Setesh, The Hungering Dark
Setesh is an entity in the cosmology of Lepi Monotheism that represents the antithesis to Raikep, The Waters of Creation. If Raikep represents the balance of water in life and the peace of death, Setesh represents privation, fear, and desire.
While Setesh is often spoken of as an evil being that calls upon the weaknesses and lusts of mankind to do his work, Setesh is better understood as the fundamental force that inspires metabolism, growth, and change; without desire ("seteshi"), there would be no feeding, reproduction, or evolution. A fundamentally unknowable shape of inky, tendril-bedecked darkenss, Setesh is said to have come into being with the first creature in the cosmos experienced hunger. Indeed, he was motive desire itself - the void, a pure concept given form by sensation and cognition. Nevertheless, despite this more morally ambivalent interpretation, Setesh is often regarded with fear by the followers of Lepi Monotheism, as those under the effects of privation or whom give themselves over to their desires are said to be driven mad and, ultimately, blocked in their path through the Place of Twilight Mists by the many arms of Setesh.
Divine Domains
Trickery, Air, Hunger, Darkness, Illusions
Tenets of Faith
Setesh is not regarded as a deity in Lepi Monotheism. Like other spirits, he is regarded as one of the natives of the spiritual world that manifests and represents the various facets of reality. Quasi-worship, like swearing by Setesh's name or invoking his power to seem tough, is far more common than actual worship. More accurately to the lore of Setesh, the idiom "fighting/struggling with Setesh" is often used to denote the state of resisting temptations, especially those which would be immoral, unhealthful, or wasteful to fulfill. The concept of Setesh's maddening influence on the world is also sometimes called upon to explain terrible tragedies for which no rational explaination or solution seems possible, such as the murderous acts of Madhook or the more systematic cruelty of the Occult Fraternity.
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