...Everyone that was going to join had already joined. They only way to continue the expansion was through force of arms. And that was impractical, beyond a limited extent...
It may have reached its peak as it was, but now the church might attract more interest. I half expect to see SA rise like a phoenix after the loss of the prophet. Already more people have shown interest in being their own prophet than there were people interested in being at the head of SA last election.
There will certainly be people who think they can gain something in the chaos. Most folk may agree with the charter and the old rank and file system, but now the floodgate has opened. First a realm rejects theocracy, now we have schismatic religions headed by influential members of their realm. It's better to fall quick cause atrophy makes it much harder to get back up.
