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[Wumpus]

Salutations

I have a strange tale I was hoping someone could shed some light on.
I recently decided that the surface was overrated and migrated my fort down to cave 3, which went fairly well.
After sealing up every entrance to my fort except the dwarfishly trapped entrance leading into my fort from the cave, I started looking around.

And I found 10 serpentfolk sitting in a bloodthorn, that grew out of an underground lake.
They just sat there. Doing nothing in particular. Sometimes shifting from branch to branch, but never coming down from the tree.
I cannot see anyway to get up the tree, so I am wondering, how and why those serpentfolk got up there.

The tree grows out of the bottom of an underground lake, 1 z-level deep. 2 z-levels above the water the serpentfolk are lollying about.
DF continues to surprise me.
Have anyone else seen something similar?
Can anyone tell me why that happened?
Image in spoiler (imgur.com link | PeridexisErrant's Starter Pack 0.43.03-r03 | phobeus 16px graphics pack | No DFHack, no utilities other than DwarfTherapist):

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

EDIT: Now with working image link....

[Dunamisdeos]

That..... might be a coincidence? If the game just places animalfolk camps on walkable terrain, it might place it on top of a tree if there is enough space.

I don't know enough about how the game places them, and would love to see a more experienced answer.

PTW :3

[MinerMan60101]

I once saw 6-7 crundles on one tile of a blood thorn. not even at the edge of the map, or next to other trees.

[Daris]

When I broke into the third cavern of my current fort, I found a stack of crundles stuffed into a niche with no floor above the cavern lake.  A crundle skeleton below them in the water said that at least one had died of old age and fallen.  I left them there and more died of old age over time until none were left, and they never budged, except for one that was knocked loose by the falling body of another.  I can only guess that they spawned there at the game's beginning.

[Immortal-D]

Looks like you have some free Marksdwarf practice.

[Wumpus]

Well then, I guess it's just a thing that can happen.
Never change, DF!

Thank you for all the replies!

[PatrikLundell]

It's actually not that uncommon to get critters stuck in trees in lakes.

At some time they've fallen into the water and then gotten out of it at the closest location, which happens to be a tree. Then they can't find their way to the map edge from there because of the water.

I once had a Draltha stuck in a tree in a lake, so I disintegrated the tree with a ballista arrow. The bugger got stuck in the hole in the water where the trunk had been, but making some waves caused the hole to collapse, so the Draltha swam to ANOTHER tree to camp there. At that time I gave up and waited until I'd drained the lake so I could cut the blasted tree down to get rid of the camper.

[Eric Blank]

*looks at thread title*
*immediately whispers "K-I-S-S-I-N-G"*

anyway.
The games pathing gets bugged up like this. I currently have a tribe of troglodytes sitting in a tree. And yes, they're kissing. Among other things. Several babies have been born. They all fall out of the tree and inevitably die.

Think I also had some serpent people in a tree at the other end of that same lake. They're all dead now. From the statues and engravings my dorfs made even before we found them it seems they all got eaten by crocodiles and giant toads.

[Staalo]

In one fort there was a pack of troglodytes who spent almost a decade hanging from a wall three z-levels up from the cavern floor. A passing duster FB shook them loose and immediately after impact all females in the group gave birth to multiple troglings. I guess they really were stuck and didn't have anything else to pass the time.

[celem]

Yep seen both of these.

In my case it was swallowmen nesting up in a tree and for a moment I thought it was a wonderful intentional thing.

Also seen the rock-climbing trogs.  Mine spawned in a 95% flooded cavern layer and spent most of their time 4-5 levels above the lake hanging off the big vertical face at the east end.  They were not stuck though, they often scrambled about the place as my dwarves passed, I left them to it, being a rock-climber I could only appreciate their endurance.  Never saw one on the floor in the 25 years I ran that fort.

[Dunamisdeos]

The real question is how many goblins are singing underneath the tree?

I suggest flinging some flaming pine cones as a solution.

[darkflagrance]

On rock-climbing trogs, I have a well that opens up 12 z-levels above a giant underground lake to act as a "safe" indoor water source.

I have to rotate patrols around the well because trogodytes regularly scale the epic cavern rock face and follow the wall/ceiling, multiple z-levels above the lake, until they make it to my well.

Disturbingly, cave crocodiles can also somehow pull this off, though I've never caught them climbing, only seen the aftermath of five crocodiles cornering my civilians in an isolated gallery.