Wastri

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Wastri is the Suloise god of Amphibians, Bigotry, and Self-Deception. His symbol is a gray toad.

Publication history

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)

Wastri was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in "The Deities and Demigods of the World of Greyhawk" by Gary Gygax in Dragon #71 (1983).^[1] Wastri was subsequently detailed in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983).^[2]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)

Wastri was one of the deities described in the From the Ashes set (1992), for the Greyhawk campaign.^[3]

Wastri is further detailed in The Scarlet Brotherhood (1999).^[4]

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)

Wastri's role in the 3rd edition Greyhawk setting was defined in the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000).^[5]

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)

His priesthood is detailed for this edition in Complete Divine (2004).^[6]

Description

Wastri appears as a human with froglike features, dressed in clothes of gray and yellow and wielding a glave-guisarme called Skewer of the Impure.

Relationships

Wastri is amicable toward all human deities other than Zagyg, who once imprisoned him beneath Castle Greyhawk with eight other demigods. He despises the gods of the elves, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings.

Wastri's relationship with the bullywug deity Ramenos, who also has large numbers of bullywug followers, is unknown.

Realm

Wastri is said to dwell deep in the Vast Swamp, where he is served by bullywugs and warped humans in a fortress-temple called the Sacred Polystery. There, they breed frogs to look more human, and humans to look more like frogs.

In The Scarlet Brotherhood by Sean K. Reynolds, Wastri's base in the Vast Swamp is called the Temple of the Prophet. It is described as a motley collection of huts surrounding a stone ruin. His servants are noted to include bullywugs, grung, and other amphibious creatures. Wastri preaches to his followers, increasing their wrath over the iniquity of elves, dwarves, halflings, and gnomes. Those humans who come to the Temple are dragged into the ruin and emerge months later with toadlike features and sometimes supernatural powers. "False humans" are impaled. Within a mile of the ruin, all amphibious creatures or creatures made amphibious by the ruin's power regenerate one hp per turn.

Dogma

Wastri teaches his worshippers that humans are superior to all other races. Some humanoid races such as goblins, orcs, and bullywugs are fit to serve humanity as slaves; other races, like dwarves, elves, gnomes, and halflings, must be extermminated.

Wastri believes that amphibious living things are worthy of respect because of their ability to escape to water when the land is dangerous, and vice versa. The demigod admires this resourcefulness and urges his followers to emulate them by maintaining multiple refuges.

The Hopping Prophet's faith is an orderly one. His clerics stress the exaction of the rights and duties of each follower.

Worshippers

Wastri's faith is based from his lair in the Vast Swamp, though his followers have been found as far as the Hool Marshes, the Cold Marshes, and even in Greyhawk City. Old Wastrian temples have also been found within the Troll Fens.

Clergy

The Hopping Prophet's followers are often cleric/monks who leap into battle with poisoned weapons. Wastri himself is accompanied by the Immaculate Image (his monk/high priest), a group of clerics called the Greater Servants, and a pair of huge toads.

In the Sacred Polystery his cultists are divided into Hopefuls (those hoping to become clerics) and his Lesser Servants, who are clerics of various levels. Wastri's current high priest is Baranabas, who dwells within the Temple of the Prophet and guards it against intruders while his master is away.

Temples

Wastri's places of worship are dim, dark, and chill.

Rituals

Wastri's ceremonies involve croaking chants, strange musical instruments, and ritual sacrifice.

History

Wastri is rumored to have once been a mortal human. "Wastri" had been the name of a student of Kevelli Mauk, the founder of the Scarlet Brotherhood. In -418 CY, three years after the Rain of Colorless Fire, Mauk, with his students and slaves, was hiding in the Vast Swamp, on the run from Oeridians. The one known as Wastri and one other were thought killed when the party entered a stone ruin half-buried in the muck, and nothing was heard from either student until the demigod Wastri revealed himself in 216 CY. The Brotherhood, disgusted by the demigod's amphibious, no-longer-human nature, privately declared him impure and never cooperated with his followers closely. In 505 CY, Wastri was captured and imprisoned in the Godtrap beneath Castle Greyhawk by the mad archmage, Zagig Yragerne, and did not escape until decades later.

Reception

Rob Bricken of Kotaku identified Wastri as one of "The 13 Strangest Deities In Dungeons & Dragons", commenting: "The god of amphibians… and a god of self-deception and bigotry. Now, obviously, being a god of frogs and bigotry is amazing, especially this very like means that all amphibians in Dungeons & Dragons are unrepentant bigots, to the point where they pray for help in maintaining their bigotry. But let's not overlook the fact that Wastri is also the god of self-deception. If you're praying to Wastri so you don't realise something... haven't you already failed? And if you have deceived yourself, how do you know to pray to Wastri for thanks? I don't think Wastri thought this through. Probably too busy dealing with all those racist frogs."^[7]

References

Additional reading

• Brown, Anne. Player's Guide to Greyhawk (TSR, 1998).
• Conforti, Steven, ed. Living Greyhawk Official Listing of Deities for Use in the Campaign, version 2.0. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2005. Available online:
• Gygax, Gary, and Frank Mentzer. The Temple of Elemental Evil (TSR, 1985).
• Living Greyhawk Journal no. 3 - "Gods of Oerth"