Akash moves in and uncoils his whip, striking it at the leg of the nearest raptor, and yanking it out from under the beast.
Gnarok runs forward, bare feet pounding the dusty soil.
Fanki follows behind her guardian as the large spirit strides towards the raptors.
Grod draws his lance and spurs Allyx forward.
Fade moves forward to see what is actually happening.
Akash pulls the dog sized dinosaur's legs out from under it.
The cat coils and leaps toward the raptor close to the one Akash tripped.
Seeing an opportunity, the other raptors leap to attack the cat. Each of them springs from the rocky ground, their talons slashing down, ripping bloody gashes in the cat's flanks.
The raptor the cat is attacking clamps down on the cat's skull, tearing at its throat with its talons.
The cat moans in pain as its bulk collapses to the scree covered ground.
The tripped raptor regains its footing and turns toward Akash, its front claws and jaws stretching in a threat display.
Fanki casts guidance on her eidolon and sends it into battle. It strides up to the nearest dinosaur and swings its weapon in a wide arc.
Moving slightly forward to get a better view of the scene, Fade decides to try and cut down on the number of enemies by magically sleeping the furthest two creatures from the party.
DC-15
Gnarok darts in, swinging his axe in a precise arc at the raptor next to him.
Akash growls slightly, as he'd hoped for the raptor he'd tripped to be baited into attacking. He creeps forward cautiously, and then swipes at it with his hatchet.
But fails to connect with the nimble creature.
The raptor being attacked by Gnarok and Akash leaps away from the sudden assault, bouncing in such a random pattern that the two warriors are unable to respond. It lands on the still bleeding corpse of the great lion, honking at its companions.
The other two who are not asleep step to guard their kill, ready to attack should they be provoked.
Round 3
Again Fade calls upon her otherworldly powers, beseeching the ancestors to render 2 more of the vicious predator unconscious.
Two more raptors succumb to Fade's magical assault.
Fanki's eidolon steps up to attack the final raptor.
Akash swoops in to deal the finishing blow if Fanki doesn't quite manage to hack through the raptor's scales.
Grod draws his bow and fires an arrow at the last raptor. As he does so, he guides Allyx to circle around the fight.
The raptors fall quickly to your combined assault. The sounds of your blows ring off the walls of the canyon, echoing back to you like myriad distant battles.
The sound falls away, leaving only the sound of the flowing water and the stench of spilled blood and excrement.
Fade moves towards the sleeping creatures and ensures that they will awaken no more. She says a short prayer to the Ancestors to forgive her for taking the life but not the flesh of these creatures. She then goes over to the large cat to see if there is anything she might be able to do (if it is still alive).
The cat is just on the cusp of death, it blood barely flows from its wounds, but it isn't quite gone.
Using her knowledge of Herblore, the young witch attempts to heal the wounds upon the great cat.
Fade pulls a pouch of powered blood potato from her pack and applies it to the wounds of the cat. The blood flows more slowly and then stops, thick clots filling the wounds. The cat's pulse is weak, but for now it lives.
"Why bother saving the beast? For all we know it could turn on us later."
"Or it may repay the favor later. Only the gods know for sure," Fanki says. "We should continue on."
"The spirits repay favors to them. The beast will live, and know of our kindness to it. That is it's own reward."
Akash scoffs.
"The spirits do as they will, for their own reasons. No bargain was set or struck in advance, or binding laid. It is foolish to rely purely on a spirit's whim for aid."
Grod hops of of Allyx's back, whispering a few words to her in Sylvan. She lumbers forward and begins feeding on a raptor corpse. He turns to the others. "We could hardly have stopped and bargained. The beast would've been dead before we finished. Perhaps the spirits will see that, perhaps they wont. At any rate, attacking those raptors while they were distracted is easier than fighting them when we have their full attention, so I'll take it."
Fade ignores all the talk around her and continues to concentrate on the wounded beast.
It just was not your time is all, she thinks as she bandages a poultice to the cat's wounds.
The ancestors have given me the power to save you...who am I to question that!
Aloud she says, "The beast will survive, but will be weak and unable to care for itself. We will take it with us until it is well enough to return to the wild. So spoke the ancestors!"
She looks at the party to see if they will argue the point.
Akash rolls his eyes.
"If you can carry the beast, be welcome to it. I see no reason to drag dead weight along."
The bulk of the canyon opens up in various paths across the water from you. On your current side, a canyon branches off to the north and obviously continues on with the flowing river.
As Fade says, the cat cannot move on its own, but the nature spirit can barely carry it along with you.
Akash grunts.
"The way your spirit companion struggles, our options are limited. We either leave the cat behind or we need to head further downriver and hope there's an easier crossing point."
Fade looks gratefully at Franki and scowls at Akash!
Fade move to be beside the beast and keeps a hand on the creature to try and keep it calm. Even though the group is moving a bit slower than usual, she feels saving the cat is something she must do.
"I am sorry for this delay, but the ancestors have demanded that this creature be returned to health. It will only be until tonight, then I can properly care for the beast."
Gnarok goes just ahead of the party, doing some initial scouting of both paths to determine what they might hold.
Gnarok finds a scattering of barefoot humanoid tracks, smaller than an elf or human but not by much. They are skinny and bow shaped, with outstretched opposable large toes, less compact than your own. There are three distinct individuals. The come from the same direction from which you entered the valley, and they turn north into the dry branch.
There is no sign of anything passing recently in the direction the stream is flowing.
Gnarok studies the tracks, sorting through what he knows about the world and the wilds.
Once he does, he heads back to the group and reports his findings, "There may be others ahead of us in the dry branch."