Faith in Taqam

The conquering of more than twenty kingdoms and countries, however large or small, is no feat to scoff at. And to do so in only a few decades is something never before accomplished, especially when one considers that the war bands which began the entire thing were disparate, largely considered uncivilized desert tribes. Their leader, most often called the Great Emperor, claimed divine heritage passed on to him by Ahtla. Given the nearly daily miracles that seemed to follow him and his armies as they swept across the continent and brought down established countries and ancient lines of succession like a wave, people’s faith shifted and began to support a new take on the faith localized to this part of the world. They claimed that the Great Emperor was a god made flesh, and that upon the death of his mortal body, he returned to the Heavens, leaving his Empire in the hands of his sons. They were blessed by the Emperor’s apostles in a public ceremony, and when the sun was temporarily blotted out during the ceremony, it was taken as a sign that their father was showing his might and approval from the heavens.
But not all in Taqam believe that the Great Emperor was a god made flesh. The clergy of the old faith, those who follow the pantheon which Ahtla supposedly exists above and outside of, whose followers claim created the gods of the old faith, insist Ahtla is nothing more than a story created to legitimize the Great Emperor’s regime. The priests of the old faith, most especially the high priests and priestesses, currently hold too much power for the Empire to move against them, as it would likely indeed insight a full rebellion, and so an uneasy peace has fallen between government faith and the old faith, with each looking away. The clergy of the Old Gods cannot afford to insight a civil war they lack the funding to sustain, and the government cannot risk the rise of a full rebellion with more than half their Empire.
For now, like so many things where Taqam is concerned, the world watches and waits with baited breath, to see how war will form. Will it be outward, with a unified Empire sweeping over its neighbors and conquering them, or will it be internally, with the still young Empire collapsing under the weight of civil war?