Bay 12 Games Forum

The beast rumors don't get removed when the beast dies, so they'll still talk about it when they know it's dead, it's been like that since the new conversation system was added.

Dwarf justice can be excessively harsh if you let it be.  Sentences tend to become harsher than the transgression that motivated them if the more lenient sentence that was mandated cannot be fulfilled. 

This is a long way of saying build some jail cells.  Ideally, 3x3 tile cells with a chain in the center, a bed, a table and chair, and tiny stockpiles with booze and prepared food (set to take from larger stockpiles.)  Plus anything nice quality that might produce thoughts of admiration.  A dwarf who failed to fulfill an impossible mandate or smashed something nice when they got angry will be sent to a "time out room", rather than subjected to a beating.

DF considers beatings to be less serious than jail, so it's technically a downgrade (the beaten dwarf gets a positive thought for being beaten instead of jailed, and the sheriff gets a negative thought), but supposedly non-lethal punches can kill your dwarves.

Pressure plates stay triggered for 100 ticks after they're released, but the bridge won't raise again if it's pressed right after that.
Doors will kill vermin when they close, leaving remains, so they will get stuck.

Oddly enough, rumor info also exists somewhat uselessly in the local hivemind.

Were one of your characters to "ask about the surrounding area" in the vicinity of this savanna titan's shrine, they could be told that "such and such savanna titan was slain by Tuun."

Yet were your character to ask about this savanna titan, they'd be told "so and so is a dangerous animal" which is a weird disconnect, as that text response indicates that such a creature is still considered alive.

None of that causes the rumor to spread.

The "ask about the surrounding area" option doesn't use the rumor system, so people can talk about events they don't know about.