In this third book and final one in a trilogy, the gods send different groups of emissaries down to earth to see what man was doing with himself. This ranged from colonization through watching gages and festivals to observing churches and schools amongst others.
The idea was to see how man governed himself as well as others and how he had been living in a way that is not consistent with expectations, ethics and morality. In other words they had come to observe and report on the social aspects of human existence.
The had observed many funny things that might make the reader laugh aloud!