| Category | Lexicon |
| Type | religious lore |
The Setarch, the emperor priest who reigns over the Second Khazarkar Empire, also known as the Khazarkar Empire, leads a theocracy that has held power since 1027. Their primary duty is to increase the number of worshippers of the god Set. At the very least, they must prevent the decline of Set's worshippers across Cinazan. Failure to do so would result in the Setarch's inglorious removal from power. While personal ambitions, such as maintaining their own authority or engaging in occasional corruption by siphoning funds from the Church's coffers, are common practices, these are always secondary to the promotion of the Set faith.
The Khazarkar Empire is divided by the Âruk plain, a region that is arduous to traverse without heavily armed convoys. This has led to an east-west divide within the empire. The west has long been the power center of the Khazarkar theocracy, now in its 900th year. It is home to the capital and the grand monuments and pyramids that serve as the final resting places for former leaders, dotting the wide avenues of Ardilthôr, Balmoloch, Bandunazân, and Nibar-Pharân. These pyramids, collectively known as the Pyramids of the Setarchs, are each equal in size and grandeur to a Pyramid of Power, and house the remains of the Setarchs who ruled the empire, whether benevolently or tyrannically. Regardless of their legacy, such leaders were able to maintain their position with the backing of the god Set, a belief deeply ingrained in Khazarkar society after nine centuries of religious rule. These burial pyramids are all located in the empire's eastern cities, a source of contention between the eastern Cinazan, the power base of the church, and the west, which generally supports the Malbazân. As a result, the western Cinazan, stretching from the angel-scarred Âruk plain to the Core Sea, view the selection of Setarchs from the east as a means of concentrating power in that region.
Setarchs, reluctant to relinquish their power, often pursue the path of becoming an immortal, transforming into a Mummy Lord. In the early period of the Pharzîmrâth, the Khazarkar Empire's theocracy, other undead types were employed as a means of prolonging the setarch's existence. The reign of Setarch Irân, a vampire and secret member of the As'lith Zybis, was so disastrous that the Church of Set issued a proclamation known as the Eternal Life Proclaimation, which forbade the church from transforming its members into vampires, ghouls, and other predatory undead.