My name is Norta Sagt. I am a middle aged Lilty woman. And I love tea. For me and my husband, tea is an art unlike any other. One could consider cooking an art. And..I suppose the art of tea would be similar. But not the same! Ooh no. They are very much different. For one thing, for starters, tea is a liquid of course. And the spices are the MOST important part. And some people would say that having a good smell in tea ok, but not important. But it must be said. It should be told that the smell is the first experience of the tea. The smell is the waaarrm up for the person about to drink it.
And that is something I have difficulty with. These Clavats making *cold* tea. My husband Rachkahnoklan tries to calm me down form this many times, but it makes me so irritated. Tea *cold*? Tea without its warmth.. has it any personality? Has it the ~warm~ personality of hot tea? The feeling of a good friend come to visit? The happiness of good news? I do not think so. And it is too EASY. Hot tea must be heated to Just - the - *right* level to bring out the taste. But ALSO, the ~smell~ of the tea. Do you get that with plain cold water? ..I don't know.
I am an unusual Lilty. I never quite took to my father's insistence on training with the lance. My father always was telling me put on my armored gloves, like a good, strong Lilty. But I didn't feel anything in those cold, hard gloves. There was nothing in them I wanted. I would wear them to make my father happy. But when his back was turned, I slipped them out a little bit. And when he was away, I took them off immediately. But he was so upset when I did not qualify to join the caravan with my sister and my brother. My mother was too. But she knew it was not for me. As the wife of a retired solder, it may have been that she did not want her children to enter fighting, or that she was sympathetic to my soft nature.
It was when I was 8 years of age that I first went to Shella. A friend of the family had invited us up to visit him while he was training under the Yukes for magic. My mother's dear friend Safia had the rare opportunity to be trained by the Yukes. And as Yukes feared Selkies would steal their precious secrets, this was a very special thing for him. But Safia was not like many Selkies. At least in that he did not steal. It was there that I had my first cup of hot tea. It was Ivy tea. But it wasn't just the Ivy tea. No. It was the servation. This, this is where cooking and tea are very, Very different.
We were in the house of Safia's teacher, Luachgemon. And he was using the Yuke way of servation. Servation. How do I describe it? While it ..could be used for cooking or such, the term servation is mostly a tea thing. Servation is the deliberate way of making tea and serving tea to your guests. And as Yukes are experts with magic, they have a very unique way of servation. Luachgemon made ... no, I mustn't say. But once the water was heated, Rachkahnoklan presented his father with the Ivy leaves he had ground right there, and Luachgemon quickly, but very carefully and purposefully, fell the ground leaves into the water. Instantly the air in the room with high skinny windows filled to it's corners with a fragrance so wonderful, I could barely believe it! It was much softer than the stone incense my father burned at home. And it was comfortable. Like a big, fuzzy, comfy pillow soo full of feathers, you could sink in and never be found again. It was a day I would dream about and never forget for the rest of my life.
Ooh and the taste, the taste was the second.. no, the third best part. It was ju~st so spicy. Not too much spicy. You could barely tell the spice at all. But you could feel the organic leaves on your tongue. Or at least their taste. It was like taking a warm bath in perfect, fragranted water. I used to think, and once asked my mother, that I could take a bath in tea. Oohh the look that I got. And how my mother and father and siblings laughed at me that day. I still think it would be a good idea. But as a tea house owner, I know how difficult it would be. I know how to make an excellent CUP of tea. But I am not quite sure how to heat a TUB of water just~right to make a tea out of it. Or how many leaves to put. It is a silly girl's wish. But I *still* THINK it would be very nice.
Ah! I have not told you about my husband Rachkahnoklan. My dear husband who shares my love of tea and servation. It was he who taught me the dear secret of Yuke servation. Really, the only difference is the Fire spell used. Some Clavats use Fire to heat their teas, but others don't, and others just use it to start the kettle fire. But in Yuke servation, only the Fire spell is used. Because that is the way they.. no. I mustn't say. It is something my wonderful husband taught me in the confidence that one must keep when married to a Yuke. And the trust between tea servers. Tea servation is such a gentle art. Tea servers try to be kind to one another. To respect one another and their secrets. And we try very hard not to fight. So as a tea server, and the Lilty wife of a Yuke, I shall not say. And it is also why I try not to be too upset about Blizzard teas. Hhaa..
But enough about that. I was meaning to tell you about my husband Rachkahnoklan. As you may have been able to tell by now, he is the son of the teacher who taught my family's friend, Safia. His father Luachgemon, was a teacher of magic, first - and - foremost. But servation was a hobby of his. Which he took VERY seriously. When it came time for me to leave the home of my parents, I used the pass given to my family by Safia. And asked Luachgemon to teach me servation. A word I didn't even know back then. He seemed very surprised. He was only ever asked to teach magic. Which he taught me Fire. Afterwards. But he was never asked to teach servation. Except by his son Rachkahnoklan.
Rachkah had once asked Luachgemon to teach him servation as a boy. But his father was unfortunately too busy to teach his son the details. But he did allow Rachkah to observe closely, and assist in the servations Luachgemon gave for guests and family friends. And Rachkah learned a great deal. Which was why when I arrived and pleaded that Luachgemon teach me servation, his son joined in with me in begging to learn as well. For while he learned a great deal watching his father, he still knew he was not learning everything. And when I was there passionately entreating that Luachgemon teach me, Rachkah quickly joined in with me that Luachgemon teach us *both*. Do you know why? Ha ha. Because Luachgemon WANTED to teach his son. But he could not justify taking further time to teach just his son as a lone student of servation. Luachgemon had many magic students, and magic was such a strict thing to teach. He could not spare the time for just one person, even to teach his wonderful son. BUT! But now he had TWO students asking for his lessons. ..He found this very hard to turn away. A girl with an obvious passion for the art, and a wonderful son who *loved* the art as well. And so, there in front of his students in class, Luachgemon agreed to teach us what he knew. Hhoooww Happy I was on that day! It was only my dream for a short time before I returned to Shella. But I knew I loved tea and the way tea was served, and the *smell* of tea, and the specific way it is served. I ~Just~ simply HAD to learn. And it is partially with the help of my dear sweet Rachkah that I was able to. And that is the effect that tea has had on my life. It may be a small thing to you. Which is good. It *should* be just a drink to everyone else. It does not have to mean the world to everyone. But for people like me and my husband Rachkahnoklan, and all of the other tea servers, even the Blizzard tea servers, it is the ~World~ for us so that we can make it *special* for you. I hope you will come by our tea shoppe near Shella. We server tea NOT JUST the Yuke way. If - you - wish, we can serve it the Lilty way. Or the Clavat way. Or as much of the Selkie way as we know. But not cold tea. That, we CAN NOT do. But our doors are Open to you. Whatever tribe, whatever village. Come to us. We will have a drink, we may talk, I and my husband will listen, and I promise you will leave our doors fuller that when you entered.