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[Lummox JR]

My fort has been running for a while now. I came back to it after a long absence and everything was going fine. Spring came. Human merchants and a diplomat arrived. As soon as the first wagon made it to my depot, they all started leaving. No message or anything.

I haven't been able to find info on this. What's happening here?

[Deus Machina]

Happened to me before, too.
Something upset them. A trader got in a fight, or scared by a bird, or sneezed too hard.
Has also happened to me when I had a dump zone overlapping the depot.

[Lummox JR]

Well, I still have the seasonal save. Maybe I'll just rewind back to that.

[PatrikLundell]

Something scaring a merchant, typically gobbo bits lying around. This has been improved considerably so they usually don't bolt at the sight of half a goblin tooth as they used to. Scared merchants typically result in a pile of junk scuttled by the merchant in question. I've also had a trader get into a fight with a dorf after arguing, causing them to leave. None of these things result in announcements. For scuttling you'd have to scour the map for piles of stuff, while you'd have to go through the conflict reports to find any merchants fighting.
Wildlife can also scare merchants, although merchant guards seem to be able to fight without the merchants getting scared (unless the merchants notice/get involved).

[Pvt. Pirate]

had that a lot. it happened to each and every caravan on my volcano embark.
make sure your trade depot is underground or at least inside.

[Dragonslayerelf]

Something scaring a merchant, typically gobbo bits lying around. This has been improved considerably so they usually don't bolt at the sight of half a goblin tooth as they used to. Scared merchants typically result in a pile of junk scuttled by the merchant in question. I've also had a trader get into a fight with a dorf after arguing, causing them to leave. None of these things result in announcements. For scuttling you'd have to scour the map for piles of stuff, while you'd have to go through the conflict reports to find any merchants fighting.
Wildlife can also scare merchants, although merchant guards seem to be able to fight without the merchants getting scared (unless the merchants notice/get involved).

Huh, the merchants in my game must be uniquely badass. I've had merchants whose guards died who then go on to kill a werebeast for me, then continue on to trade like nothing ever happened (and then transform into a werebeast and fuck me over, but that's aside from the point.)

[PatrikLundell]

It's not the merchant guards that are skittish, it's the merchants themselves (including the animal ones). The guards behave as mercs, or possibly a bit better.

[anewaname]

I recently had wagon explode while I was watching the caravan leave at a low FPS. I was watching because there was a were-mongoose chasing a group of wild boars. The were-mongoose was failing to get close enough to attack the boars, but one of the boars did a "run in terror" and apparently triggered the horse (maybe because the boar was already in a conflict?) and the horse responded:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The horse attacks the wild boar sow but She jumps away!
The wild boar sow attacks the horse but She jumps away!
The horse attacks the wild boar sow but She jumps away!
The wild boar sow kicks the horse in the right rear hoof with her left rear hoof, but the attack glances away!
The force pulls the right rear leg!
The horse kicks the wild boar sow in the left front leg with her left front hoof, bruising the fat!
The wild boar sow misses the horse!
The horse misses the wild boar sow!
The horse charges at the wild boar sow!
The horse collides with the wild boar sow!
The wild boar sow is knocked over and tumbles backward!
The wild boar sow stands up.
The horse kicks the wild boar sow in the right rear hoof with her right front hoof and the severed part sails off in an arc!
The wild boar sow misses the horse!
The horse charges at the wild boar sow!
The horse collides with the wild boar sow!
The wild boar sow is knocked over and tumbles backward!
The horse stands up.
The wild boar sow is no longer stunned.
The wild boar sow stands up.
The horse kicks the wild boar sow in the right tusk with her right rear hoof and the severed part sails off in an arc!
The wild boar sow attacks the horse but She jumps away!
The horse kicks the wild boar sow in the lower body with her left front hoof, bruising the muscle and bruising the guts!
The wild boar sow kicks the horse in the right front leg with her left front hoof, bruising the fat!
The wild boar sow attacks the horse but She jumps away!
The horse attacks the wild boar sow but She jumps away!
The wild boar sow attacks the horse but She jumps away!
The horse kicks the wild boar sow in the left rear hoof with her right rear hoof, but the attack glances away!
The force pulls the left rear leg!
The wild boar sow kicks the horse in the lower body with her left rear hoof, bruising the fat!
The horse attacks the wild boar sow but She jumps away!
The wild boar sow kicks the horse in the right rear leg with her right front hoof, bruising the fat!
The horse kicks the wild boar sow in the head with her right front hoof, bruising the muscle, bruising the skull!
The force twists the neck, tearing apart the muscle and tearing apart the upper spine's nervous tissue!
An artery has been opened by the attack!
A tendon in the upper spine has been torn!
The wild boar sow falls over.

