Bay 12 Games Forum

Elves besieged my fortress and I don't know if they're still out there since they're hiding in ambush.
The siege tag isn't present but I don't know if that means the elves aren't there or if my dwarves don't know they're not there.
I only have seven dwarves and I can't risk losing them right now, is there any other way to tell if the invaders are present or not other than sending someone out to get shot?

edit: Some migrants have arrived.

edit: Migrants refusing to budge from arrival point.

edit: Apparently, the stay indoors order caused the migrants to freeze up since there were no indoors for them to go in...

edit: situation normal, the elves are gone, maybe it's because the macaques stole their ammo...

It occurred to me that in my current fortress (Mournfulrecluse) none of my dwarves are acquainted with anyone beyond "passing acquaintance."
There are no meeting zones, no statue gardens, no barracks, no husbands, wives, or parents (I make liberal use of my magma tube when it comes to useless migrants).
Due to the lack of gathering places I often find idle dwarves just standing around in the wilderness, or in their rooms staring at the walls.
The Mayor is the dwarf with the most people who 'kinda sorta know him' and some dwarves don't even have conversation skills. It's really rather disturbing.

However this may be a possible solution to tantrum cycles; as nobody makes any friends and thus nobody gets unhappy when anyone dies. There is the downside of dwarves and animals being all over the place due to no place to gather, but I'm playing with sieges off and the worst animals we get here are slug/snailmen so it doesn't trouble me all that much. Although I'm sure that issue could be solved with some dwarven ingenuity.

So, what are your thoughts on this?