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« on: December 26, 2011, 04:18:57 pm »
Dwarven hair forms a natural link to an overmind, which arrives to the fortress under the guise of a wagon and flows into the ground as the wagon is deconstructed or destroyed.
The overmind uses extra-sensory perception to see all places as if they were brightly lit, and dwarves contact it for data.
Normally, only resident dwarves can establish that connection, what takes some time right after migration. Colonist dwarves start linked, having traveled on the wagon to their destination.
Invaders use alchemy - some kind of paste made of plump helmets and secret ingredients lets them hack into the overmind. Goblins rub the paste in their hair, what turns it various shades of purple - normally it should be ingested, but how should they know if they don't eat? Humans are so advanced, they can even improve their recipe so that it has more effect and warns against traps.
Adventurers do not have that link, obviously.
As for other creatures - once again, it's the overmind forming a link with the native lifeforms - it's a part of its nature it's unable to get rid of.