I dunno, I think it\'s a comprimise between absolute realism and the benifits...
Plus, it wouldn\'t be too hard to \"invent\" since most of the races are above average intelligence:
Carve a letter out of wood and use ink from berries to stamp it to a peice of parchment, make 26 stamps and a few punctuation marks and there you go, from there on in the efficiency of the process would be improved by some Xacha inventing a press of some sort, after all, didn\'t most races come from other worlds? I am not saying it is delivered to everyone\'s door steps, but at least it is possible.
The temple, style of houses and amount of people should suggest for a certain level of technilogical advancement. I think a small printing press wouldn\'t be too much to ask...
I don\'t believe something like that would ruin the fantasy setting too much, as long as ads were kept out of it and such. Again I am talking about one page articles or a summary of major events, not the New York Times or a Wall Street Journal.