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[Schmaven]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I had to zoom way out to get the whole entrance in 1 screen shot.  So far everything has been constructed out of obsidian blocks, mined out of the pit.  The caravan has no other entry into the fort but this sky bridge that descends down ramps next to a guard post with a glass ceiling.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Three more skybridges in each of the cardinal directions are planned to discourage traders on foot from leaving the north side of the map despite the skybridge descending just 4 tiles from the southern edge.  The local fauna can be fierce.

Building on the surface in a reanimating biome is very costly in terms of Dwarven lives.  But it did also expose some vulnerabilities in the entrance design.  Undead with climbing are able to scale down the pit right into the "safe" part of the entryway.  So a magma moat is now planned surrounding a 1-Z wall with a 1-tile floor overhang on the inner edge of the moat.

I couldn't keep track of how many died in the construction.  Herds of undead Rhinocerous, Lion Men and Hyenas liked to wander into the construction area, so 2 squads of 10 mace-lords were on full-time zombie duty for about 2 years.  Only 4 of them died.  I expected more.  But many workers lost their lives.  There were often announcements such as,
The rhinocerous corpse gores the spinner in the head with her second horn and the injured part explodes into gore!
Avuzmonang, Spinner has been found dead.
A Were-Pangolin outbreak also turned into a quite a distraction as I missed a few bites in the combat logs.

Fighting around the edge of the pit, several fell into it, 10-Z down.  The lucky ones did not land on the upright iron spears.  The unlucky ones became several reanimated parts that had to be put down.  Including a left arm that kept coming back to terrorize the fort, refusing to become mangled no matter how many times the mace lords were sent after it.  Gradually, it was hauled relay team style to the atom smasher. 

[DwarvenLord]

I noticed when the dragon came you forbid everything to get people inside. This is unnecessary, just do this:
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Burrow#Civilian_Alerts

[Schmaven]

I noticed when the dragon came you forbid everything to get people inside. This is unnecessary, just do this:
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Burrow#Civilian_Alerts

I think the simplest way would be to designate the entire map from Z-2 to the bottom as a burrow (also any surface structures).  Then an alert would just keep everyone off the surface.

Aside from dragons though, I tend to send the dwarves out to meet the were-beasts, cyclopses, giants, etc. straight away.  So I haven't really had to get everybody off the surface until the dragon came.  However, the biggest threat to this fort's existence remains to be from within.  A dwarf starting a fight in the library, and killing a scholar, triggering a zombie explosion is always fun.  Or more regularly, a dwarf dying in the hospital who then kills the other patients and the doctors.

I'm thinking of rather than having 3 squads of 10 mace dwarves, I might break them up into 6 squads of 5, and put a barracks right by each of the zombie hot spots.

[Schmaven]

The great fire of 127 (apparently caused by over-filling the magma moat) burned all the trees, but regrettably did not harm any of the giant undead tics that were roaming the forest at the time.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The animals migrants bring with them have so far tended to out-live their dwarf counterparts.  The previous livestock estimate was nearing 150.  Rather than save them for the pits, they were butchered and replaced with much more dangerous animals from the elves.  Currently 2 elf caravans arrive each Spring.  I'm still hoping for another elephant of the opposite gender to show up for trade.  An army of undead war elephants would be ideal, but until then, there are war lions, war tigers, cheetahs and hippos as an intermediary plan. 

The safe caravan access phase is nearing completion.  Gotta secure those steel imports!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The slow magma dripper was tested.  It is fed from the magma moat, and passes through a series of diagonal gaps before dropping onto a single tile surrounded by iron grates on the 3-tile wide siege entry, then drops further below onto more iron grates where it is drained off to the edge of the map.  Or with the pull of another lever, there is the option to flood the pit with magma again.
Edit: The left bridge still has yet to be re-built after a deconstruction cave-in killed 5, and stranded the human caravan wagons.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

...another fall victim located.

The accuracy of the ballistas is... while not good, acceptable.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And with iron ballista heads, they appear to be quite effective; as this unfortunate ballista operator will tell you.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

To avoid future accidents, more fortifications were built by the ballistas.  And in true tragic fashion, that very same siege operator lost her other leg as well, illuminating the fact that I neglected to block the diagonal way through the door.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Examining her thoughts and preferences, I don't think she's going to make it...
"Her heart is mangled beyond recognition.  Her upper body is cut open.  Her stomach is mangled beyond recognition.  Her lower body is cut open.  Her lower left leg is spraying dwarf blood."
At least there's also, "She is getting used to tragedy" in there too.  She immigrated about 4 years ago to the fort.  Despite now missing both her legs, she managed to drag herself to the booze stockpile for a drink of dwarven beer.

