" The last scroll was rolled so tight it seemed almost solid. Likely it was the oldest. As I forced it open it broke in pieces: two, three, and eventually five. I regretted doing it, but it was the only way to read it. If it had stayed coiled much longer, it would have crumbled into bits, never to be read again. "

― Robin Hobb , The Complete Tawny Man Trilogy: Fool's Errand, The Golden Fool, Fool's Fate