In the gamelog.txt, there were no other attacks during the time the horse started and ended the fight, not from the merchants or caravan guards, and not from the were-mongoose (who did catch a boar shortly afterwards). I am not certain, but believe the wagon exploded as soon as the horse attacked.

[Pvt. Pirate]

i got no clue what happened to cause it, but upon reaching the trade depot, they immediately left and i got lots of their goods and a wagon corpse has been processed in my butchery... no fight records though.
so did the wagon die of old age upon reaching my depot?

[Bumber]

and a wagon corpse has been processed in my butchery

That's a red flag right there. Wagons are supposed to drop wagon wood logs, not corpses.

[nickbii]

i got no clue what happened to cause it, but upon reaching the trade depot, they immediately left and i got lots of their goods and a wagon corpse has been processed in my butchery... no fight records though.
so did the wagon die of old age upon reaching my depot?

The raws specify wagons are not butcherable, and list no body parts that could be recovered from a butcher's shop.

So something exceedingly unusual is going on. Check your combat reports. Wagons that die of fear will tend to leave you three wagon wood logs, not a corpse to be butchered.

Have you done any modding?

[Pvt. Pirate]

i got no clue what happened to cause it, but upon reaching the trade depot, they immediately left and i got lots of their goods and a wagon corpse has been processed in my butchery... no fight records though.
so did the wagon die of old age upon reaching my depot?

The raws specify wagons are not butcherable, and list no body parts that could be recovered from a butcher's shop.

So something exceedingly unusual is going on. Check your combat reports. Wagons that die of fear will tend to leave you three wagon wood logs, not a corpse to be butchered.

Have you done any modding?

then they didn't get butchered, i just assumed it by the wagon wood logs i found. do they just die of fear instantly? Whisky Tango Foxtrot, Toady?!

[nickbii]

i got no clue what happened to cause it, but upon reaching the trade depot, they immediately left and i got lots of their goods and a wagon corpse has been processed in my butchery... no fight records though.
so did the wagon die of old age upon reaching my depot?

The raws specify wagons are not butcherable, and list no body parts that could be recovered from a butcher's shop.

So something exceedingly unusual is going on. Check your combat reports. Wagons that die of fear will tend to leave you three wagon wood logs, not a corpse to be butchered.

Have you done any modding?

then they didn't get butchered, i just assumed it by the wagon wood logs i found. do they just die of fear instantly? Whisky Tango Foxtrot, Toady?!

Pretty much.

Instead of deciding to attack their enemy, or flee from it, they explode. You get a wagonload of free stuff that you can use, but the rest of the caravan runs away. So you can't trade. You can sell the free stuff to other caravans, but not the same caravan, because it's marked as stolen.

ie: if a human caravan spooks and leaves you with a bunch of human-sized stuff you can't use, you can sell it to the Elves and dwarves, but not the humans. Unless you launder the goods by decorating them with jewels or something.

[Bumber]

then they didn't get butchered, i just assumed it by the wagon wood logs i found. do they just die of fear instantly? Whisky Tango Foxtrot, Toady?!

Technically they die because they depend on the animals pulling them. The animals are the ones getting spooked.

[Pvt. Pirate]

"laundering" the goods is no option to me as it would include tracking those items and making sure none of them slips through.
if i ever traded a stolen good from the humans to a human caravan, would they leave immediately too or what would happen?