> I don't know if Dwarf fortress would allow it, [..] ransom [..] would give poorly secured forts a way to avert destruction, while still at high cost.
Not possible in 34.11, but on DF development list, along with mercenaries.
> My ponies aren't collecting salvage anymore, I keep getting a cancellation message saying the item is inaccessible.
I've run into this myself. I think it is some kind of glitch with sorting the "wood" that comes from linking piles to workshops, but I haven't figured it out.
* Sometimes restarting the game is enough.
* Unmark all your wood and salvage stockpiles and redo them.
* If that won't work, unmark all the wood stockpiles again and remove salvage yard, carpenters and wood burners. Then place all of it again.
> Maybe its just my particular world, but I can't get saltpetre on embark or as something to request.
What minerals you can get on embark is random and it depends on the world and civilisation. Sometimes I was able to buy it, sometimes not. I was never able to mine it.
> Is there no way to make stone spikes for placing at the bottom of pits?
Nope.
> Hiring Talon mercenaries is on the development list.
The only way to do this I can think of is giving the slavers some caged Griffins for sale and assigning them as "pet" bodyguards to ponies. To make them citizens, you'd have to do the same as with slave castes.
> Is there anyway to decrease the frequency of irradiated dust storms? Sometimes it seems like I'm playing whack-a-mole.
They are annoying, but I think the least dangerous kind got removed from the game.
> "Hunting and anti-machine rifles use the markspony skill, while combat rifles and pistols use the gunnery skill." This confused me, as markspony and gunnery aren't classes in the game, so I didn't know who did what.
I've written that in my
FoE military guide, but this can be confusing and Dwarf Therapist still displays "Bows" and "Crossbows".