"They're delicate. Silk scrolls grow quite brittle with age, even with proper and careful preservation. They must be handled delicately with magic. I do apologize if your people felt locked out or found it suspicious, but does your Coven not protect their oldest records from hands who may not be as careful as needed? I assume no malice of course, but some of your lot are... rambunctious."

Her gaze is a little shrewd, assessing. "What do you suspect you might find up there? Some grand conspiracy? In truth, there are some records that are not available for public consumption - private writings of past Matriarchs and their Bonded Witches - but only the records of our small past missions to the surface are likely to be of interest to you."