"There'll be writings somewhere," he asserts with a confidence he doesn't feel. "This seems a literary society. Long have I argued that the world would be a simpler place if more masters would record journeyman scrolls to pass on their knowledge, and surely in such a gleaming city where all seem so prosperous, such a thing must have come to pass, as it already has in cities like Jhaampe."

He doesn't speak his true thoughts, which are that a city which feeds off the back of abused peasants, where all seem to fear their government, has much to gain by limiting knowledge. He's just trying to make engaging yet neutral conversation, and hopefully see more of Eowyn's true feelings, if not in her words then in the words she avoids or the look in her eye.