I never actually liked the "Followers of Set are bloodline" angle, or their new focus on chaos. Because Followers of Set are my favorite thing from the VtM, I decided to try and bring them as a whole to the VtR. Take a look.
You want to join the Followers of Set because: You want to engage in exotic and perverted pleasures they offer you. You want to explore your limits and break through them. You want to watch the society of blood-sucking parasites to burn around them - while you selling gasoline for them. You are afraid of your inner darkness - and wish to conquer it.
The big picture: There is power to be found in darkness. It can be found beyond fear, beyond morality, beyond human limits. Once you find it, it will set you free; it will remove invisible chains from you and open your eyes to great and horrible, hidden truths of this world. Once upon a time, vampire found it. He could enjoy his newfound freedom on his own, washing his hands on this world, yet he did not. He returned to spread his word and show the path to the rest of the humanity. And so the Followers of Set were born.
When other vampires hear about Followers of Set, they hear about vast, hidden conspiracy of sin, rivaling or even dwarfing other covenants. In practice, Followers of Set are loosely connected network of cults worshipping Dark God in many different ways. Most of them use their vampiric powers and earthly knowledge to become important, but hidden part of local society, ensuring their survival by become both too indispensable and too dangerous to assault directly. Followers of Set build cults and temples and seek mystical knowledge, all while looking for the way to break chains upon human souls.
How do they do it? Followers of Set believe in Revelations of the Void - lessons about illusory and binding nature of the world. The world is but a prison, built and maintained by many-masked Aeons, who wish to hide the truth about universe and humanity - that every person can attain godhood. To defeat them, they must show the truth and penetrate the illusion. They do it by temptation and corruption, forcing people and vampires to face their inner truths, breaking them if needed - breaking their chains. Of course, many Followers do not follow their own doctrine, enjoying material and spiritual power their methods bring to them without caring about enlightenment of people they manipulate.
Where we came from: Followers of Set claim to be the oldest covenant in existence - and oldest religion as well. The truth is hidden in fog of ages. It is true that Settite symbolism and hidden messages can be found inside ancient Egyptian pyramids and tombs, but does that imply that Followers are as ancient as they claim to be - or did they just take over religion built by someone else, as they always do? It is true that there are ancient elders who do worship Set as their god and creator. But why do they fear and hate each other then?
Even so, Followers of Set are as ancient as Camarilla itself, if not more. The ancient texts, transcripts of Camarilla meetings at their peak of power, mention troubles in Egypt province and inability of Legion Mortis to truly conquer the region and decimate local “snake-worshipping cults”. Followers of Set claim possession of many artifacts and places of power in Egypt - too many for young covenant to acquire and hold without true power given by the age.
At the same time, Followers of Set are always young. The covenant thrives on adversity, forever fracturing into hundreds and thousands of cults worshipping the Dark God. The religious trappings change from region to region, but core credo is always there - the truth about souls of mortals and Kindred alike. Those cults are always persecuted and hunted, but such is the life of service to the Set. The weak will be purged and forgotten; the strong will persist, and in their service, find the Dark God.
Our practices: Wherever we find ourselves, we fight the Aeons. Representations of cosmic law binding humans in chains of customs, traditions and morality, Aeons deny people their true nature by weaving Ma'at and entangling them in the material world. The chains are heavy, their black iron is strong, and our work is hard.
So we break the chains. We worm ourselves into societies of both humans and Kindred and slowly destroy both societies and individuals from the inside. They think we are corrupting them, but we are transforming them, shattering their preconceptions and breaking their illusions about the world and about themselves.
To do that, we find local structures of power and infiltrate them. We learn hidden desires, aspirations and temptations. We share the knowledge between ourselves and build our own cults, to feed and hide ourselves. We seek worthy to show them to truth of Set - and it doesn’t matter if they still breathe or not. Sometimes, even the living see the truth and obtain great and terrible powers. When this happens, we know that our work is successful.
Of course, to show the truth, we must first know it ourselves. And we seek the truth - in the world and inside our own souls. Followers of Set hoard mystical knowledge, explore strange spheres outside of material world and interview weird creatures who share the night with us. We even deal with living darkness who lies, proclaimining to be our progenitor. The quest for stolen divinity is hard, but our faith supports us. In the end, we all will join our Dark God.
Clans:
Mekhet are the soul of covenant; many of them tie the clan genesis to the Dark God itself, proclaming themselves his first and greatest children. It's true that their talents are uniquely suited for the Followers; in the covenant which bases itself on finding the hidden truths, Mekhet are bound to be successful. Unfortunately, many of them forget to act on their knowledge to break Ma'at.
Daeva are the heart of covenant. It's them who break the chains of law and responsibility on people, forcing them to indulge in their darkest desires and face the truths about themselves. But Daeva are prone to losing themselves to their sensual natures are well, forgetting about what set them on their path. They help to teach others, but rarely are wise themselves.
Gangel hold some natural connection to truths of Dark God, or so many Followers think. Shedding chains of Ma'at come easy to them; but next steps often require restraint and self-control many Savages do not possess in abundance. If they do find way to Dark God, they inevitably rise high the hierarchy, but it doesn't occur often.
