Settra the Imperishable

Latest revision as of 06:10, 17 March 2025

Settra the Imperishable is a male literary character who features in Warhammer Fantasy.

Biography

Settra was once a male human of the Old World where he came to be a king of the kingdom of Khemri. He was born in a time when Nehekhara was plagued by drought, famine, disease and war he was determined to lead his people to greatness. He was an arrogant, vain and tyrannical ruler, but also especially devout and instigated the building of many great temples so as to earn the favour of the gods. On the first anniversary of his coronation he beseeched the gods to restore Khemri to its former glory and to give him the strength to unite all of Nehekhara under his rule. He sacrificed his own children in a grand ritual to demonstrate his dedication, commitment and worth. The gods were pleased and when the Great Mortis River flooded for the first time in decades Khemri was purged of its sickness and collected a harvest of unparalleled size. Seeing this as evidence that he was the chosen of the gods Settra became the first Priest King of Nehekhara. Between the great legions of Khemri and Settra's own ruthless military genius he swiftly conquered the other cities and became the first king to unite all of Nehekhara under his rule. He established an empire and instated various leaders in other cities to provide tribute. As the undisputed king of both Khemri and Nekhara as a whole he was adored by his people as the land entered a golden age. Still not content, his armies set sail in mighty war fleets and conquered lands across the globe, with much treasure and slaves brought back to labour on the great monuments that Settra commanded built to glory both the gods and himself. For all his conquests, he was still frustrated. He knew that there were still lands out there to claim, more than could ever be reached in a single lifetime and also that one day death would take away from him all he had created. In his supreme arrogance he vowed that the grave would never have him, and that he would cheat death. He set his greatest, wisest and most powerful priests on the mission to find a way to achieve this. This group would become the Mortuary Cult a priesthood dedicated, not to any god, but rather to discover the path to life eternal. In -2390 IC, he named Nekaph as his personal herald. The priests searched for years and discovered many incredible things, including the art of mummification, but could not find what Settra sought. He lived far beyond any mortal span thanks to their arts, but he could not be kept alive indefinitely. On his death bed, the priests promised that one day he would return and rule over another golden age, a paradise. He died in -2350 IC with a curse on his lips and his body was interred in a great pyramid of unsurpassed majesty and bound with the mightiest incantations of power and preservation the cult knew, until his appointed day of awakening.

When Nagash was defeated by the hands of Alcadizzar the Conqueror, his powerful sorceries coursed across Nehekhara, countless corpses stirred and rose, animated solely by the dark will of the necromancer. With his destruction, however, their source of animus vanished and they fell like marionettes whose strings had been mysteriously cut. Nagash's foul magic also penetrated the tombs of the kings and reverberated throughout the charnel pits of the dead cities. However, protected and shielded to a degree by the wards and incantations placed upon their pyramids and necropolises, Nagash's spell affected the long-dead kings and their buried legions differently. After centuries of entombment, the stiffened corpses of monarchs and heroes awoke. The mummified kings rose from their resting places. Legions of Skeleton Warriors burst forth from their sand-filled tomb pits, ready to do their liege's bidding. Due to the incantations of preservation performed on their embalmed bodies, the Tomb Kings awoke from their long journey through the Realm of Souls with their memories and faculties intact. They emerged from their tombs in horror. Where the ancient kings had been promised eternal life in a paradise where they would rule supreme, they instead awoke to find themselves clad in desiccated flesh and rotten vestments, with their cities shattered, their lands desolate and their kingdoms all but destroyed — little more than ruins poking out from beneath the sand dunes.

