Public Festival of Tea

[Hollis Orenn]

Welcome to the famed Gatalenta Festival of Tea!
Anyone is free to join, whether you're selling your own wares, browsing, or enjoying the scenery!

A warm cup of tea awaits you at the Serenity Tea Plantation on Gatalenta. The area is festively decorated to highlight the natural splendor of the area. The mountains are in clear view on this sunny day, towering trees sway in a gentle breeze -- and Skyfarers are in graceful display among them -- and the tea! Oh, the tea is plentiful.

The gardens are open for touring! Take in the greenery and the scent of tea leaves, and see how the famous Gatalentan tea is made. Indeed it is a careful process that involves drying the leaves to perfection. There is a temple nearby for anyone that wants a bit of quiet, and the locals may be demonstrating a complex ceremony of tea!

If you're looking for your own special blend, why not visit the marketplace? Located in a clearing nearby the temple, anyone with a connection to tea is welcome to set up shop. There's surely plenty of samples to try as well. Do try the different varieties, there's even some cold tea for those that would prefer it. Perhaps you'll find your own special blend. You'll also find vendors displaying some unique tea pots and goods!

There are many, many times of tea! These are just a few, what else will you find?
Cassius Tea [Good for your health!]
Sapir Tea [Green, aromatic -- favored by Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn]
Tarine Tea [Served hot or cold!]
Yarba Tea [Very tart!]

​

 

[Alicio Organa]

GATALENTA
TEA GARDENS
- Hollis Orenn -
​

The air was spiced with the scents of tea.

It made for a lovely day in the gardens. The shining sun, the faint wisps of clouds in the sky, the lightest breeze tossing the hair to the side, and permeating it all, a smell like sweet incense in the air, tickling the nose and delighting the senses.

It was odd then, to see a darkly-dressed man in the wide-open tea gardens, examining the long rows of small, spoon-like leaves with interest, cape flowing in the mild wind. He carried a black cane in his hand, planted into the earth like the Gatalentan Tea that surrounded him.

He was on one knee, cradling a finger under one of the sprouts of green, holding a caring expression. Alicio appraised the plant with storm grey eyes, before rising to his feet once more, and looking out over the lines of tea. He nodded once to himself, affirming something only he knew.

Faith Organa will love these.

 

[Hollis Orenn]

Tag: Alicio Organa​

White silk fluttered in the Gatalentan breeze.

Hollis was upside down. The young woman had purchased her very own Skyfarer silk and was currently suspended by a strong branch. She'd only attended one lesson, ever since this morning when she'd first seen the graceful Skyfarers here at the festival. They'd advised, wisely, that she should not attempt making aerial poses until she'd practiced...

But she wasn't one to wait -- not when she could try it here and now! The blood was rushing to her head, and even though she'd heard it was quite meditative, it made her feel a bit queasy. "Okay, up you go," Hollis said aloud as she coaxed her body upright in the silks. It wasn't easy... in fact, it was downright difficult. Not at all the graceful and effortless display of the local Skyfarers. "Easy does it..." Hollis stretched and tried a different pose.

Her body felt tense, taught -- just like the silk she was currently clinging to. As she tried to hold the pose, she could feel her arms and legs begin to shake quite violently with the effort. A cry pierced the tranquil silence of the garden.

Hollis was falling now.

And she landed on the ground with an "OOOF." A moment later, the many yards of silk fell from the branch, leaving her a rather undignified mess of fabric and limbs.

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Hollis Orenn Alicio Organa

Tea. A mysterious new art called skyfaring. Gardens. Really, it was quite remarkable. Perhaps there was actually some good in the Core worlds. It would shock many who knew him to hear him say such a thing, however. He leaned on his staff as he wandered slowly through the festival, admiring the scents of the tea leaves that wafted through the air, and the casual atmosphere.

From time to time, he bent down and inspected a plant, looking closely at the leaves and tracing a fingertip along their edge. Othertimes, he simply stood, listening with his eyes half-closed, savoring the pleasant atmosphere.

