Suggestions: Why was the temple abandoned?

[Witchking]

The temple was the social and religious center of a large city and the surrounding lowlands...unfortunately their god grew unhappy with his worshippers and destroyed them all in a mighty flood. The temple like many religious structures was built on the highest point in the city-state.

The PC's find a small island/tarn with the ruins of a unknown, mighty temple located about 10ish miles off a unexplored coast, a rough wasteland of legends and foretold dooms...

[William]

After the original cult was beaten back by the Forces of Light, said Forces have left it largely intact but harass and annoy any normal settlers or squatters who try to take over the place, giving it a reputation as haunted and cursed by its ancient inhabitants.

New evil cults find the place much more commodious, at least until they have set up shop, reconsecrated the sanctum and moved much of their personnel in, at which point the Forces of Light sweep through again and decapitate another evil cult. They then clean up the evidence and repeat.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by William

New evil cults find the place much more commodious, at least until they have set up shop, reconsecrated the sanctum and moved much of their personnel in, at which point the Forces of Light sweep through again and decapitate another evil cult. They then clean up the evidence and repeat.

Ah, the evil cultist roach motel. Surely nothing could go wrong.

[lwcamp]

Originally Posted by Anthony

For a realistic situation, given that you also want something substantially intact and yet old enough to be forgotten, I'd put it in an area that's low precipitation (buildings fall apart in wet areas)

Olmec and Maya ruins are mainly found in jungles, with still-discernable structures after 8+ centuries of abandonment. Ankor Wat is also a jungle ruin, in remarkably good shape.

Luke

[lwcamp]

Originally Posted by Joe

I'm putting together a Dungeon Fantasy adventure involving an abandoned, but substantially intact, temple. It belongs to an ancient, forgotten cult.

I'm looking for suggestions: why was the temple abandoned, centuries ago? Alternatively, what killed all the original inhabitants?

The bank forclosed on it, then couldn't find new buyers.

Luke

[Daigoro]

It's a cult of time, whose ascetics, by virtue of wonderful magics or life-suspending mastery of their own physiognomies, remove themselves from the secular world for great stretches of time.

Their temple is of course remote, and beset with traps and beasts to deter intruders, but laden with treasures from across the ages.

Perhaps they do this to observe history at first hand, to meddle in it, or for purely spiritual reasons- perhaps they intend to witness the apocalypse.

If the temple must actually be abandoned, then it was such a place, but at one point the inhabitants died out and the world simply did not notice.

(Apologies to Neal Stephenson's Anathem.)

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by lwcamp

Olmec and Maya ruins are mainly found in jungles, with still-discernable structures after 8+ centuries of abandonment.

If you have to dig through six feet of debris to find the temple, it's not really 'substantially intact'.

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by Anthony

If you have to dig through six feet of debris to find the temple, it's not really 'substantially intact'.

I don't agree, if the building (or whatever) is simply buried, it might yet be structurally intact. Even if its buried in debris from its own structure, it could be external, decorative material, leaving the core of the building sound.

In fact, being buried can go a long way toward preserving buildings.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2

I don't agree, if the building (or whatever) is simply buried, it might yet be structurally intact.

To an archeologist, that qualifies as reasonably intact. To a group of adventurers, intact means you can walk in.

[capnq]

The area suffers frequent wildfires, which don't have much effect on the stone buildings.