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[Korva]

One of my hammerdwarves is married. Her first kid died in the danger room, so when she gave birth again I relegated her squad to another place to train -- I try not to get anyone (even bloody useless babies) killed on purpose. Now that second child is gone, and bugger if I can figure out why. I discovered this when I checked on the hammerdwarf to see if it was safe to send her squad back into the danger room. She didn't have the baby with her. In fact, it's not even on my unit list anymore. It IS still listen under her "relationships", and all it says there in the top paragraph is:

"<Name> has been ecstatic lately. He is happy to be free."

I didn't see any baby snatcher messages. In fact, with his mom being a soldier I'm sure any snatcher would have been instantly pasted. And the kid's details still say he is a member of my civ and fort. So what gives?  Is this my first ever kidnapping case or not? I can't imagine what else it could be, but I can't imagine how a thief could have made off with him and still leave him as a member of my civ to boot.

[FrisianDude]

Try zooming in on the child via the relations of the mother. If it's been stolen the pointer will go to the location where the mother lost her child.

[martinuzz]

I've had this happen once or twice.
In my case, a goblin thief had snatched the child, but not left the map yet.
I couldn't zoom to the child in any way, it wasn't on the unit list either.
About 3-4 minutes later I got the message "McSneakyBastard has made off with dwarven child"

[Korva]

Hmm. Zooming in on him via his mom's relations shows me a spot by my main entrance drawbridge. I wonder if he was accidentally smashed there, but again, I don't remember any messages of the kid dying, being crushed or being abducted. Still, it's probably the best bet to assume to his mom lost him while mashing goblins and he got under the bridge, and I just overlooked it in the post-siege-cleanup madness. :/ Thanks.

I looked up the "happy to be free" thought but the wiki only shows that for the old DF version as a criminal whose sentence ended, which just adds extra weirdness to this since I haven't had a single "criminal" in this fort so far, nor a sheriff to jail anyone.

[Lofn]

Did the snatcher run into a cage trap?

[Urist Imiknorris]

It was a snatcher. The baby was kidnapped at that spot on the drawbridge that the game zoomed to. He is "free" because he was stuffed unceremoniously in a bag, and now that he's off the map, the game didn't register him as being in the bag anymore.

He is the happiest dwarf you will find, with the exception of one who has just made an artifact.

[FrisianDude]

It was a snatcher. The baby was kidnapped at that spot on the drawbridge that the game zoomed to. He is "free" because he was stuffed unceremoniously in a bag, and now that he's off the map, the game didn't register him as being in the bag anymore.

He is the happiest dwarf you will find, with the exception of one who has just made an artifact.

Odd, because the baby I lost was happy to be free despite being in Goblin-possession, still on my map. Maybe his mother clutched him too tight or something.

[Urist Da Vinci]

Odd, because the baby I lost was happy to be free despite being in Goblin-possession, still on my map. Maybe his mother clutched him too tight or something.

IIRC Toady programmed the kids to receive that thought if they were snatched, because the corresponding thought about imprisonment could cause the abducted child to rage out.

It has been known for several game versions that snatched children/babies get the "free" thought. See: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=9307.0

[Akura]

Odd, because the baby I lost was happy to be free despite being in Goblin-possession, still on my map. Maybe his mother clutched him too tight or something.

IIRC Toady programmed the kids to receive that thought if they were snatched, because the corresponding thought about imprisonment could cause the abducted child to rage out.

Now wait a moment. Wouldn't it be pretty awesome for a kidnapped baby to go berserk, burst out of the bag, and snap the arm of his would-be snatcher, then stab him in the face with his own dagger?

[Ivan Issaccs]

Dont you get an announcement when that happens that pauses the game after the child is taken off map?

[Urist Imiknorris]

It doesn't pause the game by default. It could also be easily missed if you were doing anything that involves message spam at the time, especially destroying a bunch of masterwork items, as those messages share their color with kidnapping announcements.

[Korva]

Hmm, thanks. This is indeed my first case of kidnapping, then. I feel a bit bad for the parents now, though any bad thoughts of their own related to losing their kid aren't showing anymore and both are as happy as clams. And it irks me that I completely overlooked this happening.

Gotta play something evil now for the snatchers I did catch in cage traps.

[CapnUrist]

Be careful with them; attempting to pit them often results in their escaping and beating up the poor bastard that let them loose.

Personally, I would suggest lever-opening the cage in a large pit with either

• a nasty beastie you've captured loose in the pit with it
• marksdwarves on the walls awaiting target practice
• spike traps in the floor on repeat
• all of the above

[Korva]

Yep, I know about the slipperiness of thieves. Normally I just have a squad on standby to take them out, but in this case I want something more painful than a quick axe to the head. I'm thinking either 1/7 magma or low-quality spike traps.

First I need to deal with the leftovers of the next siege, though.

[Urist Imiknorris]

I prefer adamantine war hammers. Gives my hammerdwarves a lot of training, and takes forever.