He'd been on the trail of the man who had visited his realm for a few days now. It was easy enough. The man was using magical means in a place that no longer had magic. No matter how much covering up he did, there was always a little trail behind. And since everyone was used to him wandering around the city on some business, nobody paid him a second glance. The trail grew cold just outside of the city. Just dead in the air. Like the man had just vanished or something. He held his hand up, to investigate and figure out just where it could have gone. That was the last thought he had before waking up a few hours later....

He came to rubbing his head, grumbling about letting his guard down. " Serves me right. This town is dangerous enough. Just being a little ways out of it doesn't change that." As he gathered his wits back about him, he turned and decided to head back into the city. The bump on his head was going to mess with his thinking until he could get some rest. But as he got closer, he had the feeling that it wasn't his city anymore.

For starters, there was blatant use of magic in the streets. This brought some mild delight to him, since it had been a few years since all magic had disappeared. However, he was now a stranger in a strange land. Instinct kicked in, urging him to stick to the shadows until he could better acertain just where he was, the local customs, and pick up some coin to deal with.

As he watched the goings on, he marvelled at how brighter things were. People were actually happy. Much had changed. It was almost like being back in time to the way things were before his accident. His hand went up to his face as a reflex, touching the iron mask held in place by ribbon over his scars. Times past that were much happier for him.

As a piece of paper drifted past, he reached down and picked it up. Something about a duel challenge coming soon. The names didn't seem overly familiar. That got his mind thinking a little more. This place was like home, yet wasn't. But the duels he did remember. What the heck, stranger people had walked through these parts. He could just try to blend in, and see what he could figure out about this place.

A few nights later, he was sitting at the table in a run down apartment he had managed to procure. His mask lying on the table in front of him, perpetual frown staring back at him as he had several glasses of whiskey and looked over the notes he had managed to take.

His employer was going to most likely have him killed, should he get back at all. The other case he was working on was not the type you just dropped for a few weeks, or how ever long he was going to be stuck in this fantasyland. However, this did not help his current state, and was tabled until he was closer to figuring out how to get home. Which would mean determining how he got here in the first place.

The logical, and most convenient, oddly enough, was to start dropping a few questions around the local Inn and the dueling arenas. Somehow, nobody recognized him while he was there the other night. But the wasn't too shocked. Nobody asked any questions of him, other than what his name was. And even then, they were satisfied with just calling him Q.

Right now, it was best to start running through his list of people of interest, if not suspects. He wanted to start with those who he was familiar with, at least on his world. While it was not 100% certain, it was likely that one of the people had some link as to what happened to him.

The current Overlord and barons were pretty much unknown to him, but several of the warlords he remembered. G'nort, in particular, was the one that stuck out most in his mind. A good first person to approach. He seemed chatty enough the other night when he saw him.

Over in the Outback, a few more names jumped off the list at him. Koyliak...Simon' She must've married a patient of hers or something. If she was anything like his Koyliak, she'd have little life outside of her work. But then again, his preconceptions stemming from his own world would cause trouble. Hmmm....seems she was married to the governor, who was also an opal holder.

This brought up another point in his mind. The opals were still around. Were they still the same coveted objects of mystery and power as he recalled them being" Point beared further watching.

Layne was also around, as well as Sartan. More faces from his recollection that he didn't know what to expect. Best to ask them a few questions anyways.

Making his way to Twilight Isle's standings, he started from the top down and almost cracked up laughing. Vincent Smith as Archmage" Now he definately knew this place was not his home. He couldn't imagine a crueler joke than to have him running the place. The list was a lot smaller than the others, with no new names sticking out. Could it be that they were already having issues over there and closing themselves off? It was worth looking into. With no magical powers himself, he wasn't about to just go knocking on those doors, but maybe if he ran into one of them elsewhere he could pry a little.