Gossamer Threads Tea Rooms

25th Nightal 1499 – Soft Opening

A new establishment opens its doors in Port Ffirst today. The white storefront-shop has been under renovations for several months up until now and had been watched with anticipation by the opulent locals of New Town, eager for a fashionable new haunt to coyly sip hot beverages in as they exchange the latest gossip.

A small crowd watches as the owner Mr. Webb, a rather mysterious half-elven gentleman, finally cuts the ribbons binding the double doors and the dwarven manager Mr. Stonecast pushes them open, to the sound of bell-chimes and applause…

The Parlour

Walking through the doors, visitors will come upon a general seating area with a dozen tables, comfortable cushioned seating, and a calm, open, natural ambience. The walls are a floral print of cream, green, and gold edging and the wood plank floors are smooth ebony. Tall, densely leafed, potted plants dot the wide room and the smartly-dressed staff have made sure to place a vase of vibrant-coloured flowers on each table. Musical plants in the forms of angel’s trumpets, Canterbury bellflowers, and fuschia play relaxing ambient strings and piano. On the back wall sits a wooden triptych, showing a painting of tree branches in a lush, green forest, connected to one another by loose webbing hanging off them and populated by woodland creatures: squirrels, dragonflies, sparrows, and tiny spiders crawling delicately on the thin, silken webs.

A staff member mans the stone-top counter in the northeast corner of the parlour. A tall, natural-looking wooden shelf standing behind it holds multitude jars of tea from all across Toril and various planes of existence; strains ranging from regular — but still quality — to exotic. The food menu consists mainly of sandwiches, cakes, scones, crumpets, and desserts, with some seasonal offerings. Locally-grown tobacco is available to purchase as well and can be enjoyed in designated smoking areas.

Perhaps most impressive is the fact that the prices are very affordable for a New Town establishment, as shown by the signature afternoon tea offering:


Private Rooms

There are 8 private rooms for hire on the 1st floor, each uniquely themed with highly realistic, atmospheric experiences and can host up to 8 guests at a time. The rate for one room is 4 gold pieces per hour, to be paid up front.

Each room is warded with anti-divination spells and localised permanent silence zones in the walls. This, aside from the excellent tea and cakes, is the main draw of the tea rooms: a perfectly private, discreet, and neutral venue for sensitive conversations. For customers who are most particular about privacy and anonymity, there is a back door on the ground floor that leads upstairs.

The rooms:

⁜ The Wa Room. Designed after the interior of a Wanese teahouse. The entrance to this room is a sliding door and guests are required to take off their shoes before stepping onto the tatami matted-floor. There is a fire pit in the centre with a clay kettle hanging over it from the ceiling, circled by cushions on the floor. Natural light appears to stream into the room through the translucent sheets covering the sliding doors, whilst magical white hibiscuses play the sound of a bamboo flute accompanied by a zither.


⁜ The Calimshan Room. Designed after the interior of a Calishite kaeth (coffee) house, with richly-patterned rugs strewn on a tiled floor and cushioned benches up against the walls, surrounding a small marble fountain in the centre of the room. The pleasant aroma of kaeth permeates the room and musical red tulips play the sounds of string instruments and hand drums. Waterpipes are available to smoke here.

⁜ The Underdark Room. A dark, subterranean cavern, lit only by bioluminescent fungi and glowing crystals on the walls and floor. The table and seats are carved out of large stalagmites and stalactites hang ominously over them. The room feels larger than it actually is and is echoey; occasionally, the sound of water dripping onto the cave floor can be heard.

⁜ The Expedition Room. A luxurious captain’s quarters in the stern of a galleon, with mahogany panelled walls and windows presenting the image of a vast ocean and sky — sometimes calm, sometimes storm-tossed. The central, oval-shaped table is always stocked with fresh fruit. Faint creaking noises and the rush of waves can be heard, which become slightly louder and coupled with rumbling thunder when there is a “storm”. Occasionally, the “ship” goes under the waves and impossibly large deep sea creatures can be seen swimming past the windows.


⁜ The Constellation Room. The walls and floor of this room are made of black, non-reflective glass, making anyone who enters it feel like they are walking on a vast, expansive void. Images of silver constellations are projected onto the walls, rotating around the room slowly. Any creature or item within this room (including the table, chairs, and food) loses its colour, appearing like a pencil drawing on white paper, and emits a dim, starlight-like glow. There are no ambient sounds here, only the silence of space.

⁜ The Frisson Room. Guests booking this room can choose a specific auditory experience that they enjoy and the room will be enchanted to emulate that experience, along with an appropriate visual environment. For example: a scribe’s office filled with the sound of quills scratching against parchment, or an alchemy lab with bubbling liquids and hissing steam. (Yes, it’s an ASMR room.)

⁜ The Seasons Room. Similar to the Frisson Room, guests can choose a season and have this room’s basic appearance — which is an elven-style wooden roundtable and chairs in the middle of a forest glade with a small waterfall and stream — be enhanced to reflect that season, complete with ambient sounds (birdsong for spring, howling gales for winter, and so on).

⁜ The Serious Business Room. A perfectly normal room with a nice oak table, some cushioned chairs, cream-coloured walls, and mundane potted plants. Lit by natural light from the windows in the daytime and by light crystals in wall niches at nighttime.

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Previously featured in: Something new is coming to town