Okay, this is starting to get on my nerves.
So far the fortress guard has killed four of my criminals.
Just normal dwarves who tantrummed one time too often, and kicked their cat before regaining their senses.
BAM, the fortress guard swarms them and kills them.
They aren't even good fortress guards, i got 48.. sorry 44 dwarves and ordained 4 of them to be the guard. All i asked of them was that they were Novice wrestlers, and got a full set of armor.
They are supposed to imprison these guys right? Or at least issue a beating if one's called for right?
None of these last four kills were issued a beating.
One legendary Bonecrafter was severely beaten to the point that he got a series of wounds, of which two yellows and a red persist today. He was supposedly spared further imprisonment since he is now too injured. For some reason though, he probably survived since he wasn't considered a threat like the cook in the story below.
They murdered my Cook, my Brewer, my Carpenter, and my Mason - all of my dwarves who got some real skill, and who gave something to the community.
They just dog pile them like they were a critter like a groundhog, a kobold or a snatcher!
I know that one of them is issued to take care of the problem, either them or the sheriff. To lock up the offender i mean. I got 7 cages or restraints that are set to be used by dwarven justice, so thats not a problem.
However, since my 4 guards and single sheriff add up to being 5 dwarves, there's a slim chance that the proper dwarf to handle the criminal and restrain him shows up before the 4 others do, and by that time, he's dog food.
I think it's overkill to issue the military against a tantrummer who was only 'starting a fistfight' to get a good thought. There's a difference between tantrumming and berserking! Berserking is not just a slap and a return to moping, but full-out carnage. An irreversable condition in which the dwarf will fight until he drops dead. It's depressing that the guards treat these two states as equals.
Just send out the ordained jailer and let it stop at that. No need to flag the criminal as an enemy.
This isn't the only problem though. Even when a criminal is flagged as an enemy, and is set after BY his jailer - this happens.
The setting is this ; my cook was in the wilderness when he tantrummed. Smacked up some masterless pets. He was probably getting the stuff that the goblins dropped in the goblin ambush earlier. In any case, he was far from the barracks - and thus he wasn't availible to be mobbed by the fortress guard.
A solitary member of the guard sets out to find him ; his jailer.
My cook was very agile, while his pursuer was only agile, and the poor Cook was chased around the map and spamming interrupt messages before he died.
COOK cancels drink ; interrupted by GUARD
GUARD cancels Large Creature Caging ; interrupted by COOK
ad infinitum
Of course the COOK also interrupted every other of my dwarves, they seemed to fear him as if he was some soulless critter like a groundhog or something. The COOK himself only seemed to fear the GUARD after him.
Anyway, after he was caught up with, the GUARD proceeded to pummel him as is part of his MILITARY aspect. He could do no other since his JUSTICE aspect was steadily getting cancelled.
AFTER he's beaten the dwarf into submission, he attempts again to cage him.
GUARD cancels Cage Large Animal ; Target too injured.
And then proceeds to kill him where he lies!
Do note that the Cook had never again performed any sort of aggressive action. He had three disorderly charges(three animals got beaten) that happened long before he was set upon, he had been free of tantrumming and trying his best to return to his dwarvenly existence for a long time. He was steadily trying to return for a drink only to get chased away.
I stress again, that he was NOT insane at the time. I was quite upset at the outcome. All four outcomes, really. When i wasn't watching i could at least imagine that the victims had freaked out somehow. I now realize that they probably wouldn't if they hadn't been beaten beforehand and been pushed over the brink of berserking. However, none of them were set to be beaten.
Long story short, while a good idea in theory, i am officially disbanding my own fortress guard and leaving matters to the sheriff only.
As long as he's a civilian, he shouldn't indiscriminately kill people.
However again, i am troubled by the cancelling of jailings and the hostility-flagging of normal dwarves. It may be that i should start to consider criminals just like insane dwarves and just dismantle the jails if they're never going to be used. Even the sheriff cannot cage such dwarves, they have to be killed or they'll just make life hard for everyone else who avoids them like the plague, even their own jailers.
This is a bit over the top though, around half of my criminals weren't flagged as hostile and killed in cold blood. My bonecarver as described above wasn't flagged hostile, just mashed up and broken. What's interesting is that he had the exact same offenses as my Cook, but the Bonecarver wasn't flagged hostile. I got a jailed murderer who they treated with more care than the Mason got. The Mason was killed for slapping a horse next to the barracks, and then crawlingly attempting to flee the fortress guard as they dogpiled him and killed him.
I also got four other criminals who weren't issued beatings and they're caged up snugly, waiting to be released when they're even more depressed.
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Topic: Fortress guard kills criminals! 40c (Read 1394 times)