"He's beautiful," Gytha said to Ban as she paused just a moment to let the wolf sniff her hand before moving onward again.  "Did you find him as a pup?"  She'd once known another man who had kept a she-wolf as a companion and the animal had made an excellent tracker and would have protected her master to the death, but the beast had also been difficult to control.   

But before Ban had a chance to answer, another man was introducing himself.  A cleric?  Gytha smiled in greeting.  "It is a great comfort to know we have the aid of a cleric.  Though, I can't help but fear we'll need it," the ranger said to Sal.  "I'm Gytha."

"Have you traveled along the Kots River before?" she asked both of the men.  "Once we get farther than a few miles north of here, we'll need to keep our guard up.  The bandits tend to only attack small groups that don't appear well-armed, but if the orcs are hurting the food supply, they may be more desperate now than in the past.  And desperate men do stupid things..."