Samus said that the KFC had told him that it was hurt. Apparently, when he hit the tree, he had knocked off some shingles. It also told him that the witches had healed it with spells animate dead or animate object – the latter healed better than the former. The hut was a bit of a chatterbox.

We continued to lurch down Iron Road and met a wagon heading to Rel Astra. An older man and woman drove two old draft horses. Leroy got down from the hut to greet them. Both were staring at KFC open-mouthed. We learned they were Mildred and Samuel Roberts, and they were heading to Rel Astra with their crop to meet their cousin Ralo and sell their goods. Unfortunately, they had met Reggie, a bully-boy Iron Wolf that Samus was well acquainted with, who had set his thugs on the poor farmer and his wife and had taken their crops and their gold.

Leroy gave them 10 gold to keep their mouths shut about the hut and us. They nodded knowingly and said they were used to keeping their mouths shut because their cousin, Ralo, ran with a certain crowd. I gave them some cheese and bread for their journey, and they started heading away from us. We didn’t get far when we heard them screaming, and the huge, winged creature had latched onto one of their draft horses with its talons. Mildred and Samuel jumped down and ran toward the tree line.

The beast was strong, but our Samus was stronger, and with a mighty last blow, he slew the creature, but not before it had killed one of Mildred and Samuel’s old draft horses. Samus was very proud of the kill and pulled the head off, announcing it would hang over his bed at Idlewood…hoping he got the beast stuffed first. Samus noticed that a decomposing dwarf was stuck in its gullet with nice leather armor (+2) and a pouch of coins. I was also able to harvest from the beast 10 scales, 3 claws, and a vial of blood for Friz. Samus put the gory head in the hut, and we continued on our way.

Leroy chastised me and my leadership qualities, asking if we were going to be bystanders or heroes. His constant needling was starting to grate on me as I believed I might have the final say, but I was by no means a dictator – that was what we were fighting for, or had this bard forgotten that? All of us brought our strengths to the party – Kron with his knowledge of the woods and scouting abilities; Raelin’s sticky fingers and sixth sense for survival; Samus for his strategy and always being the front man; and I was hoping for Leroy for his negotiating skills. He might not have been as smooth as Livea, but he was good. I would take his critique into advisement though. Archie always said that the sign of a good leader was to listen.

We decided to give the hut a rest and hike down the road. We spotted Reggie and his bully boys down the road a bit from us. Raelin circled around the woods for a surprise attack, and we went forward and had a chat. I sent Fluffy off in the woods to wait until I whistled.

Reggie and Samus were not overjoyed to see each other, and strong words were exchanged, and the fight was on. Reggie and his two casters left, leaving us with his motley crew. Samus and I were quickly outmatched, and Samus picked me up and headed for the woods. Leroy hid in the brush and put on one of the dead bully boys' iron wolf uniforms and seemed to be making friends with them…though those around him started falling like cordwood.

I sent a fireball into the old ruins they were using as a camp, incinerating a few of them along with the old building. The bully boys got suspicious of Leroy, but by then it was too late, and we were able to kill the remaining crew and strip them (11 Iron Wolf uniforms – might come in handy; and some coin). Samus insisted on leaving their heads on a spike for Reggie to find.

We continued on to Trippers, hoping Kron’s day was less eventful than ours