"Set-o"
The Desert Heretic, Lord of Assassins, Last Raven, First Scythe
Enworldian Demigod
Symbol: A curved cold iron blade grasped in the talons of a bleeding raven
Home Plane: The Abyss.
Alignment: Neutral Evil.
Portfolio: Assassins, darkness, death, poison, and traps.
Worshippers: Evil assassins, rangers, rogues, shadowdancers, and nomads.
Cleric Alignments: Any Evil.
Domains: Darkness, Death, and Evil.
Favored Weapon: The shortscythe and the halfscythe (see below).
The bleak deserts of the wastelands and the burning mountains of the south meet in between the dark and lifeless lands surrounding the negative energy tower of the South Pole. Between the sandstone and the igneous rocks, the undead rise without ever being called. Occasionally, the nomads of the deserts and the windswept plains venture into these lands to search for lost treasures and to hide after raiding settlements and farms. More than one tribe has been completely wiped out by the darkness enveloping that land, sometimes forgotten for ages.
True worshippers of Seto believe that his origins are founded in a similar loss. Seto is believed to have been the last of the most vicious and unforgiving desert tribes, called The Raven's Children. They were hunted to extinction by the thieves’ guild out of Ignussus, known as the Curved Blade of Arcton, for damaging the infrastructure upon which the guild was dependant. Slowly being killed off, the peoples of the Raven's Children were forced further and further towards the bleak desolation of the south pole. They fought a gorilla war that they could never truly win, and slowly their people were forced into slavery or murdered by the Curved Blade of Arcton.
Seto was believed to be a young boy, forced into the lands of the undead by those that hunted his family. Stories say that he came of age when he was trapped in the shadows of the tainted grounds, where he learned the ebb and flow of darkness. Hiding from both the bounty hunters and the undead, he grew into a grim visage of a man, taking the appearance of something that can only be likened unto a necrotic experiment. His diet of corpses and the lack of sunlight turned his skin white, then a sickly pale blue, and he became like a skeleton only draped in flesh. The only truly human appearance that he retained was that of his glimmering long black hair that was part of the namesake of his former tribe.
When the time came, Seto set out to forage across the deserts and reclaim his former hunting grounds. He stalked the most cunning prey he could find, the assassins, thieves, and bounty hunters of the Curved Blades of Arcton. He worked his way closer and closer to the Sultan, the "Desert Snake King" who commanded the law and the crime of Ignussus. The objective of his spiteful affection, the guilds master, learned the true bitterness of fear. His men at arms were killed one by one in order to give the Sultan a tinge of the hate that Seto hungered on with. None of the defenses that the title of Sultan afforded the guild master was enough to quell revenge.
Once the execution was finally finished, Seto fled the deserts and returned to the dreary place of his childhood. Despite its auspices, it had in fact become his home and even felt as though it was his teacher. Seto lived, almost completely unthreatened, for many unlit nights before he would be disturbed again.
One dreary evening a woman named Mercurias, daughter of the former Desert Snake King, came to his den in the Corpsewoods seeking both revenge and a mentor in the dark arts. She saw some form of twisted beauty in the hate that was embedded in Seto's form, and she wished to gain the same power so that one day she might be able to have vengeance. In this way, Mercurias is famed as the first high priestess of the church of Seto, and the first to lead the Raven's Scythe Assassins. In time, it is believed that Seto passed on, or at least passed on to something far greater in power and scope than his mortal body could handle. A strong sect of the cult even believes that Mercurias had her revenge, and in turn each new priest and priestess is recruited in the hopes that one day they will kill their master and bring even greater strength to themselves and their god. This is why each priest recruits the strongest and most talented students they can find by destroying their families, friends, and lives. Each generation is intended to be stronger than the last, and in turn to strengthen their mentors in death.
The Raven's Scythe split from the Cult of Seto at some point in the past. The most common theory is that the two groups became disjoined when the high priest took two pupils, and each took a part in their master's murder. The Raven's Scythe is the assassin's guild, and while smaller in number, they are more renowned and feared due to their strength and directness in action. The Raven's Scythe are the attested enemies of the Curved Blades of Arcton. They are dedicated to the slaying of the Curved Blades, who control most of the Fire Mountain Range and especially the city of Ignussus.
The Cult of Seto is made up of Clerics who worship Seto as a god. They follow in his ways, and are masters of controlling darkness and channeling negative energy. They favor the weapons believed to have been used by Seto on his quest for vengeance, and they make use of these tools in all of their rituals. They are also considered the most pious and vicious cult in the southern hemisphere, gleaning new members from the survivors of the families they murder. Though their numbers do not purport to include many Necromancers, they are not entirely without the calling of the undead. The undead that the Cult of Seto are commonly associated with are shadows and wights.
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DARKNESS DOMAIN
Granted Power: Free Blind-Fight feat.
Darkness Domain Spells
1 Obscuring mist
2 Blindness
3 Blacklight
4 Armor of darkness
5 Summon monster V (only summons 1d3 shadows)
6 Prying eyes
7 Nightmare
8 Power word, blind
9 Power word, kill
Armor Of Darkness
Abjuration [Darkness]
Level: Darkness 4
Components: V, S , D F
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: 10 minutes/level
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
The spell envelops the warded creature in a shroud of shadows. The shroud can, if the caster desires, conceal the wearer’s features. In any case, it grants the recipient a +3 deflection bonus to Armor Class plus an additional +1 for every four caster levels (maximum bonus +8). The subject can see through the armor as if it did not exist and is also afforded darkvision with a range of 60 feet. Finally, the subject gains a +2 bonus on saving throws against any holy, good, or light spells or effects. Undead creatures that are subjects of armor of darkness also gain +4 turn resistance.
Blacklight
Evocation [Darkness]
Level: Darkness 3, Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S , M
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Area: A 20-ft.-radius emanation centered on a creature, object, or point in space
Duration: 1 round/level (D)
Saving Throw: Will negates or none (object)
Spell Resistance: Yes or no (object)
The caster creates an area of total darkness. The darkness is impenetrable to normal vision and darkvision, but the caster can see normally within the blacklit area. Creatures outside the spell’s area, even the caster, cannot see through it.
The spell can be cast on a point in space, but the effect is stationary cast on a mobile object. A character can cast the spell on a creature, and the effect then radiates from the creature and moves as it moves. Unattended objects and points in space do not get saving throws or benefit from spell resistance.
Blacklight counters or dispels any light spell of equal or lower level. The 3rd-level cleric spell daylight counters or dispels blacklight.
Footnotes: Domain and Spells are from the SRD and Complete Divine.
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Shortscythe
Martial Light Melee Weapon
Cost: 6 gp
Dmg (S): 1d3
Dmg (M): 1d4
Critical: x4
Range Increment: None
Weight: 2 lb.
Piercing or Slashing
A shortscythe is a small curved blade affixed to a one-handed grip similar to a kukri, however, it is curved much further at first and then the blade straightens out into a sharp point. Both sides of the blade are sharp, with the interior blade commonly being serrated like a saw blade.
Halfscythe
Martial One-Handed Melee Weapon
Cost: 12 gp
Dmg (S): 1d4
Dmg (M): 1d6
Critical: x4
Range Increment: None
Weight: 4 lb.
Piercing or Slashing
The Halfscythe has a handle the same length as one on a longsword, but with no form of guard between the haft and the blade. The blade of a halfscythe is curved like a scythe and double edged, with the interior blade often being designed with serrated edges.
Footnotes: Mechanically, these are the same as a light and heavy pick, but are 50% more expensive, 33% lighter, and deal piercing or slashing damage like a Scythe.
-Created by Creamsteak
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