I had made steel weapons and helmets for my squad, and even though they were otherwise outfitted with leather and bone, I figured it was safe enough to explore the first cavern layer.
Everything went alright, a group of troglodytes didn't pose much of a threat to my militia, a visiting warrior entertained himself by shooting a giant toad, everyone was in good shape.
Until disaster struck: in an unrevealed corner of the map a giant cave spider showed up. I scrambled to pull my dwarves back, but too late: three of them had spotted the GCS, and vice versa. And even worse: the rest of the squad had gotten separated in the twisty little passages of the cavern or had gone off to get drinks. It was just a hammerdwarf, my militia commander (a talented speardwarf) and another speardwarf, with little hope for reinforcements.
The hammerdwarf was first: he met the GCS in the corner of a corridor, and was immediately webbed and bitten in the foot. He was completely paralysed, lost hold of his hammer and shield, and I gave orders to dig his tomb. I only hoped he would hold out long enough to keep the spider distracted from the other dwarfs.
My militia commander, close behind, was charging through two webs and finally reached the GCS, who had by that time bitten the hammerdwarf's unconscious body four more times, pumping him full of venom.
The commander stabs a spider leg, and pulls the spear back out while the GCS misses what would turn out to be its only chance of a counter hit. The next spear jab goes straight into the brain.
The monster is slain, and I gather the squad to say goodbye from the reckless hammerdwarf, to honor his sacrifice. The tardy warriors stand around the winded, heavily bleeding, unconscious dwarf - who wakes up. The bleeding stops, he works himself out of the web, shakes off the stun - I expect him to keel over every second, but it just doesn't happen. The squad is dismissed, everyone runs off to get drinks. After a while, the hammerdwarf gets up and walks toward the central staircase, leaving his hammer and shield behind. A helpful mechanic meets him half-way and picks him up to carry him to the hospital, but when he sets the hammerdwarf down, he walks out of the hospital on his own.
He is in perfect health and wasn't even scheduled for diagnosis after his brief hospital visit. Only his left foot and upper body are dented, but I'm sure he'll walk it off.
So... what happened here? I'm sure that he was winded, which means he can't be a vampire, right? Either way, his character page
sounds about right.