APPLICATION ( NIGHTFELL ).

[redsoil]

♰ BASICS
Character's name: Set(h)
Canon: Mojito's Ennead
Canon point:

Season 2, Chapter 31. Set has uncovered the identity of the scion of Duat, tasked with retrieving the souls of the dead and restoring the balance of the afterlife, is his son, Anubis. Having ascended into godhood, Anubis appeared to be stricken with amnesia, which left Set despairing about the loss of his child.

Age: Immortal. Appears to be in his 30s.
Background:

Ennead is an 18+ Korean comic that adapts the mythology of the Egyptian Ennead, the collective association of nine deities worshiped at Heliopolis. Initially focusing on the consequences of the chaotic reign of the god of warfare, Set -- Ennead focuses on the conflicts within the pantheon, including Set's murder of his brother, Osiris, his conflict for the throne of Egypt with his nephew, Horus, and his duty to the people he tyrannized during his stewardship over Egypt. CW for sexual assault.

• Ra creates herself; she then gives birth to Shu, Tefnut and several other gods. Shu and Tefnut have Geb and Nut.
• Because a prophecy says that the child of Geb and Nut will rule Egypt, Ra gets petty-jealous and curses Nut to never have kids. It takes another god, Thoth, gambling over a game of senet with Ra to allow Geb and Nut to have kids.
• Osiris, Isis, Nephthys and Set are born of Geb and Nut. They become the four pillars of human society, presiding over life, magic, war and peace.
• Osiris and Isis get married, as to Set and Nephthys; Osiris rules the lands of Egypt from the throne of gods, bringing forth an age of prosperity, longevity and power.
• Sekhmet, god of destruction, whispered words of envy into Set's ear and led him to butcher Osiris and usurp the throne from him. Set takes over the throne of the gods and leads Egypt into an age of decay, disorder and decline.
• Isis flees from Set, who sought to make her into his wife as a symbol to Egypt. She hides for centuries from him with hers and Osiris's son, Horus. Eventually, the two return to challenge Set for the throne of the gods - defeating him at the end of a series of challenges.
• Set is banished from the capital of Egypt, to wander its lands as an evil god.
• And that's that! That's how history records the tale of the Ennead. Except -- all of the missing parts.
• During his rule, Osiris had actually come to covet and desire Set, who protected Egypt from invaders and lead it to military prosperity. Osiris manipulated his fellow gods, with the goal of forcing Set to be his; first, he stole Set's ability to father children, which forced Nephthys to turn to Osiris to ensure that Set could have his dream of having a child of his own; second, he used that child to manipulate Set into a position where he could not refuse Osiris's desirous advances. Following the assault, Sekhmet whispered into Set's ear the method by which he could dispose of Osiris -- butchering him, and throwing his remains into the Nile.
• Set - victimized and betrayed, took over the throne of the gods and accepted his "role" as an usurper and villain by the other gods, who did not know of his experiences. Not wanting them to know ( citing that his own wife would find him repulsive, and not a man ), he gave in to drink, drug and violence in order to cope, and even took out his wrath and despair upon humans who did not deserve it. He was not a good guy during this period of time and continued to seek Isis, who had escaped him and hidden herself somewhere he could not find her.
• Isis and Horus, her son with Osiris, returned to Heliopolis to challenge Set for the throne and return Egypt to an age of prosperity. A series of challenges pitted Set and Horus against one another, with Horus proving far more keen on protecting and understanding Set than he ought to have been. Ultimately, Horus is crowned the winner and new king of Egypt/the gods, and Set is punished for his crimes.
• Sentenced to restoring the balance of the afterlife by collecting and delivering the souls of the humans that Set had denied rites to during his tenure as tyrant, Set is stripped of his status as a god, all of his power and is re-written into history as an evil god. He is banished from Heliopolis -- if he were to succeed in his task, he would be reinstated as a god and tasked with serving Ra aboard her sun barge for all eternity; were he to fail, his soul would be erased from existence.
• Now, he travels Egypt performing his penance, as various would-be suitors attempt to court him ( I'm so sorry, it is a BL... ) and mysteries unfold!

Abilities: Set is a god, albeit a demoted one. As punishment for his crimes against Egypt, he has all record of his good deeds removed from the annals of Egyptian history and is condemned to be known as an evil god - and this is a mirror of the development of Set-related myths in actual Egyptian history! His temples, offerings, and his divine status are taken from him, leaving him a demigod - still of distinct power compared to a mortal, but vastly diminished compared to his prior status as a key member of the Ennead.

I've done my best to contain his abilities within the scope of the game. Let me know if further adjustments are needed!

God of the Desert: As the ruler of the land of Egypt, Set controls the desert and the sands as an extension of himself; provided he has access to the land, he is able to conjure, alter and manipulate the desert at his leisure. He has proven able to materialize weaponry and recognizable objects -- e.g. boats, pillars, and chariots -- dissolve his own physical form into sand to mitigate damage, as well as to eliminate pain, and manifest the sands as a massive form of himself, which he uses as a siege weapon against his enemies. One other ability he has, presumably taught to him by Osiris, is the ability to conjure clones of himself out of sand, using the ka, or soul, of the dead to maintain their shape -- a manner of necromancy.

