A Comprehensive Guide to the Nomai (Like, Interpersonally)

If you, like me, have found all of the little jokes and personal notes left by the Nomai to be super fun but you can't keep them all straight in your head, this guide is for you! (SPOILERS! This is for people who have finished the game or are extremely close to finishing, i.e have been pretty much everywhere in the solar system)

Introduction

Listen. This guide is not here for people who haven’t finished the game (or at the very least, discovered pretty much everything in the game, even if you haven’t actually gone through with the endgame). There will be spoilers. Lots of them. I therefore won’t be blacking out spoilers, just assume that the whole thing is a spoiler and come back after you’ve finished the game. You don’t need to know the things I talk about here to finish the game, you’re probably more concerned with what the Nomai are working on, not whether or not they mentioned in passing that someone else was their aunt. Come back once you’re done!

If you’re still reading, this guide is focused specifically on the Nomai characters: who they are, who they’re related to and who they know, where they work, etc. I don’t really look at overall Nomai culture or anything, but instead try to give some context to who’s talking in each of the message boards you read, as you’ve almost certainly noticed that it’s often the same few names, but (if you’re like me, anyhow) you’ve struggled to map together information about any particular specific Nomai. (Except Solanum, of course.) I’ve loosely grouped them by “generation”, and then by where they worked/were located. I identified three “generations”, which actually span at least four literal generations but oh well. I classified them into Nomai who were on the Vessel when it crashed, those born after the crash but old enough to help construct the technology in the solar system, and the children who were not old enough to do so (which includes Solanum, meaning that several of them were likely becoming young adults when the Nomai died). Note that some of the Nomai that I classified as second generation might actually be older, because I limited the first generation to only those explicitly mentioned as on the vessel, and put everyone else in the second generation. However, the Nomai mentioned at the crash sites are also those who get mentioned the most often when discussing early research on the Quantum aspects of the universe (i.e, lakebed cave, looking up at the quantum moon, etc.) so I think the others really were likely born later than the first group I’ve identified.


This horrific photo is a summary of what I believe to be every single named Nomai in the game. Hopefully you can actually read it, but if not, I’ll go over everything in text through this guide so don’t worry too much. Also, here’s a link [app.mural.co] to it on the place I made it, if that’s allowed (so you can zoom in to see it better)

To make this guide, I re-read (nearly) every single piece of Nomai text in the solar system (taking eight pages of notes!) but there’s quite a lot of text so I may have missed some stuff. I also tried my best to get the correct pronouns for each Nomai, but some aren’t mentioned at all or I missed them, so let me know if you’ve found pronouns (or anything else) that I’ve missed. I use they/them when I couldn’t find anything, but the Nomai do have a seemingly strict gender binary (there are multiple uses of the phrase “he or she” rather than using a singular “they”, which is significant because the Hearthians made the translator so it would have translated a singular they easily) so that’s not actually their correct pronouns and I would definitely want to change it if the information is out there.

Ember Twin - First Generation

This “generation” refers to all of the Nomai who initially crashed on Ember Twin (aka escape pod 2).

Annona – he/him – Mentor of Poke – Original designer of the advanced warp core (for all Nomai, not just for those on Escall’s Vessel) and worked in the Black Hole Forge. Helped to build the quantum moon locator on Ember twin with Bur and Melorae. Appears to have died (presumably of old age?) before the construction of Ash Twin, as Poke reflected her hesitations about working without him, but did not die in the Vessel crash because he is involved in several discoveries around the system.

Melorae – she/her – Mentor to Coleus, Aunt of Thatch – appears to also have been a biologist, studying the anglerfish fossil, and also studied early quantum phenomena on Ember twin (lakebed cave). She also helped to build the quantum moon locator on Ember Twin.

Coleus – he/him – Apprentice to Melorae, Mentor to Cycad – Left some of the notes on the way to the Sunless City, especially the ones giving the exact directions (went ahead with Melorae to find a suitable cavern), Appears to have been a biologist primarily, as he studied the anglerfish skeleton on Ember Twin, as well as the pre-Hearthians on Timber Hearth. In the Ash Twin Project, he relocated the native plants and was concerned about the environment of Ash Twin after constructing the core. He was also hesitant to suggest constructing the Sun Station, concerned about the potential dangers to the life in the system if it failed (but wasn’t nearly as strongly against it as Idaea). Right after the crash, however, he definitely also helped with some non-biology things such as the Quantum moon locator on Attlerock as well as investigating the quantum rocks in the Ember Twin caves.

