Bay 12 Games Forum

So, I got a migrant who also happens to be a necromancer. I noticed this shortly before they started raising the dead. Now my corpse stockpile is killing children and pets, and they're rising as zombies to kill more.
How am I meant to deal with this, other than spotting this ahead of time and walling the dwarf in question into their bedroom?

So. I have a bunch of stockpiles. However, the stuff IN them isn't being recognised for workshops. Seeds aren't getting planted, slabs aren't getting engraved despite the ghost hanging about in the dining room, and things aren't getting moved between stockpiles.

What the hell has gone wrong? Are my dwarves just stupid more stupid than usual?

For years, no problems hauling ores from the surface down to the forges by the magma sea. Only two casualties in a decade. Now, two incidents within a week, and two dead dwarves. One of them was a legendary clothier, so I had to savescum.

It's a two-track path, with three routes using it. All are set to 'guide' instead of 'push'. What's causing them to randomly let go of carts and let them go careening down?
Alternatively, do I need to completely suspend the route until I can put track stops in to prevent accidents?
Will carts guide over track stops without issue?

So. I finally finished my obsidian farm. It was floored with gabbro roads to keep excess water from causing growth of trees and shrubbery. However, that seems to have stopped the magma forming into a solid block like it should. Instead, it's ended up as a crust of floors over the top of liquid magma.
Where a cave-in broke a chunk of road, walls have formed.

The water is being held atop this crust with a constructed wall. I have access to the obsidian block at floor level if I'm careful.

How the hell do I get rid of the excess magma safely, without toasting my miners, or sacrificing my haulers to armok?

Dwarves are averse to cleaning, and I'm sick of seeing turkey blood spattered on walls after the elves have been rinsed. Could a designation be added for 'clean this area'?
It might help to curb syndromes, too.

So, I want to make an automated destruction system for things I want burned. Throwing them into the river just doesn't seem sustainable.
(Yes, I know that's a dirty word for dwarves, but I want them removed to clear up framerate.)

Naturally, the solution is magma. However, magma crabs killed my first trainee weaponsmith due to a delay in building a smelter, and I don't have a military yet; I've not grappled with that yet.
I was thinking to pump it out through a steel grate into a holding tank, and to deal with it from there.

However, that's a boring, sensible, un-dwarven method.
How can I make a minecart track that dips down into the magma sea, and make it SAFE?
And what's the best way of loading minecarts with magma anyway? Do I pour it in from above via pump, or have the minecart go down into something?
Would I need to set power rollers in the filling area itself, in order to get the laden carts out of it?
Is it wise to have a draining system set up in case something goes awry? And if so, pumps or gravity drains?
How do I get power down that far ANYWAY? I have a river, but is it better to have a dwarven water reactor on-site, or to draw power down from a river?
And this river freezes in winter. Won't that deconstruct my waterwheels? How do I stop that?

Also, I have grates around the water source just above the river, to try and prevent contamination. There's now grates in the river as well. Did the ice deconstruct them?

Minecarts. Sharp/heavy objects. Long drops.

I want to use minecarts full of things to eliminate invaders and/or elven caravans. What would be best to drop, and is it worth trying to power it, or guide/push with dwarves?