My dominion that strong -- cant be

[hc gamer]

Goofing around with Pangaia on Aran, I sent out my starting harpy scout around just so I could note where the other capitals are. On turn 6 I noticed that about 20 provinces away on the other side of the map, where the harpy was but no longer is, my dominion had spread to about 4-5 provinces -- it was like 2 in 1 and 1 in the others. Yes, I have restless worshippers -- but there were at least 8 provinces in the way, and they were DEFINATELY not infected with my dominion. My propher or pretender was nowhere near -- so how could my dominion be there?