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APPLICATION ( KENOS ).
PLAYER INFO
NAME: PaxCONTACT: PAX#8074 or
OVER 18?: :9 Yes.
CHARACTER INFO
NAME: SetSERIES: Mojito's Ennead
CANON POINT: Season 2, Chapter 41. Having driven Hanakete to lash out in hatred and despair against him, Set escapes the temple of Isis to continue his penance to the world. His heart is in turmoil, unsure if he even deserves the redemption he's working towards. Following a dream of his son, Anubis, suffering torment, he awakens...
AGE: Immortal. Appears to be in his 30s.
CHARACTER SUMMARY:
As the Egyptian god of war, Set believed himself to be the most powerful deity within the pantheon - at least, until his nephew, Horus, arrived to challenge him for the throne of the gods and won. Once ousted from his throne, he is tasked with restoring the balance of the afterlife which he had so thoroughly disrupted during his reign, and must navigate the human world and its perils as a decommissioned god hated by Egypt.
Following the murder of Osiris, the former god-of-gods and overseer of an age of historical prosperity, Set's rule plunged the world into famine, bloodshed and disorder. He was a known terror among the patheon, and his name uttered as a curse among humanity; volatile, arrogant and highly intelligent, he was the deity to whom the mass murder of women and children, as well as the decay of Egyptian society, was ascribed to. If peace and prosperity was to return to both man and god alike, Set would need to be defeated and subjected to trial. He is, he was, and the gods saw him banished to the human world to make ritual amends for his crimes.
POWERS: 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. I'm happy to oblige!
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 enjoy the option of exploring 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.
*Additionally, should mods with to allow this ability to extend to the dead outside of his canon, I treat it as an additional nerf to all of his might - it keeps him firmly on the straight-and-narrow, like a shock collar and reminder of his sins. :>
GAME INFO
ASPECTS:I. The Iconoclast. Ultimately, Set fits the Iconoclast aspect to a "t". A difficult god to know the inner workings of, he is an elusive and individualistic god who does not fit in with the rest of the Egyptian gods, let along the Ennead. Mythology points out that he was not born, but erupted from his mother's body in a fit of violent energy - marking him an "unborn" god, and setting him apart from the rest of the pantheon. He did not belong to a major gathering of like-minded gods, but instead suits the category of 'lonely' or 'solitary' deity, marked by pride in his own strength, a tempestuous attitude and his usurpation of the throne ( and order ) of the gods. Despite being the strongest god, he is also the most fragile -- his heart and mind have been deeply damaged, leaving him brittle and without a core identity. Rather than being able to talk about his pain and concerns with his loved ones, Set did concede to madness and became a tyrannical king, pushing Egypt into a period of decay and hedonism while he, himself, preyed upon those who he knew would not see or hear him.
II. The Savant. Prior to his corruption, Set was known as a very "free" god, capable of traveling outside of the borders of Egypt. He was known to have relationships with gods from other pantheons, and is known as the "god of foreigners/foreign lands". The Savant aspect corresponds with the traits of his that embodied him prior to becoming tarnished by betrayal and madness, including his being known for benevolence, guidance of the lost ( he liked to play with humans in the desert, leading them to life-sustaining oases in the end! ) and the learning/creation of new ways of combat, leadership and knowledge of other ways beyond the most obvious one. He is considered an intelligent Trickster god, mistaken for a brutish thug who can only beat issues into submission, when truly he embraces wisdom and trickery. He's also highly hindered by belief in his inferiority, vulnerability and ultimate mediocrity as a god -- unloved and undesired by his family, or humanity.
ANTICIPATED FACTION: Because Set was known in Egyptian myth as an "evil god", I believe he might suit the needs of Zenith. Due to his sins and violent deeds, Set embodies what it means to be a god of war, chaos and disorder; he is even thought of in some scholarly circles, as a trickster god. While he will not immediately accept all of Zenith's goals, I firmly believe that his struggle to accept Zenith will hinge on his current identity as a despairing individual who has lost everything. His identity was, for the most part, constructed on his role within Egypt and within his family -- protector, father, husband, brother -- and due to his tyrannical rule, he has methodically soured each of those aspects. With Zenith, he would likely cling to the idea that he might be able to save one thing that he loves, and damn the rest. He would choose Anubis, his son, without a doubt. And he would struggle with the question: is he joining Zenith for Anubis, or because some part of him knows that if he ensures the world is truly destroyed -- he will be free of his sins, his crimes, and Osiris, who awaits him.
Based on his acceptance of his crimes and villainous deeds, as well as the difficulty he's had in being understood by his fellow gods ( hello! why would a formerly benevolent protector-god become such a hedonistic monster? ), Set has already been left with a deep wealth of despair, disillusionment and ego death that Zenith would seem the "natural" choice. I would absolutely love to challenge him with ongoing redemption prior to his committing to either faction; either allowing him to be tempted towards Meridian's cause ( for he would hope! ), or falling deeper into Zenith's sway - simply Getting Worse In A New Way. Set's extremism and emotional immaturity will likely get him in deep with Zenith, though I am flexible. Every which way it swings though -- Set is a character with a complex mind and heart, who now exists as a semi-godly figure summed up as "an evil, corrupting influence".
SUITABILITY: For me, the themes of the game - especially despair and redemption - are ones that I deeply enjoy pursuing, especially for a character like Set. In canon, he is experiencing his own redemption-through-penance vs. his internal struggle as an individual who has been victimized and psycho-emotionally damaged to the point where even Ra, god of gods, expressed her concern for him. Being tasked with the outcome of the universe's destruction is a concept that he won't struggle with as much as some might, as it is the responsibility of the gods to serve as stewards of existence and aspects/domains; it's natural, to him, to be here. Although, he would protest that there are better, more benevolent choices than an "evil god".
As an individual who gave into hedonism and ego decay once, he is highly susceptible to its sway once more -- while determined to succeed in his task and promises, he has a weak heart and a fragile mind that may lead him into participating in the more unsavory aspects of the metaplot. Who better, than a dirty god of war and violence!