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[azrael4h]

That's one of the problems, the violent ghosts never move except for when they decide to kill and then they go wherever their target is even if it's across the fort and across multiple z levels. I've never been able to witness the moment of attack so I don't know how they even get there.
[/quote]

That's interesting, as I've had a few ghosts pop up in Copperabbey recently.

One followed the head miner (my sole surviving founding dwarf) everywhere, another followed my newly appointed broker around (I think that one was his wife though). Both were killed in the halls. A dead surgeon, who was killed outside on the mountain slopes, instead stood inside my dining room, before it was dug out. I literally had no dining hall dug until after I had lost half my fort, and had gotten the message that he had arisen. Afterwards, I dug it out, and there he was. He remained until I have engraved the entire thing (it's legendary now). I finally managed to get a slab engraved with his name built.

Several more dwarves fell outside, but did not rise even though they were not buried until long after their bodies became bones. One the other hand, one of the recent migrant waves that got slaughtered since I sealed the entrance, one of them rose and started haunting somewhere, though I'm not sure where they're at. 

[plynxis]

this thread is an evil biome unto itself

its actually kind of spooky too. Toady did a fine job with those ghosts and so is Broseph with the descriptions. i'm reading this at 2 am and it was like a horror novel - i've read published stories that weren't this good.

also, great job on the ‼Science‼

if this eventually hits a wall, maybe you could save-scum and load the copy, let the ghosts kill as many as they want (just wait basically) and see if there are dwarves left that they dont touch or kill.

[Broseph Stalin]

this thread is an evil biome unto itself

its actually kind of spooky too. Toady did a fine job with those ghosts and so is Broseph with the descriptions. i'm reading this at 2 am and it was like a horror novel - i've read published stories that weren't this good.

also, great job on the ‼Science‼

if this eventually hits a wall, maybe you could save-scum and load the copy, let the ghosts kill as many as they want (just wait basically) and see if there are dwarves left that they dont touch or kill.

That's essentially what I'm doing, my FPS has fallen to "doable" but unacceptable levels. The only joy I can take from Chirpacted is the ghost science.

[Broseph Stalin]

24 Sandstone Chirpacted
We released prisoners of war into the trap tunnel, they ran through the traps and died in a spectacular display. It may not have been humane but it was certainly good for morale.

2 Timber 208 Chirpacted
I'm beginning to see things. The concept has taken shape though I cannot grasp it. Two more pigeons wandered into our traps and was predictably converted into gory shrapnel. The pigeons wander into traps because pigeons are stupid, why do goblins wander into traps? They do not see the traps, they may recognize the device as something foreign but they do not see the trigger. We do not see rhyme or reason to these attacks because we do not see the triggers, only the device. The Clothier is a trap waiting patiently to be sprung, he does not tire, fear, or flinch. He stands because the blades stand- because he is patient. He does not need bait because he is patient we will trip the mechanisms because he is patient. I won't leave the office but he will wait. He is the blades.

Timber 5 Chirpacted
A cow wandered into the traps because it did not see them. I am not a cow. I see the traps I do, I am not a pigeons and I am not a cow. He sees his blood on our boots, he knows we stepped over him as he bled, that we sidestepped him as he struggled in vain to build his magnum opus- an idea so beautiful and pure that it crystallized in his mind and could not escape he knows that we did not help that we could not help. He knows that when he expressed his rage we fell on him on him in unison and that when he bled we stepped over him. I am not a pigeons I am not a cow.

15 Timber Chirpacted
Four pigeons and a cow were rent in a glorious display of dwarven engineering and the craftsmanship of our beloved steel discs their blood paints the ground now and they will not draw us to harm. He will not see me because I will be the blood he will not see me he will not smell his own blood. The pigeons and cows and invisible goblins will not plot to do us harm. They will not conspire with the Scavengers or the elves and the blades shall remain sentry against the unseen but everpresent goblin scourge. The fortress will be covered in blood and they won't see. The gods are wiser than us they bait their traps with mysteries because they know we will wander by and we will not see the triggers. Their traps are more sophisticated, I see the mechanism but I do not understand. The cows do not understand, they see the traps but they do not understand and in their misguided curiosity they wander closer to see. I am not a cow I am not a pigeons I am blood and In time everything will blood I am not a cow I am not the pigeons I am blood[The writing rapidly degenerates into scrawls and eventually crude images and symbols]

 
**Regarding Appropriate Conduct as a Citizen of Chirpacted**

6 Timber 208 Chirpacted


The time has come to acknowledge as Dwarves and above all else men of science that our speculations experimentations and our observations being rooted in in subjects that are by their nature macabre may have given license to unprofessionalism and decidedly unscientific assertations. It is understandable that the nerves become frayed while every citizen of Chirpacted lives with the knowledge that at any moment they may be maimed by one of several violent spirits, stalked by the dregs of society they refused to look upon in life, or have their prized possessions toppled and strewn about in a sort of ghastly reposession the spectral form of their craftsman. The very suggestion that blood be it of Dwarves or animals is nothing short of absurd, any apparent connection between the remaining traces of blood that spilt when the Mad Clothier was slain is purely circumstantial and due in whole to the omnipresence of that blood in high traffic areas at the time of the slaying. These things being recognized as absolute truths loitering in the caverns and or staring at the spirit of the dyer is entirely inappropriate behavior. Changing your clothing to emulate that of the Mad Clothier is entirely inappropriate behavior. Recording animals that fall to the defenses is entirely inappropriate behavior. Observing the trap defenses for long periods of time is entirely inappropriate behavior. Using ones clothing to clean the trap defenses and refusing to wash that clothing thereafter is entirely inappropriate behavior. Asserting that you are not an animal or claiming to be anything other than a dwarf is entirely inappropriate behavior. I trust that everyone will join me in adopting these codes for reasonable conduct and visiting our beloved Baron in the hospital while his thigh mends following his well publicized injury at the hands of the Clothier.

