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[TerringtonSnyde]

Hello,

I am relatively new to Dwarf Fortress, but, with help from the wiki, and a great deal of persistence, I have got most of the basics worked out. However, earlier today I ran across one situation which has thus far left me completely flummoxed: I began a new fortress, got the fundamentals taken care of, and set out to accelerate my metal industry with a magma forge. I constructed the forge and instructed a few dwarves to begin work, and left them to it (inefficient design meant long trips to fetch material, that I planned to fix later). I was a bit consternated to receive a notice that one or two of my workers had died there under violent circumstances. A brief glance over the logs seemed to show a baby fighting and I dismissed it as an untimely tantrum that would die down with the infant's death. However, the notifications (and the corpses) kept piling up and I checked the logs more thoroughly only to discover that it seemed the dwarves were getting into scuffles with the loose boulders themselves, leftover from when I had dug out the area. Furthermore, as dwarves would go to retrieve and bury the corpses, items and articles of clothing dropped by the unfortunate victims on one particularly "haunted" square would also participate in the melee, including one especially vicious pair of trousers that seemed to have strangled the mayor. I was at a total loss as to what should be done, and ordered more dwarves to dump the debris in an futile attempt to clear the sinister tile, but they too succumbed to the onslaught of possessed paraphernalia. A tantrum spiral ensued, dwarves began boxing each others' brains out, quite literally, and the fortress was lost shortly thereafter.

My question: what in blazes was going on there?? I couldn't find anything remotely resembling that situation on the wiki or elsewhere on the forums... I didn't receive any notices about ghosts, and the environment was "Calm", so it couldn't have been an actual haunting, could it? I am just completely at a loss here. If any one could shed any light on the situation, it would be greatly appreciated.

[Quietust]

Dwarves get injured by falling items, and there seems to be a bug in the current version where certain items are sometimes considered to be "falling" when they shouldn't be.

[1v0ry_k1ng]

. Furthermore, as dwarves would go to retrieve and bury the corpses, items and articles of clothing dropped by the unfortunate victims on one particularly "haunted" square would also participate in the melee, including one especially vicious pair of trousers that seemed to have strangled the mayor.

only in dwarf fortress..

[Noobazzah]

I once had a similar event, only in a bit smaller scale. An obsidian boulder killed a peregrine falcon.

[Lagslayer]

This must be weaponized. Find out how to induce this bug, and line your entrance with killer boulders. A trap that hits everything and never needs to be reset. Wonder if it will work on clowns...

[el Indio]

Were the boulders basalt by any chance?  If they were, there may have been a magma crab underneath the forge, they shoot basalt boulders. 

[TerringtonSnyde]

Dwarves get injured by falling items, and there seems to be a bug in the current version where certain items are sometimes considered to be "falling" when they shouldn't be.

Ahh, this seems to me to be most likely. So, no need to worry about malicious rubbish golems spontaneously arising from the flotsam just yet. Thanks! I wonder if it had anything to do with the size of the stack. There were a prodigious number of items piled on that square, which was why I was so reluctant to construct a drawbridge to atom-smash the accursed hoard (that and anybody I sent down to construct the thing died such a horrible, such a miscellaneous death).

I once had a similar event, only in a bit smaller scale. An obsidian boulder killed a peregrine falcon.

So, not only may items gain temporary sapience and willfully seek the destruction of more traditionally animate objects, but sometimes they can also fly? That's... mildly unnerving...

This must be weaponized. Find out how to induce this bug, and line your entrance with killer boulders. A trap that hits everything and never needs to be reset. Wonder if it will work on clowns...

Heh, there's an idea... would be wicked to figure out how to make it happen consistently, I s'pose. Even though it destroyed an almost entirely self-sufficient fortress, it was so hilariously unexpected that I probably wouldn't mind at all seeing it again (and yes, I am well aware of the motto of the game ). Wish I still had the logs, they made for quite an entertaining read.

Were the boulders basalt by any chance?  If they were, there may have been a magma crab underneath the forge, they shoot basalt boulders. 

No, I wish it had been that simple. These were all diorite, and in any case, it still wouldn't explain the homicidal garments. I made sure to cover any exposed magma with the forge precisely to avoid that sort of situation 

Well, thanks for the prompt replies, you lot! Very gratifying to see there is a good community to go along with such a magnificent game!

[mirogojski]

I had the same thing just happen to me. I fought off a goblin siege and assigned items for claiming and dumping. A minute later I get an annoucement that one of my haulers has died. I look at the records and see a ton of combat logs such as:

The {Damsto Ngerxungzukax's mutilated corpse} strikes The Hauler in the upper body, bruising the muscle, jamming the left true ribs through the heart and tearing apart the heart!
The ({pig tail fiber cloak}) strikes The Craftsdwarf in the upper body, bruising the muscle and tearing apart the middle spine's nervous tissue through the *sheep leather cloak*!

I have uploaded the save where this is going on:
http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=7464

I lost six dwarves to the murderous items. Most of the fighting is done at the moment of the save, but you should still encounter a skirmish or two. I'd really appreciate it if someone would take a look and tell me what's going on and if there's a way to prevent this from happening again. This is my first fortress and I'm still fighting the menus somewhat.

[Big Bear]

Combine this:

Furthermore, as dwarves would go to retrieve and bury the corpses, items and articles of clothing dropped by the unfortunate victims on one particularly "haunted" square would also participate in the melee, including one especially vicious pair of trousers that seemed to have strangled the mayor.

with this:

This must be weaponized. Find out how to induce this bug, and line your entrance with killer boulders. A trap that hits everything and never needs to be reset. Wonder if it will work on clowns...

and have a fortress protected by weaponized killer trousers. No need for an army. When goblins arrive, just deploy the pants.

[Scorch]

...and have a fortress protected by weaponized killer trousers. No need for an army. When goblins arrive, just deploy the pants.

May I sig this comment?

[Big Bear]

...and have a fortress protected by weaponized killer trousers. No need for an army. When goblins arrive, just deploy the pants.

May I sig this comment?

Sure! Hopefully we will find a way to make this strategy a reality. 

[Putnam]

Were the boulders basalt by any chance?  If they were, there may have been a magma crab underneath the forge, they shoot basalt boulders.

No, they shoot basalt globs. Huge difference. (About the same as the difference between a steel bar and a steel statue)

[Nokao]

including one especially vicious pair of trousers that seemed to have strangled the mayor.

This is amazing, you should send it to this topic.