Shou Elder home - Kara-Tur style [20x40][link to 300DPI in description]

*Exiles, merchants, and travelers from Kara-Tur—a rich and mysterious continent located far east of Faerûn—have found a safe haven in the cities of Thesk.*

*Hardworking, intelligent, and keeping to themselves, they quickly became an influential, if somewhat inconspicuous, group.*

*In their enclaves—districts with their own rules, authorities, and law enforcement—newcomers are closely watched, and being granted an audience with the community leader is a rare honor. Welcome to the abode of one of them—filled with exotic artifacts, unknown magic, and spirits who gaze upon you with judgment...*



Gallery, description and 150DPI day/night grid/gridless maps are available **for free** [on Patreon.](https://www.patreon.com/posts/tier-i-shou-home-158168883)

[Join as a free subscriber ](https://www.patreon.com/posts/tier-ii-shou-158174532)to unlock 300DPI variant maps and video introduction.



# Map Description:

A rich but not over-the-top home of an influential member of Kara-Tur enclave.



**1) The House.**

* ***The entrance***, guarded by terracotta statues (the temptation to create golems from them is hard to resist...).
* A wide ***hall*** with seating for visitors awaiting an audience.
* The ***Audience Chamber*** – with a throne, a low table, and cushions for petitioners. A public and official space, emphasizing the majesty and power of the owner.

To the left of the entrance, we find:

* ***The Game Room*** – with a chessboard in the center and a single pedestal with a sword under the windows.
* The ***private chamber*** of the master of the house, with a bed, an altar dedicated to the patron deity, and a bathroom.

To the right of the entrance, we have an area intended for closer friends:

* A dining room/tea room (screened from the windows for increased privacy)
* A private study and an archive.



**2) The Garden.**

An amateurish mix of mythological elements – we have **altars dedicated to the five elements** (the Tree is in the center) that affect the ground, we have the yin-yang symbol, and elements of a dry garden from the Zen tradition.

Notice two differently-coloured stepping stones (traps, traps, traps...) and the Fire Altar with just an ash remaining... Something's wrong...



# Plot hooks:



***Game of Kings, Game of Life***

The most obvious of traps/tests – touching a pedestal or chess piece (*or even just getting close to it, if your players have already learned healthy paranoia...*) leaves one team member at the board, while the rest are transported to its extradimensional version. You have just your players, the enemy - all figures, represented by real-life monsters.

***Would you allow your players to bent the rules and decide the game by series of duels?***

***Alternatives:***

*-> Normal chess game*

*-> All players go to extraplanar chessboard*



***Mouse from the Ashes***

*You expected phoenix, don't you?*

Well... asian phoenix, while respected, does not have the connection with fire like greek/egyptian one. Instead - we have a humble Fire Mouse (chinese [***Huoshu***](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huoshu), japanese ***hinezumi).***

That little mystical creature disappeared - and the owner of the house suspects that the perpetrator may have been ***from within*** the Shou community...

When noone can be trusted, the outsiders are the easiest pawn to introduce into the game. ***Prepare for investigation, politics and plots within a plots... Or just straigt up chase and fight with the thiefs.***



***An acorn thief***

I*t is said that the golden-leafed tree that stands at the center of the garden blooms once every hundred years—and bears only a single fruit.*

The seed from this fruit had been coveted by local druids for years, and after decades of delicate negotiations, they were to obtain it. Meanwhile, someone, or something, slipped past the guardians and guardian spirits and snatched the precious treasure that linked the owner to the family he left behind in Kara-Tur.

***Who stole it?*** Some *renegade*, *rival*, a *shadow druid*... or a *humble squirrel*?

***Let your players negotiate, search and fight!***



**^(Credits and attribution:)**

^(Created in Dungeon Alchemist, with additional assets.)

^(Great thanks to DA asset uploaders: DallasRT, SAC, frankdek45, Yomgeon, Colt Seavers and others)

^(Special thanks to) ***^(Korea Heritage Service)*** ^(for sharing impressive sketchfab collection.)

^(Thanks to other sketchfab creators: Shiro Morturn for Terracota Army, Renderedbyzhai for Fantasy Style Tree, local.yany for Koi Fish, Milkshake2002 for his animated Koi Fish)