diff --git a/project.godot b/project.godot
index e5e0ff7..3e880d1 100644
--- a/project.godot
+++ b/project.godot
@@ -53,6 +53,11 @@ ui_down={
 , Object(InputEventKey,"resource_local_to_scene":false,"resource_name":"","device":-1,"window_id":0,"alt_pressed":false,"shift_pressed":false,"ctrl_pressed":false,"meta_pressed":false,"pressed":false,"keycode":0,"physical_keycode":83,"key_label":0,"unicode":115,"location":0,"echo":false,"script":null)
 ]
 }
+debug_cycle_time={
+"deadzone": 0.5,
+"events": [Object(InputEventKey,"resource_local_to_scene":false,"resource_name":"","device":-1,"window_id":0,"alt_pressed":false,"shift_pressed":false,"ctrl_pressed":false,"meta_pressed":false,"pressed":false,"keycode":0,"physical_keycode":84,"key_label":0,"unicode":116,"location":0,"echo":false,"script":null)
+]
+}
 
 [physics]
 
diff --git a/scenes/Main.tscn b/scenes/Main.tscn
index 3b8434d..a5c3edb 100644
--- a/scenes/Main.tscn
+++ b/scenes/Main.tscn
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@
 [ext_resource type="Script" uid="uid://cqdq8fslu7cyp" path="res://scripts/world/ChunkManager.cs" id="2_0bbpv"]
 [ext_resource type="Script" uid="uid://db2vbbh5737ke" path="res://scripts/core/PackManager.cs" id="3_rarhs"]
 [ext_resource type="PackedScene" uid="uid://bs7qu34sfgvjx" path="res://scenes/world/PickupMarker.tscn" id="3_vcsgt"]
+[ext_resource type="PackedScene" uid="uid://bjil24xdbm76x" path="res://scenes/world/CreatureMarker.tscn" id="4_nxtc6"]
 [ext_resource type="Script" uid="uid://osk74jjhtcjy" path="res://scripts/core/SaveManager.cs" id="4_rarhs"]
+[ext_resource type="Script" uid="uid://b6gxknud5unt" path="res://scripts/core/WorldClock.cs" id="6_c01mt"]
 
 [node name="Main" type="Node2D" unique_id=1194367579]
 
@@ -18,9 +20,14 @@ PlayerPath = NodePath("../Player")
 PackManagerPath = NodePath("../../PackManager")
 PickupMarkerScene = ExtResource("3_vcsgt")
 SaveManagerPath = NodePath("../../SaveManager")
+CreatureMarkerScene = ExtResource("4_nxtc6")
+WorldClockPath = NodePath("../../WorldClock")
 
 [node name="PackManager" type="Node" parent="." unique_id=1706387276]
 script = ExtResource("3_rarhs")
 
 [node name="SaveManager" type="Node" parent="." unique_id=1115563669]
 script = ExtResource("4_rarhs")
+
+[node name="WorldClock" type="Node" parent="." unique_id=437350596]
+script = ExtResource("6_c01mt")
diff --git a/scenes/world/CreatureMarker.tscn b/scenes/world/CreatureMarker.tscn
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..784f40a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scenes/world/CreatureMarker.tscn
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+[gd_scene format=3 uid="uid://bjil24xdbm76x"]
+
+[node name="CreatureMarker" type="Node2D" unique_id=1874810005]
+
+[node name="Visual" type="Node2D" parent="." unique_id=309456162]
diff --git a/scripts/core/WorldClock.cs b/scripts/core/WorldClock.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e3dab86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/core/WorldClock.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+using Godot;
+
+public partial class WorldClock : Node
+{
+	public enum TimeOfDay { Morning, Day, Night }
+
+	[Export] public TimeOfDay Current { get; private set; } = TimeOfDay.Day;
+
+	public override void _Process(double delta)
+	{
+		// Debug toggle: press T to cycle
+		if (Input.IsActionJustPressed("debug_cycle_time"))
+		{
+			Current = Current switch
+			{
+				TimeOfDay.Morning => TimeOfDay.Day,
+				TimeOfDay.Day => TimeOfDay.Night,
+				_ => TimeOfDay.Morning
+			};
+			GD.Print($"TimeOfDay -> {Current}");
+		}
+	}
+
+	public static string ToPackString(TimeOfDay t) => t switch
+	{
+		TimeOfDay.Morning => "morning",
+		TimeOfDay.Day => "day",
+		_ => "night"
+	};
+}
diff --git a/scripts/core/WorldClock.cs.uid b/scripts/core/WorldClock.cs.uid
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0c229d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/core/WorldClock.cs.uid
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+uid://b6gxknud5unt
diff --git a/scripts/world/ChunkManager.cs b/scripts/world/ChunkManager.cs
index 961dab8..6985102 100644
--- a/scripts/world/ChunkManager.cs
+++ b/scripts/world/ChunkManager.cs
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ public partial class ChunkManager : Node2D
 	[Export] public int LoadRadius { get; set; } = 1; // 1 => 3x3
 	[Export] public PackedScene PickupMarkerScene { get; set; }
 	[Export] public NodePath SaveManagerPath { get; set; }
+	[Export] public PackedScene CreatureMarkerScene { get; set; }
+	[Export] public NodePath WorldClockPath { get; set; }
+	[Export] public int MaxCreaturesPerChunk { get; set; } = 3;
+	private WorldClock? _clock;
+	private WorldClock.TimeOfDay? _lastTime;
 	private SaveManager? _save;
 	private CharacterBody2D? _player;
 	private PackManager? _packs;
@@ -36,6 +41,9 @@ public partial class ChunkManager : Node2D
 		_save = GetNodeOrNull<SaveManager>(SaveManagerPath);
 		if (_save == null) GD.PrintErr("ChunkManager: SaveManagerPath not set or invalid.");
 		
