diff --git a/packages/ludic.render3d/env.ludic b/packages/ludic.render3d/env.ludic
index 5900e486..3a879c4d 100644
--- a/packages/ludic.render3d/env.ludic
+++ b/packages/ludic.render3d/env.ludic
@@ -199,6 +199,7 @@ export state Render3dState {
   gvk_al_tag: []int = null          # per allocation id: owner * 4 + image * 2 + host (vkmem_report.ludic)
   gvk_tag: int = 0                  # the owner allocations are made for now (VKM_*)
   vkmem_at: int = 0                 # R3D_VKMEM=<frame>: the report is printed at that frame
+  sh_layers: int = 5                # the shadow array's layers: the cascades the fog wall needs (shadow_fog)
   fog_imp_released: int = 0         # impostor atlases let go under a fog wall (fog_impostors.ludic)
   fog_imp_rebaked: int = 0
   fog_imp_rebake_us: int = 0
diff --git a/packages/ludic.render3d/gpu_vk.ludic b/packages/ludic.render3d/gpu_vk.ludic
index 130c456f..ac0008e1 100644
--- a/packages/ludic.render3d/gpu_vk.ludic
+++ b/packages/ludic.render3d/gpu_vk.ludic
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ function gvk_mem_new(render3d_st: mut Render3dState, req: bytes, want: int, imag
   let span = (size + align - 1) / align * align
   # an impostor atlas has memory of its own: a fog wall lets it go (fog_impostors.ludic), and inside a
   # shared block its room went back to nobody while the block's other tenants stayed
-  if size <= gvk_own_over(render3d_st) and render3d_st.gvk_tag != VKM_IMPOSTOR {
+  if size <= gvk_own_over(render3d_st) and render3d_st.gvk_tag != VKM_IMPOSTOR and render3d_st.gvk_tag != VKM_SHADOW {
     var kind = t * 2
     if image { kind += 1 }
     var i = 0
diff --git a/packages/ludic.render3d/render.ludic b/packages/ludic.render3d/render.ludic
index cca08c88..f2cf20b4 100644
--- a/packages/ludic.render3d/render.ludic
+++ b/packages/ludic.render3d/render.ludic
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ export function r3d_fog_wall(render3d_st: mut Render3dState, dist: float) -> voi
   render3d_st.sc_view_gen += 1
   cam_update(render3d_st)
   fog_impostors(render3d_st)
+  shadow_fog(render3d_st)
 }
 # how far anything is drawn: the fog wall and a margin, or `far` (0: no limit of its own) without one
 function r3d_reach(render3d_st: Render3dState, far: float) -> float {
diff --git a/packages/ludic.render3d/shaders/sky.frag b/packages/ludic.render3d/shaders/sky.frag
index db0bbd44..e2cf74a1 100644
--- a/packages/ludic.render3d/shaders/sky.frag
+++ b/packages/ludic.render3d/shaders/sky.frag
@@ -117,6 +117,15 @@ void main() {
   if (u_fog_wall > 0.0) {
     float band = clamp(90.0 / u_fog_wall, 0.06, 0.75);
     col = mix(col, fogWallCol(dir), 1.0 - smoothstep(-0.02, band, dir.y));
+    // a thick fog (110 m and nearer, easing out by 175 m) takes the whole sky, overhead too: no
+    // stars and no clouds through it, only a soft glow where the sun (in fogWallCol) or the moon is
+    float cover = 1.0 - smoothstep(110.0, 175.0, u_fog_wall);
+    if (cover > 0.0) {
+      vec3 thick = fogWallCol(dir);
+      float mg = pow(max(dot(dir, u_moon_dir), 0.0), 12.0) * u_moon_illum * night * step(-0.08, u_moon_dir.y);
+      thick += vec3(0.55, 0.6, 0.7) * 0.05 * mg;
+      col = mix(col, thick, cover);
+    }
   }
   o_color = vec4(sane(col), 1.0);
 }
diff --git a/packages/ludic.render3d/shaders/spv/428caa3a.frag.spv b/packages/ludic.render3d/shaders/spv/428caa3a.frag.spv
index 9e30bcf3..ed325e79 100644
Binary files a/packages/ludic.render3d/shaders/spv/428caa3a.frag.spv and b/packages/ludic.render3d/shaders/spv/428caa3a.frag.spv differ
diff --git a/packages/ludic.render3d/shadow.ludic b/packages/ludic.render3d/shadow.ludic
index 94c75eaf..116b10a3 100644
--- a/packages/ludic.render3d/shadow.ludic
+++ b/packages/ludic.render3d/shadow.ludic
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ function shadow_init__t(render3d_st: mut Render3dState) -> void {
