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[Giant Dwarf]

Hi

There was just a human caravan with two wagons and some dudes.
I left the game running for less than a minute or so, but next time I checked the wagons were gone and there was one bin with goods dropped in front of my fort (in front of my war dog actually).
I pressed "u" --> "Others", and everything left was one dude and two horses.

The wagons and other dudes were already gone.
I claimed the bin since it was just lying there. Left the game running for a few more seconds and then the other merchants were gone as well (sadly I wasn't looking at them, so I am not sure, if they left the screen or just disappeared).

What could be the reason for the caravan to just dissapear?


Oh, and I also checked the reports and announcements.
No mentions of anything strange here.

(Also is it common, that it's raining for 2,5 years now since the beginning of my game? o.O)

[Eldin00]

Something spooked (or attacked) one of the merchants or his pack animal. The spooked merchant dropped his wares and the entire caravan fled the map. This doesn't produce any announcements, and unless it was an attack, it's possible nothing will show up in the combat log. This happened a lot in the early 40.xx versions, but even though it has become less common in the more recent versions, it still happens occasionally.

[Albedo]

Yeah, that's where I'd put my money. If you want reliable caravans, you almost have to sortie your military and escort them in.

(Also is it common, that it's raining for 2,5 years now since the beginning of my game? o.O)

No, but very few embark areas are "common" in all ways. It's not impossible that it's a bug, but more likely you embarked in a rainy area - welcome to the rain forest.

[PatrikLundell]

A common reason for spooked caravans without any notice is lingering remains of past invaders. A caravan member (or at least a merchant) who sees remains of any "sentient" creature will toss the goods and flee the map, bringing the rest of the caravan with him.
The remains can just be lying on the ground or in a refuse stockpile: that doesn't matter. Also note that dorfs get bad thoughts from these remains as well, so getting them out of sight of all is of some importance.

Edit: I assume the constant rain isn't blood (as in some evil biomes [well, not constant rain, but rains of blood]), 'cause that will also scare caravans off.

[Giant Dwarf]

Ok, thx for the info! Thought I would get some kind of announcement then.

There is still the rest of a giant wolverine and a dead Werebear lying around in front of my fort, which scare my dwarfs as well. Maybe it was one of those.

My dwarfs however don't put them on the refuse pile for some reason.
Any idea, why?


Edit:
Ah, just read it in the wiki:
The standing orders were preventing it.
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Refuse#Refuse_collection_options

[PatrikLundell]

The werebear is (well, was) "sentient", and thus scare them. The wolverine should not.