+		_clock = GetNodeOrNull<WorldClock>(WorldClockPath);
+		if (_clock == null) GD.PrintErr("ChunkManager: WorldClockPath not set or invalid.");
+		
 		LoadWorldIndex();
 	}
 
@@ -95,6 +103,17 @@ public partial class ChunkManager : Node2D
 			_loaded[k].QueueFree();
 			_loaded.Remove(k);
 		}
+
+		if (_clock != null)
+		{
+			if (_lastTime == null) _lastTime = _clock.Current;
+
+			if (_clock.Current != _lastTime)
+			{
+				_lastTime = _clock.Current;
+				RefreshCreaturesInLoadedChunks();
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
 	private void EnsureLoaded(int x, int y)
@@ -121,8 +140,10 @@ public partial class ChunkManager : Node2D
 		var biome = data.biome ?? "biome:unknown";
 
 		var node = CreateDebugChunkNode(x, y, _world!.chunk_size_px, biome);
-		AddChunkMarkers(node, data);
+		node.SetMeta("chunk_data", data);
+		// Put the chunk into the scene tree first so Timers can run.
 		AddChild(node);
+		AddChunkMarkers(node, data);
 		_loaded[key] = node;
 	}
 
@@ -228,6 +249,12 @@ public partial class ChunkManager : Node2D
 		}
 
 		// Collision rects: gray outlines (optional later)
+		
+		if (data.spawn_zones != null)
+		{
+			foreach (var z in data.spawn_zones)
+				SpawnCreaturesForZone(chunkNode, z);
+		}
 	}
 	
 	private static long NowUnixSeconds() 
@@ -326,6 +353,63 @@ public partial class ChunkManager : Node2D
 		};
 
 		chunkNode.AddChild(timer);
-		timer.Start();
+		// Start after the node is fully in-tree (avoids start-before-tree edge cases).
+		timer.CallDeferred(Timer.MethodName.Start);
 	}
+	
+	private void SpawnCreaturesForZone(Node2D chunkNode, ChunkSpawnZone zone)
+	{
+		if (_clock == null || CreatureMarkerScene == null) return;
+
+		var timeStr = WorldClock.ToPackString(_clock.Current);
+		if (zone.time_windows != null && zone.time_windows.Count > 0 && !zone.time_windows.Contains(timeStr))
+			return;
+
+		// Dedup: ensure one spawn container per zone
+		var containerName = $"Creatures_{zone.id.Replace(":", "_")}";
+		if (chunkNode.HasNode(containerName))
+			return;
+
+		var container = new Node2D { Name = containerName };
+		chunkNode.AddChild(container);
+
+		var r = zone.rect; // [x,y,w,h]
+		var rng = new RandomNumberGenerator();
+		rng.Randomize();
+
+		var count = Math.Min(MaxCreaturesPerChunk, 3);
+		for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
+		{
+			var c = (Node2D)CreatureMarkerScene.Instantiate();
+			c.Position = new Vector2(
+				r[0] + rng.RandfRange(0, r[2]),
+				r[1] + rng.RandfRange(0, r[3])
+			);
+			container.AddChild(c);
+		}
+	}
+
+	private void RefreshCreaturesInLoadedChunks()
+	{
+		foreach (var chunk in _loaded.Values)
+		{
+			// Remove existing creature containers
+			foreach (var child in chunk.GetChildren())
+			{
+				if (child is Node n && n.Name.StartsWith("Creatures_"))
+					n.QueueFree();
+			}
+
+			// Re-read spawn zones by re-parsing the chunk json is overkill.
+			// v0 hack: store ChunkData on the chunk node as metadata.
+			if (chunk.HasMeta("chunk_data"))
+			{
+				var data = (ChunkData)chunk.GetMeta("chunk_data");
+				if (data.spawn_zones != null)
+					foreach (var z in data.spawn_zones)
+						SpawnCreaturesForZone(chunk, z);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/scripts/world/CreatureVisual.cs b/scripts/world/CreatureVisual.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e4f3a95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/world/CreatureVisual.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+using Godot;
+
+public partial class CreatureVisual : Node2D
+{
+	[Export] public float Radius = 8f;
+
+	public override void _Draw()
+	{
+		DrawCircle(Vector2.Zero, Radius, new Color(1f, 0.8f, 0.2f, 0.9f));
+	}
+
+	public override void _Ready() => QueueRedraw();
+}
diff --git a/scripts/world/CreatureVisual.cs.uid b/scripts/world/CreatureVisual.cs.uid
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..faf2853
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/world/CreatureVisual.cs.uid
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+uid://c3276p03ic158