"Believers of the God of Agriculture, get out!"
"Believers of the God of Cruel Officials, leave Burgchester!"
"Lackeys of the God of Agriculture, die!"
"The God of Cruel Officials' thugs don't deserve to live!"
"..."
Tens of thousands of people shouted slogans and fought outside the temple gates.
On one side were devout Believers of the God of Cruel Officials. They had received "God's will" and intended to drive the evil god's faith out of Strathlade Kingdom. On the other were people drawn by the slogan "Worship the God of Agriculture and pay no taxes." They wanted to survive, to escape the crushing taxes, to fight for a future.
Both sides fought with astonishing ferocity. For a time, neither could gain the upper hand.
The guards who arrived at the "battlefield" tried to intervene, but they soon vanished into the surging crowd like bubbles in a wave.
Watching the "brawl" outside, the bishop inside the God of Cruel Officials Temple grew grim.
His plan had been to have the Believers call for the Agriculture Church's expulsion, then have the nobles issue an order. Finally, his own church would act in accordance with public opinion. That way, the Believers would be the ones who started it. Under the Continental Convention, gods could not arbitrarily inflict Divine Punishment on another god's Believers. So how had a perfectly good public assembly to "expel the Agriculture Church" turned into a fight between two groups of Believers?
Had the Agriculture Church discovered their plot long ago and prepared for it? One possibility after another flashed through the bishop's mind, and his expression darkened further.
His thoughts racing, he turned to the priest beside him and ordered,
"Tell our people to issue the order expelling the Agriculture Church."
"And perform the ritual. Bring those lords here