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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 8984017" data-attributes="member: 29398">Thing to consider IMO and IME is not just why it was built in the first place but a) what it's been used for since and b) how those intervening occupants might have changed and-or expanded the place.An example might be a site that is now a big underground dungeon-like complex with limited if any footprint on the surface.1000 years ago some noble (or high-level 1e Fighter!) bulit a stronghold or castle here, complete with a small underground prison complex and a bigger underground tomb for the family (a la Winterfell).800 years ago that castle got sacked; shortly after this a large colony of Orcs moved in.&nbsp; Orcs are pretty good diggers, and expanded the undergound bits considerably to allow families to live in different rooms, all the while letting the surface castle degrade and eventually fall into ruin.500 years ago the Orcs got wiped out by disease.450 years ago some locals started stripping stones from the surface ruins to use in other building elsewhere.&nbsp; Meanwhile a Necromancer caught wind of the place, quietly moved into the underground bits, and was thrilled to find lots of dead Orcs in there plus some older bones from the original tomb.&nbsp; The Necromancer hired a friendly MU to cast some well-placed Disintegrate spells in order to join the old Orc warrens with the older tombs, then hired some Dwarves to shore it all up and dig out a lower level for use as a spell testing range.410 years ago the Necromancer died, but that didn't stop him: he's a lich now.&nbsp; Also, by now there's pretty well nothing left of the surface ruins other than a few foundations that refuse to grow over; down through one of these leads a set of half-choked stairs, once the entrance to the family tombs.And so today you've got a dungeon complex whose construction and layout, when mapped, on first glance don't make sense.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 8984017, member: 29398"] Thing to consider IMO and IME is not just why it was built in the first place but a) what it's been used for since and b) how those intervening occupants might have changed and-or expanded the place. An example might be a site that is now a big underground dungeon-like complex with limited if any footprint on the surface. 1000 years ago some noble (or high-level 1e Fighter!) bulit a stronghold or castle here, complete with a small underground prison complex and a bigger underground tomb for the family (a la Winterfell). 800 years ago that castle got sacked; shortly after this a large colony of Orcs moved in. Orcs are pretty good diggers, and expanded the undergound bits considerably to allow families to live in different rooms, all the while letting the surface castle degrade and eventually fall into ruin. 500 years ago the Orcs got wiped out by disease. 450 years ago some locals started stripping stones from the surface ruins to use in other building elsewhere. Meanwhile a Necromancer caught wind of the place, quietly moved into the underground bits, and was thrilled to find lots of dead Orcs in there plus some older bones from the original tomb. The Necromancer hired a friendly MU to cast some well-placed [I]Disintegrate[/I] spells in order to join the old Orc warrens with the older tombs, then hired some Dwarves to shore it all up and dig out a lower level for use as a spell testing range. 410 years ago the Necromancer died, but that didn't stop him: he's a lich now. Also, by now there's pretty well nothing left of the surface ruins other than a few foundations that refuse to grow over; down through one of these leads a set of half-choked stairs, once the entrance to the family tombs. And so today you've got a dungeon complex whose construction and layout, when mapped, on first glance don't make sense. [/QUOTE]

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