Tuesday Knights - Age of Worms

The farmhouse turned out to be the nest of an owlbear, in a highly protective mood despite having recently eaten one of the poor graverobbers. Defeating it proved why - a freshly hatched owlbear cub was in the nest, which seemed to imprint onto Vodja, who decided to name it Archie . A tattoo on the uneaten arm reminded Vodja of some of Smenk's enforcers who liked to hang out down at the Feral Dog. Before following up, the party decided to stop in on a Wizard friend of Mesmer's in town named Allustan , only to bump into a squirrelly little mage who gave off sinister vibes. Allustan blew them off, but not without expressing some interest. Kullen and his thugs at the Feral Dog proved somewhat indifferent to the party's success against the owlbear, but confessed to the grave-robbery at the behest of their boss's friend, the necromancer Filge , who had taken up recent residence at the old Observatory north of town. A successful conquest of the observatory yielded the rest of

While putting Borat to rest in the Diamond Lake graveyard, the party hears rumors of a rash of attempted grave robberies. A dragonborn cleric of Tempus gives the eulogy and agrees to join the party in Zniltch's place.  They re-enter the Whispering Cairn after getting some fresh supplies and discover beyond the baths a viciously giggling wight clutching a magical sword, as well as the missing Red Lantern needed to access the Stone Face that might lead to the true tomb.  Lighting all the lanterns, the way opens, revealing a thin bridge across an open chamber, the floor below filled with terracotta balls, as well as a young voice offering warnings and encouragements. Various plans are proposed for getting through the room, including the Druid trying out a spiderform for the first time, but the voice - a ghost of a young explorer who had died in the room - insists that only she can open the chamber from the other side, and only if the adventurers return her body to her family, which in

Exploring further, they chit-chat with the magically imprisoned earth elemental Artophanx that regales them with tales of the great battle of Pesh and spills a few secrets of the tomb. By collapsing the floor underneath the green lantern, they unleash a swarm of flesh-eating beetles and its acid-spitting larger kin. Below the collapse they find the beetle hive and a sleeping chamber with some strange enchantments, and then a half-submerged bathing area protected by a Water Weird. They are able to defeat the Weird but not without the loss of the War Cleric Borat .

The brave but inexperienced explorers delve into the ancient and forgotten tomb, to find that it is the resting place of one of the  Vaati , a  Wind Duke of Aaqa  - a long-forgotten race of Planar Lords who fought in a great war against chaos, the balance of which supposedly created the shifting stability of the Prime Material. Several members of the party are injured from a fall after being blown out of a high corridor by a strange stone face with rainbow eyes. They discover some chambers of the tomb architect and fight a sinister creature of strangling eyeballs.