Recovered: The Ubiquitous Sages
As it was noted in Let’s Read the Monstrous Manual, many monster write-ups refer to “sages” with strangely specific knowledge and theories, implying some sort of twisted academic discourse in the D&D universe. When writing, it’s an easy trap to fall into: when I do it it’s because sometimes I just don’t want to decide how something works, or I think something is a good idea but struggle to make it interesting, or I have multiple conflicting ideas. Basically, it’s because I’m lazy (although I do try to catch myself doing it).
Image modified from Matt Neale, via Wikimedia Commons
This fall-back device has some strange implications though. Take, for example, this passage from the AD&D Monstrous Manual:
Naturally vicious and almost evil at times, displacer beasts harbor an undying hatred of blink dogs. Many theories attempt to account for this enmity. Some sages believe it springs from antipathy in temperaments—the lawful good blink dog would naturally be the enemy of a creature as savage and destructive as the displacer beast. Others argue that it is the displacement and blink abilities which cause this antipathy—the two abilities, when in close proximity, somehow stimulate the nervous system and produce hostile reactions. Encounters between the two breeds are rare however, since they do not share the same territory.
Authorship
The judgments implicit in “almost evil” and “undying hatred” contrast sharply with the pseudo-scientific prose in the rest of the text. On the other hand, the back-and-forth of competing theories suggests a reliable communication infrastructure, the use of “sages” and “others” plural suggests a community of academics, and the note that natural encounters are rare introduces the possibility of a controlled laboratory environment, complete with technology that can contain an ethereal blink dog. The contrast of these prose styles might be explained by the method of writing of a real medieval bestiary: Greeks and Romans would hear stories from all over and write them down. Then monks would copy, translate, and illuminate, these manuscripts, and add a layer of Christian allegory. In some cases, these were then later translated again with annotations, like this one, leaving many competing authorial voices. I think this (possibly unintentionally) makes for a somewhat more “realistic” bestiary.
Naming the Sages
If there is an academic community however, these books do a pretty poor job of citing things. Proper citations and references might be a bit much, but let’s at least name the sages. Take the above blink-dog passage:
Many theories attempt to account for this enmity. [Nymphitylus believes] it springs from antipathy in temperaments—the lawful good blink dog would naturally be the enemy of a creature as savage and destructive as the displacer beast. [Marixtus the Optimist argues] that it is the displacement and blink abilities which cause this antipathy—the two abilities, when in close proximity, somehow stimulate the nervous system and produce hostile reactions.
I think the addition of names is a minor change that adds a more academic tone. I can easily imagine several names reappearing throughout a text, alluding to the nature and reliability of different sources.
Of course, names for ancient sages should be Greek. So here is a table to name them:
A half-dozen samples:
- Hegetius of Stratonicia
- Hierocrates the Epicurean
- Porphygias the Cynic
- Phaeneas
- Alexagnote Mallotes
- Carneacydes of Athens
Epithets can be generated with a d100, or a d30 to exclude place names, or a d20 to exclude Greek epithets. On 1-2 in 6, I exclude the epithet all together.
Automated
All this we know from the writings of…
This post was first shared on January 20, 2013, in the same post as Bestiaries. The generator was first shared on August 16, 2020, and here re-built with the most recent version of Spwack’s generator generator.