Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[EuphoriaToRegret]

So, after a visiting scholar was leaving my fortress, he decided to jump, most likely from guilt after stealing one of the books from my library, into the moat on the way out and drown himself.

Me, not realizing you have to slab visiting dwarves, didn't think too much into it.

Well, he came back and is now standing in the library as a restless spirit.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So, knowing that animal trainers can train as ghosts, can ghostly scholars still write books or ponder?

[PatrikLundell]

The're only one way to find out... Tell us what you find, you're probably one of the first to get a chance.

[schlake]

Are all ghosts gelded, or did he land wrong?

[MobRules]

Was he a eunuch before falling in the moat?

[EuphoriaToRegret]

Are all ghosts gelded, or did he land wrong?

Was he a eunuch before falling in the moat?

I hadn't even noticed that.
I didn't bother looking to see before-hand.
Then again... maybe ghosts are gelded so they can't give birth to more ghosts?

So far, he's been floating inside with the other scholars and floating back up to the moat to enjoy the company of his own corpse.
He hasn't done any writing, but then again, my scholars don't do much writing either.

[Bakaridjan]

I'm pretty sure that not just any visitor can come back as a ghost. Are you sure he hadn't been granted long-term resident status?

In one unfortunate incident in my fort, I was trying to convince a large crowd of visitors that the beer was running out and they needed to get work or go home. They weren't buying it, so I asked a visiting Bronze Colossus to mediate for us. The intransigent fellows wouldn't see the light of day and then somebody fired an arrow at our mediator and well, the rest is history. If all visitors came back as ghosts then I would probably have somewhere around 66 inhabiting my fort, but that was years ago and nobody has come back for a second visit yet.

[Talanic]

I was under the impression that any dwarf that died on your map needed a memorial.

[EuphoriaToRegret]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'm pretty sure that not just any visitor can come back as a ghost. Are you sure he hadn't been granted long-term resident status?

In one unfortunate incident in my fort, I was trying to convince a large crowd of visitors that the beer was running out and they needed to get work or go home. They weren't buying it, so I asked a visiting Bronze Colossus to mediate for us. The intransigent fellows wouldn't see the light of day and then somebody fired an arrow at our mediator and well, the rest is history. If all visitors came back as ghosts then I would probably have somewhere around 66 inhabiting my fort, but that was years ago and nobody has come back for a second visit yet.

I'm 100% he was leaving. It even tells you that the visitor is ready to leave when they start moving towards the edge of the map.
He just so happened to think that pathing directly through my 4 wide moat was a great idea.
I haven't had any scholars (in this fort) ask to stay.

[TheFlame52]

Do science, please report back.

Can ghosts get distracted? Do they try to socialize/worship? Does the scholar do scholar things?

[EuphoriaToRegret]

Do science, please report back.

Can ghosts get distracted? Do they try to socialize/worship? Does the scholar do scholar things?

When all, or most, of the scholars are discussing something, the ghost tends to float around them specifically.
It looks like it might be trying to discuss, but I can't see what it's trying to do, so I can't be certain.
Its only ever in two places
A. The library
or B. The river/moat where he died.

He spends the majority of that time in the library. I'll be on the lookout to see if I ever get a book written by him.

Edit: It also seems like nobody even notices he's there. None of the scholars have any negative reports in their info screen about being scared or sad about seeing a ghost.

[TheFlame52]

Look closer. Alcohol makes dwarves literally fearless, so they aren't afraid of ghosts and it just says they didn't feel anything.

If he writes a book, I'm murdering my scholars.

[Killgoth]

I am absurdly excited about ghostly scholars.  Hogwarts meets dwarf fortress!  Please do let us know if he writes a book  

I may end up murdering...er...asking the next scholars who visit to stay forever and ever and ever!

[Bakaridjan]

I was under the impression that any dwarf that died on your map needed a memorial.

Actually that's probably it. Now that I think about it, I get almost no dwarf visitors. I bet they were all humans or other non-dwarfs. I get so few of them I was just assuming that the OP was referring to a human visitor. Should have read more carefully.

[Urist McVoyager]

Yeah, you can get dwarf visitors. I don't like to bother with them. The whole point to the system, for me, is getting others into my population.

[Parhelion]

So, after a visiting scholar was leaving my fortress, he decided to jump, most likely from guilt after stealing one of the books from my library, into the moat on the way out and drown himself.

Me, not realizing you have to slab visiting dwarves, didn't think too much into it.

Well, he came back and is now standing in the library as a restless spirit.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So, knowing that animal trainers can train as ghosts, can ghostly scholars still write books or ponder?

First thought:  "Hogwarts?"