He ambled around a tree and came to an abrupt stop. "Oh, I beg your pardon," Tiland said, staring down at the ground, where a youngster was piled in a tangle of silks. "Am I interrupting something? Or would you like some assistance?"

 

[Cass Gemini]

Spoiler: Gear and other links

Equipped:

• Calypso's Thunder
• Harlequin sabers
• Gravpack
• Viper mk2 skinsuit
• Thermal Detonators

Ship:

• Midnight Kyber
• 4 x Sciss stealth fighters

NPCs:

• Crew of the Midnight Kyber

Tag: OPEN
Wearing: This outfit

The now fairly heavily pregnant Cass walked at a leisurely pace through the tea fields with her black and red dress flowing around her and her hat shading her eyes from the sun. Here first mate had insisted she take this little break for herself in the last few weeks before she was too. She was half atrisian and had grown up enjoying the teas of her mothers homeland, despite the bitterness between the two of them. Tea was supposed to be soothing to women in her condition.

What was she doing? She was a fearsome pirate who not four months ago was threatening to destroy an alliance munitions vessel if they didn't surrender their cargo. "Maybe don't bring up any bounties here, hey Cass" she laughed to herself as she plucked a leaf from the bush and started fiddling with it in her hands, admiring its scent. Very interesting, she thought, trying to sound well informed but really just here to enjoy the peace and quiet away from, everything. She had made sure to dose herself up properly today, as anaphylaxis shock would not be good for her precious cargo.

 

[Alicio Organa]

GATALENTA
TEA GARDENS
- Hollis Orenn - Tiland Kortun - Cass Gemini -
​

Alicio continued to walk along the rows, no longer drooping his eyes to the greenery, but scanning the long rows, searching for something. He had a decidedly refined gait, slow, ponderous steps punctuated by the stabbing of his cane into the soil, black cape just scraping the edges of the tea leaves beneath.

Despite the nobility that oozed off of him, his knees were covered in dirt, as were his hands, and the tiniest smudge of brown on his cheek, making his grey eyes pop blue. He wasn't afraid to get his clothes a bit dirty, after all. That just meant they held the memories better.

Alicio saw a woman dressed in black and red, kneeling along the side of a row of tea. "Hello!," he barked, raising a hand in greeting, before walking closer to Cass Gemini .

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm looking for someone who knows a bit about growing tea. I don't suppose you could help me."

Then, Alicio perked up, cocking his head to the side. A half second later, he heard a yell, not too far away. The nobleman grasped his walking stick with a touch more force, staring off towards the nearby treeline.

"What was that?"

 

[Cass Gemini]

Spoiler: Gear and other links

Equipped:

• Calypso's Thunder
• Harlequin sabers
• Gravpack
• Viper mk2 skinsuit
• Thermal Detonators

Ship:

• Midnight Kyber
• 4 x Sciss stealth fighters

NPCs:

• Crew of the Midnight Kyber

Tag: Alicio Organa Hollis Orenn Tiland Kortun
Wearing: This outfit

Cass felt the man approaching as she was in her own little world playing with the leaves while in a squat position. Looking up she forced herself to her feet and shook the man's hand. The woman in front of her was a pretty brunette with distinctive red and black heterochromia. If Alicio Organa was a fan of reading bounty boards he might recognise the description. But there was also something that might feel strangely familiar about her face and her accent when she spoke. "Hey, not sure I'm the right person to ask, I know bits but I learned all that as a kid, then moved onto bigger things. I'm Cass by the way."

She thought the man was handsome and he carried himself very well, a sense of confidence was always an attractive look.

She also flinched as the yell went up from the tree line and turned, "I don't know, shall we go and take a look and see if they are OK?" she didn't fancy a fight today and just hoped it was some idiot falling out of a tree or something.

 

[Hollis Orenn]

Hollis let the swathe of silk cover her face, better to mask her humiliation – even if the trees were the only witnesses to it. But the trees were not the only witnesses. A voice inquired if he – what sounded like an older gentleman – was interrupting. Beneath her mess of silk, her face went red.

"Oh," she waved a hand. "I'm fine, really."

