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Author Topic: Can you collapse a chunk of aquifer to make a drain?  (Read 1323 times)

Fnear

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Can you collapse a chunk of aquifer to make a drain?
« on: March 10, 2012, 01:52:50 am »

No.

The dwarves of Braidedcastles had a mission.  Find the magical water rock that produces and absorbs infinite water and create a completely internal waterfall through a 20 z-level fort!

Finding the aquifer wasn't too hard.  But the lack of defenses led to their downfall.  Only about 20 dwarves died to the ambushers out of a peak of over 100, but it was too much for some of the dwarves and in their rage, they struck out and other dwarves became victims...  You all know the drill.  Urist von Serbia gets mad and kills Ferdinand, so Ferdinand's friends declare war on Urist.  Russia is friends with them too, but Germany is friends with Serbia... France and Britain get involved... pretty soon you've got 20 miserable dwarves left and a new set of ambushers.

But the project was not over.  A new group was sent to reclaim the old fort, populate the empty halls of the fortress and press on!  The site had an aquifer and a volcano, so it should be simple! 
1) Channel rings around a section of aquifer
2) Obsidianize the channels, and move down to the next layer
3) Route the top aquifer through the fort, down the waiting grated holes, and into the drain aquifer at the bottom
4) Drink heavily while bathing in soothing mist

Unfortunately it was an oddly shaped three layer deep aquifer.  Over the course of 3 years, alternating channeling and flooding (including a surprise tile that gave us a nasty three-layer deep flooded channel) the dwarves made it through!  At least 20 dwarves drowned or burned in the process (mostly channeling the square they were on and dropping into a multi-z-level flooded channel).  Twice we forged new picks when we found that all of the previous picks were drowned or encased in obsidian.  New settlers became wary of joining Braidedcastles - every wave seemed to receive suspiciously shiny picks, or suspiciously bloody picks.

Finally three layers of aquifer were surrounded by obsidian.  A full layer of non aquifer below them.  Suspended by a single support.  With 24 levels of large empty rooms below.

The final stage went off without a hitch.  A perfect collapse with no casualties!

Cautiously we began to probe the mass of stone and sand at the bottom of the pit.  But to no avail.  No a single tile of aquifer remained.  178 dwarves had given their lives (and been properly interred).  Many more will never be found, their names engraved on slabs if their names can be remembered.

So... I have a 7 year old fortress with grated holes across 20 z-levels waiting for a waterfall.  And a giant hole.  Any ideas on what to do next?
« Last Edit: March 10, 2012, 01:54:26 am by Fnear »
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Linkeron

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Re: Can you collapse a chunk of aquifer to make a drain?
« Reply #1 on: March 10, 2012, 02:30:42 am »

Abandon Fortress.

Embark somewhere else.
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bombzero

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Re: Can you collapse a chunk of aquifer to make a drain?
« Reply #2 on: March 10, 2012, 02:37:22 am »

boring... make it a kill pit. with menacing spikes made of steel at the bottom. toss prisoners into it.
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Loud Whispers

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Re: Can you collapse a chunk of aquifer to make a drain?
« Reply #3 on: March 10, 2012, 06:32:20 am »

Get a vampire. Give it a pick.

Dig deeper.