The "random table" has been an emerging poetic form since Stevens's "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird." Good contemporary random table poems may be found in Sholtis's The Dungeon Dozen. See, for example, Sholtis's "Monumental Sculpture in the Underworld."
In that spirit, and with reference to the latest installment of the Storm King's Thunder review, your humble critic offers his own random table.
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d12 Explanations for the Devil-worshipper's Unexpected Religious Pluralism
1. Invincible ignorance regarding Asmodeus's true aims: argues that Asmodeus is protecting everyone from the other devils.
2. Required by now-regretted pact to worship devil, but is constantly exploiting technicalities to keep other people from similar pacts.
3. Just an edgy poser.
4. "Worship" mostly consists in getting bankrupted by clever but fraudulent direct-mail scheme.
5. Believes that kindness is the truest tyranny of all.
6. Biding time for a heel turn that everyone else sees coming.
7. Actually wants to impose her beliefs, but cannot because of extreme shyness.
8. Has an intuitive understanding of the civil-religious obligations of this liberal fantasy world's social contract vis-a-vis cultural particularism.
9. Really has more of an aesthetic appreciation for the accumulated achievements of centuries of Asmodeus-worship.
10. Gaming the system: fewer Asmodeus worshippers here means less competition in Hell.
11. Experiences uncontrollable fire-sneezes on days when hell-devotionals are neglected.
12. The Asmodeus cult is the only way to get a date in this podunk town.
My goes instantly to this post - https://udan-adan.blogspot.com/2017/10/cults-cultists-and-d.html. Check the comments - there's some more tables there.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I liked that post and the discussion. On the subject of fantastical religion, I also enjoyed "Eight Pious Arachnids" on your blog.
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