Machu Picchu - what would you find there?

[der_kluge]

So, you and your fellow adventurers are hiking way up in some impossibly tall mountains, and you round a corner, and come across this:

Machu Picchu

It's been abandoned for centuries. What kinds of things would you expect to find there now?


edit: link no worky

 

[Hand of Evil]

Mummy(s)
Totem Dolls
Pottery
Trash Heap - fish bones, animal bones
Inscriptions
Jade
Gold
Silver
Mystery

 

[mseds99]

A really amazing view, trust me, I've been there.

BTW, if u ever go, take the 4 day Inca trail to get there. Day 2 is tough, but it's WORTH it.

 

[der_kluge]

Mseds99, I'd love to go, but I'm not sure I'm up for a 4 day hike.

What kinds of things are in the place itself? Was it a village, or a city, or some kind of temple? What?

 

[blargney]

Wind, clouds, airborne creatures.

Bodies: why is the place abandoned?

De-domesticated animals, persevering functional technology/magic, gardens and trees gone wild.

Pottery that could be sold to collectors, glass baubles, durable paraphernalia.

Astronomy-related devices and structures, underground complexes and caverns, a system to move water up from the river below.

-blarg

 

[Arc]

Forboding prophecies, lost gods, and mythos

Or maybe just lots and lots of undead, with some sort of hackneyed ancient curse.

Perhaps a minor artifact (as a McGuffin), quested for by other treasure hunters?

Along that line, maybe the place holds an ancient library of scrolls and engraved stones, that would greatly interest several sages. This could lead back into the prophecies/curses stuff, or be a great intro to a treasure hunting side quest.

A large underground cave network through the mountains would be interesting, and perhaps could be an obscure section of the Underdark.

 

[Melvin the Mediocre]

I've never been there, but I have been to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. It was a whole city (and quite large). Most of the ruins were realted to religion which tied into the calendar. The huge pyramid for which the site is famous, had 4 sides each with 91 steps. 91*4 +1 for the temple at the top represented the 365 days of the year. There was also a huge observatory with a domed top remarkably like today's observatories.
There was also a huge sinkhole (caused somehow by a meteroite, I didn't quite understand the connnecion) that was regarded as a sacred site. On the edge of it was a small chamber in which human sacrifices were starved/drugged for days before being thrown into the watery sinkhole to die.
Perhaps the mose interesting site was the huge court for a game that I would guess was a precursor to basketball. Carvings in the bleachers suggest that one of the teams was killed at the end of the game. Some say the losing team was was put to death as punishment; others speculate that the winning team earned its rite to move onto the next world.
Hmmm... There was also a huge structure that was just blocks of stone with skulls carved into them. It is beleived that each stone was carved into the likeness of an actual skull. Possibly people sacrificed or killed in war, or possibly like tombstones.

If you want pictures that seem far more 'other worldly' to us westerners, I suggest you look for pictures of Angkor Watt.

As far as putting really cool stuff in your game for the PC's to find, you could get really wild and put in a crashed UFO (find the old 1st edition modules Expedition to the Barrier Peaks by Gary Gygax). Or you could have a lot of battle golems similar to the Aperatus of Kuwalish that may or may not be repairable. This could have been a huge training ground for battle wizards where they tested their new weapons and stratgies using slaves or construct races (see the Taladas game's lost continent).

Have fun and make it wierd!

 

[Arthur Tealeaf]

For some reason, ninjas spring to mind

 

[arwink]

Am I the only person who wants to use that picture as a living hub of activity rather than an abandoned ruin?

A Goblin Village, complete with secret lookouts on the peak and a launching pad for crude, ewok-style gliders that they use for hunting in the valleys below. A very strong air-worshipping culture, with the goblin shamans walking out over the very clouds to perform their rituals.

 

[spyscribe]

Well, if you're in the LA area you can check out this exhibit at the Museum of Natural History.

Or wait for it to come to a city near you. I didn't fully investigate the website, but they might have some artifact examples on view.

What I found striking was how the city was not sacked or conquered, but abandoned. Theory seems to be that it was a sort of summer estate for the Inca rulers, and when the line was deposed, the support staff left the city, and it was eventually forgotten.

That's kind of eerie.