Talk:Vaprak

What about ogre mages?
Does anyone know if oni mages worshiped Vaprak as well? ~ Lhynard (talk) 17:23, January 18, 2016 (UTC)


 * I looked through all my sources and I cannot find evidence that ogre magi worship Vaprak. He is served by shamans, predominantly ogres, but some trolls and a few hill giants. Oni mages are arcane spellcasters and thus don't have to worship any deity, right? &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 02:03, January 19, 2016 (UTC)


 * I don't see why not; oni mages used to be just regular ogre mages in the past. Every source said they were the same thing, until 4e separated them. (There's an oni/ogre mage giving our Kara-Tur crew hell these days...) And there's no reason why one can't pick Vaprak as a patron, barring good taste.


 * In fact, I know of at least one. In the first four issues of the DC Comics' Forgotten Realms comic series, the ogre mage Gornak made a deal with Vaprak to make his own hand a divine artifact, the Hand of Vaprak, lost it to Elminster and later tried to reclaim it. He wouldn't do that without some serious Vaprak devotion. He was called both ogre mage and oni mage in the same story too. — BadCatMan (talk) 11:54, January 19, 2016 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the feedback, both!


 * I was under the impression that ogre mages have never been just mages who were ogres, if that's what you mean by "regular ogres". Ogre mages were originally called oriental ogres, I believe, and "oni" is, I think, Japanese for "ogre" or something akin to that. The 3e MM says that ogre mages are "cousins" of ogres but treats them as different species.


 * According to the 2e book Giantcraft, ogres are the offspring of Vaprak and the giant goddess Othea, Annam's wife. I did some Internet research, and I'm told that the 1e version of Deities and Demigods has a whole section on Vaprak. If the 2nd- or 3rd-hand sources are to be trusted, that book claims that Vaprak is a bastard son of Annam, which would mean that his affair to produce the ogres was with his step-mom. Vaprak also sired (by some unknown person, but not Othea) three sons named Anori, Hakuri, and Muaj. These demigods were the fathers of the ogre mage race, so I might guess that the ogre mages might worship them in addition to Vaprak.


 * It also seems that there is a monster character named Muaj who is a powerful oni mage in some 4e book. I'm not sure if it's the oni mage demigod above or not.


 * Unfortunately, I cannot get a hold of either the 1e source or the 4e source, so I cannot confirm any of this, but it gives me more ideas to play with.


 * ~ Lhynard (talk) 04:57, January 20, 2016 (UTC)


 * P.S. I really am crazy, though, because all this research is only for a potential encounter my PCs may have Thursday. It's possible they won't even meet this guy. I don't know why I care so much about NPC backstory....


 * I've got the 1e source, I'll look it up when I get home. I didn't think to look there earlier. Monster Mythology didn't have much on Vaprak, as I recall. &mdash;Moviesign (talk) 13:44, January 20, 2016 (UTC)