Tea ceremony

A tea ceremony was a very specialized procedure for making tea practiced in Kara-Tur.

Ritual
Although it appeared fairly simple at first glance, conducting the tea ceremony required total concentration and every stage and action needed to be done with exquisite precision and grace. The full tea ceremony could take an hour to complete. Its aim was to instill absolute calm and serenity and to rid the mind of all distraction. If successful, the practitioner could not be surprised in any way during the tea ceremony.

Necessary implements included a dedicated table, a brazier, a kettle, and a tea caddy. These could be family heirlooms and works of art. A simple tea ceremony set might be made of bamboo.

Usage
The tea ceremony was practiced by members of the nobility in some lands of Kara-Tur.

In Wa, the tea ceremony was once wholly the domain of the shogunate. However, by the 1350s DR, it had spread to the merchants, who enjoyed its formality and spiritual elements, and it had grown incredibly popular among them. A gracious display suggested the practitioner to be a trustworthy partner in business. In the teahouses of Iiso, the tea was boiled in the corner of the main room, while preparations for the tea ceremony were made in a room called the katte. The tea ceremony was one of the classical arts taught to samurai families, such as the sons of the Kidera Takeshi.

In Kozakura, a hospitality ritual incorporating a tea ceremony was practiced at the Inn of the Globefish around 1359 DR, in its Place of Bountiful Welcome. In this, small cups of tea were served to guests; drinking them signified accepting the inn's hospitality, while refusing them was improper.

The sea spirit folk dwelling in the waters around Kozakura were intrigued by land-dweller customs, including the tea ceremony. Performing a tea ceremony was one way to impress their leader and gain passage.

History
There were stories of true masters of the tea ceremony who, when engaged in the procedure, could not be distracted or surprised in even the smallest way.