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[PatrikLundell]

As spring arrives, a ewe, a turkey, and a dwarf are found dead (and short time thereafter the game realizes that and reports it as well). Given the location of the ewe and the dwarf (in the fortress courtyard, with lots of traffic, and the firing range, just beside the melee squads area, with guards present as the spring set in), there ought to have been witnesses, and a lot of dwarves are running around with question marks above their heads (before the game notifies me about the deaths). The Justice screen is empty (well, except for my executed vampire major's complaint that I didn't fulfil a mandate), however, and there is no splattering of blood at any of the death locations. There are guard dogs by all entrances, so I assume any normal stealthed creature would have been detected
Is there any way I can find out what's happening? Looking at dwarf thoughts doesn't seem to provide any clues.

[StagnantSoul]

Click "r".

[PatrikLundell]

Thanks, but that doesn't give a clue.

The log is full of my coinstar training and my military sparring, but nothing about either the dwarf or the animals for several weeks.

[pisskop]

Than it want combat, dehydration, overcrowding, falling etc.  Although in rare cases the game doesn't give those messages.


The next best guess is a syndrome, drowning, or maybe the coins are like radiation in that too much cheesy will suddenly cause a collapse of the quantum universe?

It would only take a small amount of decay to kill a person, and a slightly higher amount to doom the universe (10 x 9.99^-31 atoms/sec?).

[Zuglarkun]

Sounds like they died from old age, since it was immediately after spring.

[PatrikLundell]

Thanks Zuglarkun!

Age is a distinct possibility, since all the three dead were in the death eligible age range. Actually, old age was the first thing I thought of when I found the turkey dead, since it was one of those brought initially. The thing that made me concerned was synchronized death, but if that's the way old age related death works (a yearly spring culling), that's fine, but somewhat shocking when encountered for the first time. Worthy of mentioning on the wiki's "death" page.

[Sirbug]

If you want cause of death, make a memorial slab for them. It will mention it.

[PatrikLundell]

Thanks Sirbug, that worked!
"Died peacefully" seems to rule out foul play.

[NoobKid]

Or does it?! Que black-and-white 60s drama!

[Sirbug]

Welcome to Dwarf Fortress. Where peaceful death of old age is something nobody sees coming.

[NoobKid]

Welcome to Dwarf Fortress. Where peaceful death of old age is something nobody sees coming.

Dang, that's a better comeback.

[LordUbik]

Welcome to Dwarf Fortress. Where peaceful death of old age is something nobody sees coming.

Well, it is more a thing that nobody see. Never. There is a lot of Funnier things to die of in the Dwarf Fortress universe.

[StagnantSoul]

I remember there was a 15+ page thread for figuring out how a dwarf died, because nobody had seen one die of old age before that. I think even Quietust was stumped for a but, if I remember correctly.

[Ives]

"Dying of old age" should be one of the possible dwarven dreams!

[Pirate Santa]

Welcome to Dwarf Fortress. Where peaceful death of old age is something nobody sees coming.

So sigging that.