I just finished all the set-up for an underground tree farm, and I decided to take advantage of the underground river intake tunnel to create an elevated firing range. The targets being the many river creatures: crocodiles, snakemen, frogmen...
~~~~~~~~~ <--- Underground river surface, with nasties swiming in z-1
FFFFFFFFF <--- Fortification
......... <--- Corridor
WWWWWWWWW <--- Wall
I cautiously stationed a two-member team of marksdwarves in the corridor, as I ordered my Legendary Miner/Mason to breach the wall separating the corridor and the river, and building up fortifications.
The local tribe of snakemen must have somewhat heard of the plan, because they immediately swam upriver and jumped out of the water, onto the laboring mason. Fortunately, his Perfectly Agile status allowed him to slip away from the three vicious snakemen, taking cover behind the marksdwarves. Not so fortunate for them, two recent migrants with almost no skill at shooting or meleeing. The smarter of the couple decided this was a good time to fetch a drink and abandoned his post, leaving his poor companion to face the beasts.
Then I discovered that snakement bites cause paralysis on the hapless victim. The solitary marksdwarf was immobilised and shred to ribbons in a few moments.
The mason ran all the way back to the fortress, nauseous, leaving a trail of puke behind him.
When the waters calmed and the snakemen swam back to the river, I thought "Oh well, better I start building a necropolis, with this poor sod's tomb as starters". I decided to throw in also another tomb for the possessed peasant that died a week earlier, in a melancholy for not finding any pig tail thread to complete his dreamed artifact.
On the wall behind the possessed peasant tomb, the fort's Legendary Engraver engraved:
Engraved on the wall is a superiorly designed image of Domas Bridgedwatch the dwarf by Degel
Nomalzin. Domas Bridgedwatch is in fetal position. The artwork relates to the dehydration of the
dwarf Domas Bridgedwatch in Fierceknife in the early spring of 203.
On the wall behind the snakemen-slaughtered marksdwarf, he engraved:
Engraved on the wall is an exceptionally designed image of waves by Degel Nomalzim.
But the top of awesomeness is that, as the elf merchants were appearing over the horizon, he engraved on both sides of the necropolis entrance:
Engraved on the wall is an exceptionally designed image of Mafi Desertsearched the elf
and Atis Razorgulf the dwarf by Degel Nomalzim. Atis Razorgulf is striking down Mafi
Desertsearched. The artwork relates to the killing of the elf [...] by the dwarf [...] in
Syrupclasped in The Horn of Intricacies on 191 during Thima Riqui, "The Sieges of Shocking".
I believe that my dwarves suspect the elves tipped off the snakemen, and want some past history repeated...