Religion in Comana is both monotheistic and exclusive, worshipping a publicly nameless god, referred to by a variety of nomme de culte, such as the One God, the Many in One, the Supreme, the Divine Greatest, the Greatest and Best, and many more.
Though perceived as a singular being, the god is worshipped in many aspects, depending on the needs of its many worshippers. Prayers may be addressed to the god's universal being, or to one of its aspect — as a god of storms for example, or a god of the sea, or the god of the harvest. Also, a hierarchy of celestial creatures are deemed to be deputized by The One to attend to minor matters on its behalf. Small local shrines to, say, a river or pond, will be dedicated to the Great God, but it is fully understood by the local congregation that there is some divine intermediary handling the small stuff, and passing on any major issues to the All-in-One upstairs.
The Emperor is supreme in both the secular and religious realms, and the Cult of the One is the only official religion of the Empire.
Orthodoxy is strictly maintained, and the official church maintains an inquisitorial arm responsible for making sure that the populace toe the official line. Punishments for persistent heterodoxy can be both severe and gruesome, though initial infractions will normally be dealt with with an escalating scale of fines, through a range of corporal punishments, ultimately resulting in death by a variety of inventive and nasty methods.
Other gods are not actually denied, nor is their worship within the empire actually forbidden, but there are substantial and onerous legal burdens placed on those who wish to worship their foreign gods openly. Most immigrant or indigenous people will eventually convert their religion simply because of the heavy legal and financial obligations placed on them by remaining with their own gods.
The church is rigidly hierarchical, and even the lowest ordained priest has absolute authority over the laity in spiritual matters, and great authority even in secular affairs. Technically, even the greatest secular lords cannot punish even the most minor priest for any infraction. However, the intermiscibility of the secular and religious aristocracy means that if a priest offends a lord, that lord almost certainly has family in the church that can make that priest's life an absolute misery. And even if family connections aren't brought into play, a complaint to the church authorities against a priest by a secular lord will, if nothing else, spark a tedious and inconvenient, and potentially dangerous, church investigation. And of course it can work the other way too: a priest who makes an unfavourable report to the inquisition can cause real trouble for a lord. There is, therefore, an uneasy detente.
