Being trapped in Ineroth's realm very effectively pulled Nate away from drugs and alcohol - they just weren't available to him there. As a result, he will no longer be reliant on them as coping mechanisms, though he will enjoy having access to them again.
He grew accustomed to marking his body with tattoos when there was something he needed to remember. The major example of this is his left arm, which he spelled so that a circular mark would appear every time he enters a new dimension/world/realm. He now has a near-full sleeve tattoo of interlocking circles all down his left arm. There are other tattoos sprinkled across his body serving as reminders of knowledge that he had no other way of writing down.
Nate experienced cumulatively far more than 5 years in Ineroth's realm - in terms of how much he experienced, it was more like 15-20 years. Because the realm was unchanging, Nate did not physically age during that time, and he had no way to measure the passage of time. However, discovering that it was only 5 human years will feel wrong and confusing to him, and it will be difficult to reconcile in his head.
Traits