"There are ways to date and explore the composition of the land prior to any written records back home," Waver murmured. Geology and archaeology sprang to mind, but one was hard without the appropriate advances in technology within the boundaries of Thedas, and the other was hard to do without enough context of the history and cultures of Thedas. "But they aren't viable unless you feel like finding some ruins and go tromping about in them."

Waver's lips thinned. The lack of sea culture was truly bizarre, and perhaps there was some deeper, older fear of sea exploration that was never articulated. "That level of self absorption does sound par for the course." He looked around, hoping that wasn't overheard. Satisfied that no one reacted, Waver nodded, pleased enough. "The worst part of me does dread what would happen if there were new cultures that the people here hadn't made contact with though. Things here are already chaotic. Adding an entire new people could be--" he mimed the gesture of an explosion. Definite bad news.

"Well, the older, more traditional way. Mailing letters and such, but those methods are faster as well. You can drop a letter into a specialized box, and there's a dedicated national service that gets your correspondence there within maybe two or three days," he continued. "But that's really the other major one. Older pieces of technology that were common have long since fallen away."