Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2020 20:29:25 GMT -5
Nestled into the market near Tresteria's shipping docks is a tiny tea shop. The stone building rests between two others, which seem to slouch against it as if it is holding them up as well. From outside, little is visible of the shop itself: a thick fog of tea steams the windows and hides it from view. The only indication this is a tea shop or even open for business at all, is a wooden sign which hangs neatly above the door on an iron rod. "Tasseomancy" reads the flowing script.Visitors to the shop's interior are immediately enveloped in warm, tea-scented air. The room is cozily lit with flickering lanterns whose frosted glass mutes the light to a soft orange glow. The lanterns are metal, with floral designs punched out to allow the candlelight to flicker over the shop interior. Near the front of the shop, mismatched bookshelves line the walls, carrying various necessities for brewing tea at home: teapots, spoons, cups, tea-balls for single cups of tea, etc.The right-hand side of the shop is bordered by a tall counter, behind which the shop owner and his daughter can usually be found. Behind Beatrice Smith and her father, a series of pigeon-hole shelves house canisters of different ingredients: green tea, black tea, chamomile, lavender, blackberry, orange zest, and every other imaginable addition to a lovely cup of tea. Several heavy cast iron pots are nestled into the counter, with burners hidden below them to keep them hot all day long. Inside each cauldron is hot water, varying from warm to boiling, which are doled out for any orders of hot tea.Round wooden tables occupy the rest of the shop, none exactly like the others. Somehow the effect is charming as the light of the lanterns flickers on their well-worn surfaces. The chairs are as mismatched as the tables, but the cushions have been re-covered in deep green to suit the atmosphere. A few tables here and there house slender vases of white roses.The family who run the shop, Joseph Smith and his daughter Beatrice, are welcoming and kind. They take pride in their store and their products. Regulars are greeted by name and may find that an extra ball of blooming tea included in their parcels when they get home if they are polite to Beatrice.