Taking a totally different slant....I quote ... and ask:

Balsi is of the Eiilasie race
The Maarith, mentioned below, are extinct. Originally they were of the Eiilasie race, but as they separated, thanks to their philosopies, they were considered a new race (sort of like we tend to think of the Tibetan monks being different from us, but more extreme?)

John, as I read this part of my story, I wondered if you ever feel there is a difference from the days when you wrote using paper and a pen - if so, I thought you might find an echo in your heart of the thought expressed by Balsi about Maarith writing.

The tan moon showed itself and Balsi smiled, for the sole mountain on the moon, with its rounded peak, was close to the horizon and from where he stood it looked like the moon has a nose. Some of the elderly claim that when the nose is seen, it portends good luck for the observer. He had smiled because the thought had come to him that he will soon know how true the superstition is. He stopped and carefully untied the knot of string and then gently unwrapped the soft, worn leather. It was a book, but he stared at it with eyes widened by shock. He’d seen this sort in museums - it was a Maarith book!
All Maarith books are written by hand, for they scorned the printing presses of the Eiilasie, claiming that only books written by hand have a soul. They insisted that the mind writing the book sends part of its spirit, the part that creates, so that it flows, mixed with the ink, onto the page. Every Maarith book Balsi had seen included illustrations - perhaps not great works of art, but created with feeling. The book he held was no different, but the writer had a keener eye for detail than most Maarith writers.