The Followers of Set as an enemy faction in Werewolf

[Black Fox]

I've started given some consideration to developing the Followers of Set as its own faction in my Werewolf chronicles. Until now, despite all the lore tying them into the Silent Striders, I really haven't treated them any differently than any other vampire in general. But I think that was a mistake. In early WoD, the Followers of Set were clearly a cross-game enemy given their role as priests of the Wyrm. I now think I need to develop them fully as their own faction separate from vampires in general.

One reason for this is the original Mummy sourcebooks which introduced concepts like the Bane Mummies. The Bane Mummies were created by Set, but not controlled by him. So while they became allies to Set, they were their own thing. Hence why Set never created any more than the original seven. That expands the concept considerably. I guess rather than calling this faction "Followers of Set" I should give it a more neutral name like "Followers of Apophis" to indicate while the Setites are one important component of this faction, there are other components as well.

So what should these components be? We know we have the Setite vampires and the Bane Mummies. I also think there might be a human lead Cult of Apophis as well. This human cult (albeit with knowledge of Paths of Sorcery) might be uneasy allies to the vampires and Bane Mummies who want to take control over it, and are often pawns of one or both factions, but could be its own thing. There should probably also be a Malfean Nephandi chantry involved as well. So we have vampires, mummies, mages, sorcerers, and various human pawns. Some of these probably have access to fomori. In my head, I've always retconned the "vampire snakes" of Berlin By Night as a kind of animal fomori, not true vampires.

I am hoping for feedback, ideas, and commentary to expand this "Followers of Apophis" who have certain themes in common, but is not a unified faction. What other kinds of beings, resources, opponents, etc. might be good for a Werewolf chronicle? How much involvement or loyalty should they have to the vampires of the Followers of Set? I think they should clearly be associated with Apophis and the antedeluvian vampire Set, but however many thousands of years since Set was active could lead to lots of different interpretations or associations. How should the various factions within the faction view each other, and what elements should they have in common?

While I think the Setite vampires are important, I am going to start developing the seven canonical Bane Mummies and what they might have done. The individual Bane Mummies are all over the place in their depiction with some being psychotically insane "monster of the week", and others being more rational and organized. To me, they are key to making this a truly interesting group of opponents for the Garou.

[voidshaper]

The general theme of Apophis is very flexible to allow all kinds of different groups to work independently towards the same goal; I would augment the religious side with a profane side that serves those goals in action, if not in faith. Especially a Pentex-like entity with a nihilistic foundation would work for dipping into ecological themes if needed.

For the religious side, one can look for mythological overlaps. There's a cool parallel between Apophis/Apep and Jörmungandr of norse mythology. The theme of a swallowed sun also appears in both, with Fenrir taking that role on the norse side. You can probably make something work with a BSD branch of ex-Get that ties the two together.

Likewise with meso- and south-american myths around the feathered serpent and Five Suns. There might be a Drowned Legacy (Tlacique?) that serves Apophis under a different guise.

I was also thinking about Duat, and a faction of Wraiths or Spectres with a complementary human cult who want to get rid of the Shroud, but that may poach too much from the Giovanni. Still, given the strong link with the dead, I think there's potential for involving necromancers or Shadowland factions.

[MyWifeIsScary]

I agree with the name change, particularly because of the whole "masks of Set" idea. You aren't likely to find a group directly calling themselves Followers of Set and celebrating egypt like the Las Vegas's Luxor Hotel ; You're more likely to find a far-flung denomination of Christians or any other variety of neopagan, and they're likely going to call themselves something that totally doesn't have anything to do with set. Once you've rose in appreciation throughout "mask" cult, you might be initiated into the mysteries of the FoS, if not another intermediary cult, but from the werewolf perspective you're unlikely to see this stuff. Arguably, maybe all the secrecy was formed because the FoS feared hunters and silent striders. The best defence is not being noticed.