Nosferatu are easy pickings for Followers; many of them come naturally to beliefs and practices which reflect many those of Followers. It's not easy for them to tempt, but easier to observe and natural to shatter minds and chains with fear, which could offer a path to the Dark God as well.
Ventrue are easily subverted, easily manipulated and ultimately, easily broken once their facade of superiority is ripped off them. What is hard is to rebuild them from pieces which result and merge them back to serve the glory of Dark God. Once it's done, the results can be terrifying, but most of recruits never pass the tests. Many of older Followers still hold a grudge against their forebearers, Julii, so not every Ventrue has a fair chance.
Nicknames: Serpents, Vipers, Tempters.
When we are in power: We rarely find ourselves in power outside of our homeland, Kemet. But when we do, everyone always thinks it’s someone else who holds the reigns of power - while we move in darkness, listen and manipulate our marionettes by pulling their strings of desire. The society around us crumbles, having only the appearence of sanity and law holding it together. This illusion hides us, giving us free reign to tempt people and shatter their illusions, finding the worthy recruits to join our ranks.
When we are in trouble: Being hunted down and persecuted is not something new to us. It makes us stronger, forcing us to adapt, change our doctrines and find new ways to serve Dark God. We prefer to avoid open conflict, which rarely favors us, and instead force opponents to play on our own field - field of human and Kindred desires. When we know what do you want, it’s only a matter of time before we crush you with your own weakness. When we know what do you value, it’s only a matter of time before we find a way to take it away. All hierarchies contain the seeds of their own destruction. Only individual can be powerful, but we will know what to propose to you.
Stereotypes:
Carthians: Ah, to be young and faithful again! If only we could temper such energy with knowledge and direction without losing it!
Invictus: Breaking Ma'at with hands of it's servants only to betray them in the end - what could be better?
Lancea et Sanctum: So close to the truth and yet so far from it.
Circle of Crone: Your Dark Mother could be Set in disguise. You could be our smaller brothers. Time will tell if you are able to achieve true wisdom.
Ordo Dracul: Such waste of potential, looking for ascension in all the wrong places.
VII: Oh, we have a good idea what they could be. But we are not willing to risk ourselves to prove it - better for others, less enlightened, fall to their machinations.
Werewolves: Their hunt is important, even if you can't understand it. Do not disrupt it without dire need.
Mages: Some of them know of Aeons and fight them - as we do. Some of them serve them by their own will. Avoid both - our work is best done alone.
Mortals: Slaves and servants, within and without. Yet every one of them holds the key to their own greatness. One day, we will set all of them free.
You want to join the Followers of Set because: You want to engage in exotic and perverted pleasures they offer you. You want to explore your limits and break through them. You want to watch the society of blood-sucking parasites to burn around them - while you selling gasoline for them. You are afraid of your inner darkness - and wish to conquer it.
The big picture: There is power to be found in darkness. It can be found beyond fear, beyond morality, beyond human limits. Once you find it, it will set you free; it will remove invisible chains from you and open your eyes to great and horrible, hidden truths of this world. Once upon a time, vampire found it. He could enjoy his newfound freedom on his own, washing his hands on this world, yet he did not. He returned to spread his word and show the path to the rest of the humanity. And so the Followers of Set were born.
When other vampires hear about Followers of Set, they hear about vast, hidden conspiracy of sin, rivaling or even dwarfing other covenants. In practice, Followers of Set are loosely connected network of cults worshipping Dark God in many different ways. Most of them use their vampiric powers and earthly knowledge to become important, but hidden part of local society, ensuring their survival by become both too indispensable and too dangerous to assault directly. Followers of Set build cults and temples and seek mystical knowledge, all while looking for the way to break chains upon human souls.
How do they do it? Followers of Set believe in Revelations of the Void - lessons about illusory and binding nature of the world. The world is but a prison, built and maintained by many-masked Aeons, who wish to hide the truth about universe and humanity - that every person can attain godhood. To defeat them, they must show the truth and penetrate the illusion. They do it by temptation and corruption, forcing people and vampires to face their inner truths, breaking them if needed - breaking their chains. Of course, many Followers do not follow their own doctrine, enjoying material and spiritual power their methods bring to them without caring about enlightenment of people they manipulate.
Where we came from: Followers of Set claim to be the oldest covenant in existence - and oldest religion as well. The truth is hidden in fog of ages. It is true that Settite symbolism and hidden messages can be found inside ancient Egyptian pyramids and tombs, but does that imply that Followers are as ancient as they claim to be - or did they just take over religion built by someone else, as they always do? It is true that there are ancient elders who do worship Set as their god and creator. But why do they fear and hate each other then?
Even so, Followers of Set are as ancient as Camarilla itself, if not more. The ancient texts, transcripts of Camarilla meetings at their peak of power, mention troubles in Egypt province and inability of Legion Mortis to truly conquer the region and decimate local “snake-worshipping cults”. Followers of Set claim possession of many artifacts and places of power in Egypt - too many for young covenant to acquire and hold without true power given by the age.
