Entering the room, Vice visibly relaxes as he catches sight of the dog under the harpsichord. He exchanges a look with Juniper, a faint but relieved smile on his lips. "Guess we were hyping up ourselves for nothing." 

He carefully approaches the dog, trying not to spook it any further, and he crouches down to see it better under the harpsichord. There's not much on him, but he tears off a piece of the dry rations and holds it out. "Here. Want some, buddy?"

Animal Handling: 13 

Juniper lets out her breath, nodding in agreement with Vice. “Wait, don’t get too close and let her come to you,” she suggests as he approaches the little hound. 
(OOC: offering help to Vice’s animal handling roll: 18)

Kal smirks at Star. “Just because there’s a baby in the picture doesn’t mean we’re going to find one.” 

He looks between the dog and the harpsichord. “Maybe the dog was messing with it?  Would explain why it….wasn’t good playing.  Also, what was that about someone being home?”

Wandering back into the hall, he looks over the suits of armor with the wolfs head visors and the picture of the family.  Calling back into the room, he says, “I’m seeing a wolf theme here. And look at the hair on this guy. Wonder if he’s one of the werewolves…”

On entering the room and seeing the dog, Star smiles to himself. He had suggested a pet, and here a pet was. "If a cat can play the flute, perhaps a dog can play this instrument," he says with a chuckle. "A...piano?" Something like this was far too large to move with around the jungle, so Star had only learned about these types of key board instruments since coming to these shores. He sits down at the harpsichord and experimentally plays a couple of notes.

When Kal calls back into the room, Star answers "What werewolves do you speak of? I do not recall Stanimir mentioning shape changers..."

In response to Vice and Juniper's attempts, the dog backs away, moving further underneath the harpsichord. However, they do get a glimpse of the dog tag and see that the dog's name is "Lancelot."

Juniper exchanges a glance with Vice, in sympathy for the frightened creature. “Try calling his name.” She steps back submissively, avoiding eye contact with the hound, and as she backpedals, she twists her fingers in a blossoming circle while uttering a word of power in ancient elvish. Her white berry earrings glow softly, and Vice’s proffered treat now gives off the heady fragrance of fresh-cooked lamb. (druidcraft).

(OOC: Hoping this gives Vice a second shot, with advantage?)

Delicious smell drifts off the piece of ration Vice’s holding, and he chuckles softly, looking at Juniper. “Now you make me hungry too.”

He tries again, looking under the harpsichord: “Lancelot?”

Animal handling: 14 (if advantage: 16)

Emma was staying just outside the room, at first, and she still does. Peeking in to see what's going on, from a safe distance. Once the smell reaches her too, she is reminded of how much time has passed since she last ate... anything. "It is almost cruel to hide the true nature of something that barely passes as food under the guise of that smell. How does the saying go? All bark, no bite." And, well, she hoped the dog would be just the same.

With the smell of freshly cooked lamb and Vice calling his name, Lancelot, the dog, comes out from underneath the harpsichord. Lancelot begins wagging his tail and looking around for the source of the scent.

Juniper shares a look of delight with Vice, and loses herself in the moment, her caring thoughts for the unknown pup apparent in her smile until she finds Vice’s gaze. ‘Those gray eyes. Easy girl. Still a stranger.’ She turns away abruptly and retreats to stand near Emma and hear her take on the situation.

“You’re right,” the elf whispers, “Not to mention now I’ve made everyone else hungry too.”

‘But,’ she thinks, biting her tongue so as not to scare the guilds woman, ‘it would have been crueler to leave the creature at the mercy of whatever dark spirit haunts this place. That fog didn’t just appear from nowhere. Whoever summoned it is… they’re toying with us.’

"I was on my way to Daggerford because of reports of werewolves," Kal tells Star.  "I ran into a man who claimed his wife had been murdered and children kidnapped by werewolves, and further investigation in Waterdeep found that there have been rumors and stories of werewolves kidnapping children for a while.  I was on my way to investigate when the fog appeared and I suddenly found myself lost in a wood.  I still have no idea where we are..."

Yeah, great job. Vice thinks to his growling stomach, pretty sure Juniper moved away after hearing the embarrassing sounds his stomach made. Now you scare girls away. He’s hungry though, but doesn’t really have the appetite. Especially the dry rations, lamb-scented or not. 