Some points for consideration
-A human aspect of the cult is unlikely to have significant reservations against the vampire part, given ghouling, presence, and FoS being particularly charming fellows. I can definitely see factionalism to be a big thing, but not along super racial lines.
- Give them Tons of money and influence. Settites are loaded and have all the fun the elite crave. They have friends everywhere.
-Consider using ushabti. Artificial puppets crafted by FoS, the 5th level power is so good it makes a real person (until you convince them they're not) If this is a werewolf game, might as well knock the power up a little and have them churn these out.

I imagine the bane mummies to have spread far, maybe even reproduced. Some would have been sealed or permanently destroyed by this point.

[Psicose]

I haven't read about the mummies, but if I go by the followers of Set, what I can think of is that some of them may have associated the Wyrm as being a part or representation of Set or Apophis, if you will. That said they would apply the Wyrm and the Fomori to their cult. If you need an explanation of how they found out about the Wyrm, you might say it was from a record left by a disaffected kinfolk who joined the cult.

One way I can think of how they would use this would be by combining the Setites' power of corruption with methods already used by some companies in wereeolf, an example would be them creating a new addictive and legal drug infused with the power of the Wyrm the result would be several different fomori being created, some going out of control and maybe even with reptilian aspects, I could try to create new types of enemies if you want.

As for factions I think of four with the Wyrm issue:

Path of the Worm: Those who have accepted the Wyrm as their lord and wish to be enveloped by the Wyrm become half vampire and half formori (If this is possible, it is up to the Storyteller).

Path of Weapons: Those who see the Wyrm as a gift from their lord, but not a manifestation of it, therefore refuse to be corrupted by the Wyrm.

Path of Origin: Those who don't see the Wyrm with good eyes and therefore don't get involved with it and are even against it.

Forsaken: Those who believe the followers and Set have lost their way and choose to flee or hide.

The last two can be used as a plot device or even unlikely allies.

I hope this was helpful.

[Bluecho]

One mundane tool the Followers of Apothis might employ would be organized crime. Gangs, cartels, the mob. The Followers of Set have all manner of connections to the vice trade, and with other forms of crime like smuggling or trade in stolen antiquities. It's not outside the realm of possibility the Followers of Apothis could gain access to these assets through Setite vampires, or through the Bane Mummies' own (considerable, millennia accumulated) resources/connections. Bands of armed thugs or hired muscle could be thrown against Garou, if only as disposable cannon fodder.

Speaking of disposable, I agree on MyWifeIsScary's point about Ushabti. Garou PCs might venture into what they think is a den of Wyrm worshipers, only to find the place a complex of tunnels being slowly expanded by artificial laborers. With their intelligent overseers rallying soldiers to the defense.

If we're mixing Setites with the Wyrm, you could see variants of Ushabti that have Banes implanted in them. The unclean spirits morphing the clay bodies into unnatural forms.



Circling back around to regular humans, I can see Followers of Set/Apothis worming their way into splinter groups of Christians. Snake-handling parishes that push their followers to greater levels of hate, bigotry, religious fervor, and violence (you know, just like real life).

After reading Mark Waid's run on Daredevil from a few years back, I'm partial to ripping off the Sons of the Serpent, a Marvel universe stand-in for the KKK that used a lot of serpent imagery. During that run, the Sons of the Serpent were firmly entrenched in the police, prison, and court system (you know, just like real life).

I can see either of these groups working very well as antagonists for the Garou, as they represent a social and legal threat, rather than a strictly combat one. (Not to mention how other right-wing forces within mundane politics and the media may be inclined to run interference for these Apothis proxies, even if they have no connections to them, simply due to fascist/class solidarity. Seeing attacks on them as being part of the greater "culture war".)

[Black Fox]

For the religious side, one can look for mythological overlaps

I agree that there's lots of room to use other cultural motifs. The "King Tut" imagery can be lots of fun, but can it be limiting at times. But now that you mentioned the parallel between Apophis and Fenris eating the sun, now I'm thinking it'd be very near to show a Setite cult that does using Fenris style imagery and gets in deep with the actual Norse myth as opposed to the Garou version of Fenris which is its own thing. That would really piss off any PC Get of Fenris.