** In Addition **
While the consistency of our Guard is to be praised it is unnecessary and impractical to attempt to punish the spirits for crimes they committed in life and the standing warrants may be rescinded at any time.

[Broseph Stalin]

You know what this thread needs? Dead babies.

25 Opal 4 Holydune

We've encountered a rather significant mishap involving the "Danger Room". A speardwarf decided her infant could not be left unattended and the babe was beaten to a bloody pulp before the lever to stop the exercise was pulled. The temporary famine placed casket construction on the back burner for such a period that the child expressed it's displeasure by presenting it's spectral form and harassing it's mother. It's unclear how the mother will respond or what the spirit is capable of but for the sake of science events will be permitted to  transpire without our interference.

[plynxis]

Dead babies. On spikes.

i had some in my fort - accidents like this and some babies rose. but they're always just plain ghosts, never the violent kind. disappointing.

[Lagslayer]

Can a ghost kill another ghost? Perhaps if they had a grudge in life, they would attack eachother. Or can a dwarf develop a grudge against a ghost? I mean, if they can throw parties and fish, maybe they can develop their skills and relationships.

[Broseph Stalin]

Can a ghost kill another ghost? Perhaps if they had a grudge in life, they would attack eachother. Or can a dwarf develop a grudge against a ghost? I mean, if they can throw parties and fish, maybe they can develop their skills and relationships.

Ghosts have no limbs and likely have some other factors contributing to their functional invincibility so I don't think they can be killed. Your question about relationships however lead me to an interesting scientific discovery.

While a ghost has many things from their past life carry over it's impossible to observe their relationships or skills even though things like pending punishments still appear to be active. This isn't true for babies, it's possible to look at their skills (none, they are babies) and observe all of their relationships. Why are babies so different? I have no idea but what I can tell you is this: There is absolutely no way for this to go down that doesn't end with me murdering a crapload of babies.

[Corneria]

A thank you to the wiki for these gems on the ghost article:

"Cave-ins do not kill them. Possibly because they are already dead."

Never got the below message, but it's format makes it impossible for me to take it seriously:

<item> has been misplaced. No doubt <ghost> is to blame!

[Broseph Stalin]

A thank you to the wiki for these gems on the ghost article:

"Cave-ins do not kill them. Possibly because they are already dead."

Never got the below message, but it's format makes it impossible for me to take it seriously:

<item> has been misplaced. No doubt <ghost> is to blame!

I've never seen that message either, I think I may need a new fort to fill with ghosts. All the subjects save one accidental addition were killed in horrible moods or after they had collapsed into insanity which would explain the lack of diversity in my spectral population.  I actually cheated and used RS to kill some FBs that were crashing my FPS but it still wasn't enough to get my FPS back up to a workable level.

[Musashi]

Yea, it's pretty rare, must have seen that message once.
Much more frequently though, right between the pointlessly wandering ghosts and the destructive ghosts in terms of rarity, are the fishing ghosts. Armok bless their souls, they gather truckloads of fish at all time, even during sieges. 

[Broseph Stalin]

7 opal 208 Chirpacted

Recent events suggest certain individuals act as catalysts for ghostly activity. Ostium, one of our miners, suffered her lover biting her in a fit of rage, by the ghost of a peasant she never met stalking her, and one of he close friends becoming a notch on the belt of the Clothier. Now she finds herself in the hospital once more after being attacked by our unofficial mascot. Why is she attracting all of this attention when the majority of the fortress is still yet to have an encounter? One theory posed is that the Incident with Ars the mechanic has made her something of a lightning rod for future misfortune. Speculations are to be taken with a grain of salt until it becomes apparent that this is a genuine phenomena and not a casualty of statistical anomaly. The spirit of our beloved metalsmith has once again toppled one of her own statues of masterwork quality, it is till entirely possible that this is a side effect of her previous utility- having made nearly all metal furniture weapons and armor in the fort.

[plynxis]

Never got the below message, but it's format makes it impossible for me to take it seriously:

<item> has been misplaced. No doubt <ghost> is to blame!

i got that one from a child or baby, cant remember. so i made a slab in its honor, but i cant remember if i found the axe it took or if my dwarves found it. i dont remember caring either really, the message was gold.

[Broseph Stalin]

Ghosts have no limbs and likely have some other factors contributing to their functional invincibility so I don't think they can be killed. Your question about relationships however lead me to an interesting scientific discovery.

While a ghost has many things from their past life carry over it's impossible to observe their relationships or skills even though things like pending punishments still appear to be active. This isn't true for babies, it's possible to look at their skills (none, they are babies) and observe all of their relationships. Why are babies so different? I have no idea but what I can tell you is this: There is absolutely no way for this to go down that doesn't end with me murdering a crapload of babies.

Circumstances have changed, I can no longer look at the relationships of the baby ghost. It may be saving and reloading or it may have been done by wizards.

[lanceleoghauni]

On my reclaim my ghosts just sort of chill out and watch my dwarves, since they don't know them, presumably they don't interact. I'll have to keep an eye on it.