I can understand how many people wouldn't see it the way I did, but I really don't think I'm wrong on this. Yes, it is a fantasy game and not a real world, but it's quite common to see metaphorical political statements of this type in various forms of entertainment, particularly in science fiction and fantasy settings. The fictional worlds of sci-fi and fantasy lend themselves very nicely to metaphorical or allegorical political statements.
Maybe the reference seems obvious to me because I've been involved in this political issue for a long time, and I've seen this exact argument from animal rights activists (either explicitly or metaphorically) MANY times. In fact, my best friend is an active animal rights guy. The fact that the book makes a point of saying that the imp tested the mushrooms on "non-imp species" and then died seems to me to be a rather clear metaphorical statement. The book was also clearly describing a research project. So, what was described was a research project on non-imp species for the purpose of testing the mushrooms for use on imps. That seems close enough to real life to me to make me think it was intended to be a political statement.
Again, I want to stress that I'm not the least bit offended or angry over this. I found the dead imp and his book to be funny myself. So, while it brought a smile to my face, I also honestly believe that it was an attempt to express a political view that I strongly disagree with.
I'm certainly willing to entertain the possibility that I'm seeing something there that was never intended. I don't think that's the case, though.
