Mistaken Destinations! (zenke, Orgoth)

At the mention of the magical attempt to pick locks, Rex smiled, and then outright laughed when she coughed and mentioned a strong box. "In other words, when you fail, you fail spectacularly. Well, at least you can enchant, I don't have the talent for that. Nor the magical power for it." He had below average magical power. So that made him time his Dragon's Breath a bit.

He did learn a little bit about the architecture. Small gems that gave off considerable amounts of light. They had something similar, but it was still surprising to see something like that way out here. Rex leisurely walked around, taking in the paintings and artwork. Most seemed to be about battles and wars past. One showed what looked like an Eldari fighting a knight. There were similar ones there. And he asked about those. He didn't know a lot about Mandolin's history, but he did find out some through the Freelands.  He asked about those. As well as those that appeared to be of Orcs besieging a fortress. They never had to deal with Orcs, but they were also extinct. Far as he knew at least.

Then he saw one of interest. A female knight. That looked a lot like Lillian. Reading the plaque beneath gave him the information. Lady Toral was in the contact war. That explained why Lillian hated them. He skipped that one and made a mental note to check that out on their side. A list of great knights, and a row of past Kings and Queens were next...

She nodded. "Exactly. But enchanting isn't about magical power. Talent, sure. But can be done with or without it. We learned it from the eldari, but I'd safely say humans have excelled past the skills of eldari enchanters. Its probably because not all humans have magic that we're advancing faster than the other races. Except when it comes to magical healing. The eldari and heanta can both fully replace limbs and organs through magic, something humans haven't been able to master. I'm working towards a solution, but it could be years before something like my arm becomes a viable option for limb replacements, and I can't do anything about eyes or other organs." She took a breath and paused, giving Rex a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I'm waffling."

She explained about each painting as he asked. "That's the human eldari war. I believe it was sometime after this war that humans found their way into the freelands." She explained. The next was the orken. "The Human Orkan war. We invaded their lands, and they called the heanta in to aid them. We were nearly crushed but for the Eldari. We locked down our borders after that war, and didn't emerge until the second great war." She explained.

Rex didn't ask about her mother's portait thankfully, and they moved on further down the line. She pointed to one portait of a king. "Thats King Casavir. He took power after King Edric Valeron was executed near the end of the human Orken war. He was a good king. He ended the war, revived mondolin and protected the freelands when the Keavna invaded and ended that conflict a few years before he died." She explained.

With that, they'd seen pretty much everything to see in the Galleria. "If you get a chance, visit Mith Silvanus. They have a much larger Galleria, and people who know allot more about our history than I do." She explained as she started to lead him towards the library.

He wasn't sure about that. But then again, humans are known for thinking outside the box a bit. Their ingenuity was one of their strong suits...something hopefully his own race has gotten as well. Though she did admit there were some things that they haven't been able to do. Though the mechanical arm was still pretty impressive. "I don't know, that arm seems pretty stable to me. Unless it's cost you're thinking of..." Or difficulty. A way to make it both easier and cheaper to make it a viable option was a good way to help out a lot of people. He couldn't help but admire that kind of dedication.

She explained about the Eldari-Human war, and how humans ventured out into the Freelands. He couldn't help but wonder who started that one? But they started the war with the Orks and the Heanta. The king was executed and replaced by someone else more competent. Interesting little tidbit there. And then went on about a king that interfered in the Freelands, stopping the Keavna invasion. They had history in interfering in the Freelands. He rose an eyebrow at that. They were willing to go out in there if there was a threat. Or they perceived there to be one.

That seemed to be mostly it. Though there was another place with a larger galleria complete with actual historians. As fascinating as that might be, he'd rather not stay in Mondolin long.

"What about books? I'm sure you have all kinds on your history, from policy to wars to enchanting to blacksmithing to...well, just about anything? Is there one that sums up pretty much how people here act and feel? Both the rulers and the common folk..." That would be a good one to read for the night. Assuming there was such an animal...

He asked about books, and Lilian smiled. "We have books on everything. Its not just limited to our history or practices either. There's books recording the joint histories of the races, one about the massacre of the Orken, a book supposedly written by a dragon. We even have a book covering the life of Dalrodir Shor. I think the author tried to do one on Ren the Hornless, but couldn't find many heanta willing to answer questions about him. There's a few books on Asentari, theories on how they were made are popular. There was even one that suggested dragons could turn into humans, and the asentari are the offspring resulting in.. well, you can guess." She blushed. "That was before someone taught to ask the leader of Edaria. Moving on. Hmm, well thats pretty specific. There isn't one book."

Leading Rex into the library she found the first of two books she suspected would be what he was asking for. "For leaders, you want 'The History of Kingship'. Unlike the title suggests, we have had a few queens in the past. Good and bad." She handed him the book once she found it and moved on down one of the massive row of shelves. Picking up a second book, she handed it to him too. "For our normal people, there's 'Val Tarias' The common people' is a pretty accurate look at our society in terms of people, from those who work the fields, to merchants, blacksmiths and tradesmen. Its surprisingly popular. Its truthful, and doesn't paint common folk as idiots with no agency. It brings to light the flaws in our society, because even with a city of art we have poor folk and worse off areas. Val Tarias isn't popular with allot of the nobles because she shines a light on all that.."

Rex was surprised at the mention of a book supposedly writing a book. "I kind of doubt that a dragon wrote a book, but I wouldn't mind looking at it..." He wasn't an expert, but that was certainly one to take a look at. Anything by the legendary dragons of interest to his people. Though he could barely contain his own laughter at the ridiculousness of a dragon turning human and having sex with a human to form their kind. As magical as they are, he didn't think they could. At least, there hasn't been any documented cases of it. Though he supposed that didn't always mean anything.

"That's...a bit far fetched. But I'm glad Lady Aline cleared that mess up..." Hopefully she wouldn't read too much into that. And gave him a book about their leaders. And went on about a book that the nobility didn't like. Imagine that. "Imagine that. Common folk can have surprising talents and aren't sheep. That's definitely one that I want to read." Kronos was a perfect example of that, as was Krad. And Kercheis and Jonah.

Gladly taking the books, there was just one more thing. "Can I check these out or do I have to read them in here?" Some places did allow the books out, but then you have to sign your life away. Others didn't. Either way, until his scythe was done, it looked like he had a lot of reading to do.