Set

Set

Sutekh, Zehir, Typhon, Lord of Evil, Defiler of the Dead. LE Intermediate power of drought, desert storms, night, evil (He/Him)

Realm: Baator / Stygia / Ankhwugaht

Pantheon: Egyptian, Faerûnian, Yuan-Ti

Symbol: Coiled cobra

Known Proxies: Nekrotheptis Skorpios (minion of Set proxy fighter-thief [he/him] / LE); Omikrostis (greater mummy proxy [he/him] / LE); Irisiri (human wizard proxy [she/her] / NE)

Of all the menacing powers of the Lower Planes, few are more meddlesome and troublemaking than Set, the jackal-headed god of desert storms and drought, and self-appointed Lord of Evil. While there are plenty of other powers of wickedness who’d argue the toss about that last part, fact remains Set is a nasty piece of work for sure. His philosophy is one of ruthless strength, where power is deserved only by those audacious enough to seize it, and only those strong enough to hold and enforce their dominion deserve authority. Rule is not about order or governance—it is about raw dominance. Life is a perpetual struggle, a storm of actions and consequences where the strong devour the weak. His creed encourages his followers to pursue power by any means necessary, whether through subtle manipulation or outright violence. Yet, despite his focus on power, Set has a strong code of honour: if he gives his word or makes a pact, he holds himself to it—though finding a loophole in that oath is always fair play.

Set adopts a menacing figure to intimidate his foes and underline his dominance. He prefers to appear as a powerful blood with the head of a jackal. His snout curves, he is ears are upright, and his eyes gleam with malicious intent. The skin of his muscular body is finely scaled, like a serpent’s, shimmering with an oily, dark sheen that catches the light. He wears robes of black, grey, or white, the colours of the desert at different times of day, accented with ornate bracers and a heavy collar etched with serpentine and storm motifs. When angered or preparing for battle, he may transform into a monstrous beast—anything from a hunting dog, a ravenous wild boar, to a massive crocodile, embodying the feral fury of the wilderness. 

Role in the Pantheon

Set is the god of darkness, evil, storms, and desert wastelands, and he is one of the Nine of the Ennead, the elder gods of the Egyptian pantheon. Though he appears to embody disharmony and discord, he paradoxically fights against the chaotic ravages of Apophis (Apep), the serpent of primordial chaos that threatens the sun god Ra. Despite his wicked ways, Set’s commitment to preserving the divine order against Apophis earns him begrudging respect from other powers, who recognise that his strength can be turned against mutual threats. This complicated role as both destroyer and necessary defender makes him a figure both hated and needed—and is surely a vital part of his grand scheme. He has few true friends in the pantheon; his closest ally is the crocodile-headed power Sebek.

Set also has dealings with other powers across the multiverse, making waves in the prime world of Faerûn. He’s known as Typhon in the lands of Unther and Thay. In Mulhorand he is called Zephyr, and is worshipped by the yuan-ti. To them, Set is the lord of serpentine deception, and the yuan-ti call him the patron of poisons and shadows. His constant scheming makes him a dangerous ally but an even more dangerous enemy.

Feuds and Alliances

Set’s most infamous act is his murder of his brother Osiris, a divine drama played out in acts of betrayal and murder, committed out of jealousy and a desire to rule the gods. Set killed and then tore Osiris into pieces and scattered them across the prime, only for Isis to reassemble and revive Osiris long enough to conceive Horus. Osiris is now a power of the dead, overseeing the afterlives of the better-behaved petitioners of the pantheon. Horus became a thorn in Set’s side, and the conflict between uncle and nephew spans countless contests and battles to determine the rightful ruler of the Ennead. A multitude of myths tell of stories ranging from Set’s violation of Horus to Horus’s revenge by blinding Set and castrating him.