Rhus – idk – Left notes on Escape Pod 2, helping to direct Nomai to the Sunless City

Bur – idk – Left notes on Escape Pod 2 & the trip to the Sunless city, and was one of the people Melorae got to help find Coleus when he got lost in the Lakebed cave (Annona was the other one, but his description is too long already to include that). They also helped to build the Quantum moon locator on Ember twin.

Hourglass Twins/Sun Station - Second Generation

This “generation” refers to all of the Nomai who worked on the Hourglass twins or the Sun Station. I described the four of them with their primary job, but it seems like they moved around a little bit, many working at multiple locations instead of just one (which makes sense as the Ash Twin Project and Sun Station were relatively late developments)

Yarrow – he/him – works on the Ash Twin Project, kind of seems to be the head of the project’s actual construction (the one writing the updates inside the core as the project continues, directing construction, etc.) He was flirting with Clary when discussing visiting White Hole Station, and then later refers to Clary as “love”, implying that said flirting was successful over the course of the project. He gets made fun of at least twice by other Nomai, once in the Black Hole Forge about not understanding the warp portals, and then again at the High Energy lab for accidentally saying that the sun was a planet.

Ramie – she/her – was a child in Sunless City, worked at the High Energy Lab before the Ash Twin Project. Had the initial hypothesis that some level of time travel was possible through warp, after seeing the results from the White Hole Station warp tests. Made some silly puns with Pye at the High Energy lab, they were clearly friends and she was clearly a fun person, also making fun of Conoy when he got lost trying to find the HEL.

Pye – she/her – Aunt of Lami and Laevi – worked at the High Energy Lab before going to work on the Sun Station with Idaea, but definitely also worked on Ash Twin at least sometimes, as mentioned in the Black Hole Forge and in the Ash Twin Towers. Pye initially believed that the perceived warping time difference was equipment error, until it was tested at the High Energy Lab. Appears to be the primary lead on the Sun Station, probably doing most of the construction. Fun fact, Pye also attempted to compute orbital trajectories to land a shuttle on the Sun Station, even though warping up there was perfectly possible (Idaea was not super pleased with this idea.) She also went to the Interloper with Clary and Poke, and told Poke to go back to the shuttle to try to warn everyone while she stayed behind collecting data.

Idaea – he/him – Brother of Privet – worked on the Sun Station, but strongly opposed its creation and testing (in like, every communication. He was also opposed to going back to Dark Bramble to try to repair the vessel warp core because of safety).

Brittle Hollow - First Generation

This generation refers to all of the Nomai who initially crashed on Brittle Hollow (aka escape pod 1)

Filix – she/her – Mentor to Privet – Left notes in the Eye shrine of the temporary settlement. She was at least sometimes a schoolteacher in the Hanging City (writing on children’s presentations). Was involved in the early (re)development of warp technology on White Hole station at least somewhat, and also left ruminations on the Quantum Moon near Brittle Hollow’s north pole, presumably very early after the crash, as not much is known about the moon at that point, and only Nomai who crashed on Brittle Hollow were present for that conversation. Similarly talks about the quantum shard found near the Tower of Quantum Knowledge, and helped to test the first eye locator on Attlerock with Coleus, Thatch, and Cassava.

Thatch – he/him(?) – Nephew(?) of Melorae – Seen talking about the early Quantum questions on Brittle Hollow (the moon, the shard), also leaves notes in the Eye Shrine at the temporary settlement. He also helped with testing the first eye locator on Attlerock.

Plume – he/him – Father to Phlox – the one who left directions and warnings from the escape pod down to the temporary settlement and beyond to the hanging city, as well as a more personal message hoping that someone named Keek is safe. Discusses quantum phenomena on Brittle Hollow (by the north pole).



Kousa – idk – Literally only talks one time, in the temporary settlement on Brittle Hollow, where they hope that another Nomai named Foli is okay. Only barely got included in this section and not “miscellaneous” because their writing in the temporary settlement tells me that they crashed on Brittle Hollow.

