The Dungeon as Abandoned Zoo

Very handsome man and much better blogger than me Forlorn Encystment recently put out Adventurers Long For The Dungeon, which features the idea that adventurers (NPC or otherwise) eventually create their own strongholds populated by monsters, thus perpetuating the very problems they set out to fix at the beginning of their career. While Cyst takes this from the perspective of practicality (Guardian monsters being men-at-arms protecting treasure), I paid for those random tables and I'm gonna use them daggummit! So what do those random tables imply about the kind of people who go around building dungeons? 

I think you can guess where this is going

There is a long and storied history of adventurers exploring other adventurers' old lairs: B1's Quasquaeton, intended as an introduction to the game, is just such a dungeon. Setting aside new groups of folks who have since moved in (your typical tribe of kobolds, bandits, weaselmen, etc), the original inhabitants of the dungeon remain there. Underground, with fix sources of fresh air, food, water, or even natural light. The more random nature of wilderness monster generation means that they might even be trapped between a rock and a hard place, stuck lurking in the catacombs due to the gargoyles up above. This might be why undead are so prevalent in dungeons: their lack of the rhythms of life mean they can function as a "Set it and forget it" guardian even during periods of neglect.

But also...that's kind of sad? Like...once an adventurer's capital is gone, or they die or get petrified by a Medusa or whatever, surely the retainers left behind will be less able to take care of them? As they fall into disrepair, with other groups seeking to conquer the stronghold, local families leaving for some new guy offering a better deal, denying valuable tax revenue that went into feeding the manticore in Room 43a, you have to ask...what do you do with these animals? Some probably let them out, providing grist for the random encounters of the wilderness. But some probably just...leave the monsters behind.

The cycle Cyst points out leads to a vicious cycle of the actions of adventurers leading to the very same situations they fought in the first place. It is, as Cyst says, hubris at its finest, with the biggest victims being the "monsters" themselves. Heck, maybe that tribe of weaselmen are actually the owner's former slaves, because of course that was a mechanic added in the subterranean excavation.

This isn't a call to go all Fantasy PETA or anything. Rather, when considering the archetypal Retired Adventurer of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, it seems to resemble less King Conan upon his throne and more John Aspinal or Joe Exotic.