Recaps

Theus formed a pact with the Cursed, helped them become the Banshees, and accepted their allegiance before negotiating with pirates and beginning Castel’s development. The arc left Theus building factories and schools while planning to use the island’s resources to strengthen his territory.

• Theus died after a Church reverend accused him of serving an evil god, then awakened in the Throne Room and began another Descent to seek a way home.
• Theus arrived on Castel as its Border Count, learned how little support the Empire provided, and discovered that pirates were demanding sea taxes.
• Theus explained that a sea creature was a blobfish, then formed a Symbiotic Pact with it and learned that the creature, Ash, belonged to the Cursed.
• Theus followed Ash underwater and helped the Cursed fight the Fishmen before the Ghost Ship’s attack drove them toward the Abyssal Trench.
• The Cursed transformed into the Banshees, and Theus rejected their claim that he was a god before accepting their voluntary allegiance as their lord.
• Theus and Alexei negotiated with Jeremiah, who agreed to trade with Castel instead of collecting sea taxes.
• Theus gave Alexei plans for a blast furnace and steam engine, then ordered surveys and new industry while insisting workers be paid on time.
• Theus funded factories and schools across Castel, and considered using its minerals to make cement and build coastal batteries against pirates.

Theus sought help for the Banshees after Pollution drove them from the Abyssal Trench, and discovered that Symbiotic Pacts could help them survive on land and resist the contamination. After Theus and the Banshees saved Monica, Castel became a refuge for them and the Northern Territory refugees, while new disturbances unsettled the region.

• Theus learned that Ash and the Banshees were trapped between the Abyssal Trench’s crushing pressure and the life force required to survive on land, then ordered Ash to investigate the danger to her people.
• Pollution erupted beneath the Abyssal Trench, forcing Ash to lead the Banshees to Castel with Monica gravely contaminated, so Theus sought help from Nora of the Silent Temple.
• Nora treated Monica with purifying smoke, but the Pollution overwhelmed Monica and transformed her into a monster that attacked the group.
• Ash prepared to break her pact to save Theus, but Theus formed pacts with Nini and the other Banshees, sharing their life pools and restoring Ash.
• Theus directed the Banshees as they restrained Monica, then entered the Pollution and formed a Symbiosis contract with her, purifying her and returning her body to normal.
• Theus promised Nora that Castel would welcome the Northern Territory refugees, and Nora sailed to bring the first of them to the island.
• Storms and strange disturbances affected groups across the region as Theus prepared to discuss Pollution and the Cognitive Barrier with Connor.

Theus built Castel’s schools and factories while investigating how new technology could trigger Cognitive Interference and Pollution. By the end, his experiments had shown that magic could help produce steel parts for a steam engine, and he prepared to expand the island’s industry and education.

• Nora warned Theus that learning about Pollution had broken his Cognitive Barrier, then left for the Northern Territory as Theus resolved to pursue science rather than accept the Church’s secrecy.
• Theus ordered steam-engine blueprints sent to Ash and began expanding Castel’s roads, school, and factories, while Ivan decided that Gaia and Ken would both attend school.
• Theus and Alexei developed cheap soap and explored nitroglycerin production, but Theus halted the dangerous workshop after workers ignored safety rules.
• Theus learned that workers had secretly made nitroglycerin and eaten soap, then discovered that the products’ unexpected properties might be caused by Cognitive Interference.
• Theus imposed martial law as Pollution outbreaks struck Castel, and the Banshees contained a corrupted wolf while he mapped the incidents and concluded that they followed patterns.
• Theus explained to Alexei that scientific observation could make Pollution understandable, then investigated physical Pollution and tested whether Ash’s stone-changing spell could affect iron ore.
• Josh bought Castel soap at the new department store, while Theus and Connor discussed how trade and spending had begun to enrich the island.
• Theus confirmed that Nini’s spell could melt steel without causing Cognitive Interference, then ordered molds made for a steam engine and planned new science classes.

Theus advanced steam-engine production while Pollution, a missing corpse, and the Candlelight Society’s ritual drew him into a conflict with Moth Chasing Flame. As he prepared a banquet to meet the cult, Monica’s experiments revealed that summoned souls could become trapped in machines.

• Theus taught trainees to assemble and run the Type II Engine, but its operation triggered a dangerous Pollution outbreak inside him.
• Theus feared Pollution would make human scientific research impossible, then discovered his worker shell could hold Pollution and hear prayers after he purified it.
• Theus and Ash found the coffin in the church graveyard empty, while red-robed cultists watched them and began a ritual.
• Theus descended into Worker Theus’s body and woke at a ritual site, where Chloe and Kaeschi recognized him and tried to control him.
• Theus escaped the ritual by descending into another shell, then learned that the cultists on the island were empty, thread-woven figures and ordered the Banshees not to attack them unnecessarily.
• Monica broke the Type II Engine while testing whether insults made Pollution burn more easily, then revealed that she had summoned souls into engines and could not make them leave.
• Jeremiah sailed toward Castel Island for Theus’s banquet, while Chloe accepted her invitation and Lina warned Isaac that the chained Lord Outer God needed an untainted place to be freed.
• Theus remained trapped in darkness inside his worker shell and decided to test whether Mind Link would work when he met the cult at the banquet.