If he hadn't known better, Theo might have thought that no time at all had passed since he walked the streets of a Deuxan city. Though Anguedan was a bit different than the cities he remembered, that was true of every city. As an outsider from another world, he was constantly encountering details that were new to him - it was part of the joy of being in the Nine Worlds. So the differences of time were dwarfed by the differences in region, culture, and fashion.

Still, some details stuck out to him. Many of the men and women walking the streets alongside him shielded themselves from the sun via ivory white umbrellas that emanated shade and cool; those had been expensive and rare before, not seen on every street. The shielding flagstones in front of major buildings were larger and stronger than those in Brigana's family home, so the technology must have advanced.

How much time that had taken, he couldn't be sure. Many parts of the Nine seemed mired in time compared to the rapid advancement of Earth, but they still evolved. He would have an answer before he met up with the others again.

They had entered the main gate of Anguedan at separate times to avoid being recorded as a group, but gathered together without incident. Though he hadn't fully grasped all the rules of the local court, this was a fairly relaxed city, without any obvious fatal traps. Duels couldn't even be to the death without special permits, though he supposed that could be local leniency or societal advancement. In any case, the city was safe enough that they split up again to accomplish as much as possible.

While the others had more conventional errands such as acquiring food and local money, what he needed was to check his knowledge. Everything he knew about Deuxan might be far out of date, and in any case he knew nothing about the local region. If he was going to be worth anything as a leader, he needed to get a lot of questions answered.

At the moment he headed to a bloodhouse, because he was fairly certain that was one thing that wouldn't change, no matter where or when he was on Deuxan. Though he spotted several buildings with the familiar icon of a silver blood drop, he avoided the ones that looked seedy.

Instead he found the best bloodhouse that he thought would let him in: it had many young nobles moving through it, but relatively few soulcrafters. That would be the best source of information without potentially being overheard or getting drawn into any local conflicts.

"Wait a sec." The doorman was finely dressed, but his scars suggested he could serve as a bouncer as well. After a moment examining him, the doorman grunted. "Yer a foreigner after all. This place isn't for you. You know it would kill you, right?"

"Oh, I don't intend to partake." Theo brought his best Deuxan smile out of storage, a flat expression that suggested he had never had a political thought in his life. "Are bloodhouses no longer the right place to exchange information?"

"Ah. Then yer in the right place after all." That settled, the doorman stepped back, examining the street again.

Once inside, Theo found that the bloodhouse was roughly the quality he'd expected. A few Deuxans lay semi-conscious with needles clutched in their hands, but most laughed with one another in circular booths, a bowl of needles resting in the middle of the table. Occasionally someone pricked their skin with one and gave a little shiver, but it was just light amusement, not addiction.

If he put too much of that in his veins, he'd die. As far as he knew, the ability to draw strange substances into their blood was a unique feature of Deuxan biology, one that Brigana hadn't ever explained. For that reason, they'd developed very few drugs of any kind, and outsiders wanting to try "Deuxan intoxicants" got a rude awakening.

Most of the locals didn't care about him, and if they did, they only noted him as an ignorant foreigner. They all wore their tunics, hats, and badges extremely carefully, each difference indicating many details about their allegiances and interests. Long ago, there had been a very awkward interaction with Brigana in which he'd learned that a badge on the left lapel meant looking for a fight while a badge on the right meant you were looking for romance.

All of those indicators changed utterly from court to court, so there was no point trying to pretend he knew about them. Theo blundered straight in as a strange foreigner, instead scanning for elements of human nature that might be true even here.

He spotted an old woman seated in the corner with a pot of tea that appeared cool and a bowl of needles extended outward. Yes, that was who he wanted. She was exchanging information in a low voice with a young man, but when he departed, she beckoned to him.

"Well, a foreigner, hmm? And from quite far away, unless I miss my guess. Hmm, what's your name, lad?"

"I would happily exchange that information for other similarly simple facts." Theo slid down into the seat opposite her, letting the guise of a rube fall away. He might not know every local detail, but he also didn't care: he needed her to take him seriously enough to deliver reliable facts.

"If this is about court politics or the Armeau family, I don't get involved."

"Oh, my questions will be far simpler. All my information about Deuxan comes from the writings of a deceased master in my family. That information is likely horribly out of date, so my questions will be those of a child. I believe I have news enough to afford such questions."

She examined him critically, and as an information-broker she was obviously no fool, but Theo had thought through his cover story. He would look ignorant no matter who he asked, but this premise would match Deuxan views of outsider ignorance. Hopefully his questions would slip from her mind as soon as he departed and he could be better prepared for Deuxan at large.

"Very well, lad. What do you know, hmm?"

"I've just come from the Tatian gate, specifically the city of Nlukoko. I've no doubt that you've heard some of the recent happenings, but I survived them."

Though the old woman played off the information as irrelevant and Tatian a backwater, he saw her interest. She asked sharp questions about subtle matters of trade that he hadn't expected, but he had no need to lie about those. When it came to the Landguard and the demon attack on the city, he'd carefully prepared the answers that any traveler might have.

When they finished, the old woman sat back and nodded in satisfaction. "You pay closer attention then most, lad. I'm curious about these questions of yours."

