Welcome! #

As a member of the Kahal Council, it is my honor to welcome you to our lovely home of Kahal.  Within is a short guide for visitors of Kahal’s landmarks and history. Please reach out to me or any council member during your visit.

Innkeeper Naama suggested that the guests at the House of Rest needed a map of Kahal and the Avodai Quarter in Terida. As many of you are visiting scholars, I thought you may also want a bit of the history of our community. 

Kahal  #

To describe our home in typical terms, Kahal is a village on the outskirts of the city of Terida. Most Avodai make our homes here in Kahal, though some Lumdai live within our village. We are mostly tradesfolks, farmers, and scholars. Though we are few and poor, we are a vibrant center of study and Avodai life with connections to other Avodai communities throughout the region. Avodai from all over come to study at our modest House of Study with our famed Rebas and other scholars. We are a close-knit community who care for each other amongst the usual small town squabbles. I could not imagine living anywhere else. 

We are quite proud of the fact that we are the first Avodai community in Markes since the Writ of Expulsion. Avodai refugees from Seira established Kahal 209 years ago when the Governor of Terida Antonio Romano invited us to settle in unoccupied land. After we arrived, we learned that the land was known for its angry spirits, a fact I must note that the Governor failed to mention. 25 years later, Avodai from Za’halem delivered a spark from Eternal Flame. The lighting of the Eternal Flame is considered the true founding of Kahal and any Avodai community.

The Terida government granted us semi-autonomy to deal with inter-Avodai disputes. Therefore, as is customary, we formed the Kahal Council and other community organizations to care for each other. We pay taxes to the government of Terida and also to the local spirits, to keep peace.

Throughout our two centuries here, we have experienced multiple pogroms— may all who died be a blessing and remembered. We remember the 5970s as the “bad years” that cumulated in the largest pogram where 32 people died. During those years the Lumdai Church preached libel against us and the governor imposed draconian taxes and restrictions on Avodai trade with our neighbors. It was a time of great poverty and violence. During those years, the government mandated that the Avodai wear blue striped head coverings to distinguish them visually from the Lumdai. The government did not lift this clothing mandate until 50 years ago. The last pogram was ten years ago during a royalist backlash to the General Court’s centralized rule. Times of turmoil are always dangerous for the Avodai.