Sitting up, she let the silk fall away from her face, where there was now a very sheepish smile. She was used to this sort of thing. Her hands worked to begin gathering up the large pile of silk. Now, where had she set the bag?

As she chanced a glance up at the elder, Hollis canted her head to the side. She stopped trying to make sense of the silk fabric. There was something oddly familiar about Tiland Kortun . She blinked, fixing him in a curious gaze.

"I'm sorry," she said, mostly out of habit. "But have we met before?"

Alicio Organa , Cass Gemini

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Alicio Organa Cass Gemini Hollis Orenn

Tiland paused and leaned on his staff with one raised eyebrow. "Are you sure? That could have been quite a fall." He bent down and gathered up the rest of the silk, coiling up one end and holding it over to her. At the second question, he was taken a bit by surprise.

"Met before? I don't think so?" He chuckled though. "But I am very old and I sometimes cannot always remember everyone I have met. My name is Tiland Kortun, so please do inform me if I've been wrong."

It sounded like there were more not terribly far away. He could just hear the traces of voices not too far away. "What were these silks for, anyway?"

 

[Alicio Organa]

GATALENTA
TEA GARDENS
- Hollis Orenn - Tiland Kortun - Cass Gemini -
​

"Probably should," Alicio muttered, cane still clutched in his hand. He began to stride in that direction, but was careful to match his speed to the pregnant woman beside him, should she travel with him to the treeline.

"My name is Alicio, by the way. Pleased to meet you," the Count offered, mulling over something hidden in his head. He didn't recognize the woman, but he was good with voices, and something about her accent jogged a memory. Alicio frowned, remembering the Hope City Gala, for whatever reason.

He shook his head. Why had he thought of that? Perhaps he wasn't as over the event as he would have liked.

The pair of them crested a small hill, and saw a strange sight. A woman splayed on the ground, wrapped in long ribbons of cloth. And an older fellow, staring concernedly down at the scene. Alicio quickly assembled what had happened in his mind.

"False alarm," he said sideways to Cass, relaxing his hand on his weapon, and waving his hand at the two new faces. "Hello! Everything alright down there?"

 

[Hollis Orenn]

Tiland Kortun.

Hollis gave him a good looking over. Her memory worked, the cogs turning his image and voice over in her mind. The Jedi Master she'd met long ago had been old, that's about all she remembered. Surely, this couldn't be the same man. Or could it?

She had the urge to blurt out everything and ask him.

But his question made her swallow the words. "These?" she accepted the help and gratefully accepted the bundled up silk. "It's for skyfaring. Normally, they hang themselves from a kind of scaffolding. Not, like, you know... hanging." Hollis realized her word choice might cause confusion. "It's an art form. Some people even learn to meditate while being suspended." She tucked the silks away in the tote bag she located by the trunk of the tree.

"They make it look so easy... so I thought I could --" she stopped short when people came into the clearing. "Oh, yes... everything is fine." Another red-faced smile. "I'm, uh, Hollis – it's nice to meet you." Hollis turned to Tiland Kortun first, realizing that she hadn't produced an introduction to follow his. "All of you..." she added, looking to Alicio Organa and Cass Gemini .

 

[Cass Gemini]

Spoiler: Gear and other links

Equipped:

• Calypso's Thunder
• Harlequin sabers
• Gravpack
• Viper mk2 skinsuit
• Thermal Detonators

Ship:

• Midnight Kyber
• 4 x Sciss stealth fighters

NPCs:

• Crew of the Midnight Kyber

Tag: Alicio Organa Hollis Orenn Tiland Kortun
Wearing: This outfit

"False alarm for you maybe," she replied to Alicio Organa with a smile. "I had a feeling it might be someone falling out of a tree, i should have made a wager, silly me."

As they watched the woman unravel herself and explain what she had been up to, Cass was fascinated, she had seen shows like this but never spoken to a performed before, or seen it done outside. "I'd love to give that a go some time Hollis Orenn , probably not in thw nest state to be hanging from the tree by ribbons right now." she laughed and jestured at her swolen abdomen.

Cass was beginning to feel thirsty and she looked first at Alicio Organa and then at the others, including Tiland Kortun . "Do any of you fancy grabbing some actual tea?

