Yeah, this.

And don't forget to make a video when you "test" it. Bonus points for 200+ Dwarfes and a king inside.

And i guess it would be kinda cool to have giant waterfalls surround the fortress, as in.... pumps on every side, constantly pumping up water and dropping it into the sea from above.

THANK GOD. I thought he got "interrupted by Carp"
 

http://www.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Cave_spider
"These can bite tame animals and your Dwarves. They cause the victim to be randomly stunned for an unknown duration. "

So Cave Spiders can bite and stun dwarfes and tame animals it seems. Never happened to me, but this might be the cause of your Mason's little... "problem"   

DAMNED I have the exact same problem. Even have the royal bed/dining/meeting rooms ready and actually paved the inside of my fortress with copper bars to get enough road value 

If he takes to long, I will just move his bedroom into my obsidian farm. I bet that would make hin move FAST at least once before it all ends 

Assign them to wear one set of armor (lets say chain)
wait until they have picked it up
then make them wear another (better) set (in this case it would be plate)
wait until they have picked the second set up
now your soldiers should wear two sets (operative word being SHOULD, since I regularry see them wear -Leather Boots- on their hands)


Or is there a better and more secure way to do it? I would love to ensure my champions actually wear my masterwork catleather armor under steelplate. 

I allways keep specialised legendary Miners arround, legendary engravers so when I finally bulid a REAL dining room instead of just a temporary one, they will fill it with lots of masterwork engravings (of Urist McAxedwarf striking down a goblin, turning him into a bloody pile of bones and guts. Good for the appetite it seems  )
I generally want specialists for every important job in my fortress as soon as I get some useless idiots immigrants, so my production orders for beds/barrels/armor/drinks/whatever are followed at once and not just after they cleared the grant meeting hall of little stones .
But maybe thats just me and my wierd preferances, and something else is better.

EDIT: And yes, sparring is deadly. Dabbling soldiers + steel waepons = DEATH. Try to train them in the best armor you can get, with the worst weapons you can get (I use full steel plate and silver weapons, it prevents the worst damage)
Or have thm train to be legendary wrestliners before they start using dangerous equipment (so they become Tough, and the worst wrestlers can do to each other are broken bones )

And yes, my sparring area is covered in blood, too. Check this :
http://www.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Wound
page for info about wounds, the light gray and brown ones might bleed but heal instantly IIRC (unless spine and/or the brain gets hurt)

It is actually quite possible for a dwarf to build a building ARROUND himself. Happened to me more often than just once.

Not sure about the door thing, though. Better check if it is locked, maybe you accidentally forbade passage or something, stranger things have happened. 

@ 2.

You should check the wiki utilitie page

http://www.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Utilities

under "Minor Utilities" you will find "just dig it out" (third from the bottom)

it deactivates the warnings for either magma or water or both.

It's very useful, saves a lot of nerves, too.

okay thank you, I started as a human now and... yeah I met the guy. Told me he doesn't need any help but HEY at least i talked to him
he does look like he is supposed to, too. Now I just need to find myself a crossbow and it's slaying time (better start with something harmless, through... )

Another question (but a rather unimportant one): WHY can i set everything on fire? Just because it's fun or does it have a deeper meaning (for example.... more fun... or something )


EDIT: @penguinofhonor
Hm thats what I noticed, too. It pissed me of quite a bit that I just couldn't find a king in a nerly depopulated mountainhome. But MEH... maybe some day it's gonna happen.

1. I visited several (populated) Fortresses and I never managed to find a Mayor or King. Is there some kind of indicator where to find them (bottommost level of a fortress, one of the corners or something? in the tavern? same layout for every tavern?)

2. Do they look like they do in fortress mode (purple...little...things) so i can identify them without asking?

3. is there a way to find groups on the ... "finding screen" ... i recall being able to check the locations of several towns/fortresses on the adventure map, but people keep telling me the "{something} Slaves" (or others) could have a job for me. These are obviously group/gouvernment names as you can see them in fortress mode (i guess, my recent fortress is ruled by the "granite shields") so how can I locate them?

Thanks in advance 

EDIT: Oh Shi- I just noticed this should rather go into the "DF Questions" Section... oh well. I guess it is adventure related after all   

4 of my 10 champions died because they fell into the river fighting against snakemen.
Cool part: I saw them wrestle some of the beasts to death WHILST they drowned.
Now this is what  I  call "Superdwarvenly Though".

I don't know about fortifications, but you CAN build floorgrates and the wiki says that you CAN shoot through them straight down

Several of my Axe/Hammer Champions wear both leather and Plate armor.
It could be a feature since you perfectly CAN wear a leather vest under a plate armor IRL, too.
But I can't say the same about "boots under boots" or "caps under helms".

The same happened to me.
Do they wear any kind of armor? I saw they held any kind of stuff in their hands alongside the crossbows, like... leather high boots, leather helms and such. (probably because I had them wear leather stuff before I changed to Chainmail equipment)

I just told them to wear NO armor at all for training and that seemed to fix the problem for me. Don't know what happens when I want them to be protected for combat again, through.