The Dreaming Tea Inn

Hello there, traveler.Come in. Do not worry about the quiet that has lingered here these past few weeks. The hearth has still been warm. The lanterns have still been lit each evening. I have simply not written. It has been a month since I last left you a letter beneath the teacups and folded napkins. A whole turning of the moon. I owe you an apology, though I hope you will understand before I…

This morning unfolded in a way I had not planned, though I am learning that very few mornings ever truly follow the shape I imagine for them the night before. The inn had been quieter than usual when I woke, the kind of hush that lingers after deep rain even when the sky is clear. My body still felt heavy from the lingering effects of a sickness that had passed through me recently, something…

Hello there, traveler. Come in, please. Set your things down by the door and warm your hands for a moment. The hearth has been restless today, which usually means the weather is changing somewhere, even if we cannot quite feel it yet. You are safe here. The inn would not have opened its doors to you otherwise. You were looking at the barrels, weren’t you? They sit quietly along the far wall of…

This week has unfolded in a way that feels difficult to explain if I am honest, not because anything dramatic happened, but because nothing did, and yet everything inside me kept shifting as though the inn itself was gently turning in its sleep, rearranging rooms I had not visited in some time. Some days arrive with fanfare, with doors bursting open and travelers spilling stories across the floor…

This morning, the parents left just after sunrise. They did not linger long, but they did not rush either. Packs were checked, straps tightened, small hands held for an extra moment before being let go. There were promises made quietly, the kind meant more to soothe than to guarantee anything. I watched from near the counter as they stepped through one of the inn’s crossings and disappeared into…

I did not expect to wake up to laughter echoing down the halls of the inn this morning. Not the low, gentle laughter of travelers sharing breakfast stories or the warm hum of voices drifting up from the tavern, but the bright, unfiltered kind that only comes from children, the kind that rings like little bells and bounces off the walls without asking permission. The kind that arrives before you…

This afternoon, I traveled beyond the path to the Pearlstone market. Instead I followed the lanterns to The Grand Artisan Expanse, a market open only for a couple days near the end of autumn and the beginning of winter. It is a large event where artisans from all over visit and sell their goods before the winter season.  I had originally gone to support my dear friend and mentor Sophea. She…

Hello there Traveler! My name is Ella, the humble owner of the Dreaming Tea Inn. If you are reading this you have stumbled upon my very first personal scroll from here at the Inn. If you ask me this feels more like a personal letter than an introduction, however I invite you to bear with me.  Once upon a time, I had dreams. Big Dreams. In another life I would have said I wanted to be a teacher…