Rohaan was making no great effort to engage with the Emperor diplomatically, and that was one small detail that was exceptionally easy to notice. The Emperor seemed to be more bemused by this than anything, at least that seemed to be the case from Ash’s limited point of view. Whatever had been promised to the Shifter by the Emperor was more than just gold. In terms of specifics, there was really no way that Ash could possibly guess. Just how valuable was she to the Emperor? One could argue that it revolved around her being his daughter, but that wasn’t quite it. She detected absolutely no paternal love emanating from the man who called himself her father. If she was nothing but another tool in his eyes, then he would be left disappointed.

“Better prepared?” By all indications, the Emperor was once again amused by the words of the Vokurian that stood before him. “Did you not fly directly to Durgan only to immediately encounter my daughter? Circumstances couldn’t have played out any better.”

“If you are speaking in regards to this new task… well, I see no reason for you to have any concerns. I have an interest in seeing the elf dead beyond anything else.” The Emperor was calm and collected, Ash could see that much. Did Rohaan truly believe that he could outwit and gain the upperhand on the Emperor of Man? The Vokurian was far too confident not to have something hanging over the head of the Emperor, but what exactly was it? She already knew there was no way that the Shifter would reveal that secret to her, and that annoyed her.

“Besides, you already have confidence that I will uphold my end of the bargain.” It was obvious that Rohaan didn’t trust the Emperor based on his word - it was his gloved hand. Ash noticed as Rohaan briefly assumed the Emperor’s form. That was what the Emperor was hiding! Still, Ash couldn’t fathom to guess what the glove was actually hiding. Illness? Disease? It was all a crapshoot in the end. It must be serious, if Rohaan was so confident that he’d threaten to reveal it.

“I do have to warn you that it takes a special kind of bravery to threaten me. And it takes a fool to try to play a card before they even know what it is.” The Emperor simply shrugged, as if leaving what he just said as nothing more than a passing thought. He raised his hand, bringing it to attention on his own terms. “I’ll show you what is under this glove after you kill Thoburas and deliver my daughter to me. No strings attached.”

Whether or not the Emperor was being wholly sincere or not, Ash couldn’t really tell. This was the first time she had ever met him, but she was already beginning to form an educated opinion of the man. It wasn’t an especially good one. She wasn’t entirely sure if it was wise to cross this kind of man, though she had a habit of making rash decisions, so it was probably only inevitable for her. At the various mentions of Malachar, her ears perked up and she spoke aloud the first thing that came to her head. “Guard your soul, Malachar may steal it in the night…”

The Emperor had a slight smile on his face as he turned to regard his daughter. “Mhm, yes. Though I think you might be paraphrasing.” Ash’s cheeks grew a bit red. She had to sit through a thousand sermons when she was a young girl, though she had more or less avoided anything that had to do with the church for the last several years.

“For our uncultured friend here, Malachar is a god with malevolent intentions. Each race and culture have their own interpretations of him… perhaps the Vokurians even worship him?” Despite the Emperor’s snide comment, Ash didn’t think that the Shifters held Malachar in high regard. Then again, she knew next to nothing about the Vokurians, considering Rohaan was the only Shifter she had ever had an extended conversation with.

“To keep things simple, Malachar is known for his cunning and trickery. His plots resulted in the other gods to fight amongst themselves and he tried to enter the mortal plane to claim it as his own domain during the chaos. The few remaining deities banded together and punished Malachar, cutting him in twelve pieces. Each piece was sealed behind a different gate.”

“If you recall, there were once eleven Elven Kingdoms, with each one responsible for a lesser gate. If the eleven lesser gates were to be opened, then the final greater gate could then be unsealed. Of course, the Elven Kingdoms were destroyed when Man sailed to these lands from across the sea.”

“I’ve been to many of these gates. Most were broken open long ago and are nothing more than an empty husk and ruin. I had one gate unsealed upon the advice of Thoburas…” The Emperor glanced down at his gloved hand. “I don’t believe there is a malevolent god sealed behind those gates, but what I’ve witnessed there proved to me that I cannot allow another gate to be opened."