How to put out the fire of an eternal burning artifact on a water limited map

dwarf-fortress

I had some fun with a dragon, and some artifacts got caught on !!fire!! which produce smoke. I'm aware that artifacts will never get destroyed and that water should cool them off, I've tried using the bucket squad to not avail, it only produced steam. Is there a way to un-burn the eternal burning artifact?

I built a reservoir of water just above with a floor hatch (1x1x1 with 7 units of water), it only evaporated into steam and put more pressure on my limited water sources…

Best Answer

Fire is hot enough to evaporate some water before it can be extinguished, so the main problem here is getting enough water. There are two ways you can gather water.

You've mentioned murky pools in your embark area. Murky pools will refill when it rains, so if you're not in an arid biome you can dig channels from your pools to an artificial reservoir, block them with floodgates, and empty them into the reservoir after rain pools up in them.

Alternatively, caverns are known to have large underground lakes in them, which will continuously refill if they touch the edge of the map. With a system of pumps or a well and much patience, you can bring this water to the surface, and eventually have enough to extinguish the artifact, or for other needs.