In order to figure out the Nara Alphabet, once I became aware that there was a translation, I used the in-game Nara Relics. As you gather relics, the poetry associated with each level is translated from Ancient Nara to English. So I gathered every relic, transcribed the english versions of each poem, then started a new game and recorded every single poem in their nara forms. By comparing the two, I was able to figure out what letters matched what.

Notably, this was missing the letter 'J', and not once did I find any J's in the nara language. However, there is an ancient code door during a late-game puzzle that has what I believe to be all 26 letters. One of these letters was never defined (except as punctuation), so I've chosen to consider it the Nara version of J.

Speaking of Punctuation, the Nara language uses commas, question marks, and periods. However, these punctuation use symbols identical to existing letters. Each 'S' could either be an 'S' or a question mark. Each 'L' could double as a period, and each 'J' doubles as a comma.

In total, here it is: I could end the guide here, but I've got some more stuff to show you.


... Only later did I discover that in the credits, a bunch of the devs have their names written in both english and Nara right next to eachother. Which helped confirm some letters for me.

You can find various plaques throughout the levels with a great deal of nara writing, including at the bottom of the final boss room. They all have the same words and the same translation, though, but there's some interesting things to note:



The first is the word 'PLANT' instead of 'planet'. I'm noting this now because later on I find this misspelling used multiple times, which could either be some kind of misunderstanding by the Nara (Maybe they view planets, like plants, as something to be grown and cultivated?)

Second, the Nara name for this planet is 'EROS'. The planet is never named directly in the lore by anyone, it's just usually referenced as 'this planet'. So this little nugget is interesting.

Third, there's a fun little extra notch at the top of the letter 'L' for 'AL' (which I presume to mean 'all'). I've never seen it before like this, but it's replicated on all of the plaques, including ones found in different locations. There's also a notch above the 'E' in 'WITH THE GREAT TASK', but what that represents (if anything) is unknown.

Finally... this is the only time I've seen the Nara show any form of respect toward Hyperion, calling him 'Lord'. That means this was likely written before the enslavement and the first war.

There are four Nara Elders respected by the Nara People enough to be given crypts. Their statues can be found all over the place, and they all have their own different known deeds and identities. At the end of Mimir, Corix, and Zyion's tombs, you can find their coffin. The coffin has writing on it, and there are two hexagrams of Nara language written around them. Technically, it's only three lines per hexagram, mirrored. Completely translated, it's something like this:


This is the first time and last time a 'healing church' is mentioned, but considering this is written on a tomb for Corix, I could see her and the Nara who worked on Scarlet Nectar as the 'healing church' working against the Great Scourge.
Another thing is that the punctuation is kind of lacking on the coffin, which makes interpretation a little difficult, but I believe the last section should be read as 'The Elders overcame: The Great Scourge, the First War (and) Accelerated our Species' Evolution'. A sort of representation of each one of the three elders found in those tombs. Assuming each elder is responsible for one of these things, it's pretty clear which Elder did what.

The 'Plant' mispelling is here again, but here's the biggest reason I have for believing they mean 'planet':



This tapestry (Found in the Nara Sanctuary), has portions of the same thing written on it as the Nara Coffins do, except for one thing: They spell planet correctly here.
Why would they have the tapestry hung here, in the Sanctuary? I have no idea. It could be that this was intended to be the site of Proteus's Tomb, originally, before Hyperion went off against the Nara again? I'm not sure.

Anyway, here are the elders, with information from their tombs, their statues, and the relic poems:

Corix: 'Her labor will grant us everlasting life.'
Represented with a helmet with spikes in all directions, Corix is the Savior, and giver of nectar. Outright stated by Mannix to have assisted with the Nectar, and helped cure the first Scourge.

Mimir: 'How does one defeat an immortal foe?'
Represented with a helmet that has two long, curved horns. Mimir is the Warmaster. With the neural network capable of endlessly reviving Hyperion's Legion, it means they were the enemy in the 'first war'.

Zyion: 'First of his name'
Represented with a single-spiked helmet, Zyion is 'the artist' and constructed the Gildwood Kingdom. Implied to be one of the earlier Nara, this would make him the one responsible for 'accelerating our species' evolution', which could be culturally as well as physically.

Proteus: 'Inside each of us is the seed of both light and darkness...'.
Still alive, Proteus is represented with a teensy tiny little crown, as opposed to the actual enormous mushroom-hat he wears when you meet him.

For fun, I decided to translate most of the writing I could find on various objects. I most likely have missed some, so here goes:

• Chests have 'GOLD OFFERING' across the long side, and 'LOOT' on the short one.
  
• The large vases have WATER written on them, but it's written backwards. Which might just be a texture issue.
  
• Written on various doors and walls are things like 'Golden City', 'Age of Naras', 'All praise the arborist'.
  
• On the relics, 'WISDOM' is inscribed on the sides.
  
• Pedestals with the hand buttons? 'Only true desc(?) may enter the tomb of the nara elders'.
  
• The ragged bags used to cart supplies around in the nara sanctuary has a lot of phrases and words written on it, like 'special', 'scourge', 'born from', 'great'. This could just be random words chosen for the texture, or it could be because the nara have begun recycling old tabards into bags and containers because of the conflict.

One interesting thing is the gravestones: While they all say the same thing, the writing is done in a different kind of handwriting and using slightly altered fonts. They'll fuse together or ignore diacritics (the circles, triangles, or 'hooks'), which shows that sometimes the Nara are lazy. Or, you know, despairing over their dead friends.

Gravestone = 'HERE LIES CHO AFFLICTED OF THE CRIMSON SCOURGE'

The final thing of note is that upon collecting enough relics, you get your hands on parts of the Bioreaper. One of the best weapons in the game, it resembles the weapons used by the Corrupted Arborist and his soldiers. Which makes sense, because written on the walls in the chamber you get the weapon parts from is the following:

BEHOLD A PIECE OF THE GRAND ARBORIST'S CHLOROPLASMA LAUNCHER
THE WEAPONIZATION OF HIS GODLY TERRAFORMING POWERS.

That's about it! If you guys have anything else you'd like me to translate, or any findings of your own to contribute, please comment!