“It’s better than smelling like stale bread and tasting like stale bread. Hopefully he won’t know the difference.”

He holds out lamb-scented ration under the dog’s nose for him to sniff, then tears off a couple pieces and throws them down in front of Lancelot. He watches the dog eats the food for a while then stands back up, whispers to himself, “Where are your masters, Lancelot?”

“You’re here,” Juniper responds to Kal, “because you’re investigating… werewolves? Just… because?”

Juniper has heard as many tales of bravery as anyone else, well, perhaps fewer in recent years. But enough in her childhood, when friends of her parents would regale them — her parents and her, always the ones visiting — with tales of heroism. Heroes: people who see danger, and rather than put distance between themselves and it, bring themselves closer to it. Look it directly in the eye. Is that what this spellcaster was about? Or was there some other motivation? Did some other Vistani find him and plea for his help, as had been the case for her and the others?

The dog sits down in front of Vice and tilts his head to the side. He is curious about what Vice is saying but doesn't understand him.

Quote from DandDSince1973 >>

“You’re here,” Juniper responds to Kal, “because you’re investigating… werewolves? Just… because?”

Juniper has heard as many tales of bravery as anyone else, well, perhaps fewer in recent years. But enough in her childhood, when friends of her parents would regale them — her parents and her, always the ones visiting — with tales of heroism. Heroes: people who see danger, and rather than put distance between themselves and it, bring themselves closer to it. Look it directly in the eye. Is that what this spellcaster was about? Or was there some other motivation? Did some other Vistani find him and plea for his help, as had been the case for her and the others?

 "Not just...because.  I was sent by the Lord's Alliance to work with one of their operatives in Daggerford to try to find out what was going on and, if possible, help the missing children."

“So you’re an investigator? A member of the Lord’s Alliance? What is that?” The organization sounds familiar, but various cities boast alliances, guilds, Guards with investigative arms and the like. “And by the way. I have a feeling you didn’t know that the Vistani were expecting you?” Juniper hasn’t until this moment given too much attention to Kal, but now directs her entire focus to his carriage and demeanor. Does he look like a werewolf hunter?

"Im not a member of the Lord's Alliance myself, but they frequently hire outsiders to perform tasks for them.  I volunteered after encountering the man who had lost his family.  Its an intriguing puzzle.  Werewolves normally don't kidnap people, they just kill them.  Why would they start takin children?  But I also know I couldn't take on werewolves alone, so I went to the Lord's Alliance."

Kal gets a confused look at the mention of being expected.  "The Vistani?  Who are they?  I don't know of anyone expecting me.  I was going to seek out the Lord's Alliance's operative in Daggerford when I got there."

Kal is not what you would normally expect a werewolf hunter to look like.  The tall githyanki wears leather armor, but his only weapons seem to be a couple daggers and a staff, and he does not appear to be all that martially inclined.

Juniper has heard of Githyanki before but has not yet met one. What she has heard was not pleasant. Raiders of worlds, riders of dragons, basically a whole civilization with really bad father issues. ‘This one seems harmless enough. Or at least, not likely to enslave all of us aboard the mothership,’ she reflects.

“That’s really weird,” she answers, her voice still hushed, as her curious eyes begin to probe the stairs and study. “We came from Daggerford. With a group of Vistani, at first. But we became separated when we encountered the wolves. They — the Vistani — their leader, actually, Stanimir is his name — told us we are fated to help save their prince from a curse or something, and they said we’d meet another on the road who had lost his way, who would help us. You.”

"Just a dog." Emma relaxes, just a tiny bit. "Can we move on? There's a baby to check on." And more importantly, she was hungry, tired, and scared. A small dog was the least of her concerns, and if it weren't a dog - as the conversation right next to her suggests - she would want to get as far away from it as possible. "Wouldn't you rather getting to know each other after a good night's sleep, on a full stomach? Somewhere far, far away from this creepy house?"

Dink, plink, plonk. Star stops pressing random keys, getting a feel for the instrument.

"The house is creepy? It is just large, and quiet. Creepy is the jungle in the night - moonlight cannot get through the top branches, so the only light is what you make. What is in the trees watching? Who can say. The noises of the monkeys, the cotixha bird, perhaps they hide the soft paw pads right behind you..." Star smiles warmly. "Soon I say we will find the parents of the children, and the baby, and we can get you to your safe place, yes?"