diff --git a/docs/screenshots/title-battle.png b/docs/screenshots/title-battle.png
index 937f091..6efd33b 100644
Binary files a/docs/screenshots/title-battle.png and b/docs/screenshots/title-battle.png differ
diff --git a/src/demo.rs b/src/demo.rs
index 243b3e6..8db6e4e 100644
--- a/src/demo.rs
+++ b/src/demo.rs
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 // the knights fight on a tongue of rock between a lava river (north) and an underground river
 // (south). The dungeon side has a wall with a wooden, an iron and a magic door, rooms behind it
 // (treasury, forge, library, lair, ...), a rune forge tower, a magic tower and a mana spring; all
-// seven traps lie on the knights' way; the knights have their towers and the hero gate. Both sides
+// seven traps lie on the knights' way; the knights have their towers, and their gate stands above
+// ground in a sunny forest east of a cliff, from where they march in through two cave mouths. Both sides
 // get balanced reinforcements, destroyed towers, doors and traps come back after a while, and now
 // and then the dungeon casts a spell. Nothing here is ever saved.
 
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ pub struct Demo {
 }
 
 const WALL_X: i32 = RIVER_X - 8; // the dungeon's wall with its three doors
+const SURF_X: i32 = 55; // from here east the land lies above ground (the knights come from there)
 
 const CREATURES: [(EK, u32); 12] = [(EK::Kobold, 4), (EK::Spider, 3), (EK::Mage, 2), (EK::Ogre, 2), (EK::Jailer, 1), (EK::Priestess, 1), (EK::Bat, 2), (EK::Gargoyle, 1), (EK::Owl, 1), (EK::Wyrm, 1), (EK::Cogling, 1), (EK::Revenant, 1)];
 const KNIGHTS: [(EK, u32); 8] = [(EK::Knight, 5), (EK::Archer, 3), (EK::Priest, 2), (EK::Dwarf, 2), (EK::Paladin, 1), (EK::Giant, 1), (EK::Fairy, 1), (EK::BattleMage, 1)];
@@ -183,8 +185,58 @@ impl Game {
         let spring = idx(WALL_X - 3, BRIDGE_Y + 1);
         g.map.t[spring].kind = Kind::ManaSpring;
         g.map.t[spring].owner = Owner::Player;
-        // the hero gate on the knights' side
-        let (gx, gy) = (RIVER_X + 11, BRIDGE_Y);
+        // above ground in the east: grass, a forest at the edges, a cliff with two cave mouths
+        let mouth = |y: i32| (BRIDGE_Y - 4..=BRIDGE_Y - 1).contains(&y) || (BRIDGE_Y + 2..=BRIDGE_Y + 6).contains(&y);
+        for y in 1..H as i32 - 1 {
+            for x in SURF_X - 1..W as i32 - 1 {
+                let i = idx(x, y);
+                let border = y < 2 || y >= H as i32 - 2 || x >= W as i32 - 2;
+                if x < SURF_X + 1 {
+                    // the cliff (or a cave mouth: knight ground)
+                    if !border {
+                        let t = &mut g.map.t[i];
+                        t.kind = if mouth(y) { Kind::Floor } else { Kind::Rock };
+                        t.owner = if mouth(y) { Owner::Hero } else { Owner::None };
+                        t.reinforced = false;
+                        t.gold = 0;
+                    }
+                    continue;
+                }
+                g.map.set_sky(i, true);
+                if border {
+                    continue;
+                }
+                let t = &mut g.map.t[i];
+                t.owner = Owner::None;
+                t.gold = 0;
+                t.reinforced = false;
+                if t.kind == Kind::Rock && rng.f() < 0.6 {
+                    continue; // a few rocks stay as outcrops
+                }
+                // trees along the north and south edges and in the far east; the march route stays open
+                let dy = (y - (BRIDGE_Y + 1)).abs();
+                let h = ((x * 73 + y * 151) as u32).wrapping_mul(2654435761) >> 24;
+                let wood = dy > 9 || x > W as i32 - 7;
+                t.kind = if wood && h % 3 != 0 { Kind::Tree } else { Kind::Floor };
+                t.hp = if t.kind == Kind::Tree { crate::wood::TREE_HP } else { 0.0 };
+            }
+        }
+        // the knight cave runs on to the cave mouths
+        for y in BRIDGE_Y - 4..=BRIDGE_Y + 6 {
+            if !mouth(y) {
+                continue;
+            }
+            let mut x = SURF_X - 1;
+            while x > RIVER_X + 3 && !g.map.t[idx(x, y)].walkable() {
+                let t = &mut g.map.t[idx(x, y)];
+                t.kind = Kind::Floor;
+                t.owner = Owner::Hero;
+                t.reinforced = false;
+                x -= 1;
+            }
+        }
+        // the hero gate on the knights' side, in the forest
+        let (gx, gy) = (SURF_X + 6, BRIDGE_Y);
         for y in gy..gy + 3 {
             for x in gx..gx + 3 {
                 let t = &mut g.map.t[idx(x, y)];
@@ -220,8 +272,9 @@ impl Game {
             g.demo_spawn(true);
             g.demo_spawn(false);
         }
-        let mut cam = Cam::new(RIVER_X as f32 + 0.5, BRIDGE_Y as f32 + 1.5);
-        cam.zoom = 16.0;
+        // the camera between the battle on the tongue and the forest the knights come from
+        let mut cam = Cam::new(RIVER_X as f32 + 11.5, BRIDGE_Y as f32 + 1.5);
+        cam.zoom = 21.0;
         (g, cam)
     }
 
