@Kaarme Okay, I agree with you that he's not the best example of an upstanding citizen haha. I'm not arguing that the emperor is a good guy. I'm talking about two separate things, along the lines of two wrongs don't make a right. The gods gave him a sword and told him to conquer the land (yes as confirmed by the priest, with a weapon, to overthrow its rulers, and conquer). That's what he did. Naturally innocents die in the process. It's unfair to shift blame for a clear mandate that results in inevitable carnage.
The priest draws a distinction between conquering corrupt monarchies to free the people and conquering the land to expand his territory. He seems to believe that's the true reason for gods' anger. Motive, not result. It's a case of Kantian/Deontological vs. Utilitarian ethics. If indeed they wanted him to be a just conquerer, I could understand the disappointment (since these gods seem like they're the Greek/Roman type and possess human personalities). I'm just very wary of the idea of just conquering driven by religion. It's very...crusades? The key conflict here is if he's conquering in his name as king, or conquering in the gods' name as a devotee. In the gods' minds that is the difference between greed and justice.
Or maybe I'm just the type of person e.g. the priest who would get stabbed in the back for overthinking things lol *shrugs
