Nafai is a tall, 18-year-old-boy (14 in "temple years") who clearly hears the voice of the Oversoul in his mind. Nafai and his brothers and father are banished from Basilica and are forced into the desert from a cunning plot conceived by Gaballufix. Volemak urges his four sons to go back to Basilica and retrieve the Index (a tool or index used to retrieve information from the Oversoul).