LIMITATION(S) - The bulk of his power, granted to him by his role as the god of the desert, has already been stripped from him. He is no longer able to conjure, alter or manipulate the desert. Where he used to turn to sand to escape injury or the sensation of pain, he now suffers the blows, feels the pain and bleeds the way a human would. His divine stamina and might has been lessened, and even his immunity against illness seems compromised, requiring him to rest and recover where he would never have needed to before. In the series, when he begins to atone, he temporarily regains access to some of his abilities - namely manifesting a vengeful sandstorm to crush baddies - before promptly passing out due to the strain of it + the curse upon him. His powers are an extension of himself, but are removed and sealed away!

Demigod Ability : While no longer a full god, Set remains classified as a demigod. He has no pressing need to sleep, nor eat, though his body appears to require it and grows weakened and ill without it; it's safe to assume that if he refused sleep and eat, he would be extremely weak, but would not die from it. His agility, strength and ability to recover from injuries remains higher than that of mortal beings.

LIMITATION(S) - For the game, his demigod abilities might be degraded enough, but let me know if they need to "fizzle" even moreso! He can, and has, been injured by humans and has grown ill when failing to eat, rest or drink as his body requires.

Combat Skills & Knowledge : As the (former) Egyptian god of war, he has created and mastered a vast variety of information pertaining to weaponry, combat and warfare. Set has shown combat prowess with a variety of historical weaponry, including: spears, gauntlets/melee, crooks, as well as mounted combat and charioteering. Once known as Egypt's protector, Set was the guardian of the land against invaders, and would likely have knowledge of battle tactics - both Egyptian and foreign.

As a demigod, he's shown to have the at-will ability to elongate his nails into animal-like claws. Perhaps befitting his known status as an unknown (Set) animal in Egyptian myth, he uses these claws as an additional weapon in hand-to-hand-combat and they are one of his own remaining offenses/defenses, besides his knowledge. While his immediate and extended family often resemble birds and cats, Set has a marked affinity for beasts used to hunt, crocodiles, and the hippopotamus.

No matter how diminished he is in physical and godly power, Set is possessed of countless years of knowledge. Viciously clever, he has been shown to be able to outsmart nearly all of his fellow gods - relying on emotional blackmail, underhanded tricks, sheer brutality and other tactical knowledge to come out on top. He has also stated he was (basically) the creator of Egyptian spearmanship, making him vastly intelligent in matters pertaining to combat, military training, war tactics and the psychology of opponents.

Curses : The concept of "curses" in Ennead are integral to the story, as well as extremely powerful. Due to the nature of the gods being archetypical, metaphysical and subject to fated parameters ( in comparison to the determinism, freedom and mutability of mortal life ), the gods are susceptible to the will of another god being imposed upon them. This is what is referred to as "a curse"; individual gods with keen magical insight OR a god in extreme emotional turmoil will find it easier to curse another. These curses are upheld by a power greater than that of the gods, with the exception - perhaps! - of Ra, the foremost of them all.

Besides the limits imposed in the game, Set is also the bearer of a curse. Taking the form of a dark, miasma-leaking mark upon his left hand, the curse's criteria and limits are currently unknown, but appear to manifest when Set feels guilt -- taking the form of further punishment for his crimes. The curse does the following: (1) forces him to relive the misery of his victims/the souls contained inside the curse, (2) corrode his arm/body and (3) ultimately, shred his soul irreparably. The curse is largely kept from utterly destroying him by his wife, Nephthys's blessing of harmony, which allows him to utilize the curse as a way to feel empathy with the victims. Gods have very different brains than mortals, after all.

LIMITATION(S) - I'd love to play with the idea of curses as an opt-in mechanic, as I feel they're very important to Set's character, his story arc and his personal narrative. To be able to limit the impact of the cursed-state on both the game, as well as other characters, I'd make it opt-in with creative limitations imposed on duration, depth and manner of curse. He could not curse someone to their death, nor impact will or freedom, but could unwittingly claim that someone "had no taste", thus (temporarily) robbing them of the ability to taste foods.

♰ SUITABILITY
Strengths:

⇀ Protector. As the former warrior-god of Egypt, Set often lead successful campaigns to maintain Egypt's borders, power and prowess, and effectively defend the Egyptian Empire throughout thousands of years. He was considered a wonderful father and husband, who doted upon his son and treasured his wife -- so much so, that the rest of the Egyptian Gods were said to view them as "the perfect family".

⇀ Tenacious. As a trickster god, he employs all manner of tactics - both fair and unfair - in order to doggedly pursue matters until their end, even if that end requires his own death. He is a brilliant tactician, able to kill the God of Life through manipulation and deception even after being brutally attacked by said god and utterly terrified of him.