I was also thinking about Duat, and a faction of Wraiths or Spectres with a complementary human cult who want to get rid of the Shroud, but that may poach too much from the Giovanni. Still, given the strong link with the dead, I think there's potential for involving necromancers or Shadowland factions.

I was having trouble coming up with a potential Wraith component. A Spectre Nephwrack cult superficially makes sense until you remember Spectres have a hive-mind and serve Oblivion directly. There would not an actual reason for spectres to want to work with the faction. Of course, I could see maybe a Nephwrack somehow getting involved with human cultists of Set/Apophis and trying to use it for its benefit, but that plot would be something more internal to the faction itself than something to pit against the PCs. Then I thought making it a Heretic group around Set might be good, but then decided it would have too limited appeal to actually be anything.

But I could see human cultists of the faction try to infiltrate the Orphic Circle or some other "ghost hunter" type group in order to explore the benefits of exploiting the Underworld, or as a means to try to end the threat of the Horus aligned mummies. That might make a good angle for a faction of human cultists to distinguish them from the vampires and bane mummies.

[Black Fox]

Once you've rose in appreciation throughout "mask" cult, you might be initiated into the mysteries of the FoS, if not another intermediary cult, but from the werewolf perspective you're unlikely to see this stuff. Arguably, maybe all the secrecy was formed because the FoS feared hunters and silent striders. The best defence is not being noticed.

I definitely agree that front organizations are very important.

-A human aspect of the cult is unlikely to have significant reservations against the vampire part, given ghouling, presence, and FoS being particularly charming fellows. I can definitely see factionalism to be a big thing, but not along super racial lines.

While I definitely think there would be humans aligned with the Setites and Bane Mummies as well, I do think there is room for a separate component actually lead by humans themselves. Maybe something along the lines of the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh in the Call of Cthulhu game. Maybe the cult confuses stories of the vampire Set to some other (fictitious) legendary ruler of pre-dynastic Egypt with occult powers that serves Apophis. They have this entire (corrupt) body of lore that has been built up independently of the Setites that simply gets WoD history wrong. Even better, have some of it be right in the sense it is a more accurate version of Setite history before 900 BC when Set was cast out of Egypt and he reorganized the clan. That might make a good twist.

While there would be plenty of humans attracted to vampirism, I also think there would be humans who realize that utlimately humans are either slaves or livestock to vampires, and would want to limit interaction simply to preserve their autonomy. Maybe they know enough about vampires to realize that even if they became vampires themselves, that as neonates they'd still be servants for a very long time to their elders. But perhaps the leadership decides to take advantage of their knowledge to hunt for vitae and become independent ghouls in order to slow down their aging. It's just that they would hunt vampires of other clans in order to minimize antagonism with their allies.

Good point that it would make it interesting if the factions within the faction aren't split by splat lines, but could be mixed.

-Consider using ushabti. Artificial puppets crafted by FoS, the 5th level power is so good it makes a real person (until you convince them they're not) If this is a werewolf game, might as well knock the power up a little and have them churn these out.

I know Ushabti exist as both a Thaumaturgy Path and a path of Hekau, and it would make good sense to make use of them.

[Black Fox]

Speaking of disposable, I agree on MyWifeIsScary's point about Ushabti. Garou PCs might venture into what they think is a den of Wyrm worshipers, only to find the place a complex of tunnels being slowly expanded by artificial laborers. With their intelligent overseers rallying soldiers to the defense.

That's an interesting image, and it would make a good, over-the-top secret base as a location for the culmination of a plot.

[Bluecho]

I agree that there's lots of room to use other cultural motifs. The "King Tut" imagery can be lots of fun, but can it be limiting at times. But now that you mentioned the parallel between Apophis and Fenris eating the sun, now I'm thinking it'd be very near to show a Setite cult that does using Fenris style imagery and gets in deep with the actual Norse myth as opposed to the Garou version of Fenris which is its own thing. That would really piss off any PC Get of Fenris.

