Weather

Your experiences in the world of Avaria are sure to be affected by the weather, which varies from place to place and can range from frigid cold to blistering heat. You're highly encouraged to be responsive to the ever-changing weather conditions around you, and to react to them in ways that would be realistic for your character.

Weather can provide a great impetus for roleplay. A sudden storm of sand or snow can be a great excuse to duck indoors in a locale your character might not normally frequent. If it's a beautiful day of mild sunshine and fluffy white clouds, you might grab some friends for a picnic. If you're planning nefarious activity, a rainshower might help wash away the tracks of your passage -- or a little bloodspatter. Regardless of whatever else may be going on, the weather always has the potential to give you something to react to and talk about.

Seasons & Climate

For the purposes of the weather, there are actually six seasons in Song of Avaria: winter, early spring, late spring, summer, early fall, and late fall. What the actual weather is like will depend on where in the world you are. You can count on it being colder in the winter and hotter in the summer wherever you are, but whereas summer in Omrazir is scorching, the same season in St. Loomis is relatively mild. There are other climate zones in the game as well, giving you different weather if you have the chance to make a journey around the Adelantean basin.

Weather Effects

Although most of the weather that you will see in Avaria exists just to make the game more immersive and atmospheric, some aspects of weather have concrete impacts. If it's raining and you're out in it, you and your clothes will get wet -- unless you have an umbrella. Some articles of clothing, like hooded cloaks, can keep you from getting wet yourself, though your clothes will still be soaked. Once you get wet, you will find that you will dry out faster in sunny and warm weather, or by standing near a fire. Rain will also make the tracks that are visible with the TRACK command disappear sooner. Rain and melting snow will leave puddles on the ground, which you can drink and fill cups from. And if you're out in the middle of a raging thunderstorm, there is a small chance you could be struck by lightning! These are just a few of the ways in which you may find your experience affected by the weather.

Observing the Weather

There are various ways that you can tell what the current weather for your location is. First off, your status message as soon as you log in will tell you the current weather conditions:
It's a cloudy spring evening in the St Loomis area, and you are speaking Ilexi while sitting on a neat cedar bench.

Generally, as long as you're outside you will see periodic atmospheric emits describing what the weather is like. You can also LOOK at the SKY, or use the WEATHER command. You can only look at the sky if you're outdoors, but WEATHER can be used indoors as well and will tell you the conditions if you can see or sense the weather from that location. You can even check the weather without being in the game at all, as it's shown for both Omrazir and St. Loomis on the website, along with the Avarian date.