While observing the ballista testing, I got interested in the announcement, "Mace Lord cancels Get Provisions:  Interrupted by a rhinoceros corpse." and got to see this combat report unfold predictably as the two fight on the bridge over the lava moat:
The rhinoceros corpse misses the Mace Lord!
The rhinoceros corpse charges at the Mace Lord!
The rhinoceros corpse collides with the Mace Lord!
The Mace Lord is knocked over and tumbles backward!
The rhinoceros corpse misses the Mace Lord!
The Mace Lord is no longer stunned.
The Mace Lord is caught in a pool of Lava!

The rhinoceros corpse proceded to then kill a new recruit before another Mace Lord could stop it.

...And the slab room continues to fill...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Checking back in on the siege operator - she made it to the hospital, was swiftly treated, and is now roaming about the fortress picking up new clothes (an easier task with no longer a need for socks or shoes.  I'm curious if she'll wear pants / a skirt since she only has an upper left leg).  Regardless, she has earned the new nickname, "Lucky to be Alive"

[Schmaven]

A stray reindeer calf was used as the test dummy to see how lethal the 6-Z drop into the pit is from the bridge above.  It died of injuries shortly after the fall, then turned into a zombie..

The next test involved a Reindeer calf, a Buffalo calf and a Lamb, all at once (Thank you migrants for the test subjects).  The Reindeer calf landed on the Buffalo, and sustained no injuries.  The other 2 were only slightly injured.  The Lamb fully recovered in a week.  Expecting them to starve to death and turn into zombies, I was disappointed to find that somehow one of the soldiers climbed into the pit area and killed all 3 zombies after they had risen.  All line of sight to the drop area has since been blocked with walls and floors to preserve future zombies.

Spoiler: Zombie Slayer (click to show/hide)

Giant Monarch Butterfly corpses have been wreaking havok, simply flying over the magma moat and killing a dwarf or 2 before being put down.  The aerial gap has now been floored over to prevent further attacks of that kind, and the entire caravan bridges have been floored over.  In the combat logs I noticed 1 dwarf managed to beat one to death with a +Willow Crutch+.  All platnum bars have now been crafted into crutches to take advantage of this. 

Spoiler: Aerial View (click to show/hide)

Now with a magma moat on the surface, and stray magma pools leftover from obsidianizing the apocalypse, it would be helpful to have a direct stairway down to the magma sea level where 400+ metal ores are still stockpiled so they can be brought up to the new forge location as part of the re-centralizing the fort around the pit project.  The last attempt to dig directly down, and wall off the caverns at the same time was a failure.  Two forgotten beast zombies immediately noticed a path into the fort and killed many before the stairway could be sealed off.  A worrisome amount of steel and adamantine armor has been found in the magma moat.  It can be slowly drained via the magma dripper onto invaders.  So as long as it doesn't decay out there, I'm inclined to leave it for now.

Preparing for another attempt at going through the caverns, everyone was drafted into squads with metal armor and designated to be uniformed when inactive.  The past few months have been nothing but picking up equipment.  I've split the armory into 3 levels: steel, iron, and copper/bronze, set only to accept masterworks, no bins (mostly so I can visually see where things are at myself without the stocks menu).  I also reset the gear priority list so the most experienced melee soldiers get first dibs.  I expect a few more months of equipment shuffling before more productive work can resume. 

Spoiler: Armory (click to show/hide)

Checking back in on that unfortunate dwarf who 4 years ago lost both legs in the ballista tests, she is now wearing just a bismuth bronze breastplate, bronze greaves, a bronze helm, and an iron shield.  She is also covered in rum spatter.  She periodically stumbles around obliviously having "been utterly harrowed by the nightmare that is her tragic life." But since, "She dreams of creating a great work of art, and this dream was realized.", she still hauls things and helps with the mining. 

Not much else has happened aside from the random dead dwarf turning up as a zombie with an expired combat report, so I have no clue how they died; and the occasional insane dwarves being locked away in their quarters.  The barracks has been re-sized to not overlap as much with the War Tiger training area after a dead Macelord was found next to 2 dead War Tigers and 3 injured War Tigers.  There are currently 7 War Tigers, 2 War Elephants, 17 Tiger Cubs and 7 Elephant Calves.  Not enough to send to the pits yet without impeding their population growth.  And after several years of waiting, the elves finally brought 2 eagles of the opposite gender.  Eagle breeding can now commence!