diff --git a/src/gfx.rs b/src/gfx.rs
index ce72e44..bb820d6 100644
--- a/src/gfx.rs
+++ b/src/gfx.rs
@@ -910,14 +910,16 @@ fn gen_atlas() -> Image {
     for v in 0..2u32 {
         cv.cell(T_LEAVES + v, |x, y| {
             let r = hash(x, y, 430 + v);
-            Some(if r % 5 == 0 { c(30, 70, 30) } else if r % 7 == 0 { c(110, 160, 60) } else if v == 0 { c(56, 110, 44) } else { c(70, 120, 40) })
+            // dark, bluish green: clearly apart from the light meadow
+            Some(if r % 5 == 0 { c(14, 40, 30) } else if r % 7 == 0 { c(52, 96, 62) } else if v == 0 { c(26, 64, 44) } else { c(32, 72, 40) })
         });
     }
     // grass above ground
     for v in 0..4u32 {
         cv.cell(T_GRASS + v, |x, y| {
             let r = hash(x, y, 440 + v);
-            Some(if r % 11 == 0 { c(120, 170, 70) } else if r % 6 == 0 { c(50, 96, 40) } else if r % 23 == 0 { c(200, 190, 90) } else { c(74, 126, 52) })
+            // a light, yellowish meadow with flowers
+            Some(if r % 11 == 0 { c(176, 200, 96) } else if r % 6 == 0 { c(112, 150, 62) } else if r % 23 == 0 { c(236, 220, 110) } else if r % 37 == 0 { c(230, 236, 240) } else { c(140, 176, 78) })
         });
     }
     // obsidian: cooled lava, dark glass with a few glowing seams
diff --git a/src/surface.rs b/src/surface.rs
index 0525a77..e18029c 100644
--- a/src/surface.rs
+++ b/src/surface.rs
@@ -64,6 +64,14 @@ impl Game {
                     continue;
                 }
                 self.map.set_sky(i, true);
+                // no lava under the open sky: rivers up here carry water
+                let tl = &mut self.map.t[i];
+                match tl.kind {
+                    Kind::Lava | Kind::Obsidian => tl.kind = Kind::Water,
+                    Kind::LavaBridge => tl.kind = Kind::Bridge,
+                    Kind::Drawbridge => tl.res &= !DB_LAVA,
+                    _ => {}
+                }
                 if keep {
                     continue;
                 }
@@ -195,4 +203,22 @@ mod tests {
         // the heroes find their way from the gate to the core
         assert!(g.map.hero_path_to_core(idx(gx + 1, gy + 1)).is_some());
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn no_lava_under_the_open_sky() {
+        let mut g = Game::new(31, 128, 96);
+        // a lava river across the whole map
+        for x in 2..126 {
+            for y in 40..44 {
+                g.map.t[idx(x, y)].kind = Kind::Lava;
+            }
+        }
+        g.add_surface(31, 0.5, 3);
+        for i in 0..g.map.t.len() {
+            if g.map.sky(i) {
+                assert!(!matches!(g.map.t[i].kind, Kind::Lava | Kind::LavaBridge), "lava above ground");
+            }
+        }
+        assert!(g.map.t.iter().any(|t| t.kind == Kind::Lava), "the lava below stays");
+    }
 }