"Very good." Though Theo kept his face neutral, he could feel his heartbeat speed up. At last, he was finally going to get the answers he hadn't been able to find in a timeless world like Tatian. "For a start, I need to know the local dueling laws in detail, in particular the penalties for actions against those of lower rank."

"Planning on offending someone, are you?" The broker chuckled and waved the question away. "I'll give that information to you later for nothing, and something free besides: if you come with a vendetta, I do not suggest bringing it against the Armeau family. But surely you have more interesting questions."

"First... the historical document I have is out of date. What year is it?"

"Year 87 of the Ditchdigger's Era."

Theo paused, for the first time truly thrown off. He'd thought his cover story was perfect, only to be given a year that meant absolutely nothing to him. There was no choice but to admit ignorance... "Forgive me, but the document I read referred to year 741 of the Silverbraided Court."

The broker raised her eyebrows, but not as far as he'd feared. "That's the old calendar... I guess your source got out just before things started going bad, hmm? Your information is, hmm, roughly 108 years out of date. Closer to 109 now, not that it makes much difference."

"Ah, that's a pity." He pretended to be mildly disappointed while the bottom dropped out of his stomach. Though he had more questions prepared, Theo still found himself hesitating as he absorbed the realization that he'd been gone for over a century.

That meant nearly everyone he had known before was likely dead, even aside from the disaster at the end. Some species on Aathal had extraordinarily long lives, and immortality or something close to it was possible through soulcrafting, though he didn't know enough about that. All the knowledge in the world did him no good now that all his allies, all his friends...

To avoid the worst of the thoughts, Theo instead refocused on something he could more easily understand. All his years in the Nine Worlds during the first visit had been contained within three months in a coma on Earth, but he hadn't been certain if he could extrapolate from that. Time ran smoothly between all the Nine, so it was something about the gap to Earth. Unfortunately, this didn't match the former ratio, so he had no way of knowing if the time ratio was changing or even completely random, frustrating as that might be.

"I'll have to look up the Ditchdigger's Era, but I won't trouble you for that." Theo's mouth began working automatically, since a long pause would give the wrong impression. He caught up to his words and chose his next question. "Can you tell me about this region? I think the manuscript spoke of an entirely different part of Deuxan."

Though it was absurdly basic for her, the information broker seemed amused enough by him that she gave the information gladly. As he'd feared, he was on a continent that he'd never even visited before, in a court far from any centers of civilization. Unlike the local nobles, she didn't pretend that Anguedan was any more important than it actually was.

"If you're here for soulcrafting, the only truly exceptional material we have here are the rainhorns." The old woman shook her head and stirred her cup of tea with a needle, though she'd never taken a drink from it while he was present. "That hunt is our claim to fame, but I'm sure you've heard of it."

"I've heard rumors, but I'm sure that you could assist my ignorance."

"Oh, but that's the most valued information in the city at the moment, with the hunt so close. I can't give that away so easily, I'm sure you understand, hmm?"

"Of course." Since it would likely involve soulcrafter business, he could probably learn more about the hunt from others anyway. Theo adjusted to his next priority. "What can you tell me about the families of the local court?"

"That's relatively simple." Though the information broker rattled off a series of names that he dutifully committed to memory, it sounded as though Nauda's information had been correct. Few of them were actually important and the Armeau family had a strong grip on the region.

"Thank you. What of the Tatian family? Would they be open to accepting new members, or willing to provide compensation for those who might help them?"

"Possibly, but I wouldn't recommend it. Most of them want to leave their history behind and be accepted as Deuxan, so they'll keep their distance from anyone who smells new."

"I understand."

The information broker ran a finger around the edge of her cup, regarding him thoughtfully. "I've given you information because you're less dull than the young nobles going on about trivial court matters, but I think I've been more than fair, so we're nearly done. Any minor questions you can't keep bottled up?"

"Well, if you're being so generous..." He didn't expect to get a real answer, but he couldn't stop himself from trying to ask about Brigana's family. "There was a family mentioned in the manuscript... do you know anything about the Teraeves family?"

"Hmm..." The old woman hesitated as she gave the matter thought, then she shrugged. "I'm sorry, lad, but that one doesn't even sound familiar. Many of the old families perished when things got bad, when the Silverbraided Court started falling apart. If you want to know about that, you'll need to afford a library."

"No trouble at all. Thank you." Theo gave her a polite smile and departed the bloodhouse, disappointed in the truths he'd discovered, but at least far more confident in his knowledge of Deuxan.

There was no hope of any massive advantage from allies or leftover supplies, but that had always been an extremely low chance given the sheer scope of the Nine Worlds. He was separated from his experience on Deuxan by over a century, but the world hadn't changed so radically that his experience was useless. Though he had no interest in getting invested in petty local court politics, he could quickly figure it out well enough to handle himself.

The question, then, was how best to spend their time in the city of Anguedan. This hunt event would be their best chance only if they had managed to avoid any undue attention, otherwise simple jobs that allowed them to continue soulcrafting would be the optimal path. He headed toward the central fountain where they'd agreed to meet, hopeful that the others had learned more as well.

He never made it to the fountain. While Theo was still walking through the streets, he noticed a crowd and realized that they were gathering around a dueling circle... where Fiyu stood opposite a soulcrafter, surrounded by jeering Deuxans.