The Cult of Set is the single, large cult of the god Set in Vala, organized in numbered initiatory grades called mysteries, with a masked priesthood, healers, devoted warriors and a bureaucracy of secretaries.
| Type | Faction (cult) |
| Deity | Set |
| World | Vala |
| Spanish entry | Culto de Set |
History
It recruits openly in the street: “You’d make a good warrior of Set. Join!” Its return is living memory: “a hundred or fifty years ago there were cults there; some say the cult of Set came back.” That return is counted among the changes of the last century, together with the arrival of archmages.
The cult had at least one temple, which was destroyed. Its secretaries responded by issuing wanted posters with a reward against those responsible, outsourcing reprisal to private hunters. Its priests also make inquiries outside the temple on matters of trade: “they’re asking who sold that oil.” Whether the oil is connected to the fallen temple is not stated.
Organization
- The mask: priests wear a mask of the Setian animal, “something like a donkey with cropped ears… a mix of jackal, donkey, bear, anteater.” The animal is hybrid and deliberately indeterminate.
- The mysteries: there are “several”; the office of “pontifex of the second mystery of Seth” proves at least two. A pontifex heads each mystery.
- Functions: the masked priest who performs the rite; healers to whom the population returns (“the ones of Seth… the ones who healed”), though “they haven’t delivered yet”; warriors recruited by voluntary conversion; and secretaries who keep records and denunciations.
Other cults
No fact identifies the following with Set:
- The solar religion that declared the 25th the day of the unconquered redeeming sun, with twenty-four sacrificed as a purge.
- The cult of the dragon, which buries its members in sarcophagi and may be extinct. It is not the cult of the dragon that dwells in the ruins.
- The “cult of the rabón” of the ruins, with dead cultists, signs of sacrifice and artifacts; the name itself is doubtful.
Open questions
- The location of the destroyed temple and of any standing temples is not recorded.
- The number of mysteries, their numbering, and whether healers and warriors belong to different mysteries are unknown.
- Priestly dress beyond the mask, the posters’ form, and the reward’s amount and payer are not recorded.
- Nothing is known of the cult’s theology, rites or calendar.
- The name varies between Set and Seth.