Indeed, the Followers of Set already have a heavily Norse inspired subsect running around, called the Children of Loki. A group that combines Set doctrine with the eponymous Loki's monstrous progeny: the Midgard Serpent, Fenris, and Hel.

One could, if so inclined, expand this apocalyptic cult beyond merely Scandinavian Setites (Jormangandr). With the Children recruiting Wyrm-tainted Get of Fenris (Fenris, natch), and groups of Specters (Hel).

Bonus points, the Scandinavian Setites that the Children of Loki sprung from were a group of vampires who spent most of the centuries since their founder's Embrace accumulating wealth (because until recently, they weren't successful at starting a Jormangandr cult). So you get to use all those "rich, well-connected cultists pulling the strings from the realms of big business and politics" ideas we came up with earlier. (V20: Lore of the Clans talks about how the rich business parts of this subsect are more than a little uneasy at the new zealot wing, providing interesting points of internal conflict that might be interesting in a game).

[Bluecho]

While I definitely think there would be humans aligned with the Setites and Bane Mummies as well, I do think there is room for a separate component actually lead by humans themselves. Maybe something along the lines of the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh in the Call of Cthulhu game. Maybe the cult confuses stories of the vampire Set to some other (fictitious) legendary ruler of pre-dynastic Egypt with occult powers that serves Apophis. They have this entire (corrupt) body of lore that has been built up independently of the Setites that simply gets WoD history wrong. Even better, have some of it be right in the sense it is a more accurate version of Setite history before 900 BC when Set was cast out of Egypt and he reorganized the clan. That might make a good twist.

I've personally always liked the idea that the "original" Setite religion, as established by Set himself in the mists of prehistory, far more resembled the Conan, Thulsa Doom style snake cult that was the original portrayal of the Followers of Set. And that all the stuff about Aeons and Egyptian gods is stuff the Clan accumulated (read: stole) over the millennia. Possibly with Set's blessings.

(My basic view of Set, the founder of the Clan, is that he was, first and foremost, a stone age Con Artist. He wasn't ever particularly great at Occult or Religion, although he probably knows a lot more now. He was a caveman vampire, creating a caveman religion for other cavemen. Much more brute displays of charisma and power, and identification with snakes because he thought snakes were cool. The layers of complexity, symbolism, and layers of initiation were contributions of his childer, who understood occult and theological subjects better than him. Not that he was an idiot or couldn't grasp it, but rather than he was never imaginative or introspective enough to think of it all himself. Instead, he listened to his followers, often in the guise of a wise mentor asking them what they think the truth is. If he liked or could use their ideas to further his aims, he said, "you're on the right track"; if he didn't or couldn't, he told them to meditate on it more and return later. The idea of different belief systems being "masks" of Set's teachings was a happy accident, used to stop his many followers from waging holy war on each other when he wasn't around.)


So I like that some worshipers of Set - vampire or human - would identify more with the primordial snake-faith of early Set, than with the many layers of complicated and mutually contradictory theology that the Followers of Set built up around him. Some folks don't have the patience for riddles. Their faith is more visceral, and based on force of personality.

Blood, sex, and snakes. Very Malfean. I can see why scattered cells of such a faith would gravitate towards Wyrmish corruption.

[Black Fox]

I've personally always liked the idea that the "original" Setite religion, as established by Set himself in the mists of prehistory, far more resembled the Conan, Thulsa Doom style snake cult that was the original portrayal of the Followers of Set.

I totally agree with this. I love the early Howardiana of early WoD. I wonder which one of the early founders was responsible. Was it MRH himself or someone else? Whoever it was, he was clearly a Howard fan. This also shows in the depiction of the White Howlers which were clearly influenced by Howard's stories of Bran Mak Morn.

If James Earl Jones isn't your definition of a Setite, I just shake my head.

And that all the stuff about Aeons and Egyptian gods is stuff the Clan accumulated (read: stole) over the millennia. Possibly with Set's blessings.

That is how I interpret the Revised era stuff once they abandoned the early game's enthusiasm for Howardiana. I realize this is a matter of taste so I don't judge those who like the later depiction. But it clearly and massively changed the clan. Revised made the clan more capable of supporting player concepts, but earlier editions was for the clan to be a better ST tool.

