The Saint and the Sultan

Lately I’ve been diving into the history of my dog’s favorite saint, Francis of Assisi, and I have been inspired by his example in both my life and in my tabletop roleplaying games. I’ll make the D&D gaming connections in a minute, but first I want to dive into Saint Francis. Normally known for loving nature and blessing animals, I was surprised to learn about a less remembered part of his legend – meeting with the Islamic Sultan Malik al-Kamil at the height of the Fifth Crusade, when the rest of the European Christians were arrayed in bloody war against him.

Paul Moses writes about these events and their significance in his book “The Saint and the Sultan”. Prior to picking up this book, I really didn’t know much about this saintly figure. To me, he was an admirable man from long ago who found a way to deep relationship with God in-between the wolf and the leper. I had no idea his life had taken him beyond Italy, let alone out among the Crusaders.

He relished this encounter with Sultan al-Kamil, his religious other. He had longed for it for something like it for years, trying multiple times to journey to the Muslim world to preach and share the life of Jesus as he had come to embody it. When he finally stood before this leader of the Muslim world, he came with an offer of peace and from a place of spiritual charity. That peace was returned to him in an act of generous hospitality on the part of the learned Sultan. This man was no bloodthirsty beast as the Pope’s Crusade preachers had declared, but a man of curiosity and wonder who was engaged in trying to protect his people against invading outsiders, a man who made multiple offers of peace to the leaders of the Crusades – all of which had fallen on deaf and suspicious ears.

Though his meeting with the Sultan did not have the immediate effect of a peaceful resolution to the Crusades or of the Sultan’s conversion as Francis had idealistically hoped, it did have a profound impact on Francis himself. Through his writings thereafter, Saint Francis encouraged living life together in peace with Muslims. He also depicted the Sultan as a man through whom God had spoken to him. This encounter between Saint and Sultan has continued to provide inspiration in in the work of both Christian and Muslim groups that wrestles with healing the harm done between these two major world religions.

The Wolf of Gubbio

Before Saint Francis’s travelled to Egypt, his meeting with the Sultan had been foreshadowed by (and/or perhaps allegorized) by his legendary encounter with the wolf of Gubbio. The town of Gubbio had been gripped by fear of a huge and ravenous wolf that devoured animals and people alike. The townsfolk only
ventured outside their walls if they were armed “as if they were going to war,” but even then their weapons proved useless against the hungry teeth of the beast. St. Francis ignored the warnings, however; and ventured forward “protected not by a shield or helmet but arming himself with the Sign of the Cross.”

The wolf rushed Francis, but stopped short on Francis’ greeting, “Brother Wolf,” after which it bowed and laid down at his feet. St. Francis spoke to the wolf, ultimately seeing through the fearsome exterior to the suffering beneath. He struck a bargain with the animal, where the townsfolk would feed the wolf each day and the wolf promised to never hurt any animal or person again. The wolf and the townsfolk lived out this bargain until the wolf died of old age, much to the sadness of those who had grown to love their former enemy.

Theologian Karl Barth defines God as one who is “Wholly Other”. I believe that we encounter God, that big-O “Other” in our relationships with little-o “others”. In engaging in acts of humane relationship with
the Sultan and the wolf, figures who were actively and extremely “othered” by Saint Francis’s peers, he experienced the revelation of the one who is Wholly Other, that is God.

The Lion of Judah

In the Bible, ravenous wolves and roaring lions represent the archetypal fear of the people. We are told to beware of “ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15), and of the devil who is “like a roaring lion prowling around, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The warnings of the dangers of lions are especially prevalent, showing up as enemies to be feared over and over again from Sampson to the Psalms to the prophet Daniel. It’s surprising therefore, that in the last book of the Bible Jesus, the Son of God, is depicted as a lion himself, “The Lion of Judah.” 

Lions are dangerous “others”. Peter’s letter had already symbolically described the devil as a lion. How can Jesus be a lion too? Aren’t lions to be kept away from?

What the Book of Revelation does in ascribing this title “The Lion of Judah” to Jesus is to indeed mark Jesus as the dangerous outsider. On the cross, Jesus was reviled and made to be a curse. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’ (Galatians 3:13). On the cross Jesus was proclaimed to be a dangerous “other”, deserving of humiliating public execution, deserving of being taunted and cast out. In Jesus’ crucifixion, God unites themself with all those who have been “othered” in our world and redeems us all. God becomes the “ravenous beast” and redeems us as we learn to embrace that which we have been taught to fear.

Through Christ and Christ crucified, we are invited to finally see the sacredness of all people – inclusive of age, race, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, family structure, ability or disability, religion, culture, and those who wrestle with addiction, physical or mental health, imprisonment, socio-economic circumstances, past religious trauma, doubts and questions, or anything that too often divides us. Just as Saint Francis experienced divine revelation as he sought connection beyond perceived differences, we can also engage in the work of embracing individuals of all backgrounds. As we foster relationships across lines of ‘other-ness,’ living out that command to ‘love your enemies,’ we too begin to see and understand more of the fullness of God.

A Great D&D Session

So what does any of this talk about Saints and Sultans, wolves and lions, or crucified “others” have to do with Dungeons & Dragons?

The first thing that grabbed me as I read these stories of Saint Francis was how they would make great D&D scenarios. The call to adventure comes: save the town from the wild beast (a werewolf would be really on the nose here) or liberate the sacred site from the monster who has begun dwelling there. This all starts out fairly standard, and certainly the heroes could take the approach of the murderhobo and go and wipe out their problems with violence. But a better game would be one that invites the players not to destroy, but to understand. A secret is uncovered, there is more to the truth behind these beastly others. As more secrets are uncovered, the adventuring party has the opportunity to uncover the mystery behind the monster.  Then comes the true challenge, building trust and making peace across enemy lines.

There’s a whole category of adventures that dive into just this sort of subject around the misunderstood monster. (The Uncaged Anthology is one really great example of those, specifically focusing on how feminine creatures are re-presented in the medium of our stories.) But you don’t need to go out and buy a new adventure to play a deeper and more illuminating story. You just need to take into consideration a few tips.

• Think about the Secrets and Clues the party will uncover over the course of play. (Read this article from SlyFlourish to understand more about Secrets and Clues.)
• Make one of the secrets the fear that is driving the actions of the lead monster. Look up a list of phobias for inspiration if your really want to get creative here.
• Now that you understand your monster a little better, think about what rumor or false understanding of the creature’s motives is spreading throughout the NPCs your party is called to help? Give this to the players first.
• What are some possible places that the NPCs and the monster be able to find common ground? What clues could be uncovered that would give the players a hint that a means of resolution other than violence might be possible?

That’s it! With that groundwork, most players will be eager to grab onto that higher purpose, finding fulfillment and getting creative about their problem solving. You don’t necessarily have to do it for every monster you face, but even doing it here and there will experientially invite the players to consider the categories of “otherness” in a different way. In a world that constantly seeks to separate ‘us’ from ‘them,’ playing in this way can remind us that an experience of God can be found in our willingness to embrace and connect with those deemed as “other.” As we navigate the complexities of our society, let’s inspired one another and build bridges of understanding and compassion across the diverse tapestry of our human experience.