This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Working Title: Why Did They Build This?: From YKTTW
Yuri2356: So, are we going to do anything with the more general form discussed in the YKTTW? (Devices which have discernable purpose outside of their use in the plot)
Chandagnac: This trope reminds me of a fad among the aristocracy here in Britain back in... oh, I don't know- a hundred years ago? It was fashionable to have a suitably picturesque ruin somewhere in the grounds of your mansion, so some people deliberately let outbuildings fall into disrepair, and others built fake ruins and interesting 'follies' that had no real use except to look old and haunted. Would that be an example of Truth in Television or would it be a different trope entirely?
Gothelittle Rose: Not sure whether to edit the page or mention it here, but about Elder Scrolls: Oblivion... just about all the ruins in the game have one of two purposes. They were either Altmer ruins from the glory days of the High Elves (pre-Imperial) or abandoned Imperial forts from the glory days of the Empire. Their contents also invariably make sense, as they've usually been overrun by either mad mages (drawn to the ancient culture of a very mage-minded race) or vampires.
