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[slink]

I just had my Count Consort die of thirst, while standing in 6/7 depth flowing freshwater.  Very peculiar.

The story of how he got there demonstrates that sometimes things go right after all.

I did not have rooms prepared for my nobility when they arrived, on account of having been delayed by a magma pipe that was not anywhere near where I expected to find it.  That is, it was in the third quarter of the map that I searched.  Since I had a Grand Dining Room, a good food supply, and plenty of booze I decided to leave them waiting while I made proper quarters for them.

A large goblin siege killed the Human diplomat the next time the Human caravan arrived, and they left without selling me either booze or wood for barrels.  Now I was in trouble.

When the booze ran out, the Countess began throwing tantrums.  In one of these tantrums, she broke a floor grate in the waterfall chamber of the dining room.  I quickly had it replaced, but failed to check to see if anyone had fallen in before the new grating was installed.

After several tantrums the Countess went berserk and was killed.  I realized that I was going to have to dispose of her consort.  When I went looking for him, lo and behold he was in the drainage chamber under the waterfall.

According to the architecture of my waterfall chamber, the only way he could have gotten there was by falling through the hole she made in the floor.  The well is not connected to the waterfall, and it drains off the map through a fortification.

The Count Consort was covered in water and evidentally learning to swim, because I got a message saying he had gained skill in something.  He was exhausted, hungry, and, yes, thirsty.  Eventually he died of thirst, essentially done in by the Countess whose death made his a requirement.

[Rat Of Wisdom]

Counts and their ilk have been getting into a lot of trouble today... (Something similar happened to me, albeit without the water.)

I still need to construct a proper NUDES.

What is a NUDES you ask?

It is a Noble & Undesirable Disposal & Elimination System.

You seem to have stumbled inadvertently on the design for a rather effective one...

[Tradanbattlan]

This is obviously some kind of hinting towards mental illnesses in later versions of Dwarf Fortress.

Perhaps he had Tetanus somehow and couldnt open his mouth?

[Caz]

saltwater?

[slink]

We had no horses, but we did have a donkey who lost a leg in a hydra attack so perhaps The Count Consort got tetanus from walking in rotten donkey leg miasma (the donkey was a pet so no one would clean up the donkey leg, which rotted right between the stockpiles for prepared meals, drinks, and cheese).

No, the water is not saltwater.  It is coming from a stream.  They all rush to drink from it when the booze is gone, and complain about a lack of a well when the well was nearly the first thing I built.  Some do use the well, so I know it is okay.

[Skorpion]

Oh, I've gotten the same thing when my experimental noble drowning system went awry due to lack of water.
It eventually filled to 6/7, but took two seasons to do it, causing the noble to learn to swim in the meantime and die of starvation while thirsty and dehydrated, instead of drowning.

[Ashmore]

I remember my first plumbing attempt, which included a stairway and a flooded complex of about 80 bedrooms. I managed to dig rescue tunnels to all dwarves but one, who of course was stuck in his room until thirst killed him. Water is a good source of life, death and irony.

I assume the dehydrating in water situation doesn't have anything to do with osmosis (even though I wouldn't be surprised if Toady adds that at some point...), and more likely that the only implemented way for a dwarf to drink is to be above the water and being able to reach into it.

[Atarlost]

No, they can drink water on the same level.  My first attempt at a drowning chamber was a very poor design and the water took forever to arrive.  The intended victim was unconscious from thirst when the water arrived.  He immediately perked up and escaped through the opening the water was coming in through.