Language: Shou

Shou

Region(s): Shou Lung, Kara-Tur
Race(s): Humans mostly

The Shou language, also known as lower Shou by the Shou themselves, is a non-official but tolerated language in Shou Lung. Shou Lung is the largest of the states in Kara-Tur: eastern Faerun. Lower Shou is seen as a corrupted but harmless form of Han, brought into being by foreign barbarians imitating the Shou people. The language is normally used in trade with foreigners and is commonly known across Kara-Tur as a tongue to do business in, which most merchants are proficient with.

Very little is known about Shou Lung or Kara-Tur in the Sword Coast region. Most people live their lives without ever seeing a true easterner, though stories of far away places and journeys are more common due to traveling bards.

Lying between Kara-Tur and Faerûn is a Great Wall of stone. According to legend, a wu-jen was tasked by the emperor to find a way to keep the Tuigan hordes from raiding Shou Lung's northern provinces. The wu-jen stole the Jade Mirror from the sea dragon Pao Hu Jen, whose body was thousands of kilometres long. The wu-jen then led the angry dragon on a chase across the border, and at a certain point stopped and held up the Jade Mirror to the dragon's eyes, instantly petrifying it. After its stone body fell to the ground, the emperor had his engineers carve fortifications into it so that it could serve as a massive defensive wall.