⇀ Might. Considered the strongest god in the entire pantheon, Set is as powerful physically as he is intellectually. During his tenure as tyrant, not one other god stepped up to defy him - nor did they resist him en masse, which speaks to his prowess - and perhaps their lingering respect (and abject confusion for his change of personality) for his service to Egypt.

Weaknesses:

⇀ Corrupted. The formerly benevolent protector of Egypt, he was tasked with warfare and defenses on behalf of Egypt by Osiris (the then-ruler of Egypt's gods) and steadily lost his way. Culminating with Osiris's assault on him, he completely lost his way as a proper god and became a tyrant that allowed and encouraged the torment and deaths of men, women and children for hundreds of years. Now, all record of his former benevolence has been scrubbed from history and myth, and he is known as an evil god.

⇀ Hedonism. Known as a god with "indiscriminate sexuality", he is given to addiction in the form of drink, drugs, blood sports and sacrifice, and sensuality. God of confusion and chaos, indeed! His mind is in pieces from unresolved trauma, and rather than go to therapy, he just became more and more unhinged. Even now, resolved to make up for his sins, he's still given to old habits such as self-sabotage.

⇀ Trusting. Those that he loves are his greatest vulnerability, as he is utterly blind to their machinations. He trusts them implicitly, and is incapable of thinking ill of them until they have acted against him. He failed to notice Osiris's obsession with him, Isis did not come forth to protect him, despite knowing the truth of what lead to Osiris's murder, and Nepththys turned to Osiris to prevent Set from finding out the truth of his infertility (which broke his heart). There's a massive failure in them all to communicate, and Set trusts his loved ones far too much to imagine there is ever a need.

⇀ Tempestuous. He's literally been scolded for his intensive temper and violent reactivity, multiple times. The gods were unable to contain him, following his loss to Horus, no matter what bindings they placed on him -- until they tasked Anubis with watching over him, after which he was calmed.

Fears:

⇀ Osiris. Osiris is the source of many of Set's external and internal conflicts. More powerful, more clever; Osiris is the one who put the seed of doubt in Set's mind about his worth as a man, a god and a father - in an attempt to corner and subdue him before assaulting him.

⇀ Submission. As a victim of sexual assault, Set has been physically and magically forced into submitting to men. Because of this physical contact of any kind has been shown to cause him to lash out, be it physically or verbally, in an attempt to 'resist' being caught and captured in any state of vulnerability, as this has led him into being pressured into making decisions he would not normally make, and using whatever he can to protect others (namely his body).

⇀ Imposter. Set suffers heavily from self-doubt as the result of Osiris's mind-games; he believes without power, he will be vulnerable in the eyes of the rest of the Egyptian pantheon, and they will prey upon him the way that Osiris did. Or worse, simply allow Osiris to have him. He does not wish to be viewed as "less than a man", or vulnerable, only the strongest god of them all.

Desires:

⇀ Fulfill the terms of his punishment and return home. In losing the throne to Horus (and Isis), he was summarily judged for his multitude of crimes and banished into Egypt to collect the souls he had left in tatters for centuries without rites or means of reaching Duat. Tasked with empathizing with the humans who suffered at his hands, he was remarkably upfront with accepting his punishment and going forth to do just that, with the promise he made with his son, Anubis, the only thing keeping him from utterly giving up.

⇀ Acknowledgement. Above all else, Set yearns to be acknowledged -- and in multiple capacities. He wants to be acknowledged as someone worthy of being loved, as on several occasions he has been shown - via Osiris's assault, Nephthys going behind his back, and Isis's willful ignorance of his pain - that no matter what services he rendered, he was not worthy of their respect, nor love. He wants to be seen as a good father, a strong man and a free-spirited god who now only seeks someone's acceptance as a fully-faceted being. Sadly, he has thought for a very long time that he needs to use power and fear to earn such things.

Regrets:

⇀ Anubis. Particularity the way that he treated him; Set, who did not want to show any further emotion or vulnerability following his treatment at the hands of Osiris, began to push away his beloved son. Where they had been formerly spoken of (and seen, in side-stories!) as a very loving father-son duo, by the time the series begins, Anubis no longer views Set as a good person, nor the person he'd grown up with. He views him as an evil that must be stopped, and looks upon Nepththys's love for Set as strange and foreign, as well as points out that Set's mass-slaughter of boys around Anubis's age as evidence that Set hates him and wants him dead.

Tethers:

⇀ A set of (empty) canopic jars. These represent the threat against his son, Anubis, that lead him to commit his gravest sin.
⇀ A helm in the style of an unknown animal. This represents the mask he wore to hide his fears, his shame and his weaknesses. It is also the symbol of his divine power, which has been sealed from him.
⇀ A really cute falcon... The symbol of his nephew, Horus, who is the only individual who has forgiven and accepted him. His deliverance, in a way.

♰ OPT-INS / OPT-OUTS

Harrowings: Yes!
Curses/Pranks: Yes!
Imprisonment: Yes!
Encounters: Yes!
Loss of control: Yes!
NOTE: N/A! I'm genuinely down for anything, everything at any given frequency.

♰ SAMPLES

NIGHTFELL TDM