Theories

Insane theories about the story.

Eliam is the Wizard
Oren's sensei, Adani Pender, is actually a time-travelling older Eliam. He deliberately adopted Oren in order to protect him and prepare him for his journey, and knowingly exposed him to the Blood Lotus seed.

"Who would leave an ancient blood lotus containing literally Satan around a small child?"

"Who would pay one hundred gold for a child, only to leave him unsupervised for months at a time?"

"Who would be so retarded and short sighted?"

Inside, you know the answer.

Additional Support:
 * Eliam was able to enter the tower despite the wards being up
 * The wizard knew Eliam's full name
 * The wizard knew Eliam was the child of aether instantly, because he mentioned time magic

Minerva is using Oren
Minerva is only pretending to like Oren in order to use him for Orc genocide. She was always mean to him until after he killed everyone at Judgment. Two days later, she made an effort to befriend him and he been fairly kind ever since, which is incredibly out of character.

It's worth noting that the last time she was this nice to anyone, she was hiding the fact she was a literal vampire.

It's obvious Elise has a complex now about getting left behind (though splitting the party was demonstrably her fault). Minerva, however, was not emotionally unaffected either. Terrified that she will be forced to babysit Elise again, even though she's home, she's decided she's willing to do anything to keep the Children together and under her command.

Anything.

Eliam will do whatever Oren tells him to; the idiot sacrificed Herb for him. Elise is clearly under her command and respects her. Gwen's a wildcard, but with the majority of Children stuck with her, that issue should take care of itself. By seducing Oren and ensuring his loyalty, Minerva succeeds in making sure the Children will never leave her behind and alone with an abusive small child ever again.

The Saints wanted Kunalchusi to return
Ranikir and The Saints and the Noctyr woman all worked together to make sure the Children reached the wellspring and Oren successfully planted the seed and returned Kunalchusi to the world. The Noctyr told him everything he needed to know, and in order to secure his friends would aid him she turned Minerva and Elise, knowing they would also need to reach the wellspring. The police in Meadowbrook were in on this, delivering The Children to Judgment. Votig was targeted by The Patriarch in order to prevent him from destroying the Wellspring and stopping Oren, as he was the only one sensible enough to do so. The Saints protected The Children during their journey through The Foothills. They watched their flanks and ensured no beasts came close enough to be a threat. Ranikir tried to bring them into his cult, after the summoning was complete.

Minerva really does like orcs
Minerva is super into orcs and wants to bang them, and is disappointed she didn't get to do so in Thirshalon. She kept being like "Oh I'll only seduce this orc for The Mission but gosh darn it i sure do hate it" while frequently volunteering for the task and seducing orcs like Marcus when it wasn't even necessary.

Minerva really liked being a vampire
Minerva enjoyed hunting and killing orcs. She loved drinking blood and wanted to be a badass vampire forever.

Elise Ran Away from Home
Elise never told Heather she was leaving. She just left to follow Oren, her husbando. She showed up in Ushad, pushed her way in the party and casually dismissed us when we asked if Heather said it was okay for her to go.

Elise is Eliam's daughter, and she is the time traveler.
Eliam and Gwen have a daughter, Elise, who has silver hair due to Eliam's aether powers. Elise time travels to help her parents and their friends succeed and avoid the horrible future she comes from. She pretended to have a crush on Oren to get him away from Eliam. Heather was hired by Elise to pretend to be her sister and get her into the group.

Elise is The Maker
Elise is the maker in human form.

OTP: Oren x Gwen
It’s pretty obvious they’re the secret otp, with how much they have in common. They both enjoy killing orcs, and both have gone a little murder crazy due to influence from gods. They’ve both slept with Eliam. They’ve also got the whole opposite attracts thing, a life of magic vs a life in the church. Oren was also holding her hand once which in anime pretty much means they’re dating, and he was totally checking her out earlier??

Eliam already slept with Brie
Eliam of the future will go back to Westbridge of the past and meet Brie, who is much more sensible and attractive. He falls for her a little, they have a whirlwind romance, and much sex. After he leaves to go back to his own time, she meets that Eliam of her own timeline, but he doesn't recognise her. She throws herself at him, begging for sex, then when he rejects her she claims that someone once called her lovely. She was referring to future Eliam. The next day she deludes herself into believing that he wants to marry her.