Progress! A City Takes Shape

I have finally begun making some progress mapping again. Today I started in on the ruins of Thanras. This is the dungeon entrance I really need to get mapped before I get players in the dungeon. There might be some other entrances, but they'll need to find those for themselves. In the meantime, I am attacking what should end up being a fun area.

Thanras isn't small, but it isn't ginormous, either. I blocked out a square of land about a quarter mile on a side to work with. I doubt I will fill the entire square, but I can't say for certain just yet. I started out by plopping down some major buildings and connecting them with roads. This is getting closer to finished, and once it is, I'll drop in some squares where they seem like they belong. Then I'll start throwing down buildings somewhat haphazardly along the existing roads and see what side streets naturally take shape. From there, I'll add in most buildings on those streets and see how it evolves. I'm hoping for something somewhat labyrinthine, as would be natural for most unplanned cities.

Of course, these are the ruins of Thanras, so when I say I'm placing buildings, it's more like I'm placing foundations and whatever might still be standing on them. Most of the city has cracked and collapsed with countless years of freezing and thawing. Still, some of the beefier structures might be partially standing. After all, the Parthenon was stood for 2,119 years until the Ottoman Turks filled it with gunpowder during the Great Turkish War. And even today, it is still largely standing, albeit without a roof.

So Thanras will have a few structures still largely in tact, but mostly they'll be decayed and collapsed. What lives there now I won't hint at, nor will I mention what loot might be hidden beneath the rubble. But not much screams "Adventure!" like the ruins of an ancient city. I just need to make something that Indiana Jones would approve of.