Spoiler: Tigers (click to show/hide)

[IonMatrix]

In the combat logs I noticed 1 dwarf managed to beat one to death with a +Willow Crutch+.  All platnum bars have now been crafted into crutches to take advantage of this.

LOL

Also, the tileset you're using looks very dwarfy, can you kindly post the link?

[Schmaven]

Also, the tileset you're using looks very dwarfy, can you kindly post the link?

I use the "Meph+Vordak (lite) 32x" graphics from the LNP launcher:

Spoiler: Lazy Newb Pack (click to show/hide)

PeridexisErrant's Starter Pack bundles Dwarf Fortress with huge community upgrades - graphics, tools, bugfixes, and much more.

Download the latest Starter Pack here!

It's suitable for anyone - if you've never tried DF before, or played for years.  For beginners, everything is bundled and set up for you; any setting can be safely ignored and the default will just work.  For advanced players, everything is open: customise, add, remove, update, or replace anything you want to.  The Starter Pack means you can spend hours setting up your fortress, instead of your DF install!

There's a thread on the Bay12 forums for feedback, questions, suggestions, or anything else about the pack.  The second post has a complete table of contents, and recent changelogs.

Besides the official download page on DFFD (above), /u/Hecknar maintains df.wicked-code.com, which mirrors every release since 0.40.01!  The final 34.11 pack is here.  The final 40.24 pack is here.  The final 32-bit pack, 0.43.09-r09, is here.  The final 43.05 pack is here.  If you need an older pack or that site is down, let me know and we'll sort something out.  OSX and Linux packs are available at http://dwarffortresswiki.org/Lazy_Newb_Pack

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Download and unzip the folder
    It's a bundle of portable apps; there's no further installation procedure.
    The pack must be able to read/write files though - so don't put it in a "Program Files" folder.
2. [Optional]:  Use this tool and the checksum on DFFD to confirm you got an uncorrupted file.
3. [Optional]:  Upgrade from an earlier release by copying your old 'Dwarf Fortress 0.xx.yy/data/save/' folder to the new pack.
                DO NOT try to upgrade by extracting or copying over an earlier pack.
4. [Optional]:  Visit the DF wiki or my tutorials for help learning to play.

Finally, an appeal:  Dwarf Fortress is free, and redistributable, because Toady lives off donations.  You can support Bay12 Games here.  Or you can donate to cover my time and costs here.  Even if you decide not to donate, Dwarf Fortress is still free - and so is this unofficial pack.

The workshops in particular are very nicely done.  In general, it's very easy to tell what is what.  Having war animals look different than their regular counterparts is also a nice touch.

[IonMatrix]

Thanks!

[Schmaven]

Around the end of year 138, a vulnerability to flyers was discovered when a Roc bypassed all security and flew down right to the main trade caravan entry path.  So more draw bridges and walls / floors are being added to the central barracks area.

Spoiler: Roc (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Surface Work (click to show/hide)

Preparations are also being made for the re-taking of the caverns to salvage the precious adamantine armor lost by the first squads.  Currently 4 forgotten beasts are listed in the units screen, so that should be fun.  Currently a barracks and archery range are set up, so the military can be re-centralized near the caverns.  There is also a dining room and dormitory / food and drink stockpiles so that workers can better assist with cavern work.  It's a bit of a run - over 300 tiles from the main fort area.

Spoiler: Cavern Staging Grounds (click to show/hide)

Caravans leaving their food behind has lead to some unfortunate miasma all over the main level, so now a legendary weaponsmith and armorsmith are both haggard.  The human traders died to a pack of giant undead hyenas before the vomiting / dizzy dwarf soldiers could reach them; and as suspected, they did not send another caravan the next year.  A part of me still wants to start over after the map ended up getting revealed, but since I'm no longer searching for metal ores or anything exploratory like that, I'm just gonna keep this fort going.  It just crossed the 40 year mark too.

Spoiler: Main Level (click to show/hide)

At least the armory is now completely filled with masterwork iron armor, ready for the next few batches of recruits to fall into the lava / get trapped by undead jabberers in the caverns...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I keep getting announcements of tigers being found dead, but the combat reports just show the final moments where they skid across the ground into something and die.  Being in close proximity with one another, I suspect it is tiger on tiger violence, and not a rogue dwarf going in and killing them randomly.  But I'm still not exactly sure what's going on.  The population remains strong despite several tiger deaths in the past few months.  Currently in the autumn of year 140 there are 30 war tigers, 26 tiger cubs, 2 war elephants, 7 elephant calves, 43 eagles and 15 eagle chicks.  An elite squad of 5 mace lords is currently stationed with the tigers to prevent a possible zombie explosion.  I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with all the eagles, but I suspect they will have their day in the sun before too long.

