The Setite Clan: Followers of the Sleeping God

The Followers of Set are corrupt, hedonistic, and venal. They are evil incarnate, spreaders of disease, heresy, and dissolution. They devote themselves to their god and their sinful pleasures, and must be uprooted whenever discovered. Or at least that’s what most clans would have you believe. As always, their interpretation of the truth is selective at best. Set was one of the chief gods of the Egyptian pantheon.

The god of the desert and storms, he was a harsh god for a harsh land. Then the Ptolemies came, and the Romans after, and twisted the myths to suit their own purpose. Ptolemaic influence turned Set into a god of violence and chaos whose worship was gradually forgotten in favor of the gods of the Abrahamic faiths. And so the rest of the world remembers Set as an evil god best abandoned. The Followers of Set remember the truth. Set, not Caine, was the progenitor of all vampires. The myth of Caine is lies and propaganda, designed to Christianize vampires. Though Set disappeared from the world, it remains the duty of his faithful to spread his word.

Followers of Set actively seek to undermine Christian and Islamic rule in Europe. They do this not out of a love of chaos, which is anathema to Set. Instead, they seek not only the restoration of worship of their god, but to spread it across the known world. More than anyone, the Followers of Set know that religions are living things — they are born, flourish, and die. By working to eliminate the invasive influence of Christianity and Islam, they seek only to hasten the inevitable.

Sobriquet: Serpents, Followers of Set



Appearance: Followers of Set are mostly Egyptian or North African in origin. The few Europeans they Embrace tend to have red hair, which is seen as a blessing or sign of favor from Set. Styles of dress vary according to need. When traveling in less tolerant regions, Setites often dress in the style of North African merchants to avoid drawing undue attention. In the safety of their temples, however, they favor the linen robes of the old Egyptian priests.

Haven and Prey: Hatred of the sun god, Horus, and a need for secrecy lead many Followers of Set to places underground. They frequently establish centers of worship to Set in abandoned temples long-since buried or natural caverns. However, this is not always practical. Many Setites bow to necessity by establishing havens in port city slums, or risk maintaining a secure mobile haven as part of a trading caravan. Regardless of location, most Setites feed on the dregs of society who will not be missed, so as to not draw attention from those in power.

The Embrace: Followers of Set tend to recruit from within the ranks of the secret Set cults that they establish. Through these cults, they identify mortals with the cunning and charisma needed to survive and spread the worship of their god. Potential recruits often serve as ghoul retainers to their vampiric masters. Those with real promise are selected for the Embrace, while the weak remain as servants to their betters. The Embrace itself is a secret ritual that serves as the new childe’s initiation as a priest of Set in their own right.

Despite that many of their adherents are European, most new childer are of Egyptian, Nubian, or Arabian descent, as many elders of the Clan look down on the colonial aggressors who destroyed their way of life. As the Followers of Set expand further into Europe, however, they invite more Europeans into their ranks — particularly Gauls and Franks, as they are more likely to have red hair.

Clan Disciplines: Obfuscate, Presence, Serpentis



Weaknesses: The enmity between Set and Horus, sun god and son of Set’s hated brother Osiris, is eternal. The Followers of Set carry Horus’ curse more heavily than other vampires and take twice the amount of aggravated damage from any exposure to sunlight than members of other clans.

Organization: Setite enclaves follow the old Egyptian temple system. A Prophet and High Priest of Set leads each temple, with varying numbers of subordinate Priests beneath them. Larger enclaves might have many mortal cultists as well as ghoul servants and retainers, while smaller temples might boast only a handful of mortal adherents.

Stereotypes
Assamites: The Children of Haqim are our enemies. They preach the word of a god that has supplanted the old ways. If the worship of Set is to flourish once more, they must be destroyed.
Lasombra: The poor godless fools. They tear themselves apart from within, unable to decide which face of the Abrahamic god to devote themselves to. You need only give them the occasional nudge and they will destroy themselves.
Tzimisce: Misguided, perhaps. But their war against the Ventrue crusaders is a noble one and should be supported, so long as it would not damage the cause of Set.
Cappadocians: Their abiding interest in the past and the dead make them occasionally useful. However, they lack any real passion or fervor, which makes them useless as potential adherents of Set.
Tremere: Their hunger for power makes them useful tools against our enemies, though one must never forget what lengths they are willing to go to for that power.