THIS IS WHY WE PRAY: So This City Will Stand By The Gods' Will

I saw a Reddit post where a DM tried to figure out how a city in their campaign could exist and feed itself. But in the end, after many hours with Excel spreadsheets, it couldn't. And they were disheartened.But I thought instead it was actually a great justification for fantasy adventure gaming's active and close gods who meddle in mortal affairs. Most of the time we ignore this, but why? Why not give a very strong reason your mortal population is praying to the gods.How can a city exist when it can't produce enough food or have access to water?The city exists because the gods allow it and will it to. And this is why we pray.This is why we pray...To ensure continued mana from heaven on the holy days, to ensure each tree yields 10 times its bounty, and the statues of St. Neptune pour forth water into pearlescent basins with fish we no longer seeAnd sacrifice, because the 100 children let the gods know we remember loss even under their divine continuation-- St. Hades will see their…