A new production, "Unsafe At Any Temperature", or "I Know What Urist Dig Last Summer"...
It was getting pretty slow so I figured I'd have it go out with a bang, and in the process I learned I had taken some things for granted which I shouldn't have.
*scene, a rose gold bed sitting inside of a masterfully engraved throne room/bedroom/dining room, another rose gold bed sitting in the background, an implausibly muscular young dorf in a full suit of unbelievably intricate steel plate is sitting on the bed kicking his feet idly, picking goblin chunks out of the carving of moon-snail men on his platinum warhammer, LashBrushed while an older dorf, also in unbelievably intricate steel plate armor, with the oddly named steel battle axe Modest-Caught, the Skunk-Indignation of Granite strapped to his back, stands tapping his foot impatiently*
Mayor: "I just don't see why you want us to wait for more obsidian mechanisms before we finish connecting the Monster to the west pumpstack, how could it possibly make a difference if it is made of shale or slate or anything else, it's at the very bloody bottom of the fort... er, uh, your Dukefulness, Sir McLegendary."
Duke McLegendary: "I've just got a strange feeling that we'd be better safe than sorry, but I suppose I can't actually think of a solid reason to hold up construction any longer."
Mayor: "I know you're as talented and strong and probably as smart as the next five dorfs put together, but I'm pretty sure you still can't see the future any better than Nish could, the poor thing."
Duke: "Oh! She got better, didn't you hear? Stumbled in from the access tunnels for the onacloV naked and confused, but otherwise fine."
Mayor: "Uh oh, just like the ewe-wool?"
Duke: "No no, she's really alive, not just uh... not dead, like it was... is... no need to get Nish chunks in Modest-Caught just yet, still, I hope you'll keep my preference for magma-ready components in mind with the next project?"
Mayor: "Of course, we're just in something of a rush, plus we're putting gears in between wooden axles anyways, when would it ever come up that the gear would be the weak point anyways?"
Duke: *scratches the steel beard carved on his helmet thoughtfully* "Good point! I hadn't thought of that. I feel much better!"
Mayor: "By the way, is that thing comfortable?" *pointing to the rose gold bed*
Duke: *thumps the bed with a steel gauntlet, a resounding clang echoes through the chamber* "Armok's tits of course it isn't! Sure is pretty, though." *begins worrying over the spot he struck as the mayor takes the staircase back up to the rest of the fort and issues the order to resume construction on the links between the Monster power plant and the pump stacks*
*end scene*
*cough*
I bring this up because as I said, I decided to see what would happen if I pulled all the levers, dropping all four of the magma pistons, including the onacloV, after activating the Monster powered pumpstacks, and just for good measure dumping the cistern above the (totally enclosed) pastures as well.
The onacloV was an outgrowth of my earlier goal of simply being able to flood the map as fast as possible, the southwest corner of the map had a little cul-de-sac with a 1 z ridge shaped like a broken C that was packed with trees, so it stifled all my early attempts at getting magma flowing through it.
Enter the onacloV, roughly 20x20x15 cubic urists of obsidian suspended by a single floor tile linked to a support, lined at the base with bridges, sitting over a 14 z deep cistern full of magma (the one which Nish initially died digging out before I discovered simply toggling the associated flags gives you a living but naked dorf... and an extra skeleton...) which I gave the weird name because in practice it is an inside out volcano. In my limited early testing it was sufficient to overcome the resistance of the terrain and magma was starting to reach the depression where the fort sits before the game crashed and I called it good enough to leave as it was.
Except later on I decided to change the terrain in that area a bit to help the more choked but much more sustained output from the southeast piston, and ended up flattening the whole area down to the fortifications around the magma pump feeder ponds.
This all took place during the first four and a half years as I waited for the goblins to arrive. They did show up and I ended up slaughtering a ton of them without ever sealing up the fort, which I was quite proud of. I ordered the civvies to stay downstairs, just like I do when initiating magma-floods, except I didn't drop any bridges, lock any doors, or forbid any hatches. Just left the military sitting there waiting, and Urist McLegendary along with the (now former, as he was voted out shortly before I pulled all the levers) mayor and the rest of the heavy military squad did their thing, sending body parts flying everywhere, tossing trolls by the ear with their teeth, and making a glorious mess.