Brittle Hollow - Second Generation

This refers to all of the Nomai who worked on Brittle Hollow, either in the Black Hole Forge or the Southern Observatory

Poke – she/her – sister of Clary, apprentice of Annona – Worked in the Black Hole forge, also worked on testing early redesigns for warp at White Hole station. Was more precise than Clary was, which makes sense because Poke was more concerned with living up to the legacy of Annona and fulfilling the clan’s expectations (mentioned on the wall in the Meltwater district). Went to the Interloper with Pye and Clary, was the one who Pye sent back to try to warn everyone before the core exploded.

Clary – she/her – sister of Poke – worked in the Black Hole Forge (and on White Hole Station) (re)developing warp technology. Was the “romantic interest” of Yarrow (that phrase is used in the Black Hole Forge, it doesn’t seem like they had been married yet). Went to the Interloper with Poke and Pye, and was the one who stayed behind on the shuttle.

Root – idk – worked in the Black Hole forge (and on White Hole Station), was the one to request more ore for the forge from the mine on Timber Hearth. Went to meet Yarrow on Ash Twin to help install the cores after they were made in the Black Hole Forge.

Spire – idk – worked in the Southern Observatory, was the one who constructed the model of the Giant’s Deep cyclones. Spire is also the one who noticed the Interloper (which makes sense, actually, because the Southern Observatory is in fact an observatory).

Conoy – he/him – Grandmother was on the vessel (therefore technically the third generation of Nomai in the system but I simplified things), and worked in the Southern Observatory. When the older Nomai on Attlerock decided to build a second eye locator on Brittle Hollow, it was noted that he would be excited about it (and since he clearly later ended up working there, I suppose that was true)

Giant's Deep - Second Generation

This refers to all of the Nomai mentioned to be working on Giant’s Deep, mostly in the Construction Yard (besides Phlox)

Cassava – he/him – spouse of Daz – worked on constructing the Orbital Probe Cannon, was perhaps the most level-headed out of all of the Giant’s Deep Nomai (besides Phlox). I put him in the second generation because of the phrase “I grew up hearing” referring to the stories of the Eye of the Universe, implying that he was either very young or not yet born when the Vessel crashed, though he is around some of the time discussing things with older Nomai so I wasn’t quite sure. (The “I grew up hearing” phrase was found in the Southern Observatory)

Daz – he/him – spouse to Cassava, brother of Avens – worked on Giant’s Deep, sometimes working on the Orbital Probe Cannon but also created the memory transfer system to allow for data to transfer between loops (the statue masks in the Ash Twin Project)

Avens – he/him – Spouse of Mallow and brother to Daz – worked on constructing the Orbital Probe Cannon, mostly in orbit but also on Giant’s deep. Not super conservative with regards to safety, very much wanting to give the cannon all the power it could take. And then some.

Mallow – idk – Spouse of Avens – worked on constructing the Orbital Probe Cannon, is probably about as safety-inclined as their partner (to the chagrin of everyone else, I especially loved how they gave Avens and Mallow a lower maximum limit than was actual the case, assuming they would push beyond it).

Privet – she/her – sister of Idaea, apprentice of Filix – worked on the Orbital Probe cannon, was the one who was supposed to receive the coordinates for the Eye as soon as the Ash Twin Project worked (and therefore was not willing to let Avens and Mallow completely blow the cannon to smithereens like they very much wanted).

Phlox – he/him – son of Plume – was the sculptor for both the memory statues as well as the towers on Ash Twin. He was very excited about making them each themed to their respective target locations when discussing it in the High Energy Lab, which I thought was funny to read about.

Timber Hearth - Second Generation

This refers to the Nomai mentioned to be working on Timber Hearth, pretty much only in the mines (as they decided to limit their interference on Timber Hearth to preserve the environment for the life they found)

Oeno – idk – worked in the Timber Hearth mines, offered to do a check of the Ash Twin Project main chamber to ensure that everything was sealed.

Cycad – idk – Apprentice of Coleus – seen working in the mines on Timber Hearth with Oeno and Coleus. Tells some bad puns. Because Coleus did not only work in the mines, it’s unclear as to whether Cycad was only based on Timber Hearth or if they traveled around with Coleus to the other places where he worked in the system (Coleus was particularly nomadic when compared with the other Nomai, actually)

The Third Generation

All of the schoolchildren! The (mostly) same group of children are found in the school on Brittle Hollow, in the houses on Ember Twin and playing by the anglerfish, and trying to sneak into the statue workshop on Giant’s Deep (although their handwriting suggests they were a little older then). This probably was just done by the developers to streamline things, but in-universe it suggests that children were able to freely move between worlds in the system and did so often. Either that or this specific group of children did, as they do mention knowing and/or being related to some of the older named Nomai so perhaps their parents/caretakers moved often to work on the Ash Twin Project and they were just along for the ride.

