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[jadle1]

My brother and I started a succession fort together a few weeks ago.  It's currently my turn on the third year of our fortress.  I've played several fairly successful fortresses in the past, but I just encountered something I've never seen before and have no explanation for.  I was wondering if I could get some insight into this situation:

One of the migrants that arrived during my brother's turn last year just killed her own daughter for no obvious reason.  I got an announcement that said the planter Domas was found dead.  Looking through the reports, I quickly discovered the fight between Domas and her mother, Tun the speardwarf.  All it said was that Tun punched Domas in the head three times until she broke Domas' skull and tore her brain.  I looked carefully through the announcements to see if I missed something, but there were no signs of strange moods, insanity, or anything.  I never use Hammerers or Sheriffs so it couldn't have been a case of dwarven justice.  It seems like a totally unprovoked murder.

Looking through Legends, the only strange thing I noticed was that Tun had been attacked by a night creature called Etur Flypaged the Ghost of Twilight many years prior to the founding of the fortress.  I don't know if this would have anything to do with her bizarre behavior.  I'm pretty sure she's not a vampire or something because her naming is consistent throughout Legends and her thoughts show that she eats, drinks, and sleeps, which vampires don't do.  Plus, vampires kill by drinking blood, not punching faces.  So again, I'm at a loss as to why she killed her own daughter.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why this might have happened?

[Hurkyl]

My best guesses are that your immigrant is a werebeast (infected by the attack you listed), or she was really unhappy and threw a tantrum.

[slothen]

tantrum -> fist fight or a brief bout as a were-monitor lizard.

[jadle1]

I never really thought about the possibility of her being a werebeast.  I didn't know that was possible to have in a fortress.  Would I have gotten any sort of announcement from her transformation though?  It's been about 40 years or so since she was attacked by the creature of the night, but she only has that one kill listed.  If she's a werebeast, she's not a very good one.  There's nothing in the Legends about that either.  Also, I didn't think were beast was contagious, I thought you had to be cursed by a god or something...

I don't think it was a tantrum because I know I would have had an announcement for that.  It's possible it was a small fist fight that broke out and it was just a coincidence that it was a mother and daughter.  Still, seems strange seeing as there is plenty of meeting space, bedrooms, dining area, etc.  I guess I'm not entirely familiar with the the causes of fist fights.

Thanks for your responses!  Let me know if anyone has any other thoughts.

[Telgin]

Were creatures are contagious in the sense that if they bite someone they can transfer the curse.  If she was a were creature in that fight, I doubt the incident would have been so contained.  You'd likely have gotten a lot of spam about dwarves being afraid of things and cancelling jobs, and probably more casualties.

A tantrum would have shown up in the announcements too.  "Tun is throwing a tantrum!" or something like that.  That's the only way a fight should have started.

You said you had no sheriff, but what about a captain of the guard?  They'll dole out punishments too.

[jadle1]

I went through all of the announcement for the past season just to make sure I didn't miss anything, but still no sign of transformation, tantrum, insanity, etc.

I do have a captain of the guard but I'm pretty sure he hasn't done anything with his position.  He is unrelated to any of these events anyway.  He has nothing in his thoughts about killing or punishing.  I've never even convicted anyone of a crime before.

[Tirion]

I went through all of the announcement for the past season just to make sure I didn't miss anything, but still no sign of transformation, tantrum, insanity, etc.

I do have a captain of the guard but I'm pretty sure he hasn't done anything with his position.  He is unrelated to any of these events anyway.  He has nothing in his thoughts about killing or punishing.  I've never even convicted anyone of a crime before.

Is the murderous soldier in the captain of the guard's squad? Check the justice screen- the daughter must have been found guilty of ignoring a mandate, or an export prohibition... those cases don't require you to convict anyone, they find the guilty party easily enough. And if there are no cages or chains designated for Justice, the punishment will be a beating.

[jadle1]

Oh snap you're right.  The daughter was guilty for ignoring a mandate, and the mother was in the Captain of the Guard's squad!  Out of all the people in that squad, the criminal's mother was the one to carry out the sentence.  Sheesh this game can be dramatic.  Thanks!

[Larix]

And now, in the name of justice, convict the mandate issuer of the crime! I'm pretty sure a fatal beating counts as murder and can be punished from the justice screen.

If you want a cheap laugh, you can also convict some random animal of the crime and be amused by everybody (including the murderer) being outraged at this travesty of the judicial system.

[FritzPL]

I love the thought of that dwarf lady smashing her daughter's head in by punching her thrice.

"We have to talk, young lady."
'What is it, mommy?'
"I heard you commited a crime."
'Well, that tall ear man gave me a strawberry for my golden necklace, I didn't knew that was forbidden...'
"Now sweetheart, I just want you to remember one thing."
'Yes, mommy?'

"Never"

"IGNORE"

"MANDATES"

[jadle1]

Haha, well if nothing else than at least it's been an interesting morsel of dwarven child-rearing.

[laularukyrumo]

Reason #240 why dwarves don't reproduce, and reason #77 why I don't ever assign anyone to sherriff, hammerer, or CotG.

[Akura]

Was the mother sad because she "lost a daughter to tragedy lately" or happy because she "took joy in slaughter"?

And now, in the name of justice, convict the mandate issuer of the crime! I'm pretty sure a fatal beating counts as murder and can be punished from the justice screen.

If you want a cheap laugh, you can also convict some random animal of the crime and be amused by everybody (including the murderer) being outraged at this travesty of the judicial system.

A beating that results in a fatality is not a crime as far as the beater or the person who issued the mandate is concerned. In fact, the person who was beaten is the criminal, and the mandator is actually the victim in this case, while the beater is merely the instrument of Dwarven Justice.

Furthermore, in the case of violated mandates, the violator - the one who gets their face punched in For Great (Dwarven) Justice - is automatically convicted; you can't change that.

[Larix]

And now, in the name of justice, convict the mandate issuer of the crime! I'm pretty sure a fatal beating counts as murder and can be punished from the justice screen.

If you want a cheap laugh, you can also convict some random animal of the crime and be amused by everybody (including the murderer) being outraged at this travesty of the judicial system.

A beating that results in a fatality is not a crime as far as the beater or the person who issued the mandate is concerned. In fact, the person who was beaten is the criminal,

In a criminally excessive punishment, the criminal is the law officer, not the punished person.

Apparently it wasn't quite clear that the 'crime' i was talking about was the murder that occurred.

If a 'beating' results in a dwarf's death, that is considered a violent death and the beaten dwarf a murder victim. I've had this very thing happen twice, and in both cases, i got a murder report and could, from the justice screen, convict a murderer. In one case, i stripped the captain of the guard of his post and convicted him, in the other, i posthumously pinned the deaths on the king who had flip-flopped on an export ban.

I've never had a hammerer and thus no hammerings. It's possible that those aren't considered murders when they result in death, but the game _intends_ beatings to be non-fatal and commonly treats them as murders when they go wrong, i.e. someone dies.