Aerobud on the Bearfell Road

Leaving Aleklot's Rest should have been simple.

Jonah made it less simple by driving the caravan onto the alternate Bearfell-side road instead of the original Ragefort route. After everything below the town, the wrong road felt almost gentle as a mistake until the mountain answered with wind.

A directed gust hit hard enough to nearly push the caravan off-road.

The party searched the area and found the source hiding nearby: a wounded dog-like critter with aerokinetic power. It was not an ambush so much as a hurt creature lashing out from fear, wind, and pain. Jonah healed it, and the creature responded with affection in the only way it knew how, licking him while blasting air over his leg.

The road had given them one more strange survivor.

The party named the possibility Aerobud, or at least gave the creature enough attention to make it more than a random hazard. The alternate Bearfell route was no longer just a wrong turn. It had hidden wind-powered life along it, the kind of creature that could become companion, clue, or problem depending on who reached for it first.