Laevi – idk – sibling of Lami and niece(?) of Pye – Seems to be the ringleader of the anglerfish group of children, as they implemented the new rule about wearing a blindfold. Laevi is likely the older sibling as it’s mentioned that Lami can still fit through the small hole to get to the anglerfish cave when they play. Later (as shown by how their handwriting is somewhat more precise but not yet as thin and formal as the adult Nomai), discussed whether or not the children should sneak into the statue workshop while the adult Nomai are testing the statue pairings, and argued against sneaking in.

Lami – idk – sibling of Laevi and niece(?) of Pye – gave the presentation on festivals at the Hanging City School District, and also played the anglerfish game (and thought that the blindfold rule would make it too hard). Tried the hardest to convince the other children that they should sneak into the statue workshop.

Ilex – idk – in their writings on Brittle Hollow, they referenced talking to Poke, Yarrow, and Coleus. Played the anglerfish game, making the rule modification that younger players don’t have to wear a blindfold.

Taget – he/him – Spent at least some time on Ember Twin, as part of the group of children playing the anglerfish game. Was probably a bit older, because he couldn’t fit through the smaller entrance to the cave anymore as they played.

Solanum – she/her – went to school on Brittle Hollow, met Conoy as a young child (mentions him in her presentation on the early universe there), and left writing in the Eye Shrine District on Ember Twin about the nature of the eye and whether or not it meant to crash the Vessel. She played the anglerfish game with the other children, and was still small enough to fit through the small entrance as they played. She, of course, is the one who we see go through the rite of passage to climb the Tower of Quantum Knowledge and then make the pilgrimage to the Quantum Moon, having changed her mind since she was a child and settled on a more neutral Eye, rather than a malevolent one.

Final notes on the children, in case it wasn’t otherwise clear: Lami, Solanum, and Ilex were definitely at the School District in the Hanging City. Laevi, Taget, Ilex, Lami and Solanum all played the anglerfish game at the same time in the Sunless City (Ramie also played it as a child but she is definitely older than this group), and Lami, Taget, and Laevi were the (then slightly older) children who tried to sneak into the statue workshop on Giant’s Deep.

Also, just to make you sad, apparently Nomai children slept on tiny little beds underneath their parents, and also had little toys like balls and geometric shapes. Archaeology!

Escape Pod 3

Only three Nomai are named from Escape pod three, although there were several more (as evidenced by the number of bodies at the grave site, sadly)

Escall – idk – The leader of the clan, as evidenced by references to their clan as “Escall’s Vessel”, and the one who made the final call to go to the closer of the two signals for the Vessel. Also was the one who decided to warp to the Eye signal without waiting to send a location message to the other Nomai. (Oops).

Secca – idk – The main speaker in most of the recordings found on the escape pod and at the gravesite, therefore making it possible to find their body at the site (as it’s the one by the recording device)

Din – idk – also present on escape pod 3, the one who noticed that there were two signals for the Vessel (suggesting some kind of technical/communications job on the Vessel).

The Modern Nomai

These are just the Nomai that are talking on the Vessel message board about the end of the universe, basically nothing is mentioned about them, besides the fact that they likely each lead their vessels, in the same way that Escall appeared to lead their vessel. Included for the sake of completion.

Canna, Bromi, Neem (the one who briefly does not reply to messages), Clem, and Hyssop

Miscellaneous

Four Nomai that are mentioned so little that it’s difficult to put together anything specific about them.

Mitis - only speaks once, as far as I know, in the Meltwater district on Brittle Hollow, just discussing how to power the Ash Twin Project.

Bells – actually does talk a decent bit, but all of it is about the Tower of Quantum Knowledge so I don’t know anything about them personally. Specifically welcomes Solanum to the Tower of Quantum Knowledge, announcing the tower and accompanying rite of passage.

Keek – the loved one that Plume hoped was okay when he wrote at the temporary settlement on Brittle Hollow, unclear whether they’re a spouse or some other relation, and also unclear whether they survived or not, as they’re not mentioned anywhere in the system afterwards. If they were a spouse, they may have survived, because Phlox is Plume’s son and appears to have been born after the crash (though none of that is certain). However, Plume mentions a brother elsewhere in the old settlement who did not make it to their escape pod, so probably Keek is a brother, if I had to guess.

Foli – The loved one of Khousa (who crashed on Brittle Hollow, and wrote about them), nothing else is known.

Conclusion

A few closing notes:

• yea, I have a cheat mod on right now. I learned the anglerfish technique, I practiced it a bunch, got to the escape pod and the vessel once, and decided that was enough. and that I could download a mod that made them really dumb and nonresponsive instead. Sometimes you gotta put yourself first.
  
• please let me know if I missed anything or got anything wrong! I tried to edit everything for clarity but probably haven't seen everything lol
  
• I hope you enjoyed!

[Alexolas]

I think it was removed because the Black Hole Forge is meant to provide a hint that standing in the more broken tower in the Ash Twin Towers for the Hourglass Twins takes you to the Ash Twin Project. My guess is that this particular hint was regarded as too vague, as when I updated them recently, I found two others that it replaced: One text "on the right wall", and a scroll "on a shelf on the left wall".

[Alexolas]

┬POKE: Clary and Root, kindly tune the alignments on each black hole core as I finish them. The schematic on the floor shows which warp tower aligns with which astral body.
├┬CLARY: To speed future deliveries to Ash Twin, I’ve tuned the first black hole core to activate when its warp tower aligns with Brittle Hollow.
│└─CLARY: And before anyone comments, yes, I am aware this reduces the distance between Yarrow and me.
└┬ROOT: The schematic shows the six towers on Ash Twin are being tuned to only five alignments. Is that a mistake?
└┬POKE: No, that’s correct. Technically, a warp tower’s alignment and its destination don’t have to be the same astral body.
├─POKE: This is advantageous for warping from towers that lack a clear line of sight to their destinations.
└─POKE: Have you seen Phlox’s tower designs in the High Energy Lab on Ember Twin? They clarify each tower’s warp destination.

[Alexolas]

One thing about me having started that document, is that I actually have a few "archival" texts in there that are no longer in the game. A very small change is that when I wrote it, the Probe Tracking Module listed the index of the probe that found the Eye as #9354 (instead of the present version's #9,318,054). A much more recent change is that one entire document seems to have been removed from the game. This one, which I called "BHF-1" (now renamed to "BHF-Outdated"), was originally found on the left wall of the Black Hole Forge:

[Alexolas]

Funnily enough, I started a little MS Word document several years ago. Originally it was just to assemble a timeline of every Nomai text, but after noticing some patterns, it did expand in scope to what (if I ever actually finished it) would be this exact sort of thing.

A discrepancy: In my analysis, I only ever noted two generations of Nomai - The ones that came from the Vessel, and the ones who were born in the Outer Wilds. It comes from the observation that several Nomai's names only appear in earlier texts (or, those earlier Nomai are explicitly stated to have died by a much later text), and others only appear later. Maybe my definition of "generation" is simply more numerically broad than yours, though.

[Brunosky Inc.]

Thanks for making this! With how expansive the rumor system is, I wish the game had included a relationship chart for the Nomai you discover in writing. Would've for sure helped make you feel even more for them and their plight

[Airdna]

Very cool! Last time I played, I assigned each Nomai a photo of a sheep's head from google which I felt suited each one's personality, I know they aren't sheep but it just really helped to keep them all separate in my head with a characterful visual reference for each one (Clary had an especially adorable sheep I assure you). Additionally, this map you've made of their relationships will also be very useful in future so thank you!!

[Shiny]

A note about Ilex that I don't see often discovered: Ilex has been to the Temporary Settlement on Brittle Hollow, where they left a poem behind the back of one of the buildings.

"Look out, look out below!
Look out for the gravity hole!
For should you slip
And lose your grip,
Then into space you'll go!"

So at least one of the children has been exploring where few other return to.

[CombustibleLemon]

small correction: it says Coleus worked on the Quantum Moon locator on the Attlerock, but actually that's an Eye signal locator. (QM locator is on Ember Twin)

[PeachPerfection]

Very cool and epic of you to do this

[Adorablerocket]

Thank you! I loved this!
Getting to know the Nomai was one of the great joys of this game as they are such a lovely people~