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Weather and cooking

The sky over every region does its own thing, and it changes every ten to twenty minutes: clear, cloudy, rain, a storm with lightning, snow in the Rimefields and the Stonecrags, sandstorms over the Glass Dunes, fog in the Mirelands and the Unlit Reach, ashfall over the Ashlands, and up in the Skyreach a clear night or starfall. The weather is the same for everyone in the region: your page and the server work it out from the same clock, so nothing is sent and nothing can be out of step.

Where to see it

• An icon by the minimap shows the weather over your region; point at it (or tap it) and it says what comes next and in how many minutes.
• The Events window (H) shows the forecast for your region: the next few spells with their times.
• On the open surface you see it: rain and snow fall, sand and ash blow, mist drifts by, a storm darkens the sky a little and flashes now and then, and a cloudy sky greys the top of the view. Fog, a sandstorm and ashfall lay a light, even veil over the whole view (you see as far as ever). The towns are outside too: the same sky falls over their streets, lighter (fewer drops still on a phone), under the same veil. Caves, dungeons and the floors are dry, and a few tiles underground the rain stops.
• Rather not see it? Settings (O) > Graphics > Weather effects off draws none of it; the icon, the forecast and what the weather does stay.

The land has a small life of its own under every sky: fireflies in the meadows at night, pollen and leaves by day, snow glitter, blown sand, mist, and splashes where rain falls on water. Settings (O) > Interface > Effects > Ambient life turns that off (Effects and animation).

What it does

• Rain and storm bring fish up sooner (a storm sooner still, and the rare ones with it); Stormfin and The Old King only bite in them.
• Rain and storm grow crops under the open sky: every half minute of rain counts as another half minute of growth (a roof over the crop keeps it dry, and so does a cave).
• Fog, a sandstorm and ashfall lay a light veil over the view: they set the mood, and hide nothing.
• Starfall over the Skyreach brings the Star koi up.

The weather never hurts you, never slows you and never changes the land. It is a sky to look at and a thing to plan around: the anglers wait for the rain.

Cooking

Any raw fish or raw meat grills in a Furnace like ore (fish or meat in the top slot, fuel below; every furnace has its own fire and your own slots, see Furnaces), and every Cauldron (yours, a town's, the Alchemists' in Aldhearth) opens the crafting window on its Cauldron tab when you use it (F beside it, a right click, or a tap): its cooking and brewing, with a search, and All crafting for the rest. In the crafting window (C) the Cauldron tab has them too. A dish is food: eat it (hold it and right click, or select it in the bag and press Eat) and it heals what it says at once and leaves you Well fed for ten minutes.

Where a recipe says any fish, the cheapest raw fish in your bag goes into the pot first, so a rare catch is safe until you cook it on purpose. A legend never counts as "any fish": The Old King goes into a pot only in his own feast, and Aurel's Koi into none. The dishes:

The last three are the farm's food for the road: eat a Delver's pasty before a long dig (see Digging deeper), a Hunter's stew before a great one (see Great ones), and a Featherfall tart before you go down a shaft.

Eggs, milk, cheese, truffles and lantern honey come from animals on your Home's land: see Farm animals.

Fishing luck makes the rare fish more likely and the catches a little bigger; it comes from meals, from a Starsilver rod, and from a storm.

See also Fishing.

The weather of every land

The dishes