A Nomai dressed in a traditional life support apparatus
| “ | [Identify and Explain.] These are the two tenets of Nomai philosophy; to seek out and to understand is our way of living. | „ |
| ~ Solanum |
The Nomai were a technologically advanced nomadic species which traveled to the Hearthian System after receiving a mysterious signal.
Biology[]
Nomai are tall, slender, digitigrade beings, with faces closely resembling that of goats from the family Bovidae and/or the subfamily Caprinae. They possess three eyes and triple-digit hands, and they have short tails. They are covered in fur and their heads are adorned with three antlers, two at each side and one which comes out the top of their heads at two points. They require oxygen to breathe.
One notable fact about Nomai is that they have a shockingly fragile bone structure, suggesting that their species either originate from a low-gravity world or have lived in zero gravity for several generations before they discovered artificial gravity.
The Nomai's appearance without their life support helmet
Nomai Statue depicting the Nomai
An intact Nomai skeleton pointing up
Culture[]
The Nomai race consisted of multiple clans. Each clan lived within a Nomai Vessel, a spaceship outfitted with an Advanced Warp Core that allowed the clan to explore the universe. The Nomai have an unquestionable aptitude for exploration and discovery. Every ten years, the Nomai clans would meet at a festival dedicated to celebrating their species' discoveries. Each clan sent an envoy to present their clan's discoveries since the last festival.
The Nomai have a strong preference for non-interference and a strong desire to protect lesser-evolved life forms. This is demonstrated by Idaea's argument against using the Sun Station to cause the local Sun to go supernova, as failure would result in the destruction of all life in the Solar System. The Nomai also showed extreme care when mining Timber Hearth for resources to construct the Ash Twin Project, taking precautions as to not disrupt the primitive life developing there.
The Nomai language is written in curving branches, often with each new branch coming from a different individual. The Nomai write the text by 'typing' it in on a staff-like tool and pressing the opposite end onto a surface. The text is sometimes written on walls; read off of circular pillars seen as hovering discs displaying different statistics (such as departure-arrival times after a warp); or accessed by a scroll, tablet, or 'recording' device. One strange observation is that some text is written as if it was said in the moment (a good place to see this is the record inside the Interloper core). This could mean that either this is their only way of communicating, or that they have some sort of voice-to-text device.
Technology[]
The Nomai demonstrated a mastery of many highly technical and theoretical fields including faster-than-light travel, quantum mechanics, zero-G construction, and time manipulation. They had the capacity to create and manipulate black holes, build spaceships, travel between galaxies, and at their peak could even send information back in time. Their mastery of these technological fields allowed them to construct massive machines that would be used to further their goal of locating the Eye of the Universe.
Nomai are frequently seen carrying a technologically advanced scepter, which allows them to record information on solid surfaces for written communication.
The Nomai appeared to have some degree of telekinesis, the ability to move or manipulate objects with their minds, which is demonstrated by Solanum lifting and stacking rocks in order to communicate with the protagonist. This is a common interface with their technology, and that interface functions perfectly well for Hearthians, which would be unnecessary if it was a native Nomai ability; it is therefore almost certainly the result of their advanced technology.
History[]
Coleus and Cycad encountering prehistoric Hearthians on Timber Hearth.
Early Nomai history before they arrived in the Solar System is largely unknown. What little is known about them can be found in the Observatory with more detailed information found in their writings spread throughout the Solar System.
The Nomai are revealed to have traveled to the Solar System in search of the Eye of the Universe when they detected a signal. Unfortunately due to the actions of the inhabitants of the Stranger, this was only a temporary signal pulse, preventing them from precisely locating the Eye and stranding them in Dark Bramble. When their Vessel was disabled, they initially settled on Ember Twin and Brittle Hollow, on which they built the Sunless City and Hanging City respectively, before expanding outwards to explore the rest of the Solar System. Their artifacts and structures can be found on all celestial bodies in the solar system.
Their ultimate goal remained to find the Eye of the Universe, despite the loss of their Vessel. When their initial Eye Signal Locators on both the Attlerock and Brittle Hollow failed, they constructed much more sophisticated machines such as the Orbital Probe Cannon, Sun Station, and Ash Twin Project in order to locate the Eye of the Universe. Their goal was to induce a supernova in the local Sun using the Sun Station, causing the Ash Twin Project to receive enough power to send information back in time by 22 minutes.
Fate[]
The Nomai, having recently learned of the failure of the Sun Station, discovered a mysterious comet that had just entered the Solar System and which they were eager to explore. The Nomai explorers were horrified when they learned the comet contained highly pressurized exotic matter, which was quickly becoming unstable as the comet approached the Sun. Before the Nomai explorers could warn their kin of the danger, the core of the comet ruptured, spewing deadly Ghost Matter across the Solar System, blanketing the system in an instant and killing all of the Nomai who lived there.
Elsewhere in the Universe, the remaining Nomai clans became aware of the rapid pace at which stars in the Universe were going supernova and referred to it as the imminent death of the Universe. They began broadcasting a warning to every Nomai vessel and encouraged the surviving Nomai to travel to the Gloaming Galaxy, a galaxy whose stars were relatively stable compared to the rest of the Universe.
List of Known Nomai[]
Nomai from the Vessel[]
| Escape Pod 1 | Escape Pod 2 | Escape Pod 3 | Died in the Vessel crash | ||
| Filix | Annona | Din | Foli | ||
| Kousa | Bur | Escall | Keek | ||
| Plume | Coleus | Secca | |||
| Thatch | Melorae | ||||
| Rhus | |||||
Eye Signal and Quantum research[]
| Eye signal locator | Quantum Moon locator | Southern Observatory | Quantum pilgrimage | ||
| Cassava | Annona | Conoy | Bells | ||
| Coleus | Bur | Plume | Solanum | ||
| Filix | Coleus | Privet | |||
| Privet | Melorae | Spire | |||
| Thatch | |||||
Ash Twin Project members[]
| Ash Twin Project Shell and Core | Black Hole Forge | High Energy Lab | Memory statues and masks | ||
| Coleus | Clary | Pye | Daz | ||
| Cycad | Poke | Ramie | Phlox | ||
| Oeno | Root | ||||
| Ramie | |||||
| Yarrow | |||||
| Orbital Probe Cannon | Sun Station | ||||
| Avens | Idaea | ||||
| Cassava | Pye | ||||
| Conoy | |||||
| Daz | |||||
| Mallow | |||||
| Privet | |||||
Miscellaneous[]
| Anglerfish game participants | Other | Modern Nomai | |||
| Ilex | Mitis | Bromi | |||
| Laevi | Canna | ||||
| Lami | Clem | ||||
| Solanum | Hyssop | ||||
| Taget | Neem | ||||
Trivia[]
- Most Nomai have names based on plant species.
- Ian Jacobson, one of the concept artists for the game, published concept art of the Nomai on his website.
- The traditional Nomai scepter also, at least symbolically for the protagonist (as seen in the end), functions as a piano.
- Nomai culture, and particularly "To seek out and to understand", seems to be similar to Star Trek's missions for Starfleet; "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations", etc.