You decide to open the meeting by bringing up the threat of the Dwarfish Pantheon and its cult of Traditionalist followers.
2
Sun-nut tells you that his attempting to persecute or conspire against the Traditionalist Cult would throw The Empire into chaos. "The majority of the imperial population are Chestnut Dwarves, who are fervently loyal and would happily accept any action against an outside cult, but the Mountain Dwarf immigrants brought into the Empire by my father, who are highly influential in the imperial military, political structure, and economy, would not stand for our cult openly making enemies of the Traditionalists; They have ties of trade, family, and friendship to the traditionalists back in the mountainhomes, and I doubt forcing them to choose between those ties and their faith would yield a positive result for us."
6
Your own court, on the other hand, has plenty of ideas on how the threat of the Dwarven Pantheon can be eventually dealt with. Lahara warns that a direct and unprovoked assault would be suicide; The main host of the dwarven pantheon is at least four times the size of your own, and several lesser deities with blood ties to the Pantheon control hosts of their own, some of which are again bigger than yours.
"Still, steps can be taken to weaken them or engage on favorable terms. The Abysal Pantheon of my father and mother will likely intervene on your behalf if you fight the dwarven pantheon, so all you really need do is survive the initial onslaught until reinforcements from the deep arrive!" The spymaster explains, "both yourself and Sun-nut are creative, and thus well equipped to fill both the sacred forest and imperial soil with traps and defenses to surprise a hostile host. We could also provoke them into attacking Char-Dis, and make The Soup, a treacherous afterlife controlled by a paranoid goddess and her monsters, our battlefield per the terms of our agreement to defend the cave deity."
"Indeed," Skoonhein adds, "there is also the matter of discontent within the Dwarven pantheon. The Dwarven gods have many children, and do not have enough space in their pantheon to host all of them. Some are quite jealous and disenchanted with this, and could be convinced to defect to your side, bringing their inside knowledge of the workings of their parent's pantheon with them. Of course, you'd likely have to create an empty space within your own Pantheon to attract such turncoats!"
You consider what you have learned. You have some decisions to make.
As for the sympathies of your influential mountain dwarf worshipers towards the traditionalist cult...
A: Task General Thrane, the most noteworthy and respected mountain dwarf within the empire, with turning the hearts and minds of his people!
B: Task God Emperor Sun-nut with turning the hearts and minds of the mountain dwarves!
C: This can wait until Emperor Walnut is a proper angel capable of leaving the Amber Palace. He won their intelligence in the first place, he can solve this issue.
D: We should turn the missionaries of the Temple of the Tome loose within the empire to turn the Mountain Dwarves against the traditionalists.
E: Clearly, we must purge the mountain dwarves!
F: I do not care about this. I can handle the Dwarven Pantheon without turning my cult against theirs.
As for ensuring that you will survive an initial onslaught by the dwarven pantheon...
A: I will spend some essence to prepare divine defenses within the woods.
B: I will spend a good deal of essence to prepare both the woods and the empire for glorious battle against the hosts of the dwarven pantheon.
C: I will drag Char-Dis into this by calling in my favor and having her send a monster against a dwarven target!
D: I will drag Char-Dis into this by deploying spies and agents to spread rumors against her within the court of the dwarven pantheon!
E: My host, wit, and divine might will see me through, no preparation is needed.
As for attracting a turncoat...
E: I'm booting Skoonhein from the pantheon to make room!
F: I'm booting Lahara from the pantheon to make room!
G: Lets discuss expanding my divine dwelling to make room!
H: Lets discuss reforming my pantheon to make room!
I: I don't need no filthy stinking dwarf gods in my pantheon!.