That seems like a reasonable conclusion...but then how does that explain whatever process began bringing new gods here? Do you think it was unrelated to them? And if it is related to them...why didn't they establish contact with us, try to sway us?

I suppose they may have come to the conclusion that gods they made themselves, like Sotero and Votelli, might be more biddable than people with their own former lives and pre-existing personalities...and if one assumes that Sotero and Votelli, as unknown gods, can only exist through the cult's belief in them, then they are rather held hostage to the cult's whims. But how did we start being brought in to begin with? And what made the cult change their minds about us, to go with a homegrown option instead?

I suppose one of the biggest questions is why they haven't tried reaching out to us even now, considering the growing hostility between the new and the old gods. We might not be the pliant puppets they're looking for, but they could probably find new gods and shinki with no love lost for the old gods and the heavens if they cared to look.