"The Avvar pass tales through spoken word. Or through pictures. I suppose you might call them runes. The words written in the lowlands are not known to me. The Avvar make trade with the Orlesians and obtain books from them. It is actually considered strange to learn to read the words within the pages."

Kattrin herself had always found it strange too. These days she found herself wondering if perhaps she should start to learn. It seemed that people here needed that information.

"Mages have no need for books for we are usually trained as messengers to the gods."