Spoiler: Animals (click to show/hide)

With the latest Dwarven caravan arriving, a couple hundred worn bags and other trash items were discovered and traded away.  Still the efficiency of the fort is fairly poor, having taken a bag seat to just surviving so far.  Currently the fortress is in a bit of a consolidation and reorganizing phase to free up more dwarves for the military.  Also, elephants take 10 years to reach maturity, so some time will have to pass before that part of the plan can be implemented. 

[Schmaven]

The legendary armorsmith who kept throwing tantrums, crippling other dwarves and destroying workshops, so he was sentenced to being dropped into the zombie pit:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Unfortunately, even unarmed, since he was expertly trained, he managed to kill most of the war dog and other corpses residing in the pit.  At least once he rises, he should make a formidable zombie.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Tigers mysteriously keep dying and killing one another once zombies.  As soon as I get the announcement a tiger has been found dead, the only thing in the combat logs is their body skidding across the ground.  Until the causes can be determined, the militia commander's elite mace dwarf squad has been stationed nearby.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The militia commander's current equipment:

• Nist Kodor, "The Fear of Dawn", a rose gold mace (2.46 times as dense as steel), a recent creation with only 4 kills, 3 zombie dwarves and a zombie tiger.  It is encircled with spikes of red zircon
• Zatthudmuzish, "Judgemartyred", a jagged gold helm.  It is encircled with bands of baguette cut rubies.  On the item is an image of a forgotten beast in gold
• Gashcoz Gärem, "The Proliferation of Generals", a platinum shield, just crafted
• Exceptional Adamantine Breastplate
• Masterful Adamantine Gauntlets
• Exceptional Adamantine Greaves
• Masterful Adamantine High Boots

He has currently accumulated just 16 kills in the 30 years he's lived at the fort.  All zombies and werebeasts.

[Superdorf]

Those are some delightful artifact names.

[Schmaven]

Outdoor construction of the siege entry was well underway, most other industries suspended to free up as much dwarf labor as possible.  The goal is to force invaders along a zig zag path in front of the marksdwarf bunker to soften them up before they enter the pit. 

Spoiler: Siege Entry (click to show/hide)

A pack of 13 giant hyena corpses was successfully repelled from the contstruction site with only a few dwarven deaths.  One of the weaponsmiths was killed and came back as a zombie, but this beast of a Mace Lord wasn't going to let him get far:

'Weaponsmith' Rigothnokgol's corpse charges at the Mace Lord!
'Weaponsmith' Rigothnokgol's corpse collides with the Mace Lord!
'Weaponsmith' Rigothnokgol's corpse bounces backward!

A new artifact was created:
Ducimmunést Luslem Am, "Workedgroves the Puzzel of Yawns"
A cave spider silk thong.  The thread is midnight blue, exceptionally colored with dimple dye.  It menaces with spikes of cave spider silk, acacia, obsidian and green glass.  On the thong are 2 images of Foldedspeechless, the pig tail braies.  One in cave spider silk, the other in obsidian.

Naturally, I assigned this to the hammerer.  As he was already wearing steel chain leggings, I can only assume he put it on over top of his armor.

Then a green dragon arrives and immediately burninates both the countryside and my FPS

Spoiler: Green Dragon (click to show/hide)

Now seemed like as good a time as any to put the pit trap into action.  The zombie containment core was opened, the caravan bridges closed, and the pit entry made the only way for outsider to path into the fort.

Spoiler: Pit Open for Business (click to show/hide)

The marksdwarves were stationed along fortifications, but seemed more interested in shooting at the zombies than the dragon.  But one of the Mace Lords literally jumped right into the pit at the dragon, and upon reading the combat report, I can only assume he landed in one of those superhero power punch poses, with his fist buried into the floor.

Spoiler: Combat Report (click to show/hide)

I had the dragon on follow, but kept getting the game paused and re-centered to the surface every couple of seconds as the forest fire raged on.  So I toggled that off in the announcements.txt file in the init folder.  This made it much easier to follow the dragon, as I was reminded how dragon fire can destroy even obsidian draw bridges.  Having destroyed the only bridge to path into the fort, the dragon raged on, burninating all the zombies, and breaking into the left beast containment area.

