Help, Lassie, come quick

Well, game two, one player, but a second interested party showed up as we wrapped up. I didn't give them much notice, so my apologies. This week I will be off to school on game day, and it would have been a work night anyway, so..

Our hero, Guard of the Temple Hriháyal, and party progressed upstream on the Berjádu to the Sákbe road tower that bridges the river. On the way they found the recent remains of two unknown Hriháyal guards, dead of injuries from a beast, and exposure. When they reached the Tower the Tirrikámu of the Sákbe roads for the area informed them that, yes, they knew about the dead Temple guards. They had been informed by another detachment from Butrús that the Priestess' barge was missing, and they had been sending scouts down the river. They had already rescued a priestess, found unconscious with the dead Guards, and she was resting comfortably in the guards room, in between her efforts to reward her rescuers. When they asked for an audience, they were told she probably would not be available til morning.

Next Morning our party learns that the rescued priestess is barely an acolyte, but a protégé of the High Priestess they are seeking. They are told that the Barge was trying desperately to make it the last few bends to the village and safety when the oars on one side started to snap. The Craft heaved sidelong in the river, and caught on debris, and quickly started to swamp. Water coming over the gunnels swept several people into the water immediately. She does not know who made it off the boat.

It is decided that the group should proceed down the other side of the Berjádu, to find the overturned barge, and look for evidence of life. Along the way, our acolyte, an Salarvyáni girl liberated in the border wars and inducted into the temple of Hriháyal, learns first of the Chnéhl. She explains that there may be up to two, and that they were aboard the barge, part of the entourage, as it were, and a crucial part of a ritual our High Priestess planned in Tumíssa. They were exceptional specimens, bred for size and aggressiveness, and valuable. More so, if the High Priestess is recovered, but worth something to the Temple in any case.

Half way down she learns the amusing story of the singing Rényu, and offers up more information. The Rényu is Fefee, a pet, companion to the High Priestess. That Fefee lives is encouraging, to her, as the animal is very loyal. And, of course, another valuable critter to recover, and probably much easier than recapturing the Chnéhl. She estimates that it may be only a few weeks, however, before a captive Rényu becomes a Feral Rényu.

At the Barge, they manage to completely fail at uprighting the craft. So they punch a hole in the now inverted barge and explore, finding some dead rowing slaves, and a trunk of valuables that belong to the HP. They explore the area, and find another Temple Guard, a Tirrikámu for the HP. He is an older man, a retiree from the legions, and experienced in the wild. He says he has swept the area south, and sees no signs of survivors.

So the party returns to the Sákbe roads, where they are told by the Guards that the singing Rényu has been appearing every night, despite them throwing rocks at the cursed thing. It appears again, that night, and our hero and the Acolyte try to approach it. Every time they get close, it darts off into the woods. Every time they retreat, it comes forward and sings. They decide it is trying to lead them.

Everyone up, but kept a good distance back, and off into the woods to follow the Rényu. Travel is difficult, and slow, but by mid morn they find a sink hole, and the Rényu wants to go down. But it is steep and slick. The party ties up some crude ladders and goes in.

So, has it come to this. I once thought myself a pretty ingenious GM, but it was my player who laughed as he said, “What Lassie, Timmy's in the well?”. Not my most creative moment, I am afraid. Still this is hopefully building to something...