mediator between Set and Horus.24

Scholars suggest that Set might have a secret accord with the elemental lord Hshurha, Duchess of All Winds, who is also an inveterate schemer and force for destruction across the Elemental Plane of Air.5

Worshippers

Set is worshipped by barbarians, warriors, evil druids, kinslayers, murderers, usurpers, and pharaohs who value strength and cunning. He is also a patron of assassins, rogues, and necromancers.2

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.

  1. The deities Ra, Horus, Anubis, Osiris, Ma'at, Isis, and Thoth stopped answering prayers in 4724 AR after events described in War of Immortals. The ramifications of this change in this context might not yet be defined in a canon source. See Meta:Osirian pantheon.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Robert G. McCreary. “Gods of Ancient Osirion” in Empty Graves, 74. Paizo Inc., 2014
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Robert G. McCreary. “Gods of Ancient Osirion” in Empty Graves, 69–72. Paizo Inc., 2014
  4. Robert G. McCreary. “Gods of Ancient Osirion” in Empty Graves, 70. Paizo Inc., 2014
  5. Logan Bonner, et al. “Air” in Rage of Elements, 68. Paizo Inc., 2023