"They're not important enough for that, we're not talking Elros' personal writings. We're just talking, you know, old books. That are handled mostly by people who know how."

"OK, but you do have a vault for the important stuff, right? I am not taking any chances assuming common sense around here, after the Central Planning Incident of Horrified Realisation."

"Our economy works fine for the rich people who got to decide how it works. And yes, we keep important old things somewhere where no one can get their greasy hands on them. I don't know where."

Some day, you will be mine, oh ancient tomes. She vows. Once she solves all the world's problems, she is definitely using her immense power to get all the oldest relics and know everything possible about this world's history. After all, she only wants power so she can get books.

She knows how awfully her nation is planned and governed but it's funny to see someone get upset about completely different ways it's badly planned and governed.

"So, will I recognise the library when I see it? Does it stand out? You did say that, for some reason, talking about architecture is not considered inherently boring around here."

And they're approaching it, by then, so she points, and explains how you can tell under which King public buildings were built, and if you happen to know that Atanamir really cared about history you could guess that the giant public building clearly funded by Atanamir was the library.

"I like this Atanamir person. Oh, wait, was he a war criminal? I'll take that back if he was a war criminal - as hard as it is to believe that someone with Objectively Correct Interests could be bad."

"Bit of one, yes."

"Too bad. What did he do?"

"Massively expanded the colonization."

Sigh. "Have you ever had a leader who reduced it? Or made it less awful?"

"Some of them haven't really cared about it, none of them have been reformists exactly."

"What about nobles? Religious figures? Anyone else respectable?"

"Religious figures are the Valar and Maiar. Some of them are not technically evil, if they exist, which I doubt. Nobility is the large-writ house of Elros."

"Do you have any priests? Any high-status human beings who are involved in organising the religion?"

"What would be the point of that?"

"So, there are no rituals that your religion expects you to perform? No hymns for the gods? No regular assembly in a place of worship? No shrines or temples? What an odd religion you must have..."

"People climb the Meneltarma on special occasions to talk to Eru, and I'm sure there are hymns to the Valar, but really. Are those - normal things for religions? Keep in mind, gods don't actually exist..."

"Those are normal things for most religions I know of. When people climb Meneltarma to talk to Eru, is anyone talking back?"

"Of course not. Because Eru doesn't exist."

"So, no one even claims to hear his voice? What made them start climbing that particular mountain, then?"

"When the Valar supposedly rose this continent out of the sea for us, they put it there so Kings could commune with Eru. I think some of the early kings claimed to."

"But now anyone is allowed to go there?"

"Everyone was always allowed to go, it was just for the Kings and it was them Eru'd speak to. If he existed, you know."