So I like that some worshipers of Set - vampire or human - would identify more with the primordial snake-faith of early Set, than with the many layers of complicated and mutually contradictory theology that the Followers of Set built up around him. Some folks don't have the patience for riddles. Their faith is more visceral, and based on force of personality.

Blood, sex, and snakes. Very Malfean. I can see why scattered cells of such a faith would gravitate towards Wyrmish corruption.

I will try to remember of "blood, sex, snakes" as a definition of the Followers of Apophis since it should be a theme for them! Fantastic. This should be the theme of the WoD Set (which is clearly not the real world mythological Set, but based on Howard's "Great Serpent").

[Black Fox]

Something else that should be an element of this faction is the participation in some degree of the Bubasti tribe of the Bastet. While that small tribe remains opposed to Set and the Followers of Set, we're also told that the Setites allow some Bubasti to view the last remaining (imprisoned) Kyphur from time to time and even mate with them "for favors". This aspect is not mentioned in W20, but it is definitely written in the original Bastet breedbook.

So while this participation would be of a limited nature, some of the Followers of Apophis could call in favors now and again if the ST wanted. It might be a good way to confuse matters for the PCs.

And of course, it is entirely possible that some members of this very small tribe might be corrupted and now serve the Followers even if the vast majority of the tribe do not. The Bubasti do have a sinister reputation even among the other Bastet so this wouldn't be unwarranted. If I did this, I'd probably make any such corrupted Bastet in a bloc that minimized participation by actual Setite vampirs. Perhaps aligned with one of the Bane Mummies, or their own cult with mostly humans that allow them to be in charge and better to protect their secrets. The original breedbook described things like strange experiments with vitae and enchantments to allow humans to give births to feline offspring (presumably to restart their feline line), human sacrifice, and "darker arts" than Shadow Craft (which I assume means Infernalist Magic and Demonic Investments since those two are mentioned in the section of Shadow Craft). If you are going to have a Bubasti who sold their spirit to a demon, why not make use of it. Of course, these Bubasti can make all sorts of justifications on why this is OK because of their secret plans to regain the kyphur or learn the secrets of the Setites in order to destroy them, etc.

So by having this bloc (of many only a few Bubasti) plus the limited favors called in for a few more, we can provide a bit more variety and perhaps create an interesting rivalry within the greater faction.

[Black Fox]

I also want to mention that at certain times Set was to have controlled the Cult of Isis, particularly from the New Kingdom to the end of the Ptolemaic Period. While the modern day Cult of Isis may not be corrupted by Set and firmly allied to Horus, there is no reason why there also cannot be some corrupt version that may have restarted as a result of some occultists getting hold of some corrupted text from a time when the Cult of Isis was controlled by Set. Perhaps from one of the incarnations of the Isis Mystery Cult that flourish in the Greco-Roman world.

Although even the mythological Set (as opposed to the fictional serpent god of Robert E. Howard and early WoD) now has a bad reputation, for much of Egyptian history he was still a respectable figure and even had pharaohs consecrated to him (including the famous Ramses the Great). So such a corrupt Cult of Isis might still portray Set in a favorable light as a protective warrior, and not incompatible with Isis worship and the pantheon of Egyptian gods. The first stage would be fairly standard Egyptian mythology, but as the initiates learned actual supernatural lore and secrets (that mummies, vampires, spirits, wraiths exist; paths of sorcery; etc.) the mysteries revealed to them would depart more and more from actual mythology which they would learn is for the suckers, not the enlightened like themselves. Of course eventually initiates would progress to the point where they'd be initiated into outright "blood, sex, snakes" worship once the leaders believe a member is ready for initiation into the final mystery.

