Vaprak

Vaprak the Destroyer is a demigod or lesser deity of greed, destruction, frenzy, and violence and the patron deity of ogres and trolls. Othea, mother of giants, had an affair with him, which led to the birth of the ogre race.

Description

Vaprak's avatar was a hideous humanoid ogre in form, He had mottled greenish-brown skin and taloned claws.

Personality

The Destroyer prefers to rip apart his enemies with his bare claws rather than use any weapons. He never makes plans; he simply reacts in a destructive manner and relentless ferocity. He is always hungry.

Divine Realm

Up until the Spellplague, Vaprak resides within the Abyss, in the realm of Shatterstone in the 524th layer. Post-Spellplague, Vaprak resides within Nishrek.

Worshippers

Ogres and trolls worshiped Vaprak, as did a number of hill giants and even ettins. Some tanar'ri priests were known to pledge themselves to his service. And some humans in the land of Thay also worshiped Vaprak as part of their evil pantheon, having a temple for him in the city of Bezantur.

Occasionally, a frost giant would turn to the worship of Vaprak in exchange for physical prowess, in a ritual that involved devouring a willing troll sent by Vaprak. This process transformed the few who persevered into an everlasting one, gaining enhanced strength and regenerative qualities as a result, although they attempted to hide such oddities.

His worshipers favored him for his viciousness and destructive power. Vaprak sometimes rewarded his shamans with a violent rage. In other instances, he would send his avatar among them to assist in conquering a weaker clan or to punish ogres who had decided to worship the giant gods instead.

Vaprak the Destroyer's symbol was a taloned claw, and the favored weapon of his clerics was also the claw; however, in the Realms, his followers favored the greatclub instead. The clerics would array themselves in war helmets and plate mail with blood red clothing. They celebrated no holy days but worshiped from dens. The priests stayed in fit physical condition and sometimes engaged in club-bashing rituals. All were required to eat their food greedily and fight often. Vaprak never sent omens.

Relationships

Vaprak had a reverent fear of the giant pantheon and was afraid of losing followers to them. Thus, he constantly urged his worshipers to frenzied aggression.

History

The true origin of Vaprak was in doubt; however, some giant tales claimed that he was the son of a horribly ugly and tall proto-ogress who disguised herself to seduce Annam All-Father, leading to Vaprak's conception. Many scholars at least agreed that Vaprak was descended from Annam in some way, as the temple of Hotun-Shûl included Vaprak in a large frieze depicting Annam's greatest children, but if not directly then through one of his children.

Vaprak later had an affair with Annam's wife Othea, which led to the creation of the ogre race. (This was before her later affair with the god Ulutiu, which resulted in the creation of the giant-kin.) The trolls believed that Vaprak also bore daughters, who became the mothers of their own race.

The oni, in contrast, believed that both ogres and trolls were only the offspring of ancient human warriors who had been blessed by Vaprak, whereas it was their own race who were the true descendants of Vaprak. Though this was doubted by the human scholars of Kara-Tur, the oni claimed that Vaprak sired three sons by demons from the Abyss, named Anori, Hakuni, and Muaj. He caused his three demonic sons to be reborn as mortals on the Material Plane, one son to each of three violent tribes. His sons, however, failed to lead their tribes in conquering the lands with their armies of ogres and trolls, being driven back by the civilized races. Enraged, Vaprak cursed his sons and exiled them forever from the Abyss, leaving them as mortals until their deaths. The descendants of Anori, Hakuni, and Muaj became the oni or ogre mages.

Vaprak also comes into the tales of halflings regarding the founding of Luiren. Long before the fall of Myth Drannor, the Lluirwood covered the lands that would later be Luiren. These forests were inhabited by Vaprak's ogres. The god Brandobaris appeared and challenged Vaprak first to catch him. Vaprak could never catch the nimble hin after chasing him endlessly for ten days and ten nights.

Next, Brandobaris challenged the ogre god to a contest of strength. Since Vaprak trusted in his own prowess, he accepted the challenge before hearing it fully. The test was to determine which god could remove a tree from the ground without damaging it. Vaprak ripped many trees from the ground but tore apart the roots of the trees in doing so. Brandobaris, on the other hand, carefully removed a tiny sapling without any harm to its single taproot. Vaprak was furious, but he had no choice but to admit defeat. He moved his ogres to the Toadsquat Mountains and left the Lluirwood to the halflings evermore.

Following the Spellplague, Vaprak became an exarch of Gruumsh and made his home within that deity's plane of Nishrek.

Vaprak

Lesser deity

Basic Information

Titles

The Destroyer
The Rapacious
The King Eater

Pantheons

Ordning

Serves

Gruumsh

Attributes

Alignment

Chaotic Evil

Symbol

Taloned claw

Realm

Infinite Layers of the Abyss/524th Layer

Portfolio

Violence, Destruction, Frenzy, Greed

Favored Weapon

Greatclub

Following

Worshippers

Trolls
Ogres
Ettins
Hill giants

Domains

Destruction (Rage)
Strength (Ferocity)
War (Blood)

Favored Aspects

Colors

Blood red