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Feast of Teng Hua – Part One: The Gathering
Recently I was quite fortunate to be invited to Teng Hua, where they opened their borders to visitors for the first time in a good many years. I was in Teng Hua many years ago, but it was for far more martial reasons than this past weekend's visit. It was also quite a long time ago and I hardly remember what we were even doing there. Something about making Lysis an Emperor or something, and since he is currently the Emperor, I'll assume we succeeded.
Though the Isle of Teng Hua is quite far from Invictus and requires a sea voyage, it seemed almost as if it took no time at all to arrive at the Emperor's Palace. Favorable winds and road improvements are the only clear explanation for such an oddity, and I hope to continue with these reduced travel times.
When we entered the palace we were not allowed to deposit our traveling things immediately as we needed to put our names in with a young man who I would call a concierge, but I am sure there is a Teng Huanese term for his appointed task. We were then announced as we entered the hall, which was quite a nice touch which I greatly enjoyed, but I would have enjoyed it quite a bit more had someone taken my travel basket for me so that I could have done all of this unencumbered. It's hard to enter a hall regally when you're hauling your luggage with you.
We were warned that we would not be well fed until the formal dinner and to eat a hearty breakfast. I failed in this endeavor (it turns out three hours was not enough time for me to get dressed, put on my face, have my hair styled, and eat breakfast), so I was quite hungry when I got there and was disappointed that they hadn't lied about that part. There were some snacks, but they were in an inconvenient area so I didn't partake of any.
The hunger was my fault. My feet nearly freezing off was not. It was kindly explained to me by Sir Iawen and a lovely Teng Huanese woman (who's name I did not catch, I do apologize) the cultural significance of footwear removal, and the difference between the footwear allowed inside and that which is not. I know you are all aware of my opinion on folks taking off their shoes, barefootedness, and the like, so I will not bore you with more explanation. When in Teng Hua, you do as the Teng Huanese do. However such a thing is very important to inform your guests of before they arrive. Had I known, I would have brought along with me something to keep my feet warm and comfortable. I was quite fortunate that Lady Gwen had with her an extra pair of slippers that she gifted me, else I might have lost my feet to frost bite.
There were a few local games available for us to try, with some wonderful teachers. In fact, Emperor Lysis himself helped to teach us how to play Shiho, a game that involved placing tiles four in a row, while also blocking your opponents from succeeding in the same task. This was apparently quite a new game, as they kept mentioning 'play testing' and allowing us to try it with differing rules variations. It was quite fun to help with a game's creation, and I am glad we were sanctioned to do so. There was another game called Kaibaransu that was more cooperative in nature and involved swapping tiles with each other to group tiles of the same color together, thereby balancing the elements, in the least amount of moves. I was not particularly skilled at either type of game, but I found them enjoyable nonetheless. Though the fact that I am not good at a game called 'Shiho' is quite disappointing, you'd think such a game would have been made for me.
We were treated to a couple of lectures by scholars of their lands. In one we learned about spirit creatures which I believe were called 'Losai', though my spelling is most likely incorrect. I was most intrigued by this as one of these creatures makes hot springs, which is something relevant to my business interests. In the other lecture we learned about cultural holidays and festivals, which wasn't as informative as it might have been, though it did give us a marvelous idea to go a Teng Huanese Tea Tour. We were also given a Kata demonstration followed by a brief instruction for anyone interested, which I wasn't dressed to participate in. I did learn something purely through visual observation, however.
The Teng Huanese are big on gift giving, we discovered, and we were given the gift of a teacup which we were to decorate ourselves. I am not much of a fan of arts and crafts projects, as they tend to be messy affairs, and this one was no exception. The water with which to cleanse our paint brushes was not being changed regularly enough and there was a lack of clean working space. Also I lack any sort of artistic talent, as is evidenced by the above photograph. Fortunately I am not the only one who is lacking in such skills, and I had plenty to laugh at as I watched others decorate their own gifts. So while not my favorite way to receive a gift, I made the best of it and managed not to ruin any of my clothing at the very least.
We of course were treated to a marvelous feast. I have written about the food, but quite honestly the food was so amazing that it got quite lengthy and I have decided that this particular weekend report will need two articles to cover it's goings on, which is awfully odd for an occasion that had not much going on. Quite frankly the games and lectures were not enough to keep me entertained for however many hours there were before dinner and I often times found myself rather bored and wishing that something exciting would happen. It was remarkably quiet, which you would think would be a good thing but was almost uncomfortable. Perhaps some music or dancing would have livened things up some.
So there it is, my completely accurate accounting of the past weekends activities. Or at least, the first part of them. Look for the next installment detailing the food and events of the dinner portion, which was truly the best part. It more than made up for the beginning, I can assure you. But lest you think it won't be worth reading, I do indeed have complaints which you'll be most amused by, I am sure. So until next week, my dears.