The room is downstairs. The downward staircase has been build and they need to build an upward staircase... There's some tetrahedrite ore in the space i want them to mine the upward staircase... Would that stop them from mining?
When you say build, do you mean from the [ b ]uild->[C]onstructions menu? Because you need the [d]esignations->[ u ]pward staircase menu.
Also, make sure the upward staircase is directly below the downward staircase.
That's correct, the downward staircase is build as the floor of the top level. The blower level is still blocked by a wall. In order for your dwarf to go down, below the downstair (currently a wall) it must be an up stair or better yet, up/down stair. You can do this by designate those stair and they should start carving. Carving staircase is also considered digging, so when done, the ore/rock will be left at the bottom of the stair case.
I have a war grizzly bear and a war giant eagle. I want the giant eagle, not the dog, for my axedwarf. Is there a way to set which one of the war beasts he receives, or is it just random?
It's random, although the topmost creature on your z-animal list will likely be picked first.
If I want to train just a grizzly bear, and not a cuddly dragon, is there a way to choose which animal to train at the kennels? The only thing I can think of is caging up all of the animals that are [TRAINABLE] except for the grizzly bear.
Yes you need to cage the animals you dont want to train
If I have a war Giant Lion on a recruit, and decide I want someone else to grab the Lion, is there a way to reassign the Lion? Or is an unfortunate accident the only way?
You need to kill the guy, unfortunately. However, seeing how you are in the tropic, you can breed giant lions eventually.
Say I have a 999 year Dragon in my fort that I've caught. If I keep it around for another few years, is it possible to grow into its adult form and become fully grown?
Yes, it'd take 1 more year supposedly. Beware of dragon (friendly) fire.
Lastly, do owners get comforting thoughts from their war animals, as they would if they were a normal pet? Or are the war animals too battle hardened to be kitten-like anymore?
They get comforting thought from them as normal. They also get comforting thought just from passive by stray animals. Do note that it seem to make them less likely to get death tolerance.