I'm still a bit of a newb (my longest game so far only last three or four years and a max population of about 80), and I've grown bored with the simple charcoal fueled copper forge economy I have created. Having beautified my most recent fortress with various depictions of dwarves, dwarves drinking, dwarves fighting, and the occasional biblical apocalyptic monster, I'm turned my eye to digging deeper and exploring caverns or experimenting with magma. Either way, I was wondering if there was any common system to set in place in case things go... well... as Dwarf Fortress often does. Is there a good magma-proof, monster buffer I could make to seal in case I unearth some unholy terror?
Also, on a completely unrelated note, I have two ghosts and I'm really not sure what to do with them. I believe they were caravan guards who drowned in my moat during the dwarven caravan's first visit, and I have had them properly buried, but they continue to haunt my citizens. I mean for the most part, they just seem to show up to parties the other dwarves throw, but once in awhile they haunt my citizens giving them a bad thought. Could I have over looked something possibly?
Oh, and one final note, how the hell do I get my marksdwarves to train? I built ten seperate archer ranges and set them all to train there. All they seem to do is drop there equipment there and fire the occasional bolt. I have them set to Active/alert and training constantly (as they are a devoted militia), and they are properly equipped with ammunition that is set to both combat and training, but they seem to rarely train and I'm concerned since my main defense against a siege is a draw bridge, walled trade depot, and a set of fortifications to guard the gate. I also made sure to asign their squads to each range. I also have a barracks where they are set to train, but of course they only train at dodging there. If I stop them from training in their barracks, they seem to just go back to their normal everyday lives. Any clue what I'm doing wrong guys?
As always, thanks in advance.