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[Narrrz]

I posted this to Reddit, to see how it would be received, but apparently Toady doesn't follow there so someone suggested I post here.

In Terry Pratchett's discworld universe, dwarves in mines, as they get more stressed, carve "mine sign" into the walls as an outlet for stress. I thought it would be kinda cool if dwarves here were to do the same; as a kind of low-level tantrum, they'd pause to engrave a symbol in a nearby surface, gaining a small amount of relief from doing so. However, depending on their stress levels, the symbol inscribed becomes increasingly dire, and viewing such a carving might give other dwarves added stress.

You could even extend it further - in the book 'thud', a dying dwarf scrawls a particularly dire symbol in his own blood, summoning a vengeful spirit which takes possession of the main character and drives them to be violent.

Would make a pretty neat addition.

[☼FUN☼]

good idea
aggressive signs should make other dwarves aggressive too and it shouldn't be only with miners
boy that would be FUN

[Su]

would definitely like to some more autonomous job-taking myself, but I can see a lot of people who are more picky than I am with their fortress design disliking this sort of thing incredibly.

I think the best way to go about this would to have firstly the ability to smooth over engravings - possibly set with zones, as is the case with picking fruit - which would satisfy the more artistic among us. in addition, having a "soft" order [dwarves take their respect of the law, restraint, fear of punishment,  ect. into account, but can still choose to do it anyway] would be really nice, and would avoid being too "gamey". obviously though, that last bit would probably have to wait until the law and customs arc.

[Narrrz]

I'd definitely envisioned some way to remove the graffiti.

[SQman]

It would be !FUN!  to see an angry dwarf vandalize someone's masterwork engraving by drawing dicks. I guess it would be a good thing for crime and punishment arc.

[SixOfSpades]

I'd definitely envisioned some way to remove the graffiti.

If this "mine-sign" was actually carved in a mine--that is, among stone set to be quarried--then sooner or later, each graffito is going to be removed right along with the wall itself. But in the case of writings scrawled upon more finished surfaces, then yes, re-smoothing it seems the most likely way.

The problem would be how the dwarves feel about erasing someone else's work, and how serious that work is. If it's just some vulgar doodle, or poor scrawl reading "Ingish Dustbeam sucks sewer brew", then the cleanup worker will just laugh it off, smooth it off, and go about their day. But if it's a well-executed sign of protest, like an engraving of dwarves sleeping on the ground, then the dwarves might very well refuse to remove it until the grievance is dealt with--e.g., by finally giving Rakust Hametower her own bedroom, or making more mugs, etc.

But if, as Narrrz mentioned, these symbols are imbued with magical power, that's a whole different can of worms. Defacing them might invoke a curse or have various other effects, and appeasing the maker might be similarly more complicated. But that would raise another problem: If every random Urist McDorf has the mystical power to call down blood curses and whatnot, what the hell are they doing dying to goblins and badgers?

[Su]

well, presumably the goblins at least have some equivalent of a blood curse =] as for the badgers though...

also, these suggestions are really good!

[Narrrz]

The really terrible carvings could be a new form of insanity, "Urist has given in to despair", where the dwarf will seek out an out of the way corner of the fort, carve a curse symbol into a wall, stagger a short distance away and then expire - perhaps in unusual fashion, to hint at what they've done - "Urist has been found dead, their body a shriveled, dessicated husk!" That will greatly disturb any dwarf seeing it, even beyond the norm, and will never decay. The curse could even involve them returning to life to seek vengeance on the living.

[☼FUN☼]

in my opinnion when the magic update comes only dwarfs possessing magical power (Urist McWizard) should make those "cursed graffitis" and also have the chance to "give in to dispair"

another thing that I think could be interesting would be if magical dwarfs when insane could make a blood ritual and turn into a demon or something along those lines

[Dorsidwarf]

I do like the idea of dwarves being able to relieve their stress by writing profane sayings and evil symbols (of power or otherwise) on the walls, at the cost of seeing those same symbols causing more stress in OTHER dwarves.
It’s no problem if the grouchy miner is scribbling prophecies of doom on the walls of the deep mine shafts - it’s quite another thing if those same scrawlings are appearing all over the dining halls and living quarters. Perhaps the more stressed in individual, the less likely they are to try and “hide” these writings somewhere out of the way.

[☼FUN☼]

I do like the idea of dwarves being able to relieve their stress by writing profane sayings and evil symbols (of power or otherwise) on the walls, at the cost of seeing those same symbols causing more stress in OTHER dwarves.
It’s no problem if the grouchy miner is scribbling prophecies of doom on the walls of the deep mine shafts - it’s quite another thing if those same scrawlings are appearing all over the dining halls and living quarters. Perhaps the more stressed in individual, the less likely they are to try and “hide” these writings somewhere out of the way.

+1

[GoblinCookie]

Why don't the dwarves carve bad stuff against the ruling position holders?  If they get caught then it hurts the positions holders relationship to them.

[thompson]

This is a brilliant idea. My only request is that the law and order screen should track this vandalism so that we can drown repeat offenders in magma deal with the problem appropriately.