Introduction #

After King Geoffroi, may his arrogance be uprooted, expelled our community from Fida under threat of conversion, Governor Antonio Romano invited us to settle in unoccupied land at the outskirts of Terida. We did not know until we arrived and attempted to settle the land that there was a reason that no Lumdai lived there.

We found the area densely inhabited with spirits both visible and hidden from the human eye. There are so few nations from which the Avodai are welcomed and we were just too tired to travel further to the Za’halem.

The Word makes clear that the Avodai must not harm the spirits, for the Light created all beings. Therefore, we set upon the difficult task of finding a way to live with the spirits. The spirits’ ways are not our ways, and they can be tricky beasts.

There are some among our community who will only call spirits “The Best Among Us” or “Those Who Come and Go” so as to avoid sparking their wrath. As a Rafa, I strongly believe it is best to use their names and describe them truly. Only then can we understand them as they are—neither wholly good nor evil. If you stay on their good side, then they may even be helpful, at least by their standards.

This book contains a lifetime of learning the ways of the spirits of Terida and Kahal, as well as spirits known to the Rafa more generally. I hope it will serve as a guide to future generations of Rafa and the people of Kahal on how to find peace with the spirits and manage their ill effects on human health.

Upon you be peace,

Rafa Aviel bet Hana v’ Tzvi

Foreword #

Aviel bet Hana v’ Tzvi of blessed memory wrote the book as the culmination of their work to understand and make peace with the area’s spirits that enabled Avodai inhabitation of the area fifty-two years after Kahal’s founding. Rafa Aviel was the founder of the Rafa Counselor speciality, which has since spread across the Avodai world.

An official accounting of the local spirits has not been written since Rafa Aviel’s time. As you can imagine, we have learned quite a bit in the 137 years since it was written.

We have taken it upon ourselves to organize Rafa Aviel’s work and update it from our own experiences and the knowledge collected by the Society of Rafa over the intervening years. We have sifted through many notes in old medical records, hidden in apothecary treatises, and piled in stray boxes in the House of Rafa’s cellar.

We organized the work into the following sections

1. Spirits and other Creatures of Kahal & Terida
2. Spirits who Live Among Us 
3. Spirits of Death 
4. Spirits that Cause Illness
5. Legendary Creatures

Upon you be peace,

Rosh Rafa Malki bet Hallel v’ Yaffa 

Rafa Counselor Shai bet Lora, 21st of Golden Wheat Moon 6087

Additional Note #

Since Rosh Rafa Malki ‘s retirement, I have continued to expand on our work where the Society of Rafa’s knowledge has grown on the topic of the spirits. This is an updated printing of the book. 

Upon you be peace,

Rosh Rafa Shai bet Lora, 6th of Spirit Moon 6102