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Alicio Organa Hollis Orenn Cass Gemini

"Indeed?" Tiland asked, looking up into the tree and studying the limbs. "Skyfaring..." He pursed his lips in through. "I had expected something to do with flying, I must admit. Meditating or dancing or acrobatics were not at all what I envisioned."

Others approached and he turned, leaning on the staff, watching the others approach. She introduced herself and he paused for a moment. Hollis. That name was familiar, from quite some time ago. Surely it was not the same one? That would be fortuitous, but certainly not a coincidence, and not something to discuss necessarily at this time.

"Tea would be delightful," Tiland answered the question with a bow. "I am quite intrigued by the many possibilities for tea here to discover."

 

[Xeno]

Gatalenta, The Gardens
Tags: Cass Gemini , Hollis Orenn , Alicio Organa , Tiland Kortun ​

Xeno sat alone on a small hill overlooking the Gardens. The smell of tea leaves were pungent, strong enough to make it's way through the filter of his mask. The masked man leaned on his vibrosword, a weapon he reluctantly continued to wield. Xeno was not there to enjoy tea, though he would certainly like to soothe his soul and forget the world. He was there to keep the peace, perhaps from a threat that wasn't present. It didn't bother Xeno. Threat or not, he was personally invested in the festival's safety. He had sins to atone for, after all.

In the distance, Xeno witnessed the first meeting of four individuals. One amongst them, a much older Anzati man, appeared to be Jedi. Not surprising. Jedi very often went to events like these for reasons of spirituality and diplomacy. It was the woman in red who concerned the Repentant Blade. The stranger had a familiar look about her. Of course, Xeno scoured through thousands of wanted posters regularly looking for those capable of creating chaos. He could easily be mistaken. Still, there was an air of trouble about her. Xeno saw fit to keep watch, all be it from a distance.

 

[Alicio Organa]

GATALENTA
TEA GARDENS
- Hollis Orenn - Tiland Kortun - Cass Gemini - Xeno -
​

"That's a scarily accurate feeling," Alicio chuckled at Cass Gemini . "You should've. I'd have bet against it."

The pair of Cass and Alicio picked their way down the hill, and joined Hollis Orenn and Tiland Kortun . Alicio cast his hurricane eyes on the grounded woman, looking for bruises and scrapes as she tidied up from the tumble. She looked fine.

The nobleman executed a perfect bow, holding a hand to his heart. "I'm Alicio," he said to the younger woman and the older man. "We heard a noise, and thought there might be trouble. Well, Cass here apparently figured it was a tree-and-gravity-related situation, so I suppose she was right on the money."

At Cass' suggestion of tea, and the elder's affirmation, Alicio screwed his mouth to the side, and produced his datapad, flicking the screen on, and pondering it's contents. "Um... I suppose I've got time," he finally said, smiling. "Besides, it might be fun."

 

[Hollis Orenn]

The redness on Hollis' cheeks had only begun to fade when the young man named Alicio Organa made it flare again with his comment. Her eyes flickered to the woman, Cass Gemini , that had predicted her rather embarrassing predicament. Mercifully, the woman had a novel idea – to get tea! After all, yes, this was a festival of tea.

"That sounds lovely," she said, nodding.

All packed up and ignoring the sore spots left behind from her fall (she'd probably have some bruises), Hollis looked on with a cheerful glint in her eyes. It was nice to try new things – many new things, so many that she risked being overwhelmed. As they reached the clearing that hosted the vendors and artisans, Hollis' mouth dropped open.

The area was...fragrant. Lots of smells, but in a good way – they seemed to meld together into an aura of calm. Or was that something else? Maybe, the presence of the force? Hollis glanced at Tiland Kortun momentarily – and she didn't know why.

Many vendors had teapots set out on their tables or stalls, or little cups of steaming samples ready to be tasted. Hollis didn't know where to start, so she picked the nearest one. The liquid in the clear cup was a stunning shade of violet. "My goodness," Hollis said, lifting it to inspect. She took a sip. There were certainly floral notes, and yes, herbs of some sort. "It's good!" she said, eyebrows lofting.