There had been countless kings during the long history of Nehekhara. The fires of ambition and pride that had driven them in life still resided in their ancient bodies, and they instantly sought out to reclaim their empires as best they could. Kings who were great and powerful in life, who had reigned unchallenged for centuries, now awoke from death in a land where they were but one amongst hundreds. All believed the right to rule the land was solely theirs, and none would relinquish their perceived power. Dynasties that were built upon the shoulders of more powerful monarchs were forced to confront their founders, and there were long battles in the necropolises as king fought king. Undying legions arose at their command, and many tens of thousands of Skeleton Warriors were destroyed as the Undead Tomb Kings struggled for supremacy. Of all the tombs and pyramids, only one remained silent and untouched by the fighting — the Great Pyramid of Settra the Imperishable. The wards heaped on the white burial monument had protected the mummified corpse of Settra from Nagash's tainted sorcery, and its occupants still slumbered in the sleep of death, oblivious to the turmoil of battle taking place outside the pyramid walls. As the battles raged, the Liche Priests looked on. Their bodies, already extended far beyond their natural span, were unaffected by Nagash's spell. They had survived the rise and fall of Nagash, whose sorcerous power they could not match, but it looked like the warring Tomb Kings were going to destroy what remained of Nehekhara. The head of the Mortuary Cult, Grand Hierophant Khatep, oldest and wisest of the Liche Priests, took it upon himself to restore order. As king smote king, Khatep broke the seals to Settra's pyramid and began to recite the incantation of awakening. In Khemri, the battles between rival kings lasted for days before the tomb of Settra opened, and the mightiest of all the kings of Nehekhara strode out into the blazing sunlight at the head of thousands of his warriors. In undeath, Settra hungered for the domination of his fellow Tomb Kings, and he would suffer no rival to his rule. Settra waded into the carnage. His Herald, Nekaph, stood as ever by his side. Together, they led Settra's elite Tomb Guard and quickly carved a path through the rival Skeleton legions. Settra struck down dozens of lesser Tomb Kings who stood against him, powdering their bones to dust and destroying them utterly. Not even Arkhan the Black, with his command of dark sorcery, could prevail against Settra's strength of arms, and he was forced to flee Khemri. Before long, all the Tomb Kings bowed their heads to Settra the Imperishable — the undisputed ruler of all Nehekhara.

Overview

Personality and attributes

Settra himself never achieved the immortality that he desired, and eventually did die at a very old age, bitter about being robbed what he felt was his right. However, his actions had profound consequences. His eventual successor as king, Nagash, would discover the magic of Necromancy, and his actions would lead to the complete devastation of the once fertile land of Nehekhara, and the creation of the vampires. Nagash would raise former Nehekhara rulers to serve him using his magic, Settra being the last. However, unlike his other creations, these raised kings maintained their free will, and embittered by being cheated out of true immortality, drove the Necromancer out. Settra then promptly reconquered all the lands he once ruled, having achieved a form of immortality, but not the kind he truly desired. Easily one of the greatest warriors the Old World ever knew, Settra carries the Blessed Blade of Ptra, and rides the Chariot of the Gods into battle, where he runs down all who stand his path, leaving their bodies broken and mangled in his wake. All will feel his wrath, none will survive.

He married Hatsushepra of Lahmia, a Priestess of Ptra and it became tradition following their union for the king of Khemri to marry a daughter of Lahmia.

Powers and abilities

Originally, Settra was born and ordinary human being with no inherent special abilities at the time.

Although he has some understanding and ability to use the magic of the Liche Priests he has not been able to fully master the power, much to his frustration.

Before great nations such as the Empire or Bretonnia were even dreams, the people of Nehekhara had already built towering cities, unrivalled throughout the land. Each of these city-states was ruled by a Priest King, who would raise great monuments in their honor for ages to come. Settra the Imperishable was one such ruler. But he wanted more. Ambitious, ruthless, and extremely arrogant, Settra set out to forcibly unite all the cities into one unified kingdom. After a series of wars, he succeeded, and became the High King of the kingdom of Nehekhara.

Notes

• Settra the Imperishable was created by Games Workshop where he featured in the setting of the Warhammer Fantasy universe.

In other media

Video games

Appearances

• Warhammer Fantasy:

External Links

• Lexicanum Warhammer Fantasy Entry

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