This Sunday past we found ourselves in the lands of Teng Hua for a day of food and culture. A large Rhiassan contingent turned out to partake of the Emperor’s hospitality and join in the celebration.
Upon arriving at the palace, we were greeted at the door by a small delegation of Teng Huanese, who asked us for our names, titles, and preferred forms of address. As is the custom in Teng Hua, we removed our shoes and donned slippers we had brought with us for the occasion prior to entering the Emperor’s hall. The polite people minding the door then announced each guest as he or she entered, which set a really nice atmosphere.
His Imperial Majesty Emperor Lysis was waiting inside the hall to greet each guest with a bow and a few words of welcome, inviting us to partake in the various activities that had been planned for us throughout the day. As we walked in we saw tables set up around the perimeter of the room. One had a card game already in full swing (poker maybe?) with the usuals crowded around. The other four tables had two different game boards set up on them - one circular and one square, each with their own colored tile pieces. Aeston quickly became involved in the circular game - Kaibaransu I think it was called? - which involved swapping different round element tiles around the board until each tile color and type were grouped together. The other game, which I am told was called Sheho, involved square colored tiles that players were able to stack on top of each other in different ways. While I didn’t end up playing either of them, I know that Aeston really enjoyed Kaibaransu and it looked like everyone was having fun playing Sheho as well (on an OOC note, both games were created by Zach specifically for the event, which is pretty awesome in and of itself!)
At the door to the hall was a large gong, which was rung each time an announcement needed to be made. When the gong sounded, everyone in the hall - guests included - would rise out of respect, and exchange bows with the speaker when the announcement was finished. This happened a few times throughout the day to let us know when different activities were starting. There were the games. There were two “lectures” throughout the day - one on the special flora and fauna of Teng Hua that would be of great interest to people adventuring in said lands, and one on the cycle of the year and the different holidays and celebrations that occur throughout. I say “lecture” because it was run more like an intimate gathering, with everyone pulling up the closest chair to the speaker, who was sitting in the midst of the guests.
One custom of many in Teng Hua is to bring your own personal teacup, teapot, and/or chopsticks when you are being served food. We were told that His Imperial Majesty wanted to make sure that no one went without, so as a gift to us he had provided everyone with a blank teacup and the means to personalize them to our tastes. They would be fired during the day, and we could take them when the day was over, so we would always have our own teacup to bring. This was a very popular activity, with many people engaged in brushing different layers and designs on their teacups at various points throughout the day.
There were also a few Teng Huanese walking around the hall striking up conversations with different people, trying to learn more about our culture and nations as we were trying to learn about theirs. While I was attempting to make sure that Aeryk and Aelise weren’t getting into anything they weren’t supposed to, I overheard parts of an informative conversation between Sir Kovaks and a man who said he wanted to travel to see our Realms one day.
The cultural arts and the martial arts are equally valued in Teng Hua. One of the last activities before dinner began was kata demonstration. Emperor Lysis invited anyone who was interested to show their skills in front of him and all of us assembled. A few Teng Huanese performed, as well as Sir Sagart; then the Emperor himself performed. All of the kata were really interesting to watch and it was nice to see everyone’s skill. Although Aeryk hid his face at the loud noise, I caught him doing kata moves later on!
During the day there were light snacks available - a selection of cut-up fruit, roasted peas, puffed potato sticks, and sweet rice snacks, among others. After the kata, though, it was time for dinner! His Imperial Majesty led us in procession down to the dining area were we found the tables beautifully laid with plates, napkins, chopsticks, origami decorations and small lanterns. Emperor Lysis performed a tea ceremony to welcome us to our meal.
Dinner started with some light appetizers - pork belly skewers, seaweed salad, and Teng-Huanese pickles. I love seaweed salad so that was a win for me, but the skewers and pickles were really well done. These were followed by hoisin-chicken filled steamed buns, which I enjoyed as well. Everything was served family style in bowls and on platters.
Next we had cold soba noodles, which were served with a fragrant mushroom and leek dashi broth. All of the food was really good, but this was by far one of my favorite courses. The broth had a really delicious depth of flavor to it that I really liked. It was also a bit of a customizable course - you could eat your noodles cold if you wanted (which Aeryk did), or you could add them to the broth (which I did), where they would finish cooking the last little bit and - tada- you had a bowl of soba noodle soup! I really enjoyed this course.
After that came shrimp and ginger dumplings, and then the main course - lettuce wraps! Another customizable experience. We were served plates of large-leaf lettuce and bowls of shredded carrot, sliced red onions, cliantro, and rice, along with plates of beef bulgogi (marinated beef) and thai-spiced chicken, and we got to make our own lettuce wraps, which was fun and also very tasty.
During dinner, Emperor Lysis arranged for some entertainment - one of his countrywomen, a story-teller, recited a fable about the mixing of good and evil into a world that had only known the good.
Court was also held. The Keiro-rei, an ancient Teng Huanese order created to battle corruption of spirits and nature, honored Aeston, Kyomi, and Faelinn for their previous work with the Kathrani and invited them to be a part of new things going forward. Lord Sir Aeston and Avendar presented His Imperial Majesty with gifts to thank him for his hospitality, while he gave them gifts in return. The Emperor also recognized and gave gifts to Eldtrich and Laika, who had presented him with their gifts earlier in the day, and made a special point to show Laika’s gift to the rest of his guests - a clever and ingeniously-designed fork and spoon nunchaku.
For dessert, our hosts served us dango (a sweet dumpling), shibuya toast, and house-made fortune cookies. I didn’t get to try the first two, as Aeryk and Aelise by that time were no longer inclined to sit at the table, but Gwen was nice enough to bring Aeston and I each a fortune cookie, which I thought was really good, and softer than I expected, which I enjoyed. I didn’t get a fortune in mine, but Aeston did, and ended up receiving a lucky cricket. By then, it was time for us to take our leave, with Aeryk and Aelise in tow.
And thus our day in Teng Hua came to an end. It has been a long time since I last visited Teng Hua and a much longer time since I last lived there, so it was good to get back for even as short a time as we had. I am glad that my children were able to experience some different aspects of the culture, as young as they are, and I look forward to spending more time in Teng Hua with them in the future.
Written this 16th day of April, 1019 and signed by my hand -
Areni