Spoiler: Fortress Breached (click to show/hide)

Luckily the dragon managed to get caught in one of the cage traps before making it any further into the fort.  Or so I thought luck was on my side.  There now appeared to be magma in one of the stairways next to the pit.  Very unusual.  I have everything magma related pretty much on lock down, taking every precaution I could imagine.  Surely it must just be something melted from the dragon fire.

Spoiler: Nope, Not Dragonfire (click to show/hide)

Further investigation revealed that the magma moat had been punctured.  Presumably from one of the burning trees collapsing on the surface.

Spoiler: Moat Leak (click to show/hide)

In hindsight, I should have been more timely with putting doors everywhere.  Or at least put some around the main lever room that controls all access to the outside world not involving the zombie pit.

Spoiler: Main Lever Room (click to show/hide)

At least that mystery miasma problem should be fixed now.  For several months, miasma had been emanating from some kitchens near the trade depot.  Looking around with 'k' there were no rotting food items, corpse bits, or any other sources of miasma I know of. 

Spoiler: Miasma Solved (click to show/hide)

A couple months later, and much the magma has either drained into mostly unused areas of the fort, or evaporated.  Igniting the forest turned out to be a very good tactical play on the part of the Dragon.  But the the dwarves can't be beaten that easily, and work continues.  Though this time with more doors, and magma-safe levers...

Spoiler: What Magma Leak?  I Saw Nothing (click to show/hide)

The outdoor preparations to flood the whole surface with magma will have to wait a bit as many slabs and doors need to be made, and bridges deconstructed / re-linked to levers.  But here is the progress so far.

Spoiler: Outdoor Work (click to show/hide)

[Schmaven]

While sending squads after random zombies appearing all over the fort now, building slabs to keep the ghosts at bay, and preparing to drain all the magma from the main lever room into the eagle containment chamber, a Bronze Colossus arrived.  Never fought one of those before.  The two elite knight squads were sent in first since they've already defeated a few Rocs, Dragons, and Giants fairly easily.  The militia commander himself arrives first on the scene closely followed by 3 of the other longest surviving knights.  The initial onslaught was full of the golden artifact mace attacks glancing away.  Even the artifact platinum shield bash to the neck trick just glanced away.  All the while though, joints are getting pulled and bent.  Thirteen combat report pages of this ensue, with not a single wound shown on the Bronze Colossus "Dof Nocamakul Ac Kas" A gigantic magic statue made of bronze and bent on mayhem.

Spoiler: Bronze Colossus (click to show/hide)

The steel maces literally everyone is equipped with that work so well to stop zombies, seem powerless against this terminator machine thing that has arrived in the middle of the chaos, seemingly destined to finish off the fort with such timing.  The elite squad of knights, all now over-exerted, have not even managed to scratch the thing.  Their decades of training and 143,000 dodging skill has so far kept them unharmed.  But I know exhaustion will be the death of these knights at some point, despite being the elite of the elite.

The 4 remaining soldiers in the elite Southern Squad were re-assigned a steel battle axes and sent after this Colossus.  The 8 general soldiers assigned iron picks.  And the elite West Guard assigned steel short swords and Gemeshtan, "Conflicttick", a adamantine battle axe.  It is encrusted with rectangular bituminous coal cabochons and round brilliant cut amethysts.  It is also adorned with hanging rings of adamantine.  The snipers were simultaneously sent toward the fortifications, but the fight drifted out into the winding halls beyond their view.  The fortified position was originally intended to just be used to quell the zombie herds if need be.  The Green Dragon and Bronze Colossus, magma-moat-draining combo attack was not at all what this pit was designed to handle. 

Spoiler: Marksdwarves (click to show/hide)

It was discovered that the entirety of the second most elite squad, the Bravo Knights, are all already dead, likely due to the spontaneous magma flood.  But on the plus side, the marksdwarves are behaving exactly as intended.  Those stationed above got many shots into the Green Dragon as he crossed the bridge and also managed to pepper the zombies in the winding passages below.

Spoiler: Upper Marksdwarves (click to show/hide)

Dwarves with iron picks arrive first, but all their attacks glance away.  Then a couple more dwarves with steel axes and spears arrive on the scene, and push the colossus back toward the middle, though only with glancing blows for 26 additional combat report log pages.

