Ranuk tilted his head as Tamlin began to finally speak to him, directly, with eye contact. He hadnt expected that, he had thought the prince would have turned tail and run the moment he was alone with Ranuk. He certainly smelled like he wanted to, the fear blossoming from him like perfume.<br/><br/>It seemed the elf would like to communicate instead and.... well, that was surprising, but pleasant. And wonders of wonders, he knew trade sign, or at least some of it.<br/><br/>Ranuk made sure to slow down his signing, taking care to form each gesture deliberately so as to be understood. With his size, each motion looked dramatic and grand.<br/><br/>-I can speak elvish- he signed, and then made the great effort of proving so.<br/><br/>"Eet ez.... deffi-kalt," Ranuk said, his lips curling and teeth bared as his tongue (and Tamlin would see that it was colored a dark blue) formed the strange syllables. He sounded like a dog attempting to talk, all growls and coughs as the words caught in the back of his throat, rolling behind his teeth. It was alarming and intensely unnatural. His mouth and throat simply wasnt shaped for such a flexible language.<br/><br/>That explained the complexity of demon language, as demons came in so many shapes that their mouths and throats could not all make the same sounds. There was a common demon tongue, simplistic enough that any species could speak it, supplemented by sign, but each kind had a separate language they spoke amongst their own.<br/><br/>Bird demons were the most talented linguists as they could mimic any sound, but their own speech was musical and complex. Snakes were the second best at languages (though everything they said came with a slight lisp and breathy hisses) but their own tongue was incomprehensible to others. Some species used more than noise, like the amphibians that used color variations of their skin, and insects that communicated with scent.<br/><br/>Demons like Ranuk, with long doggish snouts, generally growled and barked sounds that didnt seem like intelligent speech. It was accompanied by sub vocals that could only be heard by those with sensitive ears, which was why it was hard to decipher and seemed little more than animal sounds to others.<br/><br/>It was no wonder that the dark elves had thought him little more than a dumb beast rather than a general in command. It was that underestimation that had saved them from total annihilation during the skirmishes.<br/><br/>"Most..... hate.... when I ss-peak aloud," Ranuk said, remembering countless faces of horror when he barked the dark elves language back at them, usually right before he killed them.