Dan "ooooed" and "ahhhed" with child-like reverie as he observed the beautiful and meticulous architecture of the castle. A castle. He was in an actually castle. Only the best Paladin's got to go train in the orders real life stone and mortar castle, and that one was old and run down and drafty. 

When he got to the emperor he was surprised to see he was so young. He'd expected a beard. Kings and emperors should certainly have beards. What threw him more off was his white hair. Dan reached up and ran a strand of his own through his fingers. Dan's hair had turned white after the attack the had taken the lives of his parents. He wondered if the Emperor had gone through something similar.

As the royalty explained the situation Dan nodded along, eagerly absorbing everything he was told like a sponge. He smiled. "Search out evil wizard, destroy evil wizard, and end the monstrous threat. A simple enough quest, if a dangerous one."