The session started early (and in fact, it was the only session in living memory not to start with an hour of off-topic discussions) as we had to level up to 5. So the first hour or so went away with discussions related to leveling up and all the different game mechanics-related stuff.
My sorceress got a lot out of this level. Her class unlocked priest spells for free. I also had previously bribed the party not to unlock their artifacts so we could still switch them around. I milked it all for all its worth, buying a lot of adventuring skills for relatively cheap. Never again will a steep rock wall or unexpected pit trap catch me unaware!
And so, obviously, I passed the mantle of DM back to Felgrin's player.
Who surprised us with this awesome setup: a TV for a map! The picture does not do it justice due to the glare of the lamp above, but trust me - it was awesome.
So the actual game started after some time, placing our characters in an OK-sort-of tavern. Right off the bat, we were faced with the consequences of some far-off volcano eruption that we definitely knew nothing about. Crops are failing and the people are looking forward to imminent famine due to all the ash spewed into the air.
Hungry for information, Cahir went ahead to question some local youths who gladly accepted the beer offered but refused to give any useful tips, and instead blamed us - the adventurers - for everything. I stepped in quickly to defuse the situation, charming the guys and preventing any fights from erupting.
Shamil asked the bartender for any learned men who would know about volcanoes, but the greasy fellow got confused due to all the fancy words. Biznard stepped in and set him straight, and we got directions to an "egghead" living in the noble district next to another tavern - the Prancing Unicorn.
And so off we were, as seen above. Shamil had the great idea to go into the tavern first. We asked about our target - the son of Holtos, a copper merchant recently turned wealthy. We bought a bottle of wine for the father, and knocked on his door. The parents turned out to be typical upstarts, with more money than taste. We made ourselves to be foreign nobles interested in trade, and so got a warm welcome due to the hope of profit (and the gift bottle of wine). We turned the talk to volcanoes to draw out the young Holtos, and Shamil questioned him at length about volcanic activity, active and dormant volcanoes, and so on. I initially planned to charm the boy to get more information out of him, but he seemed honest enough, and so my motives turned more sinister. I sent the parents off to sleep with mental commands. The boy almost panicked when he realized he was alone with us, but a charm spell here, some flirting there, and he was done for. Now all we have to do is to get rid of the parents, and we'll have a profitable business on our hands...
Anyway, with some information at hand, off we were. We had no actual real idea on how to deal with an active volcano, and so we decided to side track to unlock the third tier of our artifacts. Now mind you, the second tier costed about 1 gold piece per to unlock, for things such as a couple of pounds of molten metal or a rowboat. For the second tier, things got complicated.
First and easiest to accomplish was to light an enormous bonfire for Shamil on a mountaintop. For 10 gold pieces, he hired enough men and animals to climb a nearby mountain, and chop up a bunch of trees. He climbed into the middle of the ring of lumber...
And it lit up with a terrifying woosh. Of course, nothing is ever simple. As Shamil was inside the raging inferno, caught up in his meditation, the firestorm disturbed a griffon which decided to attack us.
First it mauled Athosian real bad, as she decided to separate from the rest of the group. I kept right behind the fighters, and threw fire magic at it as it executed a couple of fly-by-s. After a while, it landed to maul Biznard half to death. The brave Cahir then engaged it up close, driving his greatsword first beneath a wing, and then right into the head.
We dismembered the corpse and looted all its parts that would be of any worth, recovered Shamil when the fire died down, and went on our way.
For our second trip, we took our boat to a nearby mountain range that had snowy peaks. There Biznard encased himself in ice and communed with his own elemental spirit.
Obviously, our peaceful expedition disturbed the local fauna, and we were beset by wild animals and lycanthropes.
Athosian executed the werewolf with a quick shot to the head, while I kept the bear busy with gouts of flame. This gave the fighters time to engage and defeat the regular wolves and the werebear.
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