According to obscure legend, once upon a time, there were no Nohbakim, but rather, they were all Zerdas, and the Himaat was a lush, hilly land, rather than a desert. However, an ancient race known only as the "Silent Ones" -- believed to be so ancient as to be from the times of the First Ones -- sought to conquer the land. When they met resistance from the Zerdas, the Silent Ones sought to make an example of them, and cursed their land and their forms, turning the land into desert, and mutating the Zerdas into the Nohbakim. A few Zerdas escaped, however, enough that there is still a small population of Zerdas to this day.
Legends also suggest that there might be some way to break the curse and to bring life back to the desert, but if such a way exists, evidently nobody has accomplished it just yet.
Several years ago (circa 6097 or 6098 RTR or so), a group of Rephidimites set out on an airship called the Glutton, in an attempt to ferry a Nohbakim "prince" and a Savanite "princess" to the Himaat to be married, in hopes of breaking the curse. Although the airship reached its destination, and the marriage took place, the desert is still a desert, and the Nohbakim and still Nohbakim, calling into question the validity of the legend (or perhaps the validity of the "princess'" claim to royal lineage).