"I see."

He understood, he thought. If nothing else he was familiar with artificers. As for the mechanical beings that Eli spoke of, he was sort of familiar with those too- not intimately, just enough to not be surprised that they existed. Between the automaton in the Underdark and the Steel Watch, he could sort of picture what these droids might look like.

"Quite the useful little contraption, isn't it?" He mused, tapping at the icon just to see what it looked like.

It was another thing to acquaint himself with, of course, which meant that there would likely be homework involved but he had come prepared for that.

Perhaps it'd turn out to be a refreshing change of pace.

Holding the datapad with one hand, he reached to brush his curls back a bit more, tucking white strands more securely behind a pointed ear, "And often used by most people, it seems. It feels more comfortable and lightweight to hold than a book."

Astarion could imagine that plenty of people on Toril would love to get their hands on something like this.