On any given day, in any given kingdom, a new Outlander may appear.

They arrive without warning—some alone, some in groups, and always from the Shifts. One moment, they are in a world they know. The next, they are in Necsis. No one has ever arrived intentionally. Most come disoriented, confused, and frightened. A few come armed or clutching relics of their vanished worlds. All find themselves in a land shaped by laws they do not yet understand.

Outlanders are rarely mistaken for locals. Their clothing marks them—odd cuts, stranger materials, colors that defy tradition. But more telling are their customs: gestures that mean nothing, greetings that land awkwardly, or turns of phrase no one else seems to know. Still, they are understood. Language itself bends to accommodate them. No one knows how. It simply does. In Necsis, when one wishes to be understood, they are.

But the understanding ends there.

Once their world has Shifted away, there is no path back. The connection is severed. However accidental their arrival, it is also permanent. Some Outlanders never stop trying to return. Most eventually stop asking.

What happens next depends entirely on where they appear.

In Drakerath, they are pressed into labor—fields if they’re lucky, mines if they’re not. If they work, they’re fed. If not, they’re exiled to the Shifts to forge what life they can in some other world. Velsaria tests them. Only the bold survive, and the sea is not kind. Syrillia may conscript them or drive them into the wilderness. Luthenholme offers polite caution and second chances, quietly withdrawn from those who cannot adapt. In Syndar, usefulness is currency. Those who lack it disappear. Eryndor turns them away. The elves do not share their secrets or negotiate their boundaries. Wester and Endarl grant space to those who contribute. And little patience to those who will not. Faltheris offers smiles, stories, and silence—and judges in equal measure.

Some vanish. Others endure. A rare few change the course of history.

No one knows why the Shifts happen. Only that they do. And as long as that continues, new blood will arrive to be challenged by Necsis. Or perhaps, to challenge it.