Ke House is the ancestral home of the Ke family in Shanghai, China.
Description[]
A gray concrete wall surrounds the property with tall, red metallic doors set into the front for entrance. Though the property is large, the main house is considered rather modest. It has brick red columns, blue dougong brackets, and a straight-lined roof. Traditional statues of lions and horses stand on the corners of the roof—representing the merge of the Ke family with another household hundreds of years ago.
Inside there is a small sitting room decorated with weapons and a fairly large dining room connected to the kitchen. There are also a number of bedrooms that have their own doors that let out into the yard.
The yard has a beautiful pond full of white, black, and gold koi fish. Firs and willows lean over the pond providing shade. A red bridge connects over an area of the pond to a dirt-courtyard used as a training ground. The yard also contains a back patio connected to the house.
Strong wards exist around the full premise, keeping all residents safe and unwelcome guests from entering.[1]
History[]
It has stood for hundreds of years and dates back farther than the Shanghai Institute.[1] The home has survived "typhoons, dragons, two separate invasions by huli jing, and the terrible decorating taste of the 17th century's Ke Lijing."[2] Having existed as long as it has, it is filled with Shadowhunter history.
Even though the Ke family has run the Institute for many generations, the Ke House always has occupants—typically those too old or young to serve the Clave or other Ke families that are simply a part of the Shanghai Conclave.
In 1860, Jem Carstairs's family was living in the Ke House. It is here that he was born to Ke Wen Yu and Jonah Carstairs, before the pair later took over the Institute.
By 2010, the house was under guardianship by Ke Yun. The only other known resident at the time was her great-niece Ke Liqin, whom she was training. In September of that year, they were visited by a long-time family friend, Magnus Bane. He was in Shanghai with his boyfriend Alec Lightwood and a few of their friends investigating the misdeeds of two rogue warlocks, Shinyun Jung and Ragnor Fell. Yun allowed them to stay the night as Magnus was in dire need of rest and the group of information. Jem Carstairs was visiting as well for similar reasons and was able to help examine Magnus. Together the collection of them and Ke Yi Tian were able to better grasp what was going on in Shanghai and set a game plan for how to learn more and then remedy it.[1]
Known residents[]
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