At the same time, Followers of Set are always young. The covenant thrives on adversity, forever fracturing into hundreds and thousands of cults worshipping the Dark God. The religious trappings change from region to region, but core credo is always there - the truth about souls of mortals and Kindred alike. Those cults are always persecuted and hunted, but such is the life of service to the Set. The weak will be purged and forgotten; the strong will persist, and in their service, find the Dark God.
Our practices: Wherever we find ourselves, we fight the Aeons. Representations of cosmic law binding humans in chains of customs, traditions and morality, Aeons deny people their true nature by weaving Ma'at and entangling them in the material world. The chains are heavy, their black iron is strong, and our work is hard.
So we break the chains. We worm ourselves into societies of both humans and Kindred and slowly destroy both societies and individuals from the inside. They think we are corrupting them, but we are transforming them, shattering their preconceptions and breaking their illusions about the world and about themselves.
To do that, we find local structures of power and infiltrate them. We learn hidden desires, aspirations and temptations. We share the knowledge between ourselves and build our own cults, to feed and hide ourselves. We seek worthy to show them to truth of Set - and it doesn’t matter if they still breathe or not. Sometimes, even the living see the truth and obtain great and terrible powers. When this happens, we know that our work is successful.
Of course, to show the truth, we must first know it ourselves. And we seek the truth - in the world and inside our own souls. Followers of Set hoard mystical knowledge, explore strange spheres outside of material world and interview weird creatures who share the night with us. We even deal with living darkness who lies, proclaimining to be our progenitor. The quest for stolen divinity is hard, but our faith supports us. In the end, we all will join our Dark God.
Clans:
Mekhet are the soul of covenant; many of them tie the clan genesis to the Dark God itself, proclaming themselves his first and greatest children. It's true that their talents are uniquely suited for the Followers; in the covenant which bases itself on finding the hidden truths, Mekhet are bound to be successful. Unfortunately, many of them forget to act on their knowledge to break Ma'at.
Daeva are the heart of covenant. It's them who break the chains of law and responsibility on people, forcing them to indulge in their darkest desires and face the truths about themselves. But Daeva are prone to losing themselves to their sensual natures are well, forgetting about what set them on their path. They help to teach others, but rarely are wise themselves.
Gangel hold some natural connection to truths of Dark God, or so many Followers think. Shedding chains of Ma'at come easy to them; but next steps often require restraint and self-control many Savages do not possess in abundance. If they do find way to Dark God, they inevitably rise high the hierarchy, but it doesn't occur often.
Nosferatu are easy pickings for Followers; many of them come naturally to beliefs and practices which reflect many those of Followers. It's not easy for them to tempt, but easier to observe and natural to shatter minds and chains with fear, which could offer a path to the Dark God as well.
Ventrue are easily subverted, easily manipulated and ultimately, easily broken once their facade of superiority is ripped off them. What is hard is to rebuild them from pieces which result and merge them back to serve the glory of Dark God. Once it's done, the results can be terrifying, but most of recruits never pass the tests. Many of older Followers still hold a grudge against their forebearers, Julii, so not every Ventrue has a fair chance.
Nicknames: Serpents, Vipers, Tempters.
When we are in power: We rarely find ourselves in power outside of our homeland, Kemet. But when we do, everyone always thinks it’s someone else who holds the reigns of power - while we move in darkness, listen and manipulate our marionettes by pulling their strings of desire. The society around us crumbles, having only the appearence of sanity and law holding it together. This illusion hides us, giving us free reign to tempt people and shatter their illusions, finding the worthy recruits to join our ranks.
When we are in trouble: Being hunted down and persecuted is not something new to us. It makes us stronger, forcing us to adapt, change our doctrines and find new ways to serve Dark God. We prefer to avoid open conflict, which rarely favors us, and instead force opponents to play on our own field - field of human and Kindred desires. When we know what do you want, it’s only a matter of time before we crush you with your own weakness. When we know what do you value, it’s only a matter of time before we find a way to take it away. All hierarchies contain the seeds of their own destruction. Only individual can be powerful, but we will know what to propose to you.
Stereotypes:
Carthians: Ah, to be young and faithful again! If only we could temper such energy with knowledge and direction without losing it!
Invictus: Breaking Ma'at with hands of it's servants only to betray them in the end - what could be better?
Lancea et Sanctum: So close to the truth and yet so far from it.
Circle of Crone: Your Dark Mother could be Set in disguise. You could be our smaller brothers. Time will tell if you are able to achieve true wisdom.
Ordo Dracul: Such waste of potential, looking for ascension in all the wrong places.
VII: Oh, we have a good idea what they could be. But we are not willing to risk ourselves to prove it - better for others, less enlightened, fall to their machinations.
Werewolves: Their hunt is important, even if you can't understand it. Do not disrupt it without dire need.
Mages: Some of them know of Aeons and fight them - as we do. Some of them serve them by their own will. Avoid both - our work is best done alone.
Mortals: Slaves and servants, within and without. Yet every one of them holds the key to their own greatness. One day, we will set all of them free.
Comment