This might be a good place to create a new kind of fomori to distinguish this bloc from the others within the Cult of Isis. I'd have to come up with a good theme for this new fomori breed (perhaps based on some kind of poisoned potion select cult members can consume to transform them) and pick appropriate Powers that make them appear more magical and divine as opposed to grotesque monsters that are more typical for fomori. Powers like Deception, Invisibility, Mind Blast, Sense the Unnatural, and Spirit Ties. And perhaps one obvious one they can use in an emergency like Roar and Voice of the Wyrm. These fomori would only be created from those members of the cult who have progressed to full blown Apophis worship, but occasional displays of some of their powers might be a good way to incentivize lower ranking members to "progress" in the mysteries and not question their increasing departure from standard mythology.

It might also be a good one to tie it into one of the Bane Mummies, perhaps one of the two female Bane Mummies - Qetu (the Evil Doer) or Saatet-ta (Darkener of the Earth). Saatet-ta might make a good patron because it would be easy to confuse her epithet of Darkener of the Earth as a reference to the "Black Land" (the fertile soil of the Nile Delta) or Osiris and Horus.

[Asmodai]

<post got eatenc by spam trap so I made a subsequent one>

[Black Fox]

While I intend to post further on the various blocs of the “Followers of Apophis” (including a discussion on the seven Bane Mummies), I want to spend time now on what unites all these groups and separates them from other minions of the Wyrm.

First, their understanding of the Wyrm was codified by the Setite Antedeluvian, and all members of the Followers of Apophis approach their worship in this way. They aren’t necessarily servants of the Setite Antedeluvian, but he provided the form of how they approach their worship of the Wyrm. So what is this?

I think we need to go to Robert E. Howard’s depiction of “Set” / Great Serpent that Bluecho described as “blood, sex, snakes”. So if we go to Howard canon (not WoD canon, but that which inspired it), we get this. The Followers of Apophis believe that snakes are holy, and to kill one is a mortal sin. The animal is sacred to their god as they imagine the Wyrm to be a vile serpent. Theirs is a cruel, jealous god who demands constant sacrifice from his subjects to appease his blood-lust. They thus procure human sacrifices. The Setite priests terrify their own people almost as much as they terrify their enemies. Some of their support does not come so much from cult brainwashing, but from fear of Setite reprisal (though I do not think these members ever gain power within the cult, they are just regular followers who seek safety after they become aware of the cult of the Great Serpent). We need to see this at the highest end of the cult.

Next we need to cover the goals of the Followers of Apophis. And for this, I go to the early depiction of the Followers of Set.

Second, they are united in their opposition to other vampires not of the lineage of Typhon. The Setite Antedeluvian wants to destroy the other Antedeluvians. So he wants to destroy their servants - the vampires of other clans - either by destroying them or corrupting them so they become useless to the other Antedeluvians. I don’t think this is as important to the Bane Mummies and others. But they would understand this helps their allies.

Third, they want to destroy the mummies allied to Horus. I think this is probably a goal applicable to all blocs.

Fourth, they seek to rule the world and eliminate any other competitors. Easy enough to understand. They want to be in charge. This seems to apply to all blocs within the factions.

Fifth, they seek to blot out the sun and cover the world in darkness. To do this they seek out dark knowledge. This has obvious benefits to the vampire Followers of Set. It’s less beneficial to non-vampires. I don’t think the non-vampire blocs work much towards this. But it is certainly an important goal to the vampires. Other blocs might humor them.

Sixth, they believe the Setite Antedeluvian will awaken during the Apocalypse and lead the Followers of Apophis to victory. While most Leeches seem to fear the Apocalypse, the vampires who belong to the Followers of Apophis actively seek to trigger it. In their view, they will rule and refashion the post-Apocalypse world to their liking. I do like the idea that this group WANTS the Apocalypse to happen, which distinguishes them from a lot of other groups. Their eschatology drives them to want to cause it because they think it works in their favor. For the non-vampires, maybe they have the idea that the Setite Antedeluvian is necessary tool to accomplish this, or that he will be a benign “general” for everyone and that non-vampires aren’t necessarily disadvantaged in the new world to come.

Did I miss anything? What do you think are the high level activities, forms, and goals of the greater cult that should be themes regardless of theri association with the vampires?