Grizzle shovels handfuls of breakfast into his mouth, and what doesn't fit there into his pockets as he scampers along after Kane. Wiping his hands on his clothes, he pulls out a wand as he skips along. "Grizzle wonder what it is? Grizzle guess that someone's pupper got stuck up in a tree and they need heroes for getting it down."

Ezri grumbles to herself, and runs a hand through her hair, which still needed a good brushing. A piece of toast is shoved into her mouth as she stands and follows Kane. She opens one of the larger belt pouches, checking to see that her spellcasting focus was still in there. "Who doesn't like a little exercise in the morning? Do you like dogs, Grizzle? We might need someone good with them, from the sound of it."

"They're delicious!"  , Grizzle calls back over his shoulder.

Seiren nearly trips over herself scrambling to her feet and grabbing her lute from where she’d left it on the floor to sit and eat, but she’s up in an instant, her breakfast forgotten and her eyes darting to the nearest person to follow behind. She quickly straps her lute to her back and quietly jogs to catch up to the others, making a slight face at Grizzle’s dog comment but choosing not to comment on it in return.

(If needed, Passive Perception: 16 and Perception Check: 8)

Zira pursues the group also sure to have grabbed her bow and rapier as well as securing her daggers in her boots. The half-orc jogs along, outpacing most of the group Zira a keen athlete, looking around for possible dangers.

Passive Perception: 12

Rolled: 13

"I... but... wait..." Looking around at the clearing they've been waiting in and seeing his classmates sprint off and out of sight, the half-elf sighs and checks his tome, briefly opening it as if confirm something. Satisfied, he slowly walks down, following the rest of the group while remaining significantly behind.

((Luggage has been whisked away by invisible servants!))

(Edited.)

You all realize that the barks are coming from 7 creatures. 6 sound similar, one sounds different from the others. The call for help gets louder with every 100 feet you run.

As he runs, Grizzle casts mage armor on himself, just in case, smacking himself on the head with his wand, and is briefly covered in a blue goo that absorbs into his skin.

Seiren takes out a small strip of white cloth, wraps it around her index finger, then points at Kane, Grizzle, and Ezri, quietly singing to herself, "Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends." Magic weaves itself into her words, and purple sparkles briefly flicker around her finger as she casts Aid on the three of them. "Sounds like there's six of them," she huffs to the others, "Do we have a plan?"

"Grizzle says if they are bad dogs, we blow 'em up! And if they are good dogs, then maybe they can be pets? Pets aren't for eating."

"Okay, that's... a plan." Seiren nods. "I can put them to sleep," she offers, "Or try, at least. And hope that I don't catch whoever's in trouble."

(Would like to try to Stealth if possible: 15)

"We should seek a non-violence option if possible first, but do not be afraid to defend yourself if need be," Kane tells the group. "Another thought has occurred to me, this could possibly be a test, designed by the coven leaders to see how we use our magic." He turns to Seiren, "If the situation becomes too dangerous to handle, run back and get help, alright?"

Seiren frowns but nods very slightly. "We'll see if it comes to that. If anyone has a familiar they can, you know—" She clicks her fingers to demonstrate. "—summon to go get help, that would be better since, if things get too dangerous, I would prefer to be healing people."

“Yes, that would would be a better idea, wouldn’t it?” Kane looks upset having looked dumb to Seiren. He heads up to the head of the group, eager to face this challenge and prove himself to the group. 

Seiren stays near the middle-back as she isn't one to willingly be the first person anywhere, but she keeps an eye on Kane then, after a moment of fumbling in the pouch on her belt and pulling out a short piece of copper wire that she holds, casts Message, pointing the wire at him. He hears her voice in his ear (and can respond likewise), saying, "Don't go rushing off eager to be the hero. I just... got the implication that you thought I should be running to get help because I'm the most fidgety person here. Not that that's what you meant, it's just what I interpreted."

Kane is still walking when he hears Seiren’s message. He looks back at her but continues going forward. He responds “Believe me, I’m no hero. The things I’ve done... a hero wouldn’t have done. I asked you to go get help in case things get hairy because you are the only one I trust right now, not because you are “fidgety”. I apologize if you took it that way.” 
(This is through Seiren’s Message, so only she hears it.)

"If we have to fight them, we should be smart about it. There's about the same amount of them as there are us. While I'm confident we all can handle ourselves in a fight, we should use our surroundings to our advantage." She pauses, letting out a soft sigh. "I have two spells that might be useful for it. Well, one is a cantrip, which allows me to craft the terrain to be more favorable for us. But it comes down to how much time we have."

"I mean could they just be wayward guard dogs? Maybe?" Zira waxes slightly hopeful as she continues to jog towards the cry for help.

OOC: DM is there any cover from shortbow distance of the creatures? Can we see them yet ir just hear them still?