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Dwarf Fortress - Chaosfortunes: Year 4 (anyone can still join)

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Game Hunter:

--- Quote from: Journal of Asmel Bothonudib, of the 203th year, continued ---...

10th Felsite
There was no luck whatsoever in spotting any sort of criminal activity at the makeshift dormitory. It's hard to really call it one, what with our prized Leganlerteth on display right in the middle of the room. That someone would come in here and kill with that priceless artifact standing become him or her is unthinkable. I must find the culprit as soon as possible!

During my wait, I noticed a number of other events. Some of our masons have taken the liberty of engraving some of the walls, no doubt in order to prepare some memorial slabs for those lost at the "incident". It's a little surprising that the committee took as long as they did to begin work, but I suppose it was smart to let the grieving time pass before the memories really start to sink in. There were also some very scared dwarves coming from the mining shift. Perhaps I ought to explore a little downwards: it's quite possible that the deviant has taken to hiding in the depths.

13th Felsite
Great boulders below, I feel grateful merely to have survived that encounter! But I should explain: having passed the underwater reservoirs, I stumbled upon a very motionless corpse. Indeed, it was "alive" in the sense that it could move, but it did not but the slightest twiches in the wake of my presence. Apparently the adamantium gatherers have been passing this frequently, as I see the spattered vomit all around this particular area. There would appear to be no need to take specific action against this thing, but all the same, it is good that the committee is crafting an adamantium axe in order to cut down the various fungal trees growing near the surface. I can imagine it may come to good use in cutting down this abomination in due time.

Unfortunately, I cannot say that I recognize that which used to be a dwarf. One of the gatherers I spoke to regarding the matter called it "Ido", so surely he came from here. Supposedly there are no signs of breakout from the area of the "incident", so it couldn't have come from there. I am worried that we have another potential murder on our hands.

14th Felsite
Incidentally, the caravan has arrived today. Not that I expect anything from elves, but we may be lucky enough to scavenge some useful materials from them.

19th Felsite
Negotiations lasted long (apparently, as I cannot be bothered with our financial affairs) but word is that we've managed to secure a great deal of lumber from the foreigners. Finally, more beds can be made! I will, however, plead with the committee to keep the beds public matters, as it is paramount that the safety of our village remains as high as ever. With murderers walking around we have to resort to these kinds of measures, as difficult as they are.

24th Felsite
We are still finishing up the consequences of trading (namely, retrieving all of that wood... and there's plenty of it, thank Luskal), but things continue to speed up in the village. A couple of kobold thieves snuck into our supplies and tried to pilfer whatever they came for, but were impressively stopped by the might of our warriors. It has been a good long time since I've seen as a savage beating, as it used to be back at the Violent Arena. It didn't take long for the squad to lay those sickening creatures to rest, and their corpses were handled appropriately.

10th Hematite
With the elves gone and summer well on its way, Chaosfortunes is slowly returning to its peaceful and enjoyable culture. Drink has been a little low, but plenty is coming thanks to the extra storage fashioned from wooden barrels.

Our village committee, finding that safety has been restored, have designated Kel Rigothastel, one of the great founders of Chaosfortunes, to become our fine mayor. Construction has begun on his living quarters, which will make my own space seem quite pale. Still, I cannot say they could have picked a better candidate, given just how much he's already contributed to our earthly society.

15th Hematite
The memorials have finally been placed into the dining hall, as they were with Dastot Sobirber. Though my progress has thus been slow in finding any vengeance for these souls, I hope to someday allow them to rest and find their peace with the gods.

--- End quote ---

The elves had a REALLY nice supply of wood, managed to get enough public beds for a lot of people to be happy. The corpse in the mine shaft isn't one of the five in the old dorm, but he's not identified as murdered, either, so it could have well been another vampire attack that went unnoticed. As for the corpses in the dorm, I think they are moving through doors, but they don't seem to know how to climb stairs, so that might be what's preventing them from killing everyone.

Gonna wait until the summer caravan before trying my luck with an actual new dormitory and privatized bedding. Since the zombies don't even seem to be a huge problem stair-wise, I'm also considering a good deal of mining expansion. So yeah, in spite of the constant threat of death, I think we're starting to get some real headway!

RSO:
Sorry I haven't been checking regularly.

Butchering does not prevent reanimation, but it does weaken it. Meat does not reanimate - only body parts. To completely stop an animal from reanimating, butchering it and then quickly tanning the hide into leather is sufficient. There is no way to stop a dwarf from reanimating short of a drawbridge or magma.

Ways are being discussed for future versions to have zombies eventually stop being reanimated, but in the current version, they cannot be destroyed in combat.

If you must engage a zombie in combat, blunt weapons are best. Melt down an anvil for iron if you have to, but for the love of Armok, don't use an axe. Especially not an adamantite one.
Blunt weapons have the highest raw damage values. They do consistent damage even against things with no vulnerable anatomy, which is what zombies are. Piercing weapons have the lowest damage, but the highest piercing value, which means they're the most likely to damage internal organs like hearts and brains. Against living creatures, that's great, but zombies don't care. Bladed weapons have medium damage, but can sever limbs. That would be great most of the time, even against undead, but not in this biome. Even a severed finger will just be another enemy, and another hauling job. Keeping the corpses intact means that it only takes a single hauler to bring them to the atom smasher.

My recommendation is to build another atom smasher, bait the zombie into it, and then atom smash it without a fight. Something like this:
##########
#XXXXXXXX#
+XXXXXXXX+
##########
X = Drawbridge (raises north). When pulled up, it will be a 1-wide hallway with doors at both ends.
##########
#========#
+........+
##########
Once a zombie gets inside, lock both doors and drop the bridge. No fight, no blood, no loss of civilian life.

Klear:
The undead can use stairs, so that won't help. I've had a dwarf chased by a zombie for several Z levels before it caught up with her. Try not to open the tunnel that's connected to the doomed dormitory.

Also, atom smashing everything seems a like like cheating to me. I'd prefer if we could only throw the zombies down to a pit they can't get out and then drop invading goblins on top of them =)

RSO:

--- Quote from: Klear on March 10, 2012, 08:53 ---Also, atom smashing everything seems a like like cheating to me. I'd prefer if we could only throw the zombies down to a pit they can't get out and then drop invading goblins on top of them =)

--- End quote ---

I agree that it's cheating, but I don't see any other option. Zombies, in their present state, are unkillable in conventional combat. Beating them down and hauling them to an atom smasher/pit is risky, to say the least. I'm pretty sure that Hallcarver zombie still has her physical stats. Even if you beat them all down down, the risk that one of them will wake up and kill the haulers (and other surrounding dwarves) is too great.

There's way too many ways that this could go wrong, and any of them do go wrong, Chaosfortunes is dead. This might be my Angel of Max Carnage showing, but that's counting on way too much generosity from lady luck. Either leave it walled off, or dust off an nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

That said, it's your call, Game Hunter. We can always reclaim or find a new site if it all goes to the Circus.

Klear:
How is it goiung, Game Hunter? Will you be able to finish your year?
I'd hate to see this game stopped. In case you won't be able to finish this week, somebody should probably take over, either from my last save, or preferably where you left off.

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