Town life: soup, letters and the calendar

Small things that happen on their own, whether you're there or not. Nothing here is ever taken away from you if you miss it.

The calendar

/calendar (or the board above the clerk's counter) lists what's coming: the soup, new town orders, the treasure hunt, the seasons, the Winter Star. Planned dates, unless a change is announced.

The town soup

A cauldron stands on the square, north of the fountain. All week, anyone can add something to eat, a crop, a fish, a dish, up to three a week each: hold it and click the cauldron. On Sunday at 6 pm the town tastes it. The more different ingredients, the better: a varied soup makes the fountain sparkle, and a real masterpiece leaves everyone well fed. Odd ingredients make for odd remarks, never for a worse soup. An empty week passes quietly.

The Winter Star

A secret gift exchange in December. Sign up with /winterstar join between 1 and 14 December (after a week in Kettlewood). On the 15th you learn, privately, who you give to. Leave your gift at the post counter in the town hall with /winterstar give by the 23rd; gifts open on the 24th at 6 pm. It needs at least four players. The town tries to leave a small something for anyone whose gift didn't come.

The morning post

The first time you join each day, one line offers you the morning post: a short letter from the town, the mayor, the clerk, the curator or the fisher, and the almanac, with the weather and the day's luck. Luck is the same for everyone. On a Generous or Sparkling day, treasures in the Diggings mines may give a little more; other days change nothing. /morning reads it again; /morning off stops the line.

Friends in town

Two townspeople at the town hall will get to know you: Odo Fennimore, the clerk who runs the town orders, and Brannoch Ashgrave, the smith. To give a gift, crouch and right-click them with it in your hand (a normal click still opens their counter). Each has things they love and things they like, taken in small lots (sixteen sheets of paper, eight loaves of bread…): /friends lists them all, so there's nothing to guess. One gift a day each, three a week. Hearts never go down, whether you visit or not. At three hearts they open up a little; at five you're a Friend of theirs, and the smith mends your gear for 5 % fewer Embers. Gifts on their birthday count double (it's in /calendar). Only you see your hearts.

Errands of the week

Every Monday, two small errands go up on the board next to the calendar at the spawn (and in /quests). One is for Odo or Brannoch: bring them what they ask (crouch and right-click them with it in hand) for +3 friendship. It counts as one of that week's three gifts. The other sends you somewhere in town or beyond: the museum, the pontoon, the soup, the lighthouse, the old places, the Diggings mines. When it's done, /quests claim (or click the board) for one small thing from this list, chosen at random: 4 lanterns, 3 bottles o' enchanting, 8 candles, a spyglass, a flower pot with two flowers, or 16 fireworks. Miss a week? Nothing is lost; there'll be new ones on Monday.

Welcome gifts

New in town? Three small gifts wait for you: after your first few minutes of play, on your second day, and a week after you arrived. Type /welcome whenever you like; they never expire. And if you've been away for a couple of weeks, there's a little something when you come back, and a word on what changed. Nothing is ever lost while you're away.

Around Kettlewood

By the spawn, next to the welcome wall, a board shows who's online and what people are building lately. Want your project on it? /building a windmill by the river (up to 40 characters, shown for two weeks); /building off takes it down.

The counter's special

Each day the counter pays a little more (×1.5) for one thing it buys; it's in the morning post and marked ★ in /counter prices. The daily limit stays the same.

The Mayor's chest

In the town hall, by the donations corner, stands the Mayor's chest. Once you've played for 30 minutes in a day (being AFK doesn't count), click it for a small gift; bread, torches, honey, lanterns, a name tag if you're lucky. The first time each week, there are three diamonds in it too. One gift a day (the day turns at 4 am); the day's luck in the almanac helps a little.

Season letters

Every season after you arrive, and once a year, the clerk writes you a short letter about your season: what you built, brought, found and caught. Never your deaths, your hours or your Embers, and never about anyone else. /season reads the latest.