The first and only real damage came almost 3 days of fighting later on 142-11-24 from the recruit captain who was assigned Teshkadtoral Mözir Absam "Pricelaw the Rout of Searching", an exceptional steel short sword.  After a pommel strike glanced away, a slash fractured the right ear, another dented the lower body (make of that what you will).  Another stab to the left ear chipped it, and twisted the colossus' head from the force.  A stab to the left upper leg fractured it and bent the hip.  More stabs chipped away at the magical beast of bronze.  Slashes mostly leading to dents and fractures.  Some stabs also causing fractures too, until a final slash to the lower body with his Teshkadtoral Mözir Absam mostly cut it away from the rest of the torso, at last defeating the colossus.

In its place now lies A masterful bronze statue of a forgotten beast created by an unknown artisan.  The item is a masterfully designed image of a forgotten beast in bronze.

This is the fourth kill for the Recruit Captain but a first for the steel short sword.  The 80 year old Captain "Nimaktis Quillstakes" has survived with the fort for 12 years now.  Having been the drill sergant for most of that time, whipping the new recruits into shape, he is unbelievably strong, basically unbreakable, indefatigable and very agile.  He has a stunning feel for spatial relationships, unbreakable focus, uncanny intuition, a great kinesthetic sense, an iron will and a natural ability with music.  He is essentially the best fighter a fort could hope for.  Who better to whip the new recruits into survivable shape?  He now has 237 exp as a Dabbling Swordsdwarf due to that fight.  With 213,000 exp using a mace, it makes sense why he first hit the colossus with the pommel of his sword before trying to use the pointy end.

Conflicttick, the adamantine battle axe was kept very far away, by the lower forges at the magma-sea.  So the dwarf armed with it didn't finish his hiking expedition to retrieve it before Nimaktis ended the fight with his steel short sword.  With the steel axes glancing away, I was curious how an artifact adamantine one would do, lacking the weight, but having the sharpness.  Though being unbelievable strong with 2520 strength, he's actually one of the weaker combat dwarves, with the strongest being the Captain of the Southern Squad with 3210 strength (according to Dwarf Therapist).  So weapon type seems to definitely be the deciding factor against a bronze colossus. 

[Superdorf]

Way to save the day with some quick thinking! Many a fort has been lost thanks to an untimely colossus and a militia not equipped to handle the issue.

[Schmaven]

The following new issues currently are the wrenches in the gears of getting this pit trap up and running:

• Magma moat empty
• All bridge seals in / out of the fort inoperable
• Main lever room flooded with magma
• The Dead rising up all over the fort
• All new clothing stockpiles incinerated
• All extra wooden barrels incinerated
• FPS in the low 20s
• The pit trap now completely empty of zombies

My first priority is FPS.  As I previously found to be the case, hordes of cavern fauna in the mushroom trees tend to build up over time and tank fps.  Though I would prefer to send wave after wave of dwarves down there to sort that out, it is just not practical to do with such low fps.  So I resorted to DFHack to spawn some magma on a couple hundred cavern creatures.  DFHack aside, a mining dwarf was sacrificed to drain the main lever room into the eaglery.  As the eagles experienced mortal fear, magma slowly filled their room; Cavern critters ran around on fire for a bit; And FPS gradually stabilized around 30.

The remains of one of the elite Bravo Knights were found next to 14 mangled war tiger corpses, so I think I know how 1 of the 5 died.  Still on the lookout to piece together what happened to the rest.  The tiger breeding program has been nothing but undead tiger trouble, so the remaining 50 tigers were sent to the atom smasher.  It's gonna be just war elephants for the pit program.  Elephants live 50-70 years, whereas tigers live only 10-20 years in total; so there should be far fewer instances of old age induced zombie outbreaks in the herd. 

Spoiler: Pit Level (click to show/hide)

Note: In the pit halls below the eaglery, the zombie corpse of the legendary armorer can be seen chasing down one of the workers.  Equipping everyone in the fort with full metal armor has been great.  Most dwarves have been able to survive long enough against stray zombies for help to arrive.  But in the current chaotic mess of things, Zulashokol was not so lucky.

Spoiler: Elephants (click to show/hide)

I just found out that 1 of the dwarves prays to Zefon, a deity of The Perplexing Works.  Zefon most often takes the form of a male dwarf and is associated with the sun, fire, volcanos and mountains.  Seems pretty dwarfy.  So 2 of the magma forges were queue'd up to turn all 19 of the fortress' gold bars into statues of Zefon.

Spoiler: Main Entry with Magma Forges (click to show/hide)

By Zefon's help, this pit trap is gonna see some real use.