Set’s former marriage to Nephthys is another bitter part of his legacy. Although separated, Set never ceases to send gifts and minions to try to win her back, in a strange mix of heartfelt longing and calculated power play. Set’s strained relationship with his sister-wife Nephthys was further complicated when Nephthys seduced Osiris, leading to the birth of Anubis. This betrayal deepened Set’s bitterness and spurred his obsession with power and revenge. Meanwhile, Set’s own lust for Isis, the wife of his murdered brother, remains an unresolved, toxic obsession that creates all sorts of strife between the powers of the Egyptian pantheon.

However, despite all the bad blood between them, Set’s strength is needed by the other powers of the pantheon. Each night, Set stands at the prow of Ra’s barge to repel the serpent Apophis, protecting the sun from being devoured.

As a cutter might imagine, Set is an absolute master of scheming and shifting allegiances. Though his primary realm, Ankhwugaht, lies in Stygia, he cares little for the broader baatezu cause. Instead, he uses the baatezu as pawns, his thinking being that if Baator’s influence spreads, his own domain will benefit too. He has no genuine loyalty to them, viewing the devils as fellow schemers to be manipulated or overthrown. Yet, Set’s ambition knows no limits. His rivalry with Levistus is a grand chess game played over centuries. While Levistus, trapped in an icy tomb, relies on subtle manipulations, Set exploits every opportunity to challenge and erode Levistus’s power. Chant has it that he plots to overthrow Prince Levistus, the frozen lord of Stygia, and expand his desert kingdom across the ice wastes to dominate the layer entirely.

The baatezu tolerate Set because his schemes occasionally benefit Baator’s overall war efforts, but they watch him warily, knowing that betrayal is his bread and butter. Presumably Asmodeus has opinions on this too, although they are of course as dark as his soul. For his part, Set hates the baatezu. While he recognises their usefulness in battling the despised tanar’ri, he thinks they waste too much effort on the Blood War and not enough on battling other loathsome agents of chaos like the eladrin and slaadi.

Myths abound of Set forming alliances with powers like Tiamat, or even attempting to seduce lesser deities into his influence. Some whisper of his alliances with Semuanya, the god of lizardfolk. These stories often end with Set betraying his new allies for personal gain or setting elaborate traps that ensnare both friend and foe.

Set’s Realm

Ankhwugaht is a scorching desert in the frozen layer of Stygia, an impossibility that somehow works. The sands burn with infernal heat despite the icy storms that swirl around them, and jagged black pyramids pierce the horizon. At the heart stands the Great Pyramid, a shadowed, colossal monument that seems to drink in the surrounding light. Within the pyramid, Set watches over his realm from a chamber that grants him the power to spy on anyone within his borders, seeing even into the minds of petitioners and visitors.

The petitioners of Ankhwugaht are tormented souls bound into forms reflecting Set’s dark humour—crocodiles, hyenas, or desert-dwelling humans with mummified, parched skin. They toil endlessly in Set’s service, building fortresses and monuments that crumble and are buried under the shifting sands, only to be rebuilt again in an endless cycle of futility.

Canonical Sources:

• Deities and Demigods [3e] p135,137-138,141,143,148-149,151,154-155 (includes an entry for Set)
• Dead Gods [2e] p9,40-41,49-50,70-71,85,87,124 (portion of adventure set in Ankhwugaht, one of Set’s proxies is involved although Set himself is not)
• Dragon Magazine #313 p84-91 (Elder Serpent servants of Set); #325 p75-76 (sand of Set magic item)
• Fiendish Codex II [3e] p44,55,59 (description of Ankhwugaht)
• Fiend Folio [3e] p73,106 (featuring flame snakes and jackal lords)
• On Hallowed Ground [2e] p38,51,84,86,88,90-91,173 (description of Set)
• Planes of Chaos: Book of Chaos [2e] p56 (Set trying to win back favour of Nephthys); Chaos Adventures p30 (adventure with minions of set)
• Planes of Law: Baator [2e] p8,10,20-21,28 (description of and adventure set in Ankhwugaht)
• Planescape Setting Monstrous Supplement [2e] p14-15 (stats for the minion of Set)
  

Source: Jon Winter-Holt and MC Gianni