   render3d_st.sh_split[0] = 16.0;  render3d_st.sh_split[1] = 60.0;  render3d_st.sh_split[2] = 250.0;  render3d_st.sh_split[3] = 1100.0;  render3d_st.sh_split[4] = 6000.0
   render3d_st.sh_tmp_proj = m4_new();  render3d_st.sh_tmp_vp = m4_new();  render3d_st.sh_tmp_inv = m4_new();  render3d_st.sh_tmp_view = m4_new()
   render3d_st.sh_corner = floats(3)
+  shadow_fog(render3d_st)
 }
 
 # A shadow resolution setting: 1024, 2048 or 4096 per cascade. The depth layers are made again at
@@ -64,7 +65,8 @@ function shadow_set_res(render3d_st: mut Render3dState, r: int) -> void {
 function shadow_make_tex(render3d_st: mut Render3dState) -> void {
   render3d_st.sh_tex = gpu_tex_new(render3d_st)
   gpu_tex_bind(render3d_st, GPU_TEX2D_ARRAY, render3d_st.sh_tex)
-  gpu_tex_image3d(render3d_st, GL_DEPTH_COMPONENT32F, render3d_st.shadow_res, render3d_st.shadow_res, SHADOW_CASCADES, GL_DEPTH_COMPONENT, GL_FLOAT, null)
+  render3d_st.sh_layers = shadow_layers_for(render3d_st)
+  gpu_tex_image3d(render3d_st, GL_DEPTH_COMPONENT32F, render3d_st.shadow_res, render3d_st.shadow_res, render3d_st.sh_layers, GL_DEPTH_COMPONENT, GL_FLOAT, null)
   gpu_tex_param(render3d_st, GPU_TEX2D_ARRAY, GL_TEXTURE_MIN_FILTER, GL_LINEAR)
   gpu_tex_param(render3d_st, GPU_TEX2D_ARRAY, GL_TEXTURE_MAG_FILTER, GL_LINEAR)
   gpu_tex_param(render3d_st, GPU_TEX2D_ARRAY, GL_TEXTURE_WRAP_S, GL_CLAMP_TO_BORDER)
@@ -159,6 +161,8 @@ function shadow_pass(render3d_st: mut Render3dState) -> void {
     prof_cpu_mark(render3d_st, "shadow fit")
     let past = wall > 0.0 and near >= wall
     near = render3d_st.sh_split[c]
+    # a cascade the fog's shadow array has no layer for: fitted (its uniforms stay sane), never drawn
+    if c >= render3d_st.sh_layers { continue }
     gpu_fb_depth_layer(render3d_st, render3d_st.sh_tex, c)
     if render3d_st.r3d_debug and c == 0 { shadow_debug_fbo(render3d_st) }
     gpu_clear(render3d_st, GL_DEPTH_BUFFER_BIT)
@@ -179,7 +183,7 @@ function shadow_pass(render3d_st: mut Render3dState) -> void {
 @alloc_ok("asked for by the player or a tool, not by the frame")
 function shadow_dump(render3d_st: mut Render3dState) -> void {
   let n = render3d_st.shadow_res * render3d_st.shadow_res
-  let buf = floats(n * SHADOW_CASCADES)
+  let buf = floats(n * render3d_st.sh_layers)
   gpu_tex_bind(render3d_st, GPU_TEX2D_ARRAY, render3d_st.sh_tex)
   gpu_tex_param(render3d_st, GPU_TEX2D_ARRAY, GL_TEXTURE_COMPARE_MODE, GL_NONE)
   gpu_tex_read(render3d_st, GPU_TEX2D_ARRAY, GL_DEPTH_COMPONENT, GL_FLOAT, data_of(buf))
@@ -300,3 +304,25 @@ function shadow_debug_range(render3d_st: mut Render3dState, prog: int) -> void {
 # messages, each built in a function of its own so the path that says it holds no allocation
 @alloc_ok("a message, built only when it is said: a failure, a warning or a debug switch")
 function shadow_say_no_memory(r: int, was: int) -> void { print(`r3d: shadows: no memory for {r} x {r} cascades; keeping {was}`) }
+
+# ---- the fog wall -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# A cascade that begins past the wall is never drawn, so the array holds only the ones that begin
+# inside it (16 MB each at 2048): two at 30 m, three at 175 m, all five without a fog. A layer the
+# array lacks clamps to its last, and what reads it lies past the wall, fully fogged.
+function shadow_layers_for(render3d_st: Render3dState) -> int {
+  let wall = r3d_reach(render3d_st, 0.0)
+  if wall <= 0.0 or render3d_st.sh_split == null { return SHADOW_CASCADES }
+  var n = 1
+  while n < SHADOW_CASCADES and render3d_st.sh_split[n - 1] < wall { n += 1 }
+  return n
+}
+
+# the array made again when the wall changes how many cascades it needs
+function shadow_fog(render3d_st: mut Render3dState) -> void {
+  if render3d_st.sh_tex == 0 or shadow_layers_for(render3d_st) == render3d_st.sh_layers { return }
+  let was = render3d_st.gvk_tag
+  render3d_st.gvk_tag = VKM_SHADOW
+  gpu_tex_free(render3d_st, render3d_st.sh_tex)
+  shadow_make_tex(render3d_st)
+  render3d_st.gvk_tag = was
+}