Setite Sorcery is a curious magical phenomenon. It has elements from across the magical spectrum, though its implementation has a largely ritualistic, religious format. That said, “Setite Sorcery” is a bit of a misnomer. The term implies a singular practice, but Setite Sorceries would be more apt, as it is actually a collection of different practices from Followers of Set around the world.

No matter what form of Sorcery they practice, all Setite Sorcerers ultimately strive for the same goal. Each faction and bloodline of the Followers of Set that practices Sorcery has their own mask of Set that they revere as the driving force behind their magic. Through practicing them, they are drawing upon the Dark God’s power to weaken the forces that imprison the Setites in this world so that they can take a step closer to becoming Gods, as Set commanded. Thus, Setite Sorcery is the direct manifestation of Set’s power in the world. At least, that’s their argument.

Followers of Set strive to free themselves from the bonds and rules of the mortal world. While these chain them, they will never become gods like Set himself. To enlighten others to the wisdom of Set’s teachings, they strike out against the lies taught by other religions, the laws of governments, and the worship of wealth and luxury. These indulgences are just a few of the tools employed by the Aeons, the jailers of humanity, who would seek to bar the way to any who strive to achieve Godhood.

Setite Sorcery is one of the Clan’s most useful tools to aid in this endeavor. Many of the effects of Setite Sorcery share similarities with Thaumaturgy, though they were practiced many thousands of years before the Tremere came into existence. One of the prime examples of this is the art that allows Setite Sorcerers to command the weather. In ancient Egypt, the weather patterns influenced the regular flooding of the Nile and thus in turn affected crop production. To control the weather was to control the crops, and therefore to control life itself. If the Sorcerer could thus become as a God, then surely the witnesses to this miracle might find the way to enlightenment one day themselves.

While the world in the modern nights has changed in ways that would be incomprehensible to the minds of those in ancient times, the purpose of the Followers of Set has not. The Clan just has to find new ways of employing these ancient tools to achieve the same results.

Akhu, the most widely practiced school of Setite Sorcery, resembles ancient Egyptian religion. The god Set to the ancient Egyptians was, among other things, the God of Storms. A practitioner of Akhu therefore erects a symbolic lightning rod through which she can attract a bolt of Set’s lightning to power her subsequent rites. However, in order to attract Set’s favor, she must make an offering to the Dark God that will please him greatly. The accepted way to achieve this among practitioners of Akhu (known as Lector Priests) is by following the instructions laid down by Set himself in The Book of Going Forth by Night.

A Lector Priest obtains the body of someone who has been buried in accordance with traditional ancient Egyptian practice (which is increasingly difficult in the modern nights) and desecrates the corpse, thus plunging the deceased’s soul into eternal torment while it resides in Osiris’s dominion of the Western Lands. This serves a multitude of purposes. The soul in eternal torment disrupts the hold of Osiris on his afterlife dominion by showing the power Set commands in his followers. This blow against his ancient enemy pleases Set, and he channels his power to the Lector Priest. This show of Set’s power, furthermore, exposes the lie that is Osiris’s promise of eternal life in the Western Lands a little more; these dead shall not find paradise; they find only an eternity of torment.

The Book of Going Forth by Night is an inversion of The Book of Coming Forth by Day, commonly known as the Book of the Dead. Just as the shackles that bind the unbelievers will be corrupted and ultimately destroyed, revealing to them the truth of Set, the structure of Setite rituals are corruptions (or perversions) of ancient Egyptian practices. These rituals make their targets more susceptible to the corruption and manipulation that is ultimately for their own good.

As discussed above, Lector Priests must have desecrated the corpse of someone buried according to traditional ancient Egyptian practice. These corpses are kept as offerings to Set and are the means by which these sorcerers channel his power into the world. As such, they are usually placed in shrines dedicated to Set and adorned with his iconography. Thus, in order to purchase any dots in Setite Sorcery, the prospective Lector Priest must have at least a single dot in this Background.

Within this Blasphemous Shrine, the Lector Priest can perform powerful Akhu rituals, amplified by the proximity to the source of their power. The more dots in the background, the greater the connection the desecrated corpse has to Set. Mechanically, this background grants a number of bonus dice to the casting of Akhu rituals equal to the number points in Blasphemous Shrine. However, this only applies to rituals cast in the shrine itself.

• Ushabti — Slaves crafted of clay, beer, and honey capable of mimicking life itself.
  
• Revelations of Duat — A path created by Setites who sought out the necromantic teachings of the eventual Harbinger of Skulls
  
• Revelations of Eden — Breaks down the will and faith of a victim, allowing room for the Serpent of Eden
  
• Revelations of Midgard — Allow the user to draw on their inner faith, and with it bolster their ghouls, beasts, and mortal servants.