The Nama are a peaceful race, but a powerful one. They have learned to command the earth and the sky and everything in between through their bond with the Great Mother, Zola. While their beliefs are very close to that of the Zylarians, the Nama do not believe in war, nor using Zola's power to destroy.

To those familiar with the forces of magic, the Nama are known as the namers of all things, as they have learned to speak the language of the beings that give life to everything. These beings are called the albinese. To the Nama, the albinese give each of Zola's creations a spirit and an identity. Thus the Nama believe that all things are living, from a single grain of sand to the largest of trees.

The Nama have learned to speak to the albinese by coming to understand the creation that they inhabit (a grain of sand, a tree, a dragon). True understanding of one of Zola’s creations imparts the knowledge to communicate with the albinese. Speaking the language of the albinese is the physical expression of the true nature of the thing it possesses. And by truly knowing a thing, you can command it.

The Nama believe that they alone can command the Great Mother's creations because they are the only beings that received part of her body, mind, and spirit. This includes the albinese, who can never know anything beyond the thing they give life to. The albinese understand only themselves.

After thousands of years of isolation, the Nama believe they have evolved beyond humanity, that they are no longer human. In fact, the Nama call other races "makanatu", which in the Nama tongue translates to "outsider". And over the past several centuries, the word "human" has become synonymous for makanatu. But in truth, makanatu is a poor name. If there was a word for "devil", that is what the Nama would call mankind.

But the Nama have come to hate humanity largely for the war that has pushed them to the brink of demise. Zenitonionism, the predominant religion of the civilized world, teaches that all other religions are evil and must be eradicated. As the military sect of the Vendrian High Church and the Zeniton religion, the Holy order has sent its deathmonks to destroy these pagan belief systems and those who follow them. The High Church believes this to be imperative, as it sees all other religions as a creation of the Dark Lord, the Gmorgon. And by worshiping one of these false gods, one is in effect worshiping the Lord of Evil. This is a sin punishable by death.

But since it is against the Nama faith to use Zola's power to destroy, the Nama have allowed themselves to be slaughtered. Many of the tribes have gone into hiding, but the Holy Order is thorough in their exterminations. You can read about Denegog, a Nama Arcane Priest, who decided to defy the rules of his people and fight back, by clicking the "Open" Button below.

Since much of the source of the Nama's power comes from their ability to communicate with Zola and the albinese, the Nama do not teach their language to the makanatu, and most of the Nama have refused to learn the common tongue. However, in the East, where the Holy Order cannot reach, Zenitonionism has waned. Here are where many of the outcast religions survive, though barely due to the presence of the Vulkarian slave trades. Some of the Nama tribes have begun to assimilate themselves with humanity, and have even started learning their language. But teaching the Nama tongue to the makanatu is forbidden. And yet, perhaps some have ignored this law and done so anyway. However, learning the Nama tongue later in life is said to be virtually impossible. It is a language so complex, so vast, that it must be taught from birth.

The Nama religion is one that is borrowed from a race much older than humanity. Those who wanted to stray from the advancing world and return to the natural one, took the foundations of this foreign, but appealing belief system, and combined it with several archaic religions that personified the Earth. Some say these people spent so long in nature, absent from civilized society, that they began to learn the secrets of the world and to speak with the beasts and the trees. They discovered magic, and their magic with the earth became a religion.

They worshiped Zola, which in the Nama tongue meant "goddess of the universe". She was their god and goddess, both mother and father to the universe, for she alone gave birth to the cosmos. And yet she was purely female; mother, creator, and destroyer of the world.

Although the Nama took no other gods, they did pray to her children--the moons. The three of them, Kindra, Sigor, and Nesric, came to watch over the world when their mother slept. But the moons were more than just Her children, they were a reminder of the cycle of life and of the universe.

You can read more in the words of Brandiark, a Nama Archpriest by clicking the "Open" Button below.

Check back later for updates and more about the Nama.