This smells like 'ritual', which is of course the archaeologist's general standby argument for "We have no real idea WTF". Of course, we only have our own models to go on, but the general assumption is that if they go out into space they're going to be in some way like a culture that has existed on Earth at some stage - or at least been theorised about.
But think about it for a moment. This feels like a 2-tier society - one with waving priveleges and mundanes without. . So you have a system which enforces this by keeping the mundanes in the dark about the deep mysteries of the world, while those inducted into the elusinian mysteries of handwavium can sort of lord it over them, by using the magic to their own advantage. The temple-like setting also hints at some sort of religious motivation behind everything. What we could hypothesise then, is a cadre of priests who keep all the technological mysteries and knowledge of the world to themselves and a select nobility in order to secure their own powerbase.
Otherwise, there's no point in leaving a stone map behind since,clearly, the majority of spacefaring civilisations thus encountered have been, in some form, wavetech users. And physics is so stacked against it.
However, what's the point in keeping the 'wave a secret from them unless you feel you have a vested interest in them not having it.
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--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
But think about it for a moment. This feels like a 2-tier society - one with waving priveleges and mundanes without. . So you have a system which enforces this by keeping the mundanes in the dark about the deep mysteries of the world, while those inducted into the elusinian mysteries of handwavium can sort of lord it over them, by using the magic to their own advantage. The temple-like setting also hints at some sort of religious motivation behind everything. What we could hypothesise then, is a cadre of priests who keep all the technological mysteries and knowledge of the world to themselves and a select nobility in order to secure their own powerbase.
Otherwise, there's no point in leaving a stone map behind since,clearly, the majority of spacefaring civilisations thus encountered have been, in some form, wavetech users. And physics is so stacked against it.
However, what's the point in keeping the 'wave a secret from them unless you feel you have a vested interest in them not having it.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?