Ra-Kacharz

"The Nine Ra-Kacharz keep the people to the holy laws of cleanliness, watchfulness, and duty."

- Reece, explaining the Nine Ra-Kacharz to Jasmine.

The Nine Ra-Kacharz were immortal rulers of the city of Noradz. They were formerly led by the First Ra-Kachar, Reece, in the time of King Lief.

Secrets of Deltora
In order for the Shadow Lord's plans for the Four Sisters to come to fruition, it needed the Plains city of Hira cleared of its population. To achieve this goal, the Shadow Lord sent nine of its servants into the city to breed rats. Over time, as the rat population increased, the servants took on the guises of rat catchers and slowly became the ruling bodies of the city. They also discovered the serpent Reeah during this time, and the Shadow Lord instructed the rat catchers to feed Reeah in exchange for the serpent's servitude.

Eventually the rat population grew so big that the people of Hira decided to abandon their city. They built a large moat around the southern plain of Hira, which became known as the Broad River, and settled in a new city not too far off, named Noradz. The nine rat catchers became the rulers of this city, and were renamed the Nine Ra-Kacharz. As rewards for their loyal service, the Shadow Lord gifted the Nine with immortality.

The Deltora Book of Monsters​
For the next few decades, the Ra-Kacharz reigned over the city of Noradz as uncontested rulers. They created strange traditions to keep the people there brainwashed and obedient, such as a deep fear of small furry creatures, and punishment by torture or death for wasting food and leaving the city. The Ra-Kacharz also instructed their cooks to make hundreds of meals daily, with only a small portion being eaten by the people of Noradz. The rest was secretly shipped to the palace of Del in order to keep the kings and queens of Deltora ignorant. They would continue in this duty after the Shadow Lord invaded Deltora, and frequently used Tom's shop as a meeting place for Grey Guards who would take the food to Del. The Ra-Kacharz would then return to Noradz by Muddlets on loan to Tom.

Some point after he escaped the palace, Josef heard tales of the Ra-Kacharz and included them in his book The Deltora Book of Monsters.

City of the Rats
Lief, Barda and Jasmine bought the Muddlets intended for the Ra-Kacharz from Tom. The companions tried to ride them towards the City of the Rats, but the Muddlets smelt their home fields near Noradz and bolted, throwing all three of their riders off. They were discovered by the Ra-Kacharz and brought into the city.

Reece, the First Ra-Kachar of the Nine, greeted the companions with the other eight and told them about the rules of Noradz before welcoming the companions to dine with them. During the feast, a serving girl named Tira spilled a loaf of bread, but before she could be punished, Lief lied and said he spilled it. The Ra-Kacharz decided not to punish Lief, since he was a stranger to their laws. However, not a moment later, Filli emerged from Jasmine's shirt to eat some food she offered him, throwing the entire room into a panic. Filli escaped into the city, but Lief, Barda, and Jasmine were captured and tried for bringing a furred animal into the city.

Despite Reece's attempts to have them executed, the companions were spared by the laws of the city and imprisoned, and they later convinced Tira to help them escape. During their escape, they made their way through the kitchen and witnessed two Ra-Kacharz judging the day's food. Following the food judged for disposal, the companions found themselves outside the Ra-Kacharz' chambers and the Hole, which Tira said was the only way out of the city. As she left to get the companion's weapons, Reece emerged and tried to force them into the Hole before Tira returned and smacked him in the head with a frying pan. She then left as three more Ra-Kacharz entered and engaged the companions. In the end they were defeated thanks in part to Filli's return.

Since the Ra-Kacharz were the only ones who could enter and exit the Hole without harm, the companions theorised that something lived down there that was trained not to attack the colour red. They stripped the Ra-Kacharz of their uniforms and put them on, but this revealed the Shadow Lord's brand on each Ra-Kacharz' head. They decided to take Reece as a hostage for extra protection in the Hole, but the only things down there was fungus and a conveyor belt built into the floor. Reece woke up during the trip and, upon seeing where he was, freaked out and touched the fungus, which killed him quickly.

Exiting the Hole, the companions spotted the remaining three Ra-Kacharz loading a wagon with the food fit for disposal. Ridding in the back of the cart, the companions were brought back to Tom's Shop where the food was passed to a pod of Grey Guards. The Ra-Kacharz were then forced to walk back to Noradz.

Cavern of The Fear
After the Shadow Lord was banished from Deltora, the Ra-Kacharz forced the people of Noradz to abandon their city and head into the Shadowlands. The march was witnessed by Tom, who later relayed the information to Barda.

The Shadowlands
The remaining Ra-Kacharz were seated in the Shadow Arena alongside Ols and various other servants of the Shadow Lord during the unveiling of the Conversion Project.

Physical apperance
The Ra-Kacharz are dressed from head to toe in red, form fitting uniforms that cover all but their eyes. Underneath the Nine's clothes, they are shaven humans with the brand of the Shadow Lord on their heads. Each one also carries long plaited leather whips which drag behind them like the tail of a rat.

Personality
The Ra-Kacharz are cold and cunning, since they were able to deceive the entire population of Noradz for generations and keep them blind to the outside world. They were also very cruel and crafty when they needed to be particularly when it came to eliminating threats through subtle means.

Despite being the cause of the rat-infestation of Hira, the Ra-Kacharz all seem to be terrified of rats and furry creatures.

Abilities
The Ra-Kacharz are skilled at fighting with their whips and keeping their enemies at an awkward distance. Thanks to their political positions, they also know how to speak to large crowds and command them with absolute authority, although they are less sophisticated at speaking to those outside of Noradz.

They also seems to be skilled with their hands, as Reece was able to switch the life and death cards during Lief's trial without drawing the attention of the room.

Trivia

 * The word Ra-Kachar (plural form Ra-Kacharz) is derived from the job title of rat catcher.