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Quote1 "From the darkness oozed, in flowing scaly coils, the ultimate horror of reptilian development." Quote2
—About Satha, from The Scarlet Citadel[src]

History

Origin and Early Years[]

Along with Gaea, Oshtur, and Chthon, Set was an Elder God, created at the dawn of life on the planet Earth by the sentient bio-sphere known as the Demiurge.[24][25] As Satha, he was a great serpent[18] and was known as the Old One.[19]

Set (Earth-616) and Hyppus (Earth-616) from Silver Surfer Annual Vol 1 2 001

Devouring other Elder Gods

Set learned that by devouring his fellow Elder Gods, he could add their power to his own. Thus, in this way, Set became the first murderer[24][25] by killing the centaurian Hyppus.[4] Other Elder Gods followed suit, and soon the majority of the Gods had become corrupt, degenerating into demons. Set and his "brother", Chthon of the dark forces, were among the worst.

Gaea wept for her brothers and sisters and conceived a child with the Demiurge known as Atum, who had a secondary form, Demogorge, the God-Eater. He went on destroying the corrupted Elder Gods. Set and his children, Damballah and Sligguth, fled Earth into a pocket of dimensional space to escape the wrath of Demogorge.[24][25]

Set (Earth-616) and Atum (Earth-616) from Iron Man Annual Vol 1 10 001

Rematch with the Demogorge

Set formed a bond with the reptiles of the world, especially the dinosaurs and attempted to prevent the ascendancy of mammals. Through the essence of the dinosaurs, Set was able to merge several dinosaur bodies and reincarnate himself on Earth, taking on a serpent incarnation for the first time.[26] Atum intervened, and at the end of an eons-long battle, the dinosaurs underwent extinction. Set was forced back into his dimensional exile.[27]

First Host[]

At some point before the First Host of the Celestials, Set brought upon the emergence of the Serpent-Men. On behalf of Set, they attempted to receive the genetic gifts of the Celestials in lieu of early man but failed. Mankind grew strong thanks to the Celestials and recognized the Serpent-Men as demons.[28]

Rise of Humanity / Elder Days[]

In the time of the kingdom of Valusia, the Serpent Men possessed the Cobra Crown, an object of Setian magic. Before this, the Serpent Men and the Harpies, Spider People, and Wolf-Men, amongst other demonic races, harried the emerging human societies. Eventually, man became strong enough to oppose these races and established the Seven Kingdoms, Lemuria, and other large civilizations.[citation needed]

Set was stated to be the father of the Elder Race,[29] a seemingly humanoid race that predated humanity, and was composed of numerous wizards, speculated to be descended from Elderspawn (offspring of the Elder Gods).[30]

The Elder Race sorcerer Thulsa Doom, a worshiper of Set, and a group of Set worshipers also sought to create a powerful leader via human sacrifice for the demon.[citation needed]

Pre-Cataclysmic Age[]

By the time of pre-Cataclysmic Atlantis, King Kull had killed most of the Serpent-Men.[28]

At some point in the Pre-Cataclysmic Age (see notes on Captain Rhan's page), the Captain Ehestes Rhan possessed a few ancient incantations books (though he claimed to have never dabbled in black magic). Rhan was marooned on an isle west of Grebuhl by his crew. Stranded on the isle (that he named Zahrahn), Rhan decided to punish the mutineers and to force them to respect the Ancients they despised. He studied the teachings of Set and Mhur in his books. He prayed to the Dark Ones, and to the Great Goat Gods and their brethren, unwillingly summoning a terrible creature only named as "the were-god". The creature seemingly forced Rhan to mate, and later spawned the monstrous Children of Rhan, rapidly aging girls that eventually transform into massive feral creatures if taken away from their birthplace, and causing the weariness of men.[31]

Circa 18,500 BC, the Unliving, a sorcerous coven, slew five Valusian women in sacrifice, then used demonic incantations to impregnate a sixth captured woman and her pregnancy to complete over mere days. The offspring of that unholy birth was prophesied to become the High Priest of Set, with immense powers, and foretold to one day shall rule all. The Unliving slew the woman after she gave birth to both a male (as foretold) but also a girl, which they felt was blasphemy. They were destroyed by Kull, who tasked his councilor Tu to drown the babies. Tu instead delivered them to a shepherd mourning the loss of his only son instead.[6]

Some Serpent Men survived the resulting Cataclysm.[citation needed]

Foundation of Stygia and Age of Acheron[]

Those pre-humans received a brutal setback when humans who had migrated from the east after a slave revolution who slew many of them and took their land (these humans had enslaved the fleeing Lemurians, who had escaped the sinking of Lemuria.[32] In turn, these Lemurians became the Hyrkanians and Turanians).[33] The Stygians came to worship Set[34] and the remnants of the pre-humans.[32] Oddly, the Stygians believed Set had a sister called Isuus.[citation needed]

By 15,500 BC, Set was worshiped in Stygia, Acheron, Eidoran, and other places.[4] Eidoran at some point summoned the demon Khorus, but the first followers of the deity Mitra turned him into stone.[35]

At some point, Set influenced the development of the Midgard Serpent, his descendant.[4]

Hyborian Age[]

Set continued his struggles and encounters with other gods. He battled the avian-headed deity Ibis, became a foe of the demon Xka'Ahk, and formed an alliance with the dark god Nexxx,[4] having met him in Stygia (the spot where they met becoming a temple to both gods).[36] Mitra (Mithra), sent to Earth by his father Ahura Mazda to serve as his representative, intervened directly to protect humanity from him.[37]

Set later transformed a priestess of Mitra into a harpy to serve him.[citation needed]

Satha was presumably among the many horrors who resided in the pits (whose door was walled) of the ancient ruins upon which were founded Khorshemish by Khossus V, King of Koth circa 13,000 BC. These horrors were briefly discovered upon the digging of cellars for the city, then walled back again by Khossus V after the Grand Vizier's death.

King Akhutho I of Koth's rule[]

Centuries later, Akhutho I wished to revive the lost glories of Khorshemish and built a fortress there. Tsotha-Lanti eventually came to rear the Scarlet Citadel and open the pits once again and go into it, returning with a strange expression in his eyes which would not leave him afterwards. Satha became chiefest of Tsotha's "pets".

Age of Conan (10,000 BC)[]

The town of Solvantha was menaced by the Dragon of Set.[4]

Satha (Earth-616) from Savage Sword of Conan Vol 1 30 0001

Satha at the Scarlet Citadel

After having King Conan of Aquilonia captured by the forces of King Strabonus of Koth and King Amalrus of Ophir, Tsotha-Lanti had him chained into his Scarlet Citadel, to be devoured by Satha. Satha approached Conan, dropping some venom on him, but went into hiding upon the sound of the door opening to Beeya, an ancient foe of Conan became slave to Tsotha-Lanti and who wished to enact his revenge on Conan. After teasing Conan with the keys of chains, Beeya was going to strike Conan when Satha reappeared in his back and killed him, before crushing his body and dragging it into the shadows, leaving Conan to free himself. After freeing Pelias, the sorcerer, rival and captive of Tsotha, they encountered Satha a second time, but the serpent fled out of fear upon seeing the "naked soul" of Pelias.[19]

Country of the Worm[]

Niord (Country of the Worm) (Earth-616) and Satha (Earth-616) from Supernatural Thrillers Vol 1 3 0001

Niord attacking Satha

Satha lived in the southern jungle of the Country of the Worm, which was inhabited by the Picts and later colonized by the Aesir led by Niord. Satha was the only beast feared by the Picts (yet less feared than "the Worm").

After the Worm exterminated the tribe of Bragi, his fellow Aesir, Niord decided to slay it. He first collected Satha's venom, by setting a trap and beheading the great serpent. He then used arrows dipped into the venom, first on the Worm's pre-human slave, then, in vain, on the Worm itself (he would defeat it through other means).[18]

Antiquity[]

Later, after Vanir adventurers had turned Stygia into Egypt,[38] Set lost his worshipers to the Heliopolitan deity Seth, an impostor. Through sleight-of-hand, Seth appeared to Set's worshipers in the form of the Serpent God, then assumed his natural state and instructed "his" worshipers to call him Seth. In this manner, Seth diverted the worship Set received to himself.[26]

Circa 1 B.C., Set faced the Olympian deity Neptune.

600 years ago, Atlantean wanderers came upon the ruins of Lemuria and found the Serpent Crown. Their leader, Naga, became an agent of Set. Later, Lemurian rebels stole the Crown from Naga, only for one of them to don it and fall under Set's sway. Rebelling in a lucid moment, this man set off an explosion to kill himself.[39]

Modern Age[]

Later, American Paul Destine in the 1920's traveled to the site of the explosion and found the Crown. Destine placed himself in suspended animation. Circa 1958, Destine revived himself and attacked the Atlanteans (Neptune worshipers) under Set's direction. He then returned to suspended animation.[40]

As young Wanda Maximoff was about to develop her powers, she was about to be recruited by the witches coven formed by Maria Russoff, Margali Szardos, and the Gypsy Queen, Lilia Calderu, wearing the Serpent Crown. Chthon visited in dreams Taboo, the keeper of the Darkhold and showed him a vision of the coven. Taboo knew that if Wanda was to join the coven, she would become in service of Set, and thus planned to prevent it, feeling Wanda as special to Chthon. Taboo joined forces with the sorcerer of Set Damballah to prevent it, until, during the brawl, Chthon manifested and declared Wanda off of Set's reach.[21]

In Atlantis, Ophion was worshiped by the followers of the Temple of Ophion. They believed mankind was destined to fall on its own accord, leading to Atlantis then ruling both land and sea, and covered their faces to hide the shame of Atlantis' limited rule over the planet.[41]

Attributes

Power Grid[43]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Experienced Fighter:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/Virtually Unlimited:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Bulletproof:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Warp:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Superhuman:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Incalculable:Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Omniscient

Powers

Set was an Elder God of great power, limited only by his inability to leave his pocket dimension and manifest totally on Earth. Sorcerers calling upon the power of Set have been capable of performing a wide variety of powerful magic. Those wearing the Serpent Crown were also granted power, such as levitation, mind blasts, and telepathic communication and mind control. Set could taint the minds or otherwise influence those in the presence of the Serpent Crown and was able to control minds of its bearers to some extent.[citation needed]

As Satha[]

Satha was a venomous great serpent,[18] and his venom had the feeling of "a white-hot dagger" when falling on Conan's skin.

According to Pelias, he (and generally the scaled people) can see what escape the mortal eye, and Satha was allegedly able to see his naked soul.[19]

Satha possibly possess the ability to return from the dead, having died in early Hyborian Age[18] yet being alive in the Age of Conan.[19]

Notes

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Marvel Tarot #1 ; Names of Set
  2. Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica #1 ; The Heliopolitans' profile
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 King Conan #3
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Marvel Zombies: The Book of Angels, Demons & Various Monstrosities #1 ; Set's profile
  5. Conan the Barbarian #67
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Conan the Barbarian Annual #8
  7. 7.0 7.1 Savage Sword of Conan #40
  8. King Conan #1
  9. Conan the Barbarian #105
  10. King Conan #2
  11. Savage Tales #3 ; The Lurker from the Catacombs
  12. King Conan (Vol. 2) #1
  13. Silver Surfer Annual #2 ; Saga of the Serpent Crown: Creation
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 Conan: Serpent War #1
  15. 15.0 15.1 Conan: Serpent War #3
  16. Conan the Barbarian #221
  17. Conan the Barbarian Annual #2
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 Supernatural Thrillers #3
  19. 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 19.6 Savage Sword of Conan #30 ; The Scarlet Citadel
  20. Marvel Team-Up Annual #5
  21. 21.0 21.1 Mystic Arcana Scarlet Witch #1 ; Birth of a Witch
  22. Conan the Barbarian #58
  23. Savage Sword of Conan #23 ; Stygia: Serpent of the South
  24. 24.0 24.1 24.2 Thor Annual #10
  25. 25.0 25.1 25.2 Silver Surfer Annual #2
  26. 26.0 26.1 Punisher Annual #2
  27. Iron Man Annual #10
  28. 28.0 28.1 X-Men Annual #13
  29. King Conan #16
  30. Marvel Zombies: The Book of Angels, Demons & Various Monstrosities #1 ; Demons' profile
  31. Savage Sword of Conan #64 ; The Children of Rhan
  32. 32.0 32.1 Savage Sword of Conan #8 ; Rise of the Hyborians
  33. Savage Sword of Conan #12 ; The Hyborian Age Chapter 3: The Hyborian Kingdoms
  34. Conan the Barbarian #7
  35. Marvel Graphic Novel #53
  36. Conan the Barbarian #125
  37. Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica #1 ; The Yazatas' profile
  38. Savage Sword of Conan #17 ; The Hyborian Age Chapter 6: The Darkness... and the Dawn
  39. Daredevil Annual #4B
  40. Sub-Mariner #1
  41. Secret Empire: Brave New World #1 ; Sanctuary
  42. [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Hyborian_Age The Hyborian Age
  43. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 10
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