Xeno

 

[Cass Gemini]

Spoiler: Gear and other links

Equipped:

• Calypso's Thunder
• Harlequin sabers
• Gravpack
• Viper mk2 skinsuit
• Thermal Detonators

Ship:

• Midnight Kyber
• 4 x Sciss stealth fighters

NPCs:

• Crew of the Midnight Kyber

Tag: Alicio Organa Hollis Orenn Tiland Kortun Xeno

Wearing: This outfit

As the group went into the festival, Cass chatted a little more to Alicio Organa , "So where you from, you look rich and powerful, I like rich and powerful men, particularly handsome ones." she gave a flirtatious wink to the man and nudged him gently. Being pregnant didn't stop her wanting to have a little fun, she was still Cass after all. "Isn't it lovely here, I mostly live in space and am allergic to pollen so i tend to avoid this kind of place." she laughed.

Once they got to the tea stands she tried the violet coloured tea. "That is nice," she replied to Hollis Orenn . She picked up another for herself, it looked very much like normal tea but had a slightly aniseed scent to it. "My favourite is Deychin tea, this tastes a bit like that, but spicier." she sipped a little and and then flinched.

"not to your liking then Mr. Justeene?" she said whilst rubbing her stomach. "anyone want to inappropriately touch the pregnant woman whilst her baby kicks?" she joked to the group. Cass was no stranger to the inappropriate touching, her crew seemed to have forgotten who she was since she fell. It was fun though, so she didn't mind at all.

Nearby there was a traditional Atrisian Tea service going on that caught Cass's eye. One to suggest to the group, she thought.

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Xeno Alicio Organa Cass Gemini Hollis Orenn

Tiland walked along beside the others, eyebrows raised slightly, at the conversation, but he made no comment, until they reached a place for tea, Hollis quite admired.

Something shifted uneasily in Tiland's mind and he turned around, studying the area. There was no visible threat, but he turned back to the small gathering and smiled at the sight of the tea.

"A violet tea!" He proclaimed, taking up a cup of his own, to study it."That is quite an achievement. I do not believe I have ever seen one like it." He took a sip, savoring the taste, and noting the varieties of flavors.

"Spicier tea?" Tiland asked, "That can be quite exquisite."

 

[Kay-Larr]

The Marketplace.

Kay was a little late to setting up her booth at the tea festival, yet travelling around wasn't something that she was used to these days. Nor was being out in public. But the odds were sure to be in her favour that the presence of perfect strangers were high. It was her hope that she had been gone long enough to be completely forgotten.

The Sphaera Tea Company was hers, and so the invitation came as no coincidence. Kay brought along with her samples of her teas, caf and baked goods, however she was careful. She didn't bring along the ones that could be deemed illegal in some jurisdictions. She didn't bring along the products that could cause harm.

A nametag was pinned to her apron, bearing the name of her alias 'Cessy'. Her brown hair was drawn up in a bun, while her dress did little to stand her out amongst the crowd.

Each of the variety of baked goods lay covered in clear glass domes, while boxes of teas and cafs were stacked in pyramid shapes. Music played softly behind her, helping her to pass the time when there were no potential customers nearby.

Hopefully there'd be some sales at least. But if not that was okay. She could always buy some parcels of land to grow what she needed to.

 

[Xeno]

Gatalenta, The Gardens
Tags: Alicio Organa , Tiland Kortun , Cass Gemini , Hollis Orenn ​

From a distance, Xeno noticed the old Jedi quickly scan his surroundings, as if searching for a threat. Of course, there was a chance that the man was simply feeling the dark presence that clung to the ex-assassin's blade. He had killed many in his past life, and the force had a knack for remembering when most would rather not. Still, Xeno's intentions were not that of malice, making the chance that the old master had detected a real threat a possibility.

"So much for watching from a distance," Xeno sighed.

The swordsman stood, sheathing his sword (which he had been leaning on). He made his way down the hill he had perched himself on, doing his best to blend in with the crowd to the best of his abilities. If there truly was some kind of danger, he needed to be there to ensure no lives were lost.