Come and Delight with the Powers of Our Dear God "Set"

There was a time when almost half of the known world was under the dominion of Set, the serpent-god. These were days when Acheron still existed as a haughty nation and Stygia dominated the kingdom of Shem. In the Conan period, however, the worship of the lord of darkness was confined solely to Stygia and its subordinate areas, such as southeast of Shem. The origin of the god dates back to the pre-cathectic period, as well as the pyramids of Stygia. Its frightening origin must have been based on the vipers that inhabited the marshes south of the Vilayet Sea, found by the Sages in their emigration to the west. The cult of Set was forbidden by the Hyborians, who regarded divinity as an evil demon. Their rituals were sinister and profane, comprising long processions of masked priests and human sacrifices in underground temples. To the north of Stygia, in the reign of Shem, the most venerated entity was the goddess Ishtar. Its rich and lush temples served as a stage for animal sacrifices, as well as other religious ceremonies. Although the cult was clearly inferior to Mithraism, it was still considerably higher than the devilish devotion of the Scythians by the god Set, and far less profane than the pagan sects of Turan, Vendhia, and Khitai. Broadly speaking, this was the religious scene in the Barbarian Conan's Hyborian Age, idle by Robert E. Howard's fantastic imagination. Although the barbarian grew up in fear of Crom, when he began his wanderings to the south, he also suffered the strong influence of more civilized cultures, believing in other entities like Ishtar and Mitra. However, even in the most dangerous times, the barbarian rarely invoked the help of any god, believing, like all Cimmerians, that the only powers capable of